STUDENT INTERACTION with MINITEL TELECOMMUNICATIONS Joann Hammadou University of Rhode Island
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
STUDENT INTERACTION WITH MINITEL TELECOMMUNICATIONS JoAnn Hammadou University of Rhode Island The Promise of Telecommunications of how to carry on multilevels of instruction Telecommunications seem to offer an simultaneously. This option may improve ideal solution to several thorny educational the teacher's ability to provide tasks for problems: (1) how to provide up-to-date students at one level of proficiency that will cultural info171Ultion to students when the continue to move them forward while teacher'sownculturalinformationmaydate teacher-centered work continues with an to much earlier personal trips abroad, (2) other group. For example, telecommunica how to provide up-to-date foreign language tions from a computer workstation have informationinspecializedareas outside of the been used to correspond with native speak teacher's realm of personal experience (e.g., ers abroad, to generate authentic reading nursing, business or engineering), and (3) texts· on up-to-the minute news topics, to howtoprovidestudentsin the United States research specialized topics (such as busi with authentic contexts in which to develop ness, science or education), to simulate buy their fledgling language skills. Telecom ing and selling or to actually order goods munications may, therefore, help provide from abroad, and to serve as an example of experiences and information to students that technology in daily life in Europe. are otherwise difficult to obtain. These calls for the use of telecommuni Telecommunications might also be one cations are subsumed under the larger call solution to a logistics nighbnare that teach to educators to incorporate the use of tech ers often face. With a 1982 survey, Brickel nology in education. Teachers of all content and Paul identified the major topics of con areas have heard requests to help their stu cern for inservice secondary school teach dents become more computer literate. They ers. One of the most common responses have been told that all teachers should in was the need for guidance in developing crease their use of modem technology. The and teaching innovative curricula, includ response to these requests has been mixed. ing the use of self-instructional material. In Some teachers report that they do, indeed, addition, approximately 40 percent of the have access to computers, but that these respondents were teaching multilevel computers sit silently on closet shelves col classes (more than one level in the same lecting dust. Other teachers expend tre class hour or more than one language in the mendousamounts oftimeandenergy learn same class). While teaching a level three ing about computer programming and cre course and a level four course simulta ating their own courseware only to hear neouslyisnotacommon problem in univer criticisms such as the following: ''Their sity language courses, the impact of false software represents a herculean investment beginners and the strain of widely diversi fied student backgrounds is. For all of these JoAnn Hammadou teaches in the De teachers, the computer workstation may be partment of Languages at the University of seen as a potential answer to their problem Rhode Island. VoL 24, No.2, Spring 1991 7 Minitel of time for little return" (Smith 1987). Some national network of electronic information teachers, such as Sayers and Brown servic~alled Minitel. In 1978, Minitel inBilingual Education, proclaim their efforts was designed as the world's first electronic in computer networking to be ''a perfect fir' telephone directory. De Lacy claims: for their students. In sum, there are reasons ''Strongly influenced by a 1978 report on the to believe that telecommunications/ com computerization of France, which warned puter networking could meet several edu that the technophobic French, unless they cational needs, but many educators have rapidly became computer-friendly, would reason to be skeptical or at least cautious in be left home making Camembert and coq au their reactions to this hope. vin while the ·Americans and the Japanese fought itoutin the microchip major leagues, The Scope of Telecommunications in Telecom officials came up with a plan to General and Minitel in Particular force the French to the keyboard" (De Lacy Telecommunications is the juncture of 1987). The Minitel computer terminal was computing and communications technolo distributed to telephone owners free of gies. It is a rapidly changing set of services charge in place of the already costly-to and equipment that are the current driving producetelephone book. The French people force, experts say, behind a technological would become familiarwithcomputertech revolution. The impact of this new combi nology, and their then antiquated telecom nation of computer technology and com munications system would be improved munication technology, some believe, "will and supported. Besides giving away the rivalthatofthereplacementofmusclepower terminals as part of the telephone subscrip by machines" (Wright 1990). In fact, many tion fee, the French government chose a are adopting the phrase "information pay-as-you-go policy for use of information economy'' coined by Marc Porat of Apple services that were steadily added to the Computer to describe a fundamental shift network. Unlike in other countries, the in our economy away from a base defined French do not pay any access or subscrip by goods produced to one in which wealth tion fees and are charged on their telephone is generated by amounts and types of infor bills only for the time they use the network. mation managed. The information content The computer telephone directory has of a product (such as advertising and legal grown now to more than 13,000 services services) now accounts for a greater per available to over five million Minitel users centage of its cost than its consumable con in France alone (France Telecom). Users can tent does. While these changes in focus are buy and sell, using credit cards, from an extremely confusing even to business man enormous range of companies. They can agers and economists, one change is very call up information on agriculture, educa clear: the minimizing of the national border. tion, jobs, taxes, leisure activities, entertain The "information age" is bringing Marshall ment, and real estate. They can book travel McLuhan's ''global village" further into re plans, consult news and weather forecasts, ality. Fax machines, automatic bank tellers, manage their finances, and chat with cellular phones, computer networks, and friends---all24 hours a day. high-definition television are adding to our ability to "abolish both space and time as far West Germany and Great Britain also as our planet is concerned" just asMcLuhan started similar networks at the same time described it in 1964. but have been much less successful with only about 200,000 subscribers each. The Meanwhile, in France, the government- Prodigy system in the US and Captain owned telecommu_nications monopoly system in Japan also have not done well. (Telecom) has put mto place the largest France's Minitel has spread, however, to 8 IALL Journal of Language Learning Technologies JoAnn Hammadou seven other countries, including the United principled support of empirical investiga States, where it is making steady gains. The tions. Pedersen warns that when testimoni need for increasing international coopera als "are permitted to sway important cur tion is the one worrisome unknown for this ricular decisions without corresponding burgeoning network. Experts warn about research evidence, enthusiasm becomes a the lack ofinternationally agreed upon tech serious flaw'' (1987). Without the descrip nical standards, the unknown effect of the tion of context, subjects, and limits of a pendingEuropeancommonmarket, (Guterl research study, applicability of a given tes 1990) and the need to share costs interna timonial to a new situation is unknown. tionally (Wright 1990) ·as potential stum McGraw's testimonialforthelanguagelabo bling blocks to continued growth. ratory, that it would allow the teacher to "enter into a much closer individual rela Need for Research in Pedagogical tionship with each of his students," may Applications of Minitel have been less helpful to the failing lan Despitesomereservationsaboutthecon guage labs of the late 60s than would have tinued growth of Minitel, its current suc been research that demonstrated how best cesses have inspired educators to call for its to capitalize on the strengths of the technol use as a pedagogical tool For example, ogy. Challe, in The French Review, calls for its Another lesson from past research ef pedagogical use for the following reasons: forts on technology for those interested in its force as a current social phenomenon in pedagogicalusesoftelecommunicationslies France, its wealth of culturally authentic in the area of comparative research studies. documents, and its diversity for use in teach The computer has been the source of anum ing language for specific professions (1989). ber of studies of the Method A versus Both AAlF and ACTFLhave offered work Method B variety.1 These studies have tried, shops to American foreign language teach for the most part, to prove that the use of ers in its use. computers is beneficial. Unfortunately, these What should not be overlooked in this studiesallsufferfrom theunavoidableprob equation is the need for research that will lem of lumping many factors together that investigate which pedagogical needs, ifany, then becomeconfoundedaspossiblesources