Hypermedia for language learning: the FREE model at Coventry University Marina Orsini-Jones and David Jones Centre for Information Technology in Language Learning, Coventry University Coventry University is pioneering the integration of hypermedia into the curriculum for the teaching of Italian language and society with the creation of a package based on Nerino Rossi's novel La neve nel bicchiere. The novel was already in use as a basic course text, and developing a hypermedia package was felt to be the ideal way of creating a more stimulating means of access to it. The procedure used in creating the package is described, as are its contents, the ways in which the students use it and the tasks they are given to perform, the feedback from the students, and its impact on their performance. The testing of the prototype has helped in creating a new cognitive model: the FREE (Fluid Role-Exchange Environment) which functions as a fluid and interactive 'pool' where the three main actors, or act ants, ie. the learner, the lecturer and the computer, exchange roles. Within the FREE, students were involved in the construction and evaluation of the courseware, as well as testing the various versions of the prototype. The development and use of hypermedia inside and outside the classroom has made it possible to change both the students' and the lecturer's attitude towards the material being learnt. However, the courseware does not seem to equip students sufficiently for essay writing, and this problem needs further investigation. Introduction The tradition of incorporating CALL into the language-learning curriculum goes back to the early 1980s at Coventry University, and since then has evolved in keeping with changes in the technology available (Corness 1984; Benwell 1986; Orsini-Jones 1987; Corness et al 1992; Orsini-Jones 1993). Coventry University is at present pioneering the integration of hypermedia into the curriculum for the teaching of Italian language and society. The syllabus for a complete module of the BA Modern Languages and BA European Studies Degrees, which will count as l/8th of the students' programme for year 2, has been designed upon in-house produced hypermedia courseware. Although the module has not yet run in its present version, the prototype of the Hypermedia Italian Team's (HIT) project La neve nel bicchiere has been used, in the 28 v ALT-) Volume 4 Number 2 academic years 1993/4,1994/5 and 1995/6, with students taking Italian as an option in the final year of their BA Honours Degree in Modern Languages. The testing of the prototype and its integration into the language-learning process have been very successful and have helped in creating a new cognitive model: the FREE - Fluid Role-Exchange Environment. The original concept of the FREE arose from the observation that the very nature of hypermedia technology allowed students not only to consume the finished product, but also to play an active role in its creation and in its regular revision and re-elaboration. Thus the experience of one cohort of students is fed back into the program for the benefit of the succeeding cohort (See Acknowledgements). They cannot do this directly, but indirectly via the lecturer and the technical designer. This was an essential feature of the development stage of the project but, due to the flexible nature of the technology, there is no reason why this process should not continue indefinitely in the future. The Project La neve nel bicchiere: why, what, where, when and how Origins of the project The HIT project was born out of two main needs. The first was of a pedagogical nature: the need to find suitable materials for students taking Italian as a subsidiary language in the last year of their BA in Modern Languages. The course in Languages at Coventry is (or, at least, was at the time) area studies- rather than literature-based, but it was decided nevertheless to base much of the year's work on the study of a novel. There were several reasons for this decision: the wish to expose students to a different style of language from that encountered hitherto in newspaper and magazine articles; the coherence and continuity provided by a lengthy text; and the fact that works of fiction can sometimes provide a more lively, but nonetheless accurate, picture of social conditions than can the study of factual material. It was, of course, necessary to choose the novel carefully. It needed to be by a contemporary author, and to deal with the lives of ordinary people in a realistic way. It also needed to be of the right length to be covered in the 25 teaching weeks available. The novel would be used for the purpose of teaching the language as well as the history and society of Italy. La neve nel bicchiere by Nerino Rossi (Rossi, 1977) was eventually chosen because it fitted perfectly within the lecturer's requirements. The book, written in the first person and clearly autobiographical in origin, describes the historical and social conditions of an Italian family over a period of 70 years (1880-1950). Furthermore there is a film based upon it, and it is easy to access materials about Emilia-Romagna, the Italian region in which the book is set. The book and film were used for two years. However, the students' performance in their seminar presentations of the chapters in the book was poor. Students were finding using a book too difficult, and this reflected negatively on their ability to communicate effectively in Italian. It was therefore necessary to find a way of making the book more user-friendly, as it was felt it was vital to keep it as the textbook, but the way it was being used was obviously not achieving the objectives set in the syllabus. Secondly, there was a need of a more practical nature: the teaching hours for the Italian — Marina Orsini-Jones and David Jones Hypermedia for language learning: the FREE model at Coventry University option were reduced from three to two per week after the introduction of modularization (1992). It was obvious that it would be impossible to cover the book in the existing format of lecture/seminar presentation/language work, particularly in view of the difficulties students were experiencing with the material. It was felt that developing a hypermedia package to be used both inside and outside the classroom would be the ideal way of creating a more stimulating means of access to the book for the students. Creating the package The way in which the HIT proceeded in building the package on screen was the following: in the first place, each screen was designed on paper by the lecturer creating the package, then submitted to the rest of the team for comments. Once the screen was in its electronic version, feedback was asked of students too. Their feedback was also used by the lecturer and the technical designer to further modify the package. All the texts but one (the chronology, see below) were first typed in Word for Windows, then transferred into ToolBook. The whole of the text was transferred to the computer (manually, by two research assistants) after the issue of copyright was cleared with the publisher. In constructing the courseware, the HIT tried to avoid making the mistakes outlined by Khan (1995), i.e. producing courseware which is visually attractive but educationally weak: 'Too many people put a linear book online, give it some bookmarks, and call it a hypertext; worse yet, they add a few scanned-in photographs and a soundtrack and call it multimedia' (p.99). Such 'mistakes' occur when courseware designers follow McLuhan's dicta ( McLuhan and Fiore, 1967) too strictly, and become infatuated with the medium rather than the message. In the course of the development of La neve, the HIT became increasingly aware of the negative attitudes to multimedia which have developed among some colleagues involved in CALL, probably due to exposure to educationally weak products. Bad multimedia products reinforce the old 'not invented here' syndrome, and encourage the recent backlash against information technology which is becoming increasingly fashionable - see, for example, the various articles in the Multimedia insert in The Higher (such as the centre-page on 12th March 1995, pp. vi-viii). Using the courseware The starting point of the students' activities is the text of the book (which they also have in hard copy). After the credits screens comes a summary page: by passing the pointer on the various buttons for the different chapters, a brief summary of each chapter appears on the left-hand side of the screen (Figure 1). This was done in order to allow students to skim and scan for major topics in the book. By clicking on the buttons called Capitolo 1, Capitolo 2 (Chapter 1, Chapter 2) etc., students access the text of each chapter (Figure 2). On this screen are two sets of buttons. On the right-hand side are the 'books' buttons which lead to information about: • Italian history - Cronologia (Figures 3 and 4); • a glossary activated via hotwords in the main text - Vocabolario; • a description for each character mentioned in the book, both fictional and historical - Personaggi non storicilPersonaggi Storici; 30 ALT-J Volume 4 Number 2 • geography of the region connected to the places mentioned in the book - Luoghi (Figures 5 and 6); • the revision exercise for each chapter, in a multiple-choice format - Revisione Capitolo. Some pictures (historical characters, places, etc.) and some extracts from the film (chosen by the students in 1995/6) have been incorporated into the courseware too. The words in the glossary have mostly been chosen by students. Feedback from students also affected the way the words in the glossary were explained: originally it was thought the glossary should be monolingual, but this idea encountered strong resistance from all cohorts of student users. The compromise solution is that there is a translation of each word in the glossary, but any further explanations are in Italian. La neve nel bicchi Figure I: Summary page with buttons for each chapter in the book. Summary of Chapter I has been activated in this screen by clicking on the button Capitolo I. Fai click con H mouse sul capitolo che ti interessa. Capitolo 1 Introduzlone a! seguentl personaggi: Venanzlo, Marietta, Medea. Eneo c Nullo. Storia d'amore tra Medea e Eneo. Descrizione de 'I Due PontI'. Capitolo? II Capitolo 13 Capitolo 2 Capitolo 8 Capitolo 14 Capitolo 3 Capitolo 9 Capitolo 15 Capilolo 1 CapilololO Capitolo 16 Capitolo 5 Capitolo 11 Capilolo 17 Capitolo 6 Capitolo 12 Capitolo 18 c • O Copyright Coventry University. All rights reserved. No part may be copied or reproduced without written permission from the University. Figure 2: Screen with part of the text for Chapter I: this is the main starting point for navigation into hypermedia. La neve nel bicchiere CAPirOLO 1 Scariolante, bracciante, mezzadro. Ami, mezzadro deH'arciprete, che era on po' meno. Foi bovaro e, infme, mezzadro regolare. Insomnia Una "camera" di totto rupetto. II nonno Venanzb l'avera pereorsa fra stenti, polenta e malaria. Eppnre aveva le sembianze di nn gran "signore". Chi vedesse la tna inunagine ovale Julia laptde al camposanto di Castenaso darebbe nn certo credito a ana voce che le nuore, dopo arerio contemplato dall'altro lato dellahnghissimataYola, andarano a ripetem Van l'ahra durante il breve tmo che scariolante...: anche"scamolante",n.m.s., labourer whose work consists of pushing awheelbarrowfoll of earth and Esci I Appunti 1 Cerca Vocabolario seconda meta capitolo Cronologia Pcrsonaggi non siorici Personaggi storici Revisione Capitolo 31 Marina Orsini-Jones and David Jones Hypermedia for language learning: the FREE model at Coventry University 1870-1880 Comindano le opere di bonifies del delta del fiume Po, presso il mare Adriatico. cul partedpa Nullo come scariolante. I carbonal anarchid (da cul discende don Angelo] disboscano I'Appennino. 1870/1871 It 20 settembre I'esercfto italiano occupa Roma: II papa Plo IX