Presentation of Data

Data for the project included a survey before the study began, an informational/attitudinal survey, a class discussion, teacher observations, a tally sheet, and teacher web logs.

Surveys were completed by 21 students. About 40% reported that they just studied English in class (3 hours), 40% studied an additional hour, and 20% studied five or six hours a day. Most of the students had only been studying English for less than three months, but a couple had studied Engish for more than two years and one had studied for over a year. Most of the class had used a computer for 1-6 months, but 25% had over six months of computer experience. Of those who chose an age range, 45% were in the 18-25 year old range, 20% were in the 26-40 year range, 30% were in the 41-55 year old range, and one person was over 55 years old.

Observations of the class found that use of Hot Potatoes would begin at a high point if I mentioned it in class. On the day I surveyed the class, only one person did not begin the class using it. At the end of that class period, the number using the program was still 50% at the end of the class. The use of the program declined as the group used it and became familiar with the content.

The Spanish speakers, all young women with very little education, persisted in using the program, sometimes for the entire period. They were most attracted to the cloze and crossword exercises. They were observed entering words into cloze spaces and then checking the exercise Then they would enter the words with different spellings, and repeat the process. When a more complicated crossword was presented as part of the jobs unit, the remaining Spanish speaker continually hit the "Hint" button until the entire crossword was filled with the correct answers and then spent time looking over the answers.

The older Russian speakers also used the exercises on a daily basis, working more on the vocabulary flashwords, including the pronunciation. Most of the younger students moved on to other programs and the Internet, but one asked if he could copy the files for home use. One benefit of using a Hot Potatoes is that the files are visible on any modern browser with no additional tools. The student brought his digital camera and we removed the SD card and transferred the files to it. After the health unit ended, about 40% of the student used the exercises at some time during the class and half of those used it almost the entire period. When the jobs unit was introduced, the students spent very little time on the flash cards of occupations. A check with one of the students found that the pronunciations had already been mastered and there was a clear understanding of what the jobs were (the jobs selected were almost entirely jobs that had been held by class members or jobs they were interested in getting now that they were in this country.

The most engaging of the exercises were the crossword puzzles. Sometimes students would spend most of the period trying to satisfactorily solve a crossword. This was quite a contrast from Rosetta Stone which offers a screen of four pictures for students to click on. The crosswords were often done as spontaneous peer exercises as students found answers and shared them with others or tested hypotheses on what words might fit the blanks. That was also true of the second most popular Hot Potatoes exercise, the cloze exercises. Once again, students were trying their hunches on what words would fit the blanks.

Interviews with students found them very positive about the exercises. A student who returned to the class after a two week absence was very pleased with the exercises. The student who took the files home felt that it was a very good program but the hour class time was inadequate to fully benefit from it; he thought two hours would be necessary. Others who couldn't express themselves well used a "thumbs up" and declared it a good program. With the knowledge that I had spent a great deal of time on it, it may have been dificult to say that they didn't like the exercises. However, they were free to change to other programs at any time. Sometimes the teacher felt the need to make that clear to students who seemed to almost be bogged down on a crossword or a cloze exercise. Despite the teacher's encouragement to exercise their right to move on to other programs, they persisted on using the Hot Potatoes.

A class discussion at the completion of the study period was difficult to conduct because of the language barrier and the absence of a translator. However, the consensus, with nods and limited speech from those who were more advanced, was that everyone felt that the exercises were helpful. Those who could speak said that they were "easy". When asked if they should be more difficult, the answer was an emphatic "No". The opinion of the 25% who were capable of speaking in English was that the exercises were valuable and at an appropriate level. About half of those who didn't speak were the most consistent users of the exercises.

During the jobs unit that followed the health unit, an observation tally sheet was used to monitor more precisely what programs students used and for how long. At five minute intervals, the teacher recorded which programs were being used by each students.

Young male students in the class would often be "off task", using the World Wide Web for chat or e-mail in their first language. While "off-task" in terms of language learning, the computer was often used for important personal tasks such as researching cars for purchase at the local auto auction and maintaining contact with friends in the countries they had recently left.

The student whose "off-task" behavior was appeared to be just that was perhaps the most proficient computer user who found a Java game site that he did spend much of one period on and spent a couple of periods chatting with fiiends using a Java chat client that circumvented the school's proxy server. He was admonished to work on English, but did so with the dual windows, switching as I turned away. In a confrontation over this behavior on a a a day when the proxy server's audio signal that a forbidden site had been accessed had repeatedly gone off all period long, I found that Dmitry had been trying to access a free antivirus site to get an antivirus program for his home computer. Every time he had tried to click on advartised link, the signal had gone off because the site was actually a :"spyware" provider that was in the school's blocked category. I explained spyware and showed him a site that provided a free anitvirus program that didn't contrain spyware. He said he'd bring an SD card the next day to save the program to. This student did have most of the Hot Potatoes exercise at home since he had transferred them to the SD card while we were working on the health exercises. He could have been working on the exercises at home.

Older students and young females would start with one program and stay with it, working with either Rosetta Stone or Hot Potatoes. Most of those who used Hot Potatoes were those who more capable, based on their test scores as well as their willingness to engage in English conversation.