O n f e r e n c e

Research design 
The study will focus on designing different digital pedagogical patterns based on the 
criteria explained in Laurillard’s (2012) Conversational Framework (p. 88) (see Figure 1) 
by “designing a teaching
-learning environment for learners that provides design elements 
for each of the activities in each teacher/peer communication, practice and modeling 
cycle” (p. 95). 
Figure 1: The learner learning through interaction with peers’ concepts and practice, exchanging concepts and 
the outputs of the practi
ce. (TC: teacher’s conceptual organisation (class presentation, book, handout, etc.); 
LC: learner’s concepts; LP: learner’s practice; PC: peer’s concepts; PP: peer’s practice; TPME: teacher 
practice/modelling environment; Double lines: iterative links.) 
The beginner students will be randomly divided into three groups which will each undergo 
one of the three designed interventions in order to achieve the same predefined 
outcomes. Three themes will be treated with each group and at the end of each theme 
each individual student will do an oral on this theme (see Figure 2). The recordings of 
these orals will be transcribed and coded using a set of criteria evaluating oral 
proficiency. The results of the three groups will then be compared in order to identify the 
pedagogical pattern that has the most positive influence on students’ oral proficiency. 

---

-160- 
2014 CALL Conference 
LINGUAPOLIS
www.antwerpcall.be 
Figure 2: Proposed structure of interventions and evaluation activities. 
This study does not aim to expand the intended learning outcomes by including 
competence 
in using technology for certain learners only, but to better learners’ 
performance in the area of oral proficiency in French. It is therefore hoped that 
Chapelle’s reservation about studies offering “only limited insights” will be negated 
(Chapelle, 2010, p. 70). Chapelle and many other scholars are correct when questioning 
the (added) value of e-learning tools when rashly deployed in technology-driven teaching 
methods. Pedagogy-driven technology implementation in (language) teaching differs 
from such a technology-driven approach because of its theoretical embedding. 
Laurillard’s Conversational Framework offers such a model for designing the environment 
of teaching and learning. Mayer’s (2001) Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) 
is another instance of this. Set within the cognitivist-constructivist framework that 
interprets the learning process as constructing, organizing and integrating memory-based 
mental schemes, Mayer’s theory has brought about a number of e
-learning design 
principles enhancing effectiveness of technology in the classroom (Mayer, 2005). In 
short, a pedagogy-driven approach implies providing the technological tools after having 
identified the pedagogic-didactic requirements of the educational setting and the most 
appropriate method for learning. 
The digital patterns will include the following aspects: New concepts will be introduced to 
students via the NWU’s learning management system (LMS) through the flipped 
classroom approach. Students will be expected to study aspects of oral communication 
that have not been taught explicitly in class. The material will provide intrinsic feedback 
and will give the student the opportunity to practise the new concepts. In the model 
pedagogical pattern this self-study will be followed by a short test assuring that students 
have acquired the expected knowledge before allowing students to record their 
contributions to a conversation. Individual feedback from the teacher will be provided 
and this will be followed by the production of a short video clip in pairs. The video clips 
will 
then 
be 
posted 
on 
the 
LMS 
where 
other 
students 
will 
give 
advice/feedback/commentary on these productions. This adheres to 
Laurillard’s (2012) 
advice to “give learners the means to build an external representation of their
knowledge 
to share with others; provide feedback that can guide modification of actions and the 
concepts that generated them” (p. 89
-90)
.
 
Students will then produce the final video clip taking into account their peers’ comments. 
The skills acquired in this way will then be put into practice during a conversation with 
the teacher in an effort to bring it closer to ‘real life’ and give students another 
opportunity to interact and communicate as suggested by Smith and Schulze (2013). The 
extent to which the other two digital pedagogical patterns should/could differ from one 
another is not yet defined.

---

-161- 
2014 CALL Conference 
LINGUAPOLIS
www.antwerpcall.be 
As technology such as 
Nihongo Partner 
(a multi-media software programme allowing 
language students to master model dialogues and to interact with pre-recorded onscreen