Papers in PDF format

Finally, if you are preparing lessons in a language that requires fonts that are vastly different from the
norm, you may need to purchase language software, such as the Chinese or Japanese or other language kits
through Apple. If it is simple diacritics that you need for Western European, Native American, or Pacific
Island languages, these are expressed using metacharacters in your html which are listed in most html texts.
Production
Now that you have the hardware and software that you need, you can begin production. Begin by
outlining the language lessons which you would like to incorporate: pronunciation, greetings, numbers,
pronouns, verb tenses, modifiers, etc. Make a graphic outline of what you want to make available.
When you have a basic outline, you are ready to begin typing in your lessons. For a pronunciation
presentation, for example, you might want to include the alphabet and words, phrases, and sentences with the
pronunciation point in question. Upon typing in the content, your next step is to record the sounds you have
typed which you want the students to listen to and repeat. Record small chunks of sound in “mono” rather
than stereo, at 11Khz, and at 8 bits so that the downloading time is kept at a minimum. Save each of these
sound files with a brief name that you can remember, ending with “.aiff”. An example is . As
you save the sound files, it is a good idea to save them all into a separate sound folder within your language
folder with the name “sounds” or a comparable title.
If you wish to insert a picture to illustrate the language point, take a “picture” with your camcorder of
the desired object or picutre. For example, if you want a picture indicating the position of the tongue for the
/shr/ sound in Chinese, you will videotape the previously prepared diagram, then connect your video RCA or
S-Video cabling from the camcorder into the computer, rewind to the desired position on the video tape, and
“capture” the picture into the computer with the video software that you have selected. This picture will be
saved as a PICT file, but must be converted to a JPEG or preferrably GIF file--GIF because the format is more
widely accepted. A low to medium quality conversion should be acceptable on the internet and will keep the
size of your image file small. After you have converted your image, give it a short title, ending with “.GIF” or
“.JPEG” according to your selection. An example is .
Now that you have the text, the sound, and the pictures, your job is to link them together in your html
document so that students can view the text with an illustrative picture or diagram, press on a word, listen to it,
repeat it, and even record their own perfected versions on their own diskettes. You will have produced a
masterpiece of language interactivity that your students can enjoy and work with long after class has been
dismissed. You will have created their personal home tutor, which students anywhere can enjoy.
Samples of the presenter’s WWW language learning lessons in various Less Commonly Taught
Languages can be found at the following location: and
. These also apply netforms, which software can be obtained for
under $100 from Maxum Development Corporation, and image mapping, which can be obtained as freeware
from the internet by searching under “Webmapping”. Illustrations of how this software can be used together
with the basics described in this paper to increase WWW language teaching effectiveness, using current daily
news and up-to-date technological tricks will be demonstrated to attendees at the conclusion of the
presentation.