Voxopop.com Evaluation

Purpose/Brief Description
Interactive site. This site allows users to post spoken messages to an audio discussion thread, rather than a text-based discussion board. After the user configures his microphone for the voxopop application, he is ready to log into a talkgroup and record his comments.

Talkgroups are arranged around specific topics. Each has a moderator to guide the ongoing conversation and, when necessary, restrict or remove inappropriate/inflammatory remarks. Literally hundreds of talkgroups have been created, with several devoted to language instruction and practice. Like a text-based discussion board, the audio messages are saved and listed in a chronological thread so that users can play the sequence to see how a given discussion has developed.

Learner Fit
This site is an excellent fit for all levels of ELLs: students can communicate asynchronously with each other and with instructors regarding class assignments or topics of interest. Each student can listen to other’s posts to compare linguistic output and note areas for improvement.

The site meets some of the Conditions for Optimal Language Learning Environments, as listed in Figure 1-2. The student interacts with an authentic audience, albeit asynchronously, as he/she plays back the responses from an instructor and other students. The student is exposed to varied and creative language from the other users’ posts. Also the students have the opportunity to interact and negotiate meaning through the give-and-take nature of the discussion thread. The stress level is fairly low because of the asynchronous nature of the communication: students can take extra time to compose and record (and re-record, if necessary) their posts. Learner autonomy in this application is near absolute: the student decides when and to what degree he/she will engage in the discussion.

Teacher Fit
This site is an excellent fit for teachers. By its nature, the site reinforces instruction in the listening and speaking modalities. Several ESL instructors and institutions have already created talkgroups, including
Jason's TOEFL Speaking Mentor, UCI Extension Accent Reduction, and My TOEFL Practice. Each talkgroup has a different focus, some concentrate on a specific linguistic goal, such as accent reduction. Others are concerned with practicing for specific standardized tests, such as the TOEFL, which most ELLs will have to take eventually. Still other groups are devoted to discussions of best practices and teaching tips for ESL instructors.

How Can It Be Used?
An instructor can create a talkgroup, centered on the linguistic goal(s) he/she wants to accomplish, then have students join the group and respond to assignments. In one group whose thread I listened to, students were instructed to read a text passage and then record a response in which they described the gist of the passage and answered a few specific questions about the passage. The instructor would then check in periodically and leave his feedback on each student’s post.

In another talkgroup, the instructor uses the discussion thread to have just one student practice the proper usage of verb tenses, Thus, if the instructor has the time, he/she can just as easily concentrate on the problems of a single student as he/she can manage a thread containing an entire class.

Likes/Dislikes
Likes:
The interface is intuitive and easy to use. It is very easy to set up and start a new talkgroup and invite people to join. The display and playback of discussion threads is also easy. I especially like the automatic sequential playback of each post in a thread. The site is well organized visually and extremely easy to navigate and search.

Dislikes:
Due to differences in recording levels, microphone placement, and general microphone design, the volume levels and overall sound quality of individual audio posts vary widely. I found myself constantly adjusting the volume of my desktop speakers. This is mitigated somewhat if you listen to playback through earphones. Nevertheless, perhaps at some point in the not too distant future, the volume levels of the posts could be processed to play back at uniform loudness.