INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHING ENGLISH THROUGH THE GEOGRAPHY CURRICULUM TO LEP STUDENTS IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESSS OF SELF-PACED INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY AS A MEANS TO INSTRUCT LIMITED-ENGLISH PROFICIENT (LEP) STUDENTS. INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THIS CONTEXT IS A MULTIMEDIA EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATION INCORPORATING COMPUTER GRAPHICS, STILL IMAGES, TEXT, AND AUDIO. THE CONTENT AREA TO BE ADDRESSED IS GEOGRAPHY FROM THE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS. THE PROJECT WILL DETERMINE IF INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY CAN SUCCESSFULLY BE USED IN A SCHOOL SETTING TO EXPEDITIOUSLY INCREASE STUDENT KNOWLEDGE AND RETENTION OF BOTH ENGLISH AND GEOGRAPHY CONCURRENTLY. A PROTOTYPE WILL BE DEVELOPED TO SUBSTANTIATE THE RESEARCH MODEL. SINCE INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY IS PROVEN TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN REDUCING LEARNING TIME BY AS MUCH AS 50% WHILE INCREASING STUDENT RETENTION BY AS MUCH AS 60% OVER CLASSROOM EXPERIENCES WITHIN THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT (DEBLOOIS, 1988), IT SHOULD PROVE EQUALLY AS EFFECTIVE WITHIN A PUBLIC SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT. A WELL-DESIGNED PROGRAM ENGAGES THE USERS THROUGH THE USE OF AUDIO, GRAPHICS, STILL IMAGES, AND TEXT. THE ADMINISTRATIVE CAPABILITIES OF THE TECHNOLOGY PROVIDE A SOUND MEANS FOR ACCESSING ATTAINED PERFORMANCE. FIRST LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY, CULTURE AND LEARNING STYLE ALL AFFECT SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (GONZALEZ, 1989; CUMMINS, 1981; GOMEZ, 1987). WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE CAPABILITIES OF INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGY TO MORE EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS THESE AVARIABLES THAN DOES CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION.