1.11 Definitions and Clarification of Terms

Teachers

For the purposes of this study, the focus is primarily on teachers at the classroom level - i.e., Kindergarten to grade 12. However, the term will also refer to individuals teaching at the preschool or the post-secondary level.

Beliefs

A complex and inter-related system of personal and professional knowledge that serves as implicit theories and cognitive maps for experiencing and responding to reality. Beliefs rely on cognitive and affective components and are often tacitly held.

French as a Second Language

This term also includes French as a foreign language but does not include French as a first language. Reference will also be made to second languages in general particularly in the review of the literature. This reference to second languages will be considered as inclusive of French as a second and foreign language.

Online Learning Environments

Use of this term in this study will generally be synonymous with the Internet. The distinction between the two terms is that Online Learning Environments refers specifically to use of the Internet for the purposes of teaching and learning and includes e-mail, video-conferencing technologies, World Wide Web, discussion lists, Telnet, FTP, Gopher, Veronica, newsgroups, MUDs, MOOs, chat rooms, search engines, Real Audio, Shockwave, HTML, VRML and Java and other new and emerging online technologies, tools and systems.

Mailing List/Discussion List

Mailing lists are lists of email addresses held by a computer listserv which are used to forward messages to groups of people. Mailing lists are set up to discuss specific topics which interested people subscribe to. Correspondence is sent to the listserv which forwards the mail to the whole list. (Williams, 1997)

Discussion

A purposeful and systematic exchange of experiences, anecdotes, personal knowledge and implicit theories, by means of electronic, asynchronous, written communication by a group of teachers sharing a common interest in the teaching and learning of FSFL in online learning environments.

Computer-Assisted Language Learning, CALL

The use of computers to assist in second or foreign language instructional activities. It is CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) applied to L2 learning and acquisition. (Merrill, Tolman, Christensen, Hammons, Vincent, Reynolds, 1986)

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a set of software tools and standards that allows individuals to distribute and obtain information stored on the Internet. (Haughey Anderson, 1998, p.26)

The Internet

The Internet is a network of networks formed by the connecting together of computers and computer networks around the world through telephone and high-speed transmission lines. (Ibid, p.12)

Core French

A program of instruction in which students study the various aspects of French language during a regularly scheduled time slot.

French Immersion

A program designed for non-French-speaking individuals in which French is the language of instruction in the classroom for all or some of the subject areas.