Teaching Languages Online by Carla Meskill, Natasha Anthony (review)

and I have them write the word as well as the context in which they heard it. If they are still unsure about something, they are advised to do further research using a quality dictionary or by asking someone. By the end of their time in France, they generally have a decent compilation of words that were somehow meaningful to them. No doubt many of these words will also be found in the frequency dictionary. Thus, I can definitely see the usefulness of such a tool. For those students who never quite find the time to take note of new words, Lonsdale and Le Bras have provided a very complete study to which they can refer. Serious learners of French can indeed gain some insights from this dictionary. Eastern Kentucky University Randi L. Polk MESKILL, CARLA, and NATASHA ANTHONY. Teaching Languages Online. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2010. ISBN 13-978-1-84769-271-9. Pp. 208. $39.95. Just as teaching foreign languages requires educators to use different skills from other non-language courses, so too teaching online foreign language courses requires educators to have different skills and to use different methodologies from traditional, brick-and-mortar classroom environments. In their book, Meskill and Anthony attempt to present the “nuts and bolts of online teaching practices” (back cover) to novice and more experienced educators. The book consists of the following eight chapters: (1) An introduction to what the authors call “the essentials” (v); (2) Language learning and teaching in oral synchronous online environments; (3) Language learning and teaching in oral asynchronous online environments; (4) Online venues amplified via text and visuals; (5) Language learning and teaching in written synchronous environments; (6) Language learning and teaching in written asynchronous environments; (7) Written venues amplified via sound and visuals; (8) Continuing the discussion. The authors organize each chapter around a discussion of such general concepts as “calling attention to forms, calling attention to lexis, corralling, saturating, [and] modeling” (vi) within a foreign language environment. In discussing these topics, the authors present screenshots of various technological tools such as Wimba Voice Board, Wimba Classroom, Voxopop, and Second Life. For educators not familiar with these tools, these screenshots are valuable. Teaching Languages Online is easy to read. It is technical but not overly so. The book might be good for educators with little theoretical experience in online education yet they must not study this book in isolation. There are fundamental elements and methodologies of online teaching and learning which Meskill and Anthony did not address. For example, there is little mention of the need for collaborative learning activities and how or why educators or course designers might construct these activities differently from a traditional environment. There is no discussion of andragogy where learners must take a more active role in their learning thereby letting educators step out of the spotlight. In addition, Meskill and Anthony make some unusual statements. For example, they state that “perhaps the most robust of online instructional environments [is an] oral 610 FRENCH REVIEW 85.3 synchronous” environment (10). The robustness of a course environment is not dependent on whether it is synchronous or asynchronous. Is it not true that educators , theorists, and course designers base a decision about whether a course is robust on the different ways an educator presents the information and the activities he or she uses? The authors believe that the use of text is beneficial as it could help the educator save time. Generally, such a statement is accurate. However, within the context of an oral asynchronous environment where learners are accessing the course area at different times, the concept of “saving time” would seem to be irrelevant. Similarly, the authors believe that corralling is valuable in a written asynchronous environment. But this reviewer has to ask whether, in an environment where learners check in to the course area at various times during the week, learners could really be “off task”? This book is extremely informative and presents some theory, but it is not a good match for novice educators who are interested in a practical perspective to learning how to teach foreign languages online. Though the authors address some important elements of online learning...