DTP – the German Terminology Portal
E- Learning in Music: Insights Gained from the Compilation of an Electronic Database on African Music Terms
Maria SMIT
Department of Music, University of Stellenbosch, SA
Abstract: This paper deals with the formative evaluation of an electronic multimedia database on Xhosa music terminology. A theoretical framework is presented within which the compilation of the database has been conceptualised and executed. The lexicographical insights draw mainly on the writings of Herbert Ernst Wiegand, and the publications of several scholars working on hypertext, multimedia, and computer-based instruction, are taken into account.
The database of Xhosa music terminology is discussed, and examples are shown. The types of information included are, apart from the lemma signs, the pronunciation, translation equivalents, etymological information, onomasiological and semasiological information, with special emphasis on describing the cultural context in which the terms are used to the potential users. Illustrations, photographs, video clips, sound recordings and animations are included where relevant, and links are made to related parts of the database.
Undergraduate students and high school pupils, who form part of the target users, evaluated the database. The purpose of the evaluation was to obtain information on the user-friendliness of the database, in order to improve it and to make certain general recommendations for similar terminological databases, intended for e-learning. Using Ripfel & Wiegand’s (1988) suggestions, the evaluation by the subjects was done by means of questionnaires and protocols. The suggestions of other scholars were also taken into account, and an existing ‘usability questionnaire’ was adapted to serve the purposes.
From the results obtained by means of the evaluation, certain insights are gained, and recommendations for the improvement of similar databases are made.
1. Introduction
One of the main problems in the study of music in South Africa, is the fact that information on and sound recordings of the traditional, indigenous musical cultures are available in university libraries, museums and other research institutions (in the form of dissertations, journal articles and field recordings on tapes), but often not accessible to a wider public. It is important that information on these traditional cultures, which have been marginalized during the apartheid era, should be readily available in order to promote renewed interest in them. One way of preserving and documenting indigenous cultural information might be by means of a multimedia database. Therefore, it was considered a worthwhile project to embark on the compilation of a database of African music, to be used by undergraduate students and high school pupils who study music.
E-learning has become fashionable,1 and the use of technology, also in education, has mushroomed over the past ten years (Nielsen 1995: x). Many studies on multimedia and hypertext, also in lexicography, are now available (cf. e.g. Leech &
Nesi 1999; Park & Etgen 2000; Storrer 2001), as well as studies on the planning and compilation of computer-based instruction (cf. e.g. Dunnagan & Christensen 2000), and the evaluation thereof (cf. e.g. Cradler 1994; Cradler & Bridgforth 1996; Hempel 1995; Kallinowski et al. s.d.; Sherry et al. 1997). Many scholars claim that, under certain conditions, computer-based instruction is an ideal medium (cf. e.g. Walters &
Gardner 1990; Roschelle et al. 2000).2 It is believed that computer-based instruction enhances ‘idea organisation’ (Nielsen 1995: 90), ‘knowledge construction’ (Jonassen et al. 2000: 108-113; Mayer 2001: 13),3 and ‘retention’ (Mayer 2001: 72-75) and
‘transfer’ of knowledge (Mayer 2001: 75-78).
2. The multimedia project on African music terms
This paper focuses on the evaluation of an electronic database containing African musical terms. This terminological database has been developed in the Department of Music at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. The project investigated the possibilities of applying the German metalexicographer Herbert Ernst Wiegand’s (e.g.
1998) theoretical assumptions, which have up to the present mainly been directed towards monolingual and translation dictionaries, to the terminology of African music.
The evaluation of the database was done in order to (i) improve the user-friendliness of the database, and (ii) make more general suggestions for the types and presentation of data which could be included in electronic terminology databases to be used in e-learning.
The database in question is frame-based, drawing on suggestions in Konerding (1993) and Konerding & Wiegand (1994).4 The first completed section of the database contains terminology of Xhosa music. There are 722 terms with definitions in the glossary. Types of information which are included are, amongst others: (i) the lemma sign, followed by the language of origin, and the pronunciation (in a sound clip); (ii) translation equivalents (if any) and names of other similar instruments; (iii) a short everyday description of the meaning of the term (included in the glossary); (iv) etymological information (if available); and (v) a fuller description of the object or event, with cultural information on its function and role within the culture. In addition,
1 Cf. Cedefop (2002: 3) for a wide definition of e-learning as ‘learning supported by information and communication technologies’.
2 According to Roschelle et al. (2000: 98-101), most major studies that investigated the question whether or not e-learning is beneficial, indicate that it is.
3 This view of learning concurs with Wiegand’s (1998: 170) ‘actional-semantic’ point of view on the use of dictionaries, namely, that a user constructs (or ‘reconstructs’) the meaning of lexical items by means of the data presented in a dictionary (or, as in this case, an electronic database).
4 Cf., also, Woodhead’s (1991: 37ff) discussion of frames and its use in hypermedia.
video clips, illustrations, photographs, animations and sound recordings are added where relevant, and links are supplied to the different parts of the database. (Some examples from the database will be demonstrated during the session.) The database is stored in ToolBook II on CD-ROM, but it is foreseen that once it is completed, it will also be made available online.
This Xhosa music section of the database has been evaluated for its user-friendliness by a number of high school pupils and undergraduate students, who form part of the target users. The investigation took into consideration the viewpoints of research on dictionary use by Ripfel & Wiegand (1988) and Wiegand (1998: 967-969, 996), using questionnaires and written protocols.5 The evaluation was viewed as formative evaluation (Bresler 1994; Chou 1999) by means of which the database can be refined and improved, and an adapted ‘usability questionnaire’, based on one by Kalawsky (s.d.) of Loughborough University was used.
3. The usability questionnaire
The evaluation firstly contained questions about personal information of the subjects (for example, their prior experience with computers). Secondly, it requested the subjects to write a short essay and some shorter paragraphs on information contained in the database, in order to determine how retrievable the data are. These assignments differed in nature, in order to induce different user searches in various parts of the database, and with different data types. Thirdly, the questionnaire posed several questions on the functionality, the lay-out and the help functions of the database, its consistency in terms of user expectations and needs, and the overall impression that the database had on the subjects.
The results of this usability test are currently being analysed, and will be further discussed during the presentation. Aspects, which will in particular be looked at, are, for example, whether the types of information are sufficient to give users a clear idea of the meaning and the cultural context of the terms. Problems that were encountered will be mentioned, and suggestions that may have implications for electronic terminology databases for e-learning in general will be made.
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