Research Question
What is "the potential role of Internet resources as a means for beginning-level students of Spanish as a foreign language to gain a sense of the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world as part of their undergraduate language learning experience"(72)?

Participants
The subjects were thirteen college students of Basic Spanish.  All were computer literate except one.

Methods Used
The students had to complete "five Spanish language activities using the Internet"(72).  The assignments were created using two approaches:  One, a topic or theme was selected for each chapter studied in the first semester, first year Spanish syllabus, and two, students had to complete a task that was designed to go with each topic; sensitivity to the skills needed to be successful was accounted for.  The textbook was used in conjunction with the activities.  For example, when the textbook chapter emphasized the Spanish speaking community of Madrid, the students had to plan a family trip to Madrid which included:  One, finding names and costs for hotels and deciding where to stay, two, searching for restaurants that will satisfy each of the family members, three, find sites to visit and how to get there, and four, find the location of a museum, the hours of operation and when it is free to visit.  General searches were made to find appropriate websites using keywords like the name of the country or the names of sites.  The students worked independently.  Each activity was worth 50 points and points were awarded if the activity was complete rather than if it was right or wrong.  The cultural knowledge that was gained was discussed.  

Assessment
A "post activity assessment questionnaire"(73) was administered after each activity was completed.  The questionnaire had two sections:  One "measured perceived learning outcomes, reaction to the medium and assessment of the task"(73) using a 6 point Likert-type scale and two, was open-ended questions measuring attitudes toward technology.  Also, another survey was given after the completion of all 5 activities in order to "provide a comprehensive view of integrating language and culture through use of the Internet"(73).

Findings
The outcomes for perceived learning had means of 77% indicating that the students agreed that their language knowledge had increased, 81% indicating that they agreed that their cultural knowledge had increased and 88% believed that their knowledge of the language and culture both increased.  Regarding the attitudes towards technology the students showed means of 69% indicating websites were easy to access, 71% said the sites were easy to use, 71% said the information was useful, 32% said they returned to the site after a task was completed, and 85% enjoyed using the web.

Usefulness
The article considered the pilot study to be very useful and "an excellent tool for teaching foreign langauge and culture"(76).  The researchers saw this study as having a balanced intergration of textbook, language and culture, purposeful use of the target language, variety and relevance of task types and authenticity of Spanish-speaking cultures.

My evaluation
Would activities like these be useful for learning about one's own culture or language? Are web resources available for lesser known or endangered languages and cultures?  From my own research, I believe there are quite a few resources on the Web to answer my questions above.