CALL AND TEACHING 1

Vol 24, No. 2 (January 2007)

Face-to-face and Computer-mediated Peer Review in EFL Writing

Mei-ching Ho
The Arizona State University
Sandra J. Savignon
The Pennsylvania State University

Abstract:
This paper examines the use of face-to-face peer review (FFPR) and computer-mediated peer review (CMPR) in an Asian English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) academic writing context. The participants were 33 English majors from a university of science and technology in Taiwan, a new type of school offering 2-year associate degree programs in foreign language studies. Our study contributes to the research on foreign-language-writing collaboration for Chinese learners in two important ways. First, many investigations of FFPR have looked at Chinese learners either in English as a second language (ESL) settings or at 4-year universities. Few have considered Chinese learners at 2-year colleges in EFL contexts. Second, there has been very little documentation of CMPR using annotation features in common word processing software in either ESL or EFL settings (Honeycutt, 2001). This study investigates the attitudes of 2-year college students in Taiwan toward the use of FFPR and CMPR in composition classes.Pedagogical implications are also drawn.

KEYWORDS

Face-to-face Peer Review, Computer-mediated Peer Review, Second Language Writing, EFL Learners.

CALL AND TEACHING 2

Vol 21, No. 1 (September 2003)

Foreign Language Productivity in Synchronous Versus Asynchronous Computer-mediated Communication

LUISA C. PEREZ
Emporia State University

Abstract:
This study investigates language productivity in a foreign language learner output obtained via two different modes of computer-mediated communication (CMC): asynchronous (email dialog journals) and synchronous (chatroom sessions). The research questions to be answered in the study were: (a) Which form of CMC, synchronous (chatroom activities) or asynchronous (email), would be more effective in increasing language productivity in foreign language learning? And (b) Which form of CMC would participants prefer? A within-subject design was used in the study with 24 participants who were studying first semester Spanish with one instructor. Participants emailed a dialog journal in Spanish to their instructor every Tuesday during the semester and they also attended the chatroom every Thursday to chat with their instructor and with each other in Spanish. Students met in the conventional classroom three times a week and via CMC on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The researcher tallied how many new vocabulary wordsparticipants produced in the email journals as opposed to new vocabulary words produced in chatroom sessions. (The researcher counted only those words that did not appear in the textbook or had been taught in class.) Results showed that there were no significant differences between the two CMC modes. However, a higher number of words were produced in the chatroom discussions than in the email messages. Fifty percent of the students preferred electronic mail and the other 50% were more inclined towards chatroom sessions. The author concluded that both techniques had benefits for vocabulary enrichment and productivity and that both tools enhanced the language acquisition process.

CALL AND TEACHING 3

Vol 22, No. 3 (My 2005)

CMC Technologies for Teaching Foreign Languages: What�s on the Horizon?

PETER A. LAFFORD
BARBARA A. LAFFORD
Arizona State University

Abstract:
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies have begun to play an increasingly important role in the teaching of foreign/second (L2) languages. Its use in this context is supported by a growing body of CMC research that highlights the importance of the negotiation of meaning and computer-based interaction in the process of second language acquisition (SLA) (Chapelle, 1998; Payne & Whitney, 2002). Recent research has also pointed out the importance of situated cognition (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989) and the use of task-based
activities (Doughty & Long, 2003) to allow students to acquire language in meaningful contexts for specific purposes. In this paper, various CMC technologies will be described and critically evaluated for their possible applications in task-based foreign language learning activities. First, general issues of connectivity will be defined and discussed (e.g., wired, wireless, and infrared technologies; dial-up vs. broadband, etc.). Then various asynchronous and synchronous CMC
technologies will be described and evaluated, pointing out their strengths and drawbacks for use in a L2 learning environment. The authors then compare and contrast the use of a task-based language-learning activity within wired versus wireless environments. The paper concludes with an overall discussion that focuses on the challenges facing the implementation of these technologies (e.g., accessibility, compatibility, financial considerations), some possible solutions to those problems, and some speculation about future uses of these technologies to enhance the L2 learning experience.

CALL AND TEACHING 4

Vol 22, No. 3 (My 2005)

Using Computer-mediated Communication to Establish Social and Supportive Environments in Teacher Education

NIKE ARNOLD

University of Tennessee

LARA DUCATE

LARA LOMICKA

University of South Carolina

GILLIAN LORD

University of Florida

(Authors are listed in alphabetical order and contributed equally to this article.)

Abstract:
This article examines social presence in virtual asynchronous learning communities among foreign language teachers. We present the findings of two studies investigating cross-institutional asynchronous forums created to engage participants in online dialogues regarding their foreign language teacher preparation experiences in and out of the classroom. Both studies took placeduring Fall 2003 and were conducted between first-time teacher/graduate students in four methodology courses at three large state universities. In the first study, students participated in weekly online exchanges in the form of dialogue journals for reflective teaching. In the second study, students were provided with specific topics to address using a discussion board, related both to theoretical language learning issues as well as pedagogical classroom-related concerns. The data analyzed here consist of the contributions and responses submitted by all participants on their respective online forums. We analyze these data qualitatively using Rourke, Anderson,Garrison, and Archer�s (2001) framework in order to gain a better understanding of the element of social presence�specifically affective, interactive, and cohesive indicators as they occur during asynchronous online discussion. This study marks an important contribution to the literature as it examines how virtual discussion takes shape, how the notion of social presence is defined in these foreign language teacher communities, as well as the implications for language teacher education in computer-mediated communication.

CALL AND TEACHING 5

Vol 22, No. 3 (My 2005)

CMC as Written Conversation: A Critical Social-constructivist

View of Multiple Identities and Cultural Positioning in the L2/C2 Classroom

MARY E. WILDNER-BASSETT
University of Arizona

Abstract:
This article proposes a model for a critical social-constructivist (CS-C) approach to the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in language/culture education. CS-C theories emphasize a critical approach to social interactions, interpersonal relations, communication, and
the influence that these activities have on learning. I will use the model to explore the extent to which CS-C approaches, especially in relation to the principles of connectivism, impact postsecondary language and culture education and its effects on identities within the constraints
of a CMC institutional setting. Readers will participate in an exploration of new ways of thinking, learning, and teaching that emerge from the ecology of second language and culture classrooms integrated with CMC. There I have found the life experiences of learners and my own experiences as a teacher to be highly relevant to the learning processes at hand. I develop these explorations using global qualitative discourse-based analyses of selections from learner data produced in asynchronous CMC contexts over the course of 3 years. My focus is on the
learning of culture rather than on second language acquisition in a narrow sense. Language
learning and even language attrition are thematized in the learning ecologies that are my focus. This study does not, however, make any claims about language acquisition that are not mentioned in learners� own reflections. The data include written conversations produced in both English (often as the second language of the participants) and German (most often as a foreign language for the participants) using various platforms for asynchronous CMC interactions.

CALL AND TEACHING 6

CALICO - The Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium

Vol 3, No. 3 (March 1986)

CALL with Audio Output

John Collett

Abstract:
The need to include an audio component in CAI work in French is discussed, and an attempted solution is described in terms of a suite of programs designed to facilitate the creation and use of dictation practice materials. Pre-existing recordings can be used in the preparation phase, or
new recordings can be made as the program runs. An index of recordings is automatically updated. For each text a setting can be made to require exact punctuation or to tolerate punctuation differences when it is used. In student use of the program, useful features include: the option of instructions if needed; repetition of any phrase by pressing a single key; the progressive build-up on the screen of the complete and correct text, with those segments in which a student error occurred being highlighted; the option of repeating incorrectly answered segments at the end of the exercise; and of finally hearing and seeing the exercise; and of finally hearing and seeing the complete text simultaneously. Supplementary programs enable the inclusion of
accented letters and the production on screen of the correctly formatted text.

CALL AND TEACHING 7

Susana Sotillo 467
CALICO Journal, 22 (3), p-p 467-496. © 2005 CALICO Journal
Corrective Feedback via Instant Messenger
Learning Activities in NS-NNS
and NNS-NNS Dyads
SUSANA SOTILLO
Montclair State University

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study examines corrective feedback in native speaker-nonnative
speaker (NS-NNS) and NNS-NNS dyads while participants were engaged
in communicative and problem-solving activities via Yahoo! Instant Messenger
(YIM). As “negotiation of meaning” studies of the 1990s have shown, linguistic
items which learners negotiate in face-to-face (F2F) interaction seem to facilitate
their L2 development. This type of research has been successfully extended to
computer-mediated contexts. Recently, findings from second language acquisition
(SLA)-motivated research have shown that negative evidence or incidental
focus-on-form in communicative classrooms appears to encourage learner
awareness that often leads to successful uptake. Six research questions are addressed
in this study. They include the availability of error correction episodes in
NS-NNS and NNS-NNS online dyad work, type of corrective feedback provided
to L2 learners, category of errors, learner uptake or response, type of uptake, and
length of moves. Among the results of this exploratory study we find the following:
error correction episodes are available in an instant messaging context
and, in this context, more indirect corrective feedback that focuses primarily on
grammatical and lexical errors is provided to L2 learners. Also, simple moves
characterize these YIM error correction episodes, and there is evidence of successful
learner uptake.