“No homework today!”
The welcome cry of every student liberated from the classroom echoes down corridors, across crowded buses, and immediately phones are out to text and chat out plans for the evening.
Harnessing online chat for language development and fluency, seems obvious. It maximizes hours out the classroom for language growth, and happens in such a way that natural communication patterns of an individual are exploited. Win – win for teacher and student. Perfect solution – or is it?
Conian and Wong (2004) conducted a pilot study exploring the use of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) facilities as a way of facilitating English second language development (e.g. MSM or ICQ). Positive outcomes were that the use of IRC increased motivation with students communicating on subjects of interest to them, and at their own pace. It also strengthened the particular grammatical foundation in the area of focus (namely, finite verbs).
However, the effectiveness of the overall learning utilizing IRC out the classroom should not be over-rated. Speech discourse is limited when the communication is exclusively amongst peers. Range of vocabulary and grammar structure will tend to be restricted and take advantage of brief partial utterances. Students need to be encouraged to “notice” (Schmidt, 1990) their usage of the targeted grammar feature. Schmidt argues that this is crucial in order to convert “input to intake”. Students need to have further opportunity to comment and reflect on instances where they may have struggled to target the selected grammar feature effectively; they need class time to share when they felt inconfident as language users; and collaborate with peers and instructors to find fluent solutions. It could be that to maximize advantage of IRC students need to upload a “page” of chat to a communal blog that is dedicated exclusively for the use of that particular group of students. It would open opportunities for class discussion and correction that private IRC would not. The blending of “homework time” with class time, of spontaneous communication with guided learning, would provide opportunities to work on the pronunciation of online utterances, and identify other associated words that may be able enrich the students’ lexicon. A transfer from online language fluency to face to face language fluency would take place.
Of course, it may be argued, this would then limit spontaneous expression by the students. But the range of use of the targeted grammar feature would be wider and approached with heightened consciousness.
With increased importance attached to the connection between students outside of school hours it stands to reason that the traditional learning hierarchy of teacher to student will be challenged and that there will be an increase of student to student learning. “The opportunity for … a new social dynamic” (Warschauer, Turbee & Roberts, 1996) will be created. Peterson (1997) also notes this change in interaction pattern between student and teacher. It appears that the role of the student is changing from one of passivity to being an initiator of learning.
Initially, not all students may feel comfortable with the technical demands of “Generation Y” styled homework, nor may they have the social ease to engage in frequent and rapid fire online chat. SchMOOze and Dave’s ESL internet café are 2 internet sites that students are able to use as launch pads into this synchronous communication. (Both described in some depth by Kitao).The transition from a class time task, in which this occurs with technical support and with scaffolding for the specific linguistic outcomes desired, to independent out of hours “homework” needs to be gradual. Furthermore once the homework practice is established, continual follow up needs to occur in class to retain motivation and ensure that noticing of language patterns, vocabulary enrichment and language fluency – written and oral, are occurring on a daily basis.
Reference List
Chun, D.M. (1994). Using computer networking to facilitate the acquisition of interactive competence. System, 22, pp.17-31
Conian, D. & Wong, R. (2004). Internet Relay Chat as a tool in the autonomous development of ESL learners’ English language ability: an exploratory study: System, 32, pp.321-335
Kitao, S.K. (1998). Interaction and on-line synchronous communication in English language learning. CALL-EJ, vol.3, No.1. Available from terrefhttp://www.lerc.ritsumei.ac.jp/callej/index.htmlurlhttp://www.lerc.ritsumei.ac.jp/callej/index.html.
Peterson, M. (1997). Language teaching and networking. System, 25(1), pp.29-37
Schmidt, R. (1990). The role of consciousness in second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 11(2), pp.129-158
Warschauer, M., Turbee, L., & Roberts, B. (1996). Computer learning networks and student empowerment. System, 24(1), pp.1-14
