scholarly journals Liminality and disinhibition in online language learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Una Mary Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Online Language Learning ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Synchronous Online

<p>The aim of this paper is to bring theoretical concepts from other areas of scholarly research to bear on synchronous online education in a cross-disciplinary effort to shed light on what is going on by introducing systems of thought from other areas. The liminality and associated communitas which are found in synchronous online learning environments are examined for their possible consequences for learning in general and language learning in particular. Like computer-mediated communication, liminality has been associated with disinhibitory effects. Lack of excessive inhibition has been shown to have positive effects on second language production. The position of the online learner as “neither here nor there” or perhaps simultaneously both here and there is investigated and discussed.</p><p> </p>

Current Trends in Online Language Learning

2011 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 19-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Blake
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Online Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Development ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Virtual Classes

Online language learning (OLL) can take place in Web-facilitated, hybrid, or fully virtual classes. These formats are beginning to attract serious attention from the language profession and, in particular, the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). This article traces recent studies of online learning and then focuses in on its application to language learning through tutorial CALL, social computing, and games for language learning. I strive to show that tutorial CALL and computer-mediated communication can complement each other in the service of modern language instruction, along with the inclusion of language games. Although assessment studies of OLL remain sparse, the evidence is steadily mounting that shows that these new formats can provide learning environments conducive to successful second language development when properly integrated into the curriculum.

Effects of Task Repetition on L2 Oral (in Written Form) Production in Computer-Mediated Communication

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (supplement) ◽  
pp. 221-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pao-Ling Liao ◽  
Kuoen Fu
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Task Repetition ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Online Chat ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Online Planning ◽  
Computer Mediated

The purpose of this study was to develop a three-phase integrative task-based course for achieving communicative effectiveness in two aspects. One aspect was to combine E-simulation with Facebook online chat in a computerised environment. E-activities may not only captivate participants and allow them to be immersed in friendly user interfaces, but also permit participants to engage in pre-task and online planning. Consequently, E-activities may enhance production performance in the complexity and accuracy dimensions, which were based on those described in previous studies. The other aspect was to observe the effects on the L2 production of learners according to the aforementioned computer-mediated communication (CMC) settings by manipulating task repetition. Whereas rehearsal can improve the performance of a task, it was also used to distinguish between the differences among tasks performed with the same partner or with a different partner. The theory of task-based language learning and teaching (TBLT) was investigated to determine whether further modification or extension was needed in these CMC settings. The results of this study showed that task repetition enhanced the performance of learners regarding syntactic variety and lexical complexity. Task repetition had more positive effects on the changed-partner group than it had on the same-partner group.

Promoting Autonomous Language Learning in Online Environments

10.47908/9/15 ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 165-280
Author(s):  
Maria De Santo ◽  
Luisa Boardman
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Autonomous Learning ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Integration Of Technology ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The University

The Self-Access Language Centre of the University of Naples “L’Orientale” (CILA) promotes the development of autonomy in language learning, offering a wide range of technology-based resources and a language counselling service. In the last few years, to satisfy the growing need for independent language learning in our university, we have integrated autonomous learning in the SAC with online pathways and multimedia materials. We started by offering online Self-Access activities in blended courses, integrating face-to-face classroom teaching with online modules. This experiment enabled us to develop a kind of blended autonomous learning, combining a real-life SAC with online Self-Access Centres. Virtual SACs suggest a variety of language learning activities and allow learners to study a language while reflecting on their learning process. In the online SAC, language counsellors implement the language learner’s autonomy promoted in presence in the SAC, interacting with them through computer-mediated communication. In this paper we shall look at how the promotion of autonomy in language learning can be enhanced through the integration of technology-based materials and activities made available in self-access modality. Our aim is to present online resources designed to help students learn a foreign language autonomously.

Virtual worlds and language learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabela Melchor-Couto
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Affective Variables ◽  
One Step ◽  
The Eu

Technology has made an invaluable contribution to foreign language (FL) teaching, particularly so in recent years. The advanced technical capabilities offered by digital games, including voice and text chat, take the use of computer-mediated communication in language learning one step further, allowing for remote, anonymous and situated learner interaction. This article presents an overview on how virtual worlds (VWs) are being used for educational purposes and for FL teaching in particular. A literature review on existing research has been included, covering areas such as FL interaction, impact on affective variables and attitudes towards the use of these environments. Special attention will be devoted to how VW interaction may affect students’ anxiety, motivation and self-efficacy beliefs. Finally, teacher perceptions will be explored through the data collected among 179 secondary school FL teachers participating in the EU-funded TeCoLa project (‘Pedagogical differentiation through telecollaboration and gaming for intercultural and content integrated language teaching’).

scholarly journals Teletandem language learning in a technological context of education: interactions between Brazilian and German students

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 729-762
Author(s):  
Suelene Vaz da SILVA ◽  
Francisco José Quaresma de FIGUEIREDO
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Technological Context ◽  
The University ◽  
Communication Study

ABSTRACT This paper presents data from a computer-mediated communication study conducted between a group of Brazilian university students - from Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Goiás, Campus Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil - who wanted to learn English, and a group of German university students - from the University of Worms, in Germany - who wanted to learn Portuguese. The cross-cultural bilingual communication was conducted in the second semester of 2010 and involved discussions on environmental issues. Adopting a qualitative perspective in the analysis, the data were derived from conversation sessions through a webconferencing software known as Openmeetings and through e-mails and some written activities developed by the students. All these were analyzed by means of sociocultural theory. Among the conclusions we reached, we observed that the participants used the software features to help them in their language learning process, discussed issues related to environmental science, as well as topics related to their personal and academic life. Regarding the languages used, the participants used English during the teletandem sessions as an anchoring language to assist their partners in learning English itself and Portuguese, as well as introduced the German language in the interaction sessions.

Web-based collaborative reading exercises for learners in remote locations: the effects of computer-mediated feedback and interaction via computer-mediated communication

ReCALL ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Remote Locations ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Collaborative Reading

AbstractDespite the fact that the benefits of pair and group work for those espousing an interactionist view of second language learning are well documented (Lightbown & Spada, 1999; Long, 1981; Pica, 1994, 1996; Van Lier, 1996), learning environments exist in which students have no option but to study alone. Of particular interest for this research are learners who, despite studying in contexts supportive of collaborative interaction in the classroom, have little opportunity to interact with partners when trying to participate in collaborative reading comprehension exercises outside school. In an attempt to find a solution to this potentially inhibiting learning context, this research comprises an investigation into (a) whether the introduction of computer-mediated Elaborative feedback before Knowledge of Correct Response (KCR) feedback better promotes quality interaction and comprehension of a web-based reading text and (b) whether computer-mediated communication (CMC) offers a suitable means for generating quality interaction between peers in remote locations. While completing a web-based multiple-choice reading comprehension exercise, students worked in pairs and received either KCR feedback only, or Elaborative feedback before KCR feedback. In contrast to KCR feedback which simply comprises the correct answers, Elaborative feedback was produced in the form of hints to foster interaction and to support dyads in their attempts at self-correcting any incorrect answers. Using a multiple-try methodology, hints became increasingly specific for questions repeatedly answered incorrectly. Upon completing a follow-up comprehension exercise alone, all students were provided with KCR feedback only. Results from a quantitative analysis of the comprehension scores indicate that students who were provided with Elaborative feedback subsequently scored significantly higher on the follow-up exercise. Furthermore, results from a qualitative analysis of interactions suggest that CMC is a suitable way of generating quality interaction between students, particularly when Elaborative feedback is included.

Learners’ interactions: a comparison of oral and computer-assisted written conversations

ReCALL ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARISOL FERNÁNDEZ-GARCÍA ◽  
ASUNCÍON MARTÍNEZ ARBELAIZ
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Language Context

Previous research has underscored the role of negotiation in providing appropriate conditions for second language acquisition. Varonis and Gass (1985b), in a study of English as a Second Language (ESL), found greater amount of negotiation in non-native–non-native interaction than in native-non–native interaction. Given the increased interest in computer mediated communication and in its applications to language learning, this investigation explores whether those results are obtained when using an electronic written medium. This study compared the negotiations generated by dyads of non-native speakers (NNS–NNS), native speakers (NS–NS), and non-native and native speakers (NNS–NS), in the oral and written modes. The results revealed that the NNS–NS group negotiated in the oral mode significantly more than in the written mode; this group also negotiated significantly more than the other two groups in the oral mode. Learners' shared social and linguistic background seemed to have facilitated the comprehension of input. Conversely, lack of familiarity with native speaker's pronunciation seemed to have caused more breakdowns in the oral conversations of the mixed dyads. Though the results of this study suggest that negotiation is not the main resource to obtain modified input in a foreign language context, other learning strategies that may be beneficial in the language learning process were at use in learner-learner interaction.

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