Introduction
College communities across the United States
are becoming progressively more technological. At
Stanford University technology integrates with
traditional academics and residential life. All cam
residences provide an ethernet connection, and in some
cases wireless access, for each student. Students use
such access for email, web surfing, file sharing, and Instant Messaging (IM), the chosen method of
social communication. IM perks, such as buddy lists, sound, buddy icons, emoticons, profiles, filetransfers,
and away messages, attract college students. With over 60 million habitual users (LaGesse,
2001, p. 54), IM allows people to converse with one another without the time lag associated with email
communication.
Task
1.what are the benefits and drawbacks of doing an activity in chat rather than face-to-face?
2What might be some useful rules for chat conduct in the FL classroom?
Process
1.The current challenges facing traditional colleges and universities, including higher tuition, budget cuts, and course shortages, have caused many students to search for alternatives. With nearly three million students currently enrolled in fully online degree programs and six million taking at least one online course as part of their degree program, online education has clearly become one of the most popular higher education alternatives. The continually improving reputation of online learning has also helped fuel its expansion, as initial skepticism has faltered in the face of evidence that shows that online learning can be just as effective as face-to-face education.
All of this means that students, from working professionals to recent high school graduates, find many reasons to take all or some of their courses online.While there is contradictory evidence about the rate of online student participation versus participation in traditional courses, one thing is certain: online courses offer shy or more reticent students the opportunity to participate in class discussions or chats with more ease than face-to-face class sessions. Some students even report that online courses are easier to concentrate in because they are not distracted by other students and classroom activity.Students can take online courses and even complete entire degrees while working, while in-between jobs, or while taking time to raise a family. This academic work will explain any discontinuity or gaps in a resume as well. Also, earning a degree can show prospective employers that you are ambitious and want to remain informed and prepared for any new challenges.
2.Chat has advantages in its own right that have inspired many to use it even in
courses that were not done at a distance (e.g., Abrams, 2003; Chun, 1994; Sand-
ers, 2006). Abrams (2003) and Ortega (1997) reported greater language produc-
tion and generation of ideas in chat, as compared to similar time periods in face-
to-face classes. Synchronous CMC can also enhance foreign language learners’
noticing (Lai & Zhao, 2006; Shekary & Tahririan, 2006) and negotiation of mean-
ing (Smith, 2003; Shekary & Tahririan, 2006), and several studies have found
chat to have benecial effects over time on foreign language learners’ oral and/or
written prociency (Beauvois, 1992; Chun, 1994; Kelm, 1992; Kern, 1995; Payne
& Whitney, 2002; Warschauer, 1996; Weininger & Shield, 2003).
In their study of classroom and online interaction, Hudson and Bruckman (2002)
identied inhibition as an obstacle to participation in the foreign language setting.
The text chat environment, however, has been shown to minimize inhibition and
increase student participation (Hudson & Bruckman, 2002; Roed, 2003; Suler,
2004; Warschauer, 1996). This results in a form of communication which allows
for a move away from the traditional pattern of Initiate-Respond-Evaluate interac-
tion among teacher and students (Bloome, Carter, Christian, Otto, & Shuart-Faris,
2005;
Newman, Grifn, & Cole,
1989).
Chat frequently results in more equitable participation among students. Students
who are quiet during face-to-face classes tend to produce more in chat (Beau-
vois, 1992; Bump, 1990; Kern, 1995; Warschauer, 1996), and students in general
have been found to take greater initiatives to communicate in CMC (Beauvois,
1992; Chun, 1994; Darhower, 2002; Deusen-Scholl, Frei, & Dixon, 2005; Kern,
1995). Given the increased number of student turns in the online environment, as
compared to the classroom environment in which student turns are fewer due to
teacher dominance, text chat represents a form of interaction which can be char-
acterized as “egalitarian participation” (Hudson & Bruckman, 2002, p. 121).
A teacher’s presence in
chat sessions may reduce some of the benets just enumerated. However, whether that is the case or not clearly depends on a number
of factors, including the personalities of all of the participants (Ene, Goertler, &
McBride, 2005; Goertler, 2006; Weininger & Shield, 2003). For a more detailed
discussion of the teacher’s role in a student-centered classroom, see chapter 4
this volume. Even in student-only chats, because students know that their chat
sessions’ chatlogs can be looked at later by the teacher (or others), their sense of
accountability increases (Sengupta, 2001).
Conclusion
However, the teacher, as an authority gure and representative of expert knowl
-
edge, clearly has much to offer through his or her presence in a chat session, and
this is perhaps especially important to students communicating in a second or
foreign language (Ene et al., 2005; Goertler, 2006). Furthermore, even in chat
sessions without the teacher, the teacher’s presence is still implied for the teacher
set up the sessions and is involved in the evaluation of such sessions. Cycling
back and forth between teacher-present and student-only chats would be a way of
reaping the advantages of both modes.