Celebration of Nature

1. THE ANALYSIS OF CMC ASSIGNMENT

INTRODUCTION

The article that will be discussed here were the research done by Blake (2000) from the University of California, entitled Computer Mediated Communication: A Window on L2 Spanish Interlanguage. This article was taken from the Language Learning and Technology website which focuses on the study of second language learning among the Spanish native and target language students in the United States’ university.

The objectives of the article were, firstly, to document that networked between learner-leaner discussions in Spanish would also produce language modifications such as those reported in the oral-based interactionist literature. Secondly, is to characterize linguistically those modifications, thirdly, to test whether Pica, Kanagy, and Falodun's (1993) predictions concerning the superiority of jigsaw and information-gap tasks also held for students involved in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). While the last objective was, to show how chat programmes can provide Second Language Acquisition (SLA) field with a convenient window to observe L2 interlanguage.

METHODOLOGY

Research Question:
The study talks about the CMC method, whether it can provide benefits to L2 Spanish learners rather than learning in the classroom environment. Secondly, the study act as an investigation of synchronous chat records to provide a window for interlanguage, and lastly, the study deals with the discourse analysis produced in the chat window.

This research had been carried out on fifty students from two intermediate Spanish classes at University of California, with the time allocation of 50 minutes a week during their classroom lab period throughout the Spring and Fall quarters in 1998. The research was done in two levels: firstly, in the Spring and the second research was done on Fall. The method used on this study was the synchronous method of CMC, which was chatting using the Remote Technical Assistance (RTA) program developed by the university itself.

The research designs of this study were discussion in pairs, online tasks, survey and quantitative method. Discussion in pairs were done during the learning process in which two students communicates via online, by completing specific online tasks given, such as jigsaw, information gap and decision-making tasks. Survey method was carried out to all the participants during the Post-Test study on the effectiveness of the tasks while quantitative method was used for the finding which sees the number of negotiations done during the study.

Data analysis, on the other hand, showed that not much negotiation was done on the two seasons, although it is the main objective of the research. However, with the small numbers of negotiations, the tasks and activities that were done online was the most favourable among students especially the Apartment Jigsaw Tasks, which resulted with the highest negotiations, 3.8 percent for Spring study and 3.5 percent for Fall even though there were not much of turn-taking counted during the study.

FINDINGS

From the findings of the research, we get to know that a well-designed network tasks promote learners to notice the gaps in their lexical interlanguage. Then, Jigsaw Tasks also proved to be superior to other types of tasks. Networked exchanges, since they are text-based and learners must type out or produce the structures in question, appear to constitute an example of forced output (Swain, 1985), which some researchers have identified as a crucially important factor in the promotion of a fertile learning environment for SLA and had especially stimulated learners' reflections on their own vocabulary use (Swain, 1998). Lastly, the findings suggest that lexical confusions make up the most common form of negotiation in these learner/learner networked exchanges.


2. REACTION TO THE FINDINGS

The findings in the article shows that the CMC method of learning was very successful especially when it is combined with interesting online tasks, as students enjoyed doing it. Moreover, by looking at Malaysian context of learning, I think that researchers will be coming up with the same findings from its students. We do need these methods of learning as it will be very interesting and useful for learning purposes. I believe that learning through books do not teach much if we are considering to learn a new language, as it tend to not discuss on many things and the learning here also seems to be done in a formal manner, which we will not be able to communicate with real-life people. This is the exact reason we learn the new target language- to communicate. Moreover, by chatting, with other students, especially with the native speakers of the language, it is likely to be more educational and we will be receiving more useful input too, as well as able to correct the miscommunications done at that moment of chatting. This somehow makes the learning better and faster too.

In comparison with the oral-classroom learning, students sometimes will receive delayed feedback from their teachers, as it is written and takes time for the teachers to correct all the students’ mistakes. Then, if they practice speaking in class and committed even a simple mistakes in their target language, they will somehow feel lack of confidence in speaking the new language again, as the teachers or even friends will demotivate the learner by laughing or even mocking. Therefore, face-to-face communications have its own disadvantages, as we will be unable to correct the mistakes at that instant, probably because no confidence, scared or nervous in front of large audiences, as in the classroom situations. These situations are typical to Malaysian classroom, as Malaysian students mostly are not very outspoken and not always full of confidence as the Westerners.

Thus, CMC methods of learning seem to be the most successful method to be practiced for Malaysian students. By chatting, e-mails, forums and many other online methods, students are free to express themselves in a more independent way, without worrying about teachers scorn and been demotivate by others. Moreover, by online learning, students are free to express themselves and more willing to learn, if the mistakes done are corrected by their friends or other students (as this articles’ study) within the same constrain , as they tend to have the same thinking and opinions too. So, they will know the way to correct their peers’ mistakes and to teach them. Hence, students’ participation in learning will tend to increase too. However, in this method of learning, teachers’ role in CMC will be unimportant, they will be there only to assist the students if any problems arise.

REFERENCE

Blake, R. (2000). Computer Mediated Communication: A window on L2 Spanish interlanguage. Language Learning and Technology, 4 (1), 120-136. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol4num1/blake/default.html

Pica, T., Kanagy, R., & Falodun, J. (1993). Choosing and using communication tasks for second language instruction. In G. Crookes & S. Gass (Eds.), Tasks and language learning: Integrating theory and practice, 1. (pp. 9-34). England: Clevedon.

Swain, M. (1998). Focus on Form through conscious reflection. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on Form in classroom Second Language Acquisition (pp. 64-81). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Swain, M. (1985). Communicative Competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In C. Madden & S. Gass (Eds.), Input in Second Language Acquisition (pp. 235-253). Rowley: Newbury House.

CMC Reflection
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