Celebration of Nature

Analysis on synchronous CMC article.

Kitade, K. (2000). L2 Learners’ Discourse and SLA Theories in CMC: Collaborative Interaction in Internet Chat. Journal of Computer Assisted Language Learning, 13, 143-146.

The journal entitled “L2 Learners’ Discourse and SLA Theories in CMC: Collaborative Interaction in Internet Chat” is a study conducted by Keiko Kitade from University of Hawai’I at Manoa, United States of America. As has been clearly stated by the researcher in the introduction, this study has laid two purposes which are to discuss the unique linguistic and interactional features of CMC and to examine how such interactional features of CMC can be a contribution to the creation of a collaborative learning environment.
The previous studies on L2 classroom interaction and collaborative learning ascertains that learners have more opportunities both to speak and to negotiate in peer interactive setting than they do in teacher fronted settings. The previous studies also have discovered that despite the increasing opportunities for learners to participate in learner-learner interaction in the L2 classroom, the opportunity for a varied range of human interaction in either teacher-learner or learner-learner activity is still limited in a form of the grammatical knowledge, the restriction of the contexts, and the lack of value for the real world interaction.
The pressing issues that leads to this study are that in spite of quite of numbers of empirical studies have been carried out alongside the development of the software for computer-assisted language learning (CALL), the researcher believes that a more empirical study which looks into the characteristics of CMC compared with other interaction is necessary in order to adopt CMC into an actual L2 learning environment.
For this study, the researcher comes out with two research questions which function as guidelines throughout the research. The mentioned research questions are, what are the linguistic and interactional features in CMC among NNS (non native speakers) and NS (native speakers) participants, and to what extent the features facilitate L2 learning and collaborative learning environments.
As for the methodology to conduct this study, the researcher decided to analyse the data by using discourse analysis method. To be specific, the researcher used the method of sequential analysis because it preserves the whole of the interaction by examining interaction through its sequence in CMC which includes analysis of sequential units of conversation such as adjacency pair sequences, insertion sequences, and related pre-sequences. Besides, the relevant of this method is that it allows the researcher to analyse each interlocutor’s contribution to the ongoing discourse with insight into how it fits with what precedes and follows a particular turn at speaking.
The researcher conducted the study by carrying out 24 IC (Internet Chat) discussions that took place during the Fall semester of 1998. The subjects are eleven students from an advanced Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) class at an American university, four students from an intermediate JFL course in the private colleges, and three Japanese speakers at an American university. Thus, the total number of the subjects involved is 18. The participants are divided into four groups and work together on the same topic which is ideal school/education. During the study, six project sessions have been conducted weekly from 28 September to 16 November, 1998, which the teams were required to meet weekly in cyberspace and they had to chat within 50 minutes. At the completion of the sessions, the participants were asked about their personal opinion regarding the activity.
For data analysis, the researcher analysed it by looking at the interactional features of IC which are distinct from oral or asynchronous interactions. The researcher finds out that there are three salient distinctive features of IC which are: no turn-taking competition, text-based interaction, and a lack of nonverbal cues. It appears that due to the absence of turn-taking, overlaps and interruptions are impossible, and there is no use of co-construction. However, no turn-taking competition causes multiple topics overlapping. Therefore, when more than two participants interact, they apply discourse strategy to compensate the confusion of topics by specifying the addressee with his/her name at the beginning of the utterance. As a text-based interaction, IC allows the participants to edit their texts before submitting it. Moreover, despite the lack of non-verbal cues experienced participants in IC deal with it by using creative signals such as question mark to express certainty.
Apart from the distinguish features, the data analysis also shows that IC has its own advantages. IC allows participants to notice their errors and correct it. In the study participants use quotation mark to indicate correction and they do the self-correction on vocabulary, syntactic and pragmatic errors. IC is also beneficial because it allows the participants to ask for meaning for phonological error and topics discussed simultaneously that consequently results to collaborative learning. The study also shows that IC provides an individual learning environment.
As a conclusion, this research has proven that CMC not only provides opportunities for interaction in foreign language environments, but also facilitates collaborative and comprehensible as it provides individual learners an opportunity for learner-centered interaction, which many scholars believe encourages second language acquisition.