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Computer-Mediated Communication: James Simpson

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Computer-Mediated Communication: James Simpson

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Regina Clara
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key concepts in elt

Computer-mediated
communication
James Simpson

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eltj/article/56/4/414/410223 by guest on 26 September 2024


Introduction The rapid development of information and communication technologies
in recent years is associated with a corresponding growth in interest in
computer-mediated communication (CMC ). Since the late 1980s, this
trend has led teachers and learners alike to engage with the possibilities
and complexities of CMC for language teaching and learning.

CMC : definitions CMC is an umbrella term which refers to human communication via
computers. Temporally, a distinction can be made between synchronous
CMC , where interaction takes place in real time, and asynchronous CMC ,
where participants are not necessarily online simultaneously.
Synchronous CMC includes various types of text-based online chat,
computer, audio, and video conferencing; asynchronous CMC
encompasses email, discussion forums, and mailing lists. CMC can take
place over local area networks (LAN s) or over the Internet. Internet CMC ,
as well as allowing for global communication, also provides for the added
dimension of hypertext links to sites on the www, and to email addresses.

Positioning CMC CALL is often viewed in terms of apposite metaphors. In early CALL
within Computer- programs the computer had the role of tutor in human–computer
Assisted Language interactions. CMC , however, falls within a description of the ‘computer
Learning (CALL ) as tool’, whereby the computer’s role is: ‘To provide alternative contexts
for social interaction; to facilitate access to existing discourse
communities and the creation of new ones’ (Kern and Warschauer
2000: 13).

New forms of Asynchronous CMC in the form of email lists and discussion forums is
discourse an e¤ective medium for exchanges between distant groups of students in
collaborative learning projects (‘key-pal’ exchanges) and for mentoring
and support in distance learning courses. When synchronous text-based
CMC (‘online chat’) is used for similar purposes, certain diªculties
emerge. In addition to the technological and logistical complications
involved in bringing di¤erent groups of learners together online at the
same time, there are also significant emergent discourse features.
Teachers and learners need to be aware that in online chat the speed of
turn-taking seems to be more important than careful writing, and that
misspellings, abbreviated words, and unpunctuated turns are the norm,
not the exception. Although written, turns in online chat have qualities

414 ELT Journal Volume 56/4 October 2002 © Oxford University Press
resembling those in spoken language, in that they have unique features
of their own. This means that models for teaching and research that were
developed for speech and writing do not necessarily map directly onto
online discourse.

New ways of learning New ways of learning and teaching are enabled by CMC . Studies
comparing oral classroom discussion with computer-assisted classroom
discussion draw attention to salient di¤erences between the two. Levels
of learner participation and of turn-taking initiation are greater in the
computer mode. It is more diªcult for any one individual (including the
teacher) to dominate a computer-assisted discussion. And according to

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eltj/article/56/4/414/410223 by guest on 26 September 2024


whether students are engaged in synchronous CMC in a classroom, a
collaborative CMC project, or a distance learning course, the teacher’s
role shifts from that of an authoritative disseminator of knowledge to that
of a guiding ‘e-moderator’.

Multimedia and A range of CMC modes can be used in combination. In teaching and
multi-modal CMC learning contexts where the primary mode of delivery is face-to-face
classroom interaction, CMC can provide valuable alternative spaces for
collaboration, and opportunities for learner autonomy. In addition,
where course provision is in distance mode, asynchronous and
synchronous CMC , together with the possibilities of interactive media on
the www, can o¤er access to a wide range of learning opportunities. The
future direction of CMC includes the prospect of increased availability
and the use of voice and video conferencing, assuring a continued
growth in its significance for teaching and learning.

References and further reading Salmon, G. 2000. E-Moderating: The Key to


Chapelle, C. 2001. Computer Applications in Second Teaching and Learning Online. London: Kogan
Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge Page.
University Press. Warschauer, M. and R. Kern (eds.). 2000. Network-
Crystal, D. 2001. Language and the Internet. based Language Teaching: Concepts and Practice.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dudeney, G. 2000. The Internet and the Language
Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University The author
Press. James Simpson has taught EFL in Greece, Saudi
Herring, S. (ed.). 1996. Computer mediated Arabia, and the UK . He holds an MA in ELT from
communication: Linguistic, social and cross-cultural the University of Essex, and is currently studying
perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. for a PhD at the University of Reading. His
Kern, R. and M. Warschauer. 2000. ‘Introduction: research interests are in discourse, literacy, and
Theory and practice of network-based language CMC .
teaching’ in M. Warschauer and R. Kern (eds.). Email: [email protected]
Levy, M. 1997. Computer-Assisted Language
Learning: Context and Conceptualisation. Oxford:
Clarendon Press.

Computer-mediated communication 415

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