Yoon Jung Cha

DOI: Vol.17(No.2) 11-42, 2014

This study explored the effective use of blended peer feedback modes (Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication: SCMC and Asynchronous Computer-Mediated Communication: ACMC) and types (grammar and content feedback) in different writing stages. The participants were thirty-three university students enrolled in an English writing class. They were assigned to eleven peer feedback groups and instructed to write an explanatory essay, provide blended peer feedback, and revise the first drafts based on the peer feedback. Four research aims were as follows: 1) the quantity and quality of discourse functions generated from both chat scripts (SCMC) and bulletin board files (ACMC), 2) implementation of peer feedback, 3) writing improvements between the first drafts and the final versions and 4) the participants` perspectives on the overall peer feedback process. Findings showed that discourse functions were generated more from SCMC used feedback than that of ACMC. More than 80% of the given feedback were incorporated and revised. Moreover, significant difference was found in the writing improvements. Lastly, the participants generally liked peer feedback sessions and they felt it was beneficial in improving their essay quality. Pedagogical implications of the blended peer feedback process are discussed.

blended peer feedback, ACMC mode, SCMC mode, content and grammar feedback

Jong Bum Ha

DOI: Vol.17(No.2) 43-63, 2014

This study was motivated by the potential use of text-based online chat to teach English determiners. The study aimed to investigate whether students, when asked to, could attend to and improve their use of English determiners during chat sessions. Students in the experimental group were asked to use English determiners, as correctly as possible, during the chat session. Thirty eight students―20 and 18 in the experimental/control groups respectively―from two Advanced English Conversation classes participated in a one-hour chat session, which was followed by answering a survey that asked how they felt about using the target items consciously. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the overall ratio of deletions of total errors and the ratio of errors to total head nouns between the two groups. Many of the students in both groups reported they had difficulty focusing on communication while consciously using the target item. Yet, some reported they would not mind using determiners consciously if required for educational purposes. The findings suggest that creating a chat environment in which students can discuss with each other specific target L2 features, using meta-language, could potentially improve the use of the L2 features.

text-based online chat, meta-awareness, English determiners, English articles, pushed output

Hea Suk Kim

DOI: Vol.17(No.2) 64-85, 2014

Mobile devices are a recent addition to the information and communication technologies (ICT) for English learning. The availability of smart phones is so wide spread among most college students that mobile technology can expand opportunities to enhance foreign language skills. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the effects of mobile phone usage in blended learning of reading comprehension. Forty-four participants were assigned into one experimental (n=23) and one control group (n=21). The participants in the experimental group were asked to discuss reading topics through their mobile device outside of class each week while those in the control group were not. All the participants took pre- and post-tests to compare means after the experiment. The results from the study indicated that all the participants improved their reading comprehension after the experiment. Meanwhile, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in reading comprehension. According to a survey, most of the students in the experimental group considered it useful and helpful to use mobile phones for English learning. The findings of this study can provide pedagogical implications and suggestions for utilizing mobile phones as an effective and flexible learning tool.

blended learning, mobile-learning, reading, SMS

Hi Jean Kim , Myoung Nim Yoon

DOI: Vol.17(No.2) 86-111, 2014

Recently, the use of digital social networks in the field of English education has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers. However, previous research has tended to focus on resources like Facebook. In this study we focused instead on smartphone applications and determined that they are a critical and valuable resource for engaging students as active and social language learners. In this vein, this paper aims to present a strategic learning design for L2 writing classes in a smartphone-based blended learning environment. This paper discusses how the smart-phone-based applications Mobile Community (Mocafe) and Kakao Talk can be implemented and blended with offline classes to teach writing. This study also evaluates the effectiveness of this experimental blended learning and the impact of its adoption upon peer and teacher feedback. Eight students aged 14-15 from a private language institute participated in this study, and a mixed methods approach was used to acquire both quantitative and qualitative data. This included questionnaires, pre- and post-tests, and interviews. The study found that this experimental blended learning approach increased students` written output in both quantity and quality. In addition, this study determined that students preferred doing asynchronous writing activities through Mobile cafe (Mocafe) to synchronous writing activities through Kakao Talk. We found that a blended learning approach positively shaped peer and teacher feedback and activated social interaction and student` participation. These findings concur with the work of other researchers in the field of collaborative and digital learning including Swain (2006).

blended learning, SMART devices, smart learning, MALL, mobile learning, social learning, peer and teacher feedback, Mocafe, Kakao Talk

Chang In Lee , Robert Astle

DOI: Vol.17(No.2) 112-129, 2014

This study aimed to encourage students to participate more in the feedback cycle by providing appropriate corrective feedback based on students` needs in the form of technological mediums they prefer. The researcher distributed survey forms to high school students in order to figure out whether they prefer technology-based forms of feedback or more traditional forms like paper-based feedback. This study explored which categories of feedback that students desire most for their corrective feedback and attempted to identify the gap between the form they assume to be the most effective medium and the form that actually provides the most effectiveness. The result showed that the most popular feedback teachers can provide was vocabulary (synonyms and antonyms), followed by organization (combining sentence levels), grammar (articles), spelling & pronunciation, and content to enhance the effectiveness of feedback. The medium that students preferred most was in the form of the video file and the second-best feedback was paper-based, which has traditionally been used in ESL and EFL classes. This was contrary to the students` assumption that technology-embedded feedback such as Skype and Kakao Talk would be most useful.

greater participation in the feedback cycle, technological medium in feedback, perceived, actual preference

Chong Min Lee , Eun Jou Oh

DOI: Vol.17(No.2) 130-151, 2014

This study investigated the effects of a learner response system (or clickers) on students` perception on engagement and learning outcomes in an EFL reading course at a university level. Clickers are a voting system with which students send their answers electronically and distribution of their responses is shown to the class instantly, which can be followed by appropriate feedback from the instructor and discussion in class. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to compare the learning outcomes in two achievement tests between classes that used clickers (clicker group) and the classes that did not use clickers (non-clicker group). The results showed that the clicker group outperformed the non-clicker group significantly in the midterm and final exam. The survey responses from the clicker group also showed there was improvement in behavioral engagement and general satisfaction of the course when comparing the answers completed before and after the clicker treatment. The results are consistent with the previous research in that the learner response system induced active cognitive process by improving students` engagement which led to improved learning outcomes.

learner response system, clicker, L2 reading, engagement

Eun Sil Lee , Sang Doh Park

DOI: Vol.17(No.2) 152-175, 2014

This paper reports the experiences of adult language learners who have actively participated in Web-Talking, an online computer-mediated communication (CMC) program. The purpose of this study is to investigate the elements that enabled the learners to participate successfully in the program. Web-Talking is an online conversation program designed for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at a cyber university in Korea. Run by experienced native English-speaking instructors for two hours every night on weekdays, Web-Talking has proved to be a helpful and convenient tool for improving English conversation skills. In spite of the convenience and effectiveness of Web-Talking, only a small number of students at the cyber university participated regularly in these conversation sessions. This study, therefore, aims to discover what triggered these learners to participate actively and regularly in the program and substantially improve their English competence. Based on the results of the open-ended questionnaires and interviews, this paper describes the participants` Web-Talking experiences and identifies the aspects that make the cyber university students stay online to practice their English with their peers and instructors.

CMC, interaction, online conversation program, Web-Talking

Hae Jin Oh

DOI: Vol.17(No.2) 176-199, 2014

This study investigates Korean EFL learners` writing performance, revision behavior, and collaborative writing strategy use when engaging in wiki-mediated collaborative writing projects. Sixteen university undergraduate students, part of an intact College English course, participated in the study. Throughout the semester, participants wrote a total of 4 academic essays, two times individually and two times collaboratively in groups of 4. The results indicated that learners produced higher quality writing when they co-authored a text with others. Participants tended to primarily attend to form rather than meaning in the collaborative writing process and approached the wiki-mediated collaborative writing task by segmenting and distributing the work among group members in a parallel manner. A questionnaire was also administered to explore learner perceptions regarding the benefits of wiki technology and wiki-mediated collaborative writing tasks for language and writing development. Overall, participants reported positive views of wiki-mediated collaborative writing, although some concerns were expressed. The results of the study suggest that wiki-mediated collaborative writing tasks may have a place in L2 writing instruction. Pedagogical implications of implementing wiki-mediated collaborative writing with EFL learners are discussed.

wiki, collaborative writing, revision, writing strategy