LINGUIST List 22.2079
Sun May 15 2011
Diss: Applied Ling: Penilla: 'Learning a Foreign Language with a ...'
Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang
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1. Frédérique Penilla ,
Learning a Foreign Language with a Collaborative Web-Based Task : Processes and performances
Message 1: Learning a Foreign Language with a Collaborative Web-Based Task : Processes and performances
Date: 15-May-2011
From: Frédérique Penilla <fredpenillayahoo.fr>
Subject: Learning a Foreign Language with a Collaborative Web-Based Task : Processes and performances
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Institution: Edith Cowan University Program: Department of Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2010
Author: Frédérique Penilla
Dissertation Title: Learning a Foreign Language with a Collaborative Web-Based Task: Processes and performances
Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
Subject Language(s): English (eng) French (fra)
Dissertation Director(s): Francois Mangenot Francoise Raby Rhonda Oliver
Dissertation Abstract:
Within language teaching and learning, tasks have been advocated for use as they are thought to set up ideal conditions for language acquisition to occur. With the emergence of the Internet in the last decade, and the deployment of technology in schools, Web-based tasks, referred to as Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) are being used by an increasing number of teachers. Teachers who employ Web-based tasks in their classrooms commonly set these up so that learners complete them in a collaborative mode. This requires learners engaging in a process of task negotiation and, at times, task redefinition, which in turn requires more than just linguistic knowledge from the learners.
The purpose of the present research was to identify the impact of Web-based tasks both on the learning process and the learners' performances. Three intact classes from French high schools, consisting of learners of English as a foreign language, completed a Web-based task. The product of the different stages of its completion and the corresponding video recordings were the database for this study. Attitude questionnaires and cultural awareness tests were also collected and analyzed. In doing so, issues of attitudes and motivation as well as learner competence and language proficiency were examined. These were documented in different experimental settings, including in turn ICT and/or collaboration.
The results suggest tasks, whether Web-based or not, do not hinder language production and, in fact, learners respond favourably to them, especially when working collaboratively. Further, the study shows that collaboration has measurable positive effects on the learners' attitudes, processes and performances. These include: positive outcomes in relation to the learners' persistence of effort; their involvement with the task; their understanding of the task's implicit demands; their quality of writing; the products they ultimately produce; and the processing higher-order skills. Yet the findings also suggest that these benefits are somehow diminished when technology is used, although this in turn is affected by the learners' familiarity with the tasks and their levels of technological literacy. Even so, these results raise the question of how Web-based tasks can be best implemented in language classrooms, and suggest that further research is still required in this area.
Page Updated: 15-May-2011
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