18
This article was downloaded by: [University of Hong Kong Libraries] On: 10 November 2014, At: 22:12 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Computer Assisted Language Learning Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ncal20 Online enhanced corrective feedback for ESL learners in higher education Rayenne Dekhinet a a Education Department , University of Dundee , Scotland Published online: 19 Nov 2008. To cite this article: Rayenne Dekhinet (2008) Online enhanced corrective feedback for ESL learners in higher education, Computer Assisted Language Learning, 21:5, 409-425, DOI: 10.1080/09588220802447669 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588220802447669 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

Online enhanced corrective feedback for ESL learners in higher education

  • Upload
    rayenne

  • View
    215

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

This article was downloaded by [University of Hong Kong Libraries]On 10 November 2014 At 2212Publisher RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number 1072954 Registeredoffice Mortimer House 37-41 Mortimer Street London W1T 3JH UK

Computer Assisted Language LearningPublication details including instructions for authors andsubscription informationhttpwwwtandfonlinecomloincal20

Online enhanced corrective feedbackfor ESL learners in higher educationRayenne Dekhinet aa Education Department University of Dundee ScotlandPublished online 19 Nov 2008

To cite this article Rayenne Dekhinet (2008) Online enhanced corrective feedback for ESLlearners in higher education Computer Assisted Language Learning 215 409-425 DOI10108009588220802447669

To link to this article httpdxdoiorg10108009588220802447669

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor amp Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (theldquoContentrdquo) contained in the publications on our platform However Taylor amp Francisour agents and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy completeness or suitability for any purpose of the Content Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authorsand are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor amp Francis The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses actions claimsproceedings demands costs expenses damages and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content

This article may be used for research teaching and private study purposes Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction redistribution reselling loan sub-licensingsystematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden Terms ampConditions of access and use can be found at httpwwwtandfonlinecompageterms-and-conditions

Online enhanced corrective feedback for ESL learners in higher education

Rayenne Dekhinet

Education Department University of Dundee Scotland

(Received 7 January 2008 final version received 31 March 2008)

This study investigates the value of online enhanced corrective feedback for non-nativespeakers of English from (1) the quality of their interaction online (2) their perceptionsand (3) the challenges encountered Online enhanced feedback is an online peer tutoringtechnique that was developed from Negotiated Meaning and used by native speakers foreight weeks Conversation Analysis was employed to evaluate the quality of non-nativespeakersrsquo online conversations Participantsrsquo opinions on the project were measuredusing an end-project survey The results of this study showed that non-native speakersproduced as many turns as their native-speakers tutors Non-native speakers appearedto produce more elaborated turns but very few initiations of topics or requests forclarification Results also showed that the use of this peer tutoring technique was highlysignificant in raising non-native speakersrsquo awareness on the gaps they had in theirinterlanguages1 Analysis of the survey revealed that this project was an enjoyableexperience despite the few practical issues encountered

Keywords enhanced corrective feedback online peer tutoring computer-mediatedcommunication and discourse analysis

Introduction

Foreign students are an increasing minority and vital to many western universitiesespecially those in the UK USA and Canada They are important because they are a majorsource of revenue (Furnham 2004) When joining these universities a large number ofinternational students experience culture shock (Furnham 2004) indeed they frequentlyfeel anxious surprised disorientated confused etc These negative feelings grow out of thedifficulties in understanding and assimilating the new culture In particular foreign studentsoften experience difficulties in knowing what is appropriate and what is not Very often atthe core of these problems lie poor language skills In fact international students whoexperience culture shock have problems in (1) using their second language (L2) tocommunicate (2) deciphering unfamiliar sounds of the L2 while spoken (3) understandingacademic expectations and (4) socialising with native-speakers (NSs) of the target language

Though most universities provide English language support services via languagecentres these are supplied within a teacher-led kind of environment where students takelittle responsibility for their own learning (Graesser amp Person 1994) They are alsoprovided in a structured format that lsquo can be a synonym for mindless drill and practiceleading only to short-term rote learning ndash certainly measurable but of doubtful valuersquo(Topping 1998) The pragmatic spirit of such institutions usually pre-determines studentsrsquo

Email rdekhinetdundeeacuk

Computer Assisted Language Learning

Vol 21 No 5 December 2008 409ndash425

ISSN 0958-8221 printISSN 1744-3210 online

2008 Taylor amp Francis

DOI 10108009588220802447669

httpwwwinformaworldcom

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

attitudes toward how they should be learning a language Sadly enough long hours arespent on coursework and almost no time is left to socialise with NSs of English a vitalcontext for them to not only learn the target language (Jepsen 2005) but also becomesocially balanced happy and confident (Beasley 1997 Kalkowski 1995) This supportsthe argument that social interaction is essential to language learning (LL) as has beenshown by studies of Hall and Verplaetse (2000) Lantolf (2000) Long (1983) and Pica(1994) and in the communicative approach to language teaching

Given these facts it is worth investigating the value of online enhanced correctivefeedback (OECF) as a useful peer tutoring provision for international students to developtheir language skills and at the same time experience a successful and healthy sojourn inthe hosting country while studying for their academic courses This programme isstructured yet very flexible It entails the use of (1) NSs as peer tutors and (2) Internet as ameans of social interaction NSs in this instance are meant to assist NNSs in practisingtheir L2 while socialising online This peer tutoring approach is mainly based onVygotskyrsquos (1978) theory where competent learners scaffold weaker ones and help theirprogression through the zone of proximal development The proposed peer tutoringprogramme embraces the one to one cross-age or same age mode of tutoring This is anoptimal environment for NNSs to become active self-regulated learners (Person ampGraesser 1999) It is also a learning context which encourages NNSs to be inquisitive self-motivated and in charge of rectifying their own knowledge deficits as advocated routinelyby educational researchers such as Bruner (1961) Papert (1980) Piaget (1952) andZimmerman Bandura and Martinez-Pons (1992)

Online interactive tools such as emails and online chats provide very practical ways ofcommunication these days Therefore NSs would appreciate using these tools as theywould feel flexible about when and where they need to assist their peers This would alsobe a convenient and pleasant approach for NNSs to practise their English as they would betyping rather than speaking and would have no fear of being embarrassed or losing facewhen making mistakes

Previous studies on computer-mediated communication (CMC) reported severalbenefits for language learning (LL) CMC for example does not demand for competition(Kitade 2000) and provides for more equal participation (Kern 1995) It also enables shyand less motivated learners to interact with others (Beauvois 1992 Kelm 1992Warshauer 1996) A further advantage would be that the NNSs in CMC environmentshave the possibility to re-examine and edit the text-based conversations They thereforebecome more aware of the language structures that they and their peers are using tocompose messages (Lee 2002)

Despite the bulk of literature on CMC it appears that there is little research on thequality of interaction of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners (Jepsen 2005)Also according to King (1999) the impact of peer learning experiences on subsequentindividual learning competences remains understudied Added to this Kalkowski (1995)notes that there has been insufficient research and validation of peer tutoring programmeswhich might explain why this is not widespread It is therefore timely to explore the valueof online peer tutoring on ESL learners from (1) the quality of their interaction online (2)their perceptions and (3) the challenges encountered

OECF as a peer tutoring technique for ESL learners

OECF uses online instant messaging systems This type of communication occurs lsquoon theflyrsquo and usersrsquo discourse is co-constructed very much as in oral conversations This peer

410 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

tutoring technique stems from one of the collaborative approaches of Peer AssistedLearning in which tutors are matched with NNSs to provide them with feedback andassist them in their academic achievements Interaction of this kind can promote learningin several ways (King 1999) When the tutors and the NNSs are engaged in talking to eachother about the task they present their ideas and perspectives ask questions provideinformation and so on It is an opportunity for them to clarify their own ideas elaborateon them evaluate their existing knowledge for accuracy and gaps integrate and re-organise knowledge or in some other manner re-conceptualise the material (Brown ampCampione 1986) This cognitive change tends to affect subsequent learning andperformance (King 1999)

OECF of this study adopted few strategies from negotiated meaning which is one ofthe main components of Interactional Theories deemed conducive to LL (Long 1996) Asan aspect of social interaction negotiated meaning is a cognitive process whereinterlocutors tend to understand each other better because of modified interaction(Long 1996 Pica 1994) This latter as defined by Long (1983) is partly accomplishedthrough utterances such as clarification requests and comprehension checks Negotiatedmeaning is used to increase comprehensibility between two interlocutors and ultimatelyraise awareness of grammatical and semantic inaccuracies It is usually manifested throughrepair moves (Ellis 1995) When interlocutors recognise the various types of these repairmoves they may attempt to self-correct (Long 1996) or generate modified output (Swain1985) It is in this sense that negotiated meaning is found to be appropriate to the design ofOECF technique of this study NSs as tutors while using this peer tutoring system areexpected to be highly conscious about NNSsrsquo language and react accordingly NNSsrsquolanguage in this instance includes grammatical inaccuracies as well as culturalmisconceptions due to differences in backgrounds The OECF uses implicit and explicitstrategies The former includes moves such as recasts clarification requests and echoingwhereas the latter concerns the use of an overt explanation of what went wrong in previousturns (for more details see Table 1)

There is evidence that a conversation between a NS and a NNS of the target languagecan be a wellspring of misunderstanding These communication problems are usually

Table 1 OECF strategies for NS tutors

OECF Strategies Examples

Implicit Strategies Recast (Long 1996) Eg This city is beautifulin response to thetuteersquos This citybeautiful

The tutor corrects the tuteersquos inaccurateoutput by incorporating implicitly the correction

Confirmation check (Long 1983) Eg Can you trythat againThe tutor asks questions in order to incite

the tutee to make a correctionClarification request (Long 1983) Eg What do you

mean by XThe tutor asks a question to the tutee tomake a correction

Echoing Eg city beautifulThe tutor repeats just the inappropriate word orutterance with an intonation that denotes thatthere is something wrong in his output Thismight incite the tutee to self-correct

Explicit Strategy Explicit correction Eg You should sayThis city is beautifulThe tutor clearly tells the tutee his mistakes

Computer Assisted Language Learning 411

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

rooted in either the misuse of language or the failure to detect cultural nuances embeddedin the target language Because this study is more concerned with helping internationalstudents improve their communicative skills in English through OECF it is important tohighlight the routes a conversation takes when there is a communicative breakdown andwhere OECF strategies are used by NSs to assist their NNS peers It is estimated that thereare four reactions to a trigger in a conversation The first reaction does not require the useof OECF technique but the remainders do (see Figure 1)

The first reaction happens when NNSs misuse the language while typing their messageThis posting is immediately followed by a second message where the NNSs incorporate theright corrections This usually comes about when NNSs are absorbed in keeping theconversation going and in transmitting information By so doing they neglect to focus onhow to formulate their ideas properly It is important to mention here that having theadvantage of seeing the postings on the screen may lead to self-realisation and hence self-correction before the NS attempts to provide feedback Such language awarenessenhancement may well have a positive effect on NNSsrsquo memories Indeed NNSs mightwell experience similar situations in the future and be able to remember and retrieve thecorrect wording or information

In the second instance NNSs may fail to notice that they have made a mistake in theirpostingsNSswould thenuse anOECFexplicit strategy toattract theirNNSsrsquo attention to thegaps they have in their interlanguage Thismaywell encourageNNSs to include corrections intheir subsequent postings or re-use the correct phrasing in other identical situations

In the third case there are two reactions The first exists in contexts in which NNSs arescanning the messages of their NS tutors Feedback then is not provided in a vacuumNNSs either self-correct if they recognise what went wrong or send clarification requestsIn both cases NNSs are likely to retain the information and use it in other circumstancesAs to the second reaction this happens when NNSs fail to notice their tutorsrsquo implicitfeedback In these instances there is a high probability that they will keep on producingthe same mistakes

Research design

This case study explores the value of OECF for ESL learners This study used bothqualitative and quantitative tools to gather data The two main instruments wereConversation Analysis and end-project survey for both NNSs and NSs The analysis ofdata obtained from both these tools was substantiated with relevant extracts fromparticipantsrsquo spontaneous turns produced during their online conversations

The conversation analysis was used to investigate the quality of NNSsrsquo discourse whileconversing online with their NS peers This methodology was applied essentially toencapsulate the perspective of interaction as action which is expressed by means oflinguistic forms in a developing sequence (Seedhouse 2005) The interactional organisa-tion embraced here used turn-taking as units to assess their abundance in a conversationThis was a genuine means by which it was possible to judge the degree of cognitive andsocial activity the NNSs were engaged in during the project For the quality discourseconversation analysis considered three aspects of interaction These features were (1)initiations of topics (2) requests for clarification and (3) elaborated answers to questionsFor language awareness conversation analysis included self-correction approvals aspreferred responses and incorporations of the corrected form or meaning Both aspects ofthe discourse have been borrowed from Long (1980) and Pica (1994) interactionalmodification moves The rationale behind using these aspects to investigate the quality of

412 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Figure

1

Trigger

inaconversationandOECF

model

Computer Assisted Language Learning 413

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

discourse of NNSsrsquo interlanguages lie within their engaging potential Both aspects ofdiscourse were quantified from week one to week eight

To get insights on the value of OECF from the NNSsrsquo and NSsrsquo perspectives aresearcher-developed survey was created It was a five-point Likert scale ranging fromStrongly Disagree to Strongly Agree This was used to gauge NNSsrsquo perspectives andattitudes They indicated their level of satisfaction by ranking the question from 1 to 5 (5 isthe highest score)

At this stage it is important to keep inmind that the findings of this studymay ormay notillustrate that the OECF programme contributed to the quality of discourse of the NNSs

Participants

An ESL teacher at the Language Centre of the University of Dundee who was in charge of anon-accredited programme volunteered to encourage his international students to take partin this study When he read the information sheet of the project he thought it had potentialto his students as it promised to be an opportunity firstly to interact with NS in English andsecondly to reflect on the language as it is produced in the written form Ten of his studentssigned up They were from a diverse background seven Chinese one Italian and twoIndians The participants were three males and seven females They evaluated themselves asintermediate learners of English Most of them were between 20 and 25 years old Only twowere between 30 and 35 years oldMost of them had little exposure to English and had rarelypractised it with a NS It is interesting to mention here that all the NNSs at the time whenthey signed up for this project had no friends as NSs of English (a friend in this instancemeant a person to spend time share hobbies and socialise with) NNSs reported that theyhad little contacts with NSs of English either in terms of study or at their accommodationEven within the latter where there should be more socialising and more room to establishfriendship and hence practise the target language it appeared that international studentshad problems connecting with NSs of English ESL learners chose to be part of this projectbecause they believed that it was a good opportunity to practise their English with NSs toimprove their communicative skills in English as these are practised through reading andwriting rather than listening and speaking to make friends who are NS of English and toimprove their confidence in using English

NSs were also an important population of this study These were recruited from thestudent community of the University of Dundee The researcher used two channels toapproach this group of people First one of the supervisors of this study helped indisseminating the information through his BEd (Bachelor in Education) students Secondan advert was launched via the internal mailing system of the university These actionsproved beneficial as 10 potential candidates manifested as soon as the appeal was instigatedThe tutoring group consisted of five females and five males six of whom were students andthe rest were university staff members Four of these NS tutors were in their twenties threein their thirties two were over forty and one in his late teens A large number of tutors werefrom Scotland only two were from non-English-speaking backgrounds Though one wasoriginally from France and the other from Nepal their bio-data and their emails revealedthat they not only had a very good command of English but they also had a soundunderstanding of the British culture This volunteering group opted to be part of this studyfor twomain reasons First the research sounded interesting in concept and provided a goodopportunity to help and give assistance to minority students Second NSs liked the idea ofbeing twinned with international students they thought it was a useful way to meet peoplefrom different cultures and hence exchange knowledge

414 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

At this stage it is important to mention that both groups were IT literate From thesetwo groups 10 pairs were formed NNSs and NSs were matched with each other randomly

Procedure

Before the project started three main things were considered developing activitiestraining participants and considering the usability of MSN as an e-learning environmentfor this study

The activities that were meant to fuel the online conversation between NNSs and NSswere open-ended tasks They were developed to involve learners in sharing exchangingand debating information through self-expression and self-discovery Topics were chosenby bearing in mind that NNSs were both within the intermediate range of Englishlanguage proficiency and also willing to practise their English in a user-friendlyenvironment Though each week had a particular topic NSs and NNSs were free todiscuss whatever interested them (for more details see Table 2)

Neither the NS nor NNS groups were trained face-to-face except when requests weremade by a few participants It was almost impossible to gather them all at a common date

Table 2 Activities

Period Topics

March 2005 Week 1 Try to introduce yourself and get to know your partner (Culturelikes and dislikes what do you usually do during the weekendsDo you like practising sports What is your favourite sportetc )

Week 2 Chat with your partner about your studies job in Scotland

Week 3 We invite you to discuss a book or a newspaper article you readrecently

Week 4 It is a free discussion

May 2005 Week 5 Story summary Many people in Britain consider the number 13 to beunlucky Some airlines avoid having a seat row numbered 13 ndash sothe rows go from 12 to 14 And there are many other superstitions

Read the above article (a link was provided) and discuss its contentwith your chat pal online using the letrsquos talk area Help yourselfwith the following questions

Are you superstitiousWhat are the most common forms of superstitions in your cultureWhat do you think about superstitionYou will find attached another interesting article it is on how to belucky You can ultimately read it and discuss its content with yourchat pal

Week 6 httpwwwscotarget languageandcomWhen you open this site you will find many links which will lead todifferent aspects of the Scottish culture Feel free to browsethrough these and discuss them with your chat pal

Week 7 lsquoListening to music might act as a painkiller a study has foundrsquo This isan article that might be of interest to you Try to read it and discussits contents with your chat pal

Week 8 In this week try to share your views with your chat pal on yourexperience while engaged in this project

Computer Assisted Language Learning 415

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Online enhanced corrective feedback for ESL learners in higher education

Rayenne Dekhinet

Education Department University of Dundee Scotland

(Received 7 January 2008 final version received 31 March 2008)

This study investigates the value of online enhanced corrective feedback for non-nativespeakers of English from (1) the quality of their interaction online (2) their perceptionsand (3) the challenges encountered Online enhanced feedback is an online peer tutoringtechnique that was developed from Negotiated Meaning and used by native speakers foreight weeks Conversation Analysis was employed to evaluate the quality of non-nativespeakersrsquo online conversations Participantsrsquo opinions on the project were measuredusing an end-project survey The results of this study showed that non-native speakersproduced as many turns as their native-speakers tutors Non-native speakers appearedto produce more elaborated turns but very few initiations of topics or requests forclarification Results also showed that the use of this peer tutoring technique was highlysignificant in raising non-native speakersrsquo awareness on the gaps they had in theirinterlanguages1 Analysis of the survey revealed that this project was an enjoyableexperience despite the few practical issues encountered

Keywords enhanced corrective feedback online peer tutoring computer-mediatedcommunication and discourse analysis

Introduction

Foreign students are an increasing minority and vital to many western universitiesespecially those in the UK USA and Canada They are important because they are a majorsource of revenue (Furnham 2004) When joining these universities a large number ofinternational students experience culture shock (Furnham 2004) indeed they frequentlyfeel anxious surprised disorientated confused etc These negative feelings grow out of thedifficulties in understanding and assimilating the new culture In particular foreign studentsoften experience difficulties in knowing what is appropriate and what is not Very often atthe core of these problems lie poor language skills In fact international students whoexperience culture shock have problems in (1) using their second language (L2) tocommunicate (2) deciphering unfamiliar sounds of the L2 while spoken (3) understandingacademic expectations and (4) socialising with native-speakers (NSs) of the target language

Though most universities provide English language support services via languagecentres these are supplied within a teacher-led kind of environment where students takelittle responsibility for their own learning (Graesser amp Person 1994) They are alsoprovided in a structured format that lsquo can be a synonym for mindless drill and practiceleading only to short-term rote learning ndash certainly measurable but of doubtful valuersquo(Topping 1998) The pragmatic spirit of such institutions usually pre-determines studentsrsquo

Email rdekhinetdundeeacuk

Computer Assisted Language Learning

Vol 21 No 5 December 2008 409ndash425

ISSN 0958-8221 printISSN 1744-3210 online

2008 Taylor amp Francis

DOI 10108009588220802447669

httpwwwinformaworldcom

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

attitudes toward how they should be learning a language Sadly enough long hours arespent on coursework and almost no time is left to socialise with NSs of English a vitalcontext for them to not only learn the target language (Jepsen 2005) but also becomesocially balanced happy and confident (Beasley 1997 Kalkowski 1995) This supportsthe argument that social interaction is essential to language learning (LL) as has beenshown by studies of Hall and Verplaetse (2000) Lantolf (2000) Long (1983) and Pica(1994) and in the communicative approach to language teaching

Given these facts it is worth investigating the value of online enhanced correctivefeedback (OECF) as a useful peer tutoring provision for international students to developtheir language skills and at the same time experience a successful and healthy sojourn inthe hosting country while studying for their academic courses This programme isstructured yet very flexible It entails the use of (1) NSs as peer tutors and (2) Internet as ameans of social interaction NSs in this instance are meant to assist NNSs in practisingtheir L2 while socialising online This peer tutoring approach is mainly based onVygotskyrsquos (1978) theory where competent learners scaffold weaker ones and help theirprogression through the zone of proximal development The proposed peer tutoringprogramme embraces the one to one cross-age or same age mode of tutoring This is anoptimal environment for NNSs to become active self-regulated learners (Person ampGraesser 1999) It is also a learning context which encourages NNSs to be inquisitive self-motivated and in charge of rectifying their own knowledge deficits as advocated routinelyby educational researchers such as Bruner (1961) Papert (1980) Piaget (1952) andZimmerman Bandura and Martinez-Pons (1992)

Online interactive tools such as emails and online chats provide very practical ways ofcommunication these days Therefore NSs would appreciate using these tools as theywould feel flexible about when and where they need to assist their peers This would alsobe a convenient and pleasant approach for NNSs to practise their English as they would betyping rather than speaking and would have no fear of being embarrassed or losing facewhen making mistakes

Previous studies on computer-mediated communication (CMC) reported severalbenefits for language learning (LL) CMC for example does not demand for competition(Kitade 2000) and provides for more equal participation (Kern 1995) It also enables shyand less motivated learners to interact with others (Beauvois 1992 Kelm 1992Warshauer 1996) A further advantage would be that the NNSs in CMC environmentshave the possibility to re-examine and edit the text-based conversations They thereforebecome more aware of the language structures that they and their peers are using tocompose messages (Lee 2002)

Despite the bulk of literature on CMC it appears that there is little research on thequality of interaction of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners (Jepsen 2005)Also according to King (1999) the impact of peer learning experiences on subsequentindividual learning competences remains understudied Added to this Kalkowski (1995)notes that there has been insufficient research and validation of peer tutoring programmeswhich might explain why this is not widespread It is therefore timely to explore the valueof online peer tutoring on ESL learners from (1) the quality of their interaction online (2)their perceptions and (3) the challenges encountered

OECF as a peer tutoring technique for ESL learners

OECF uses online instant messaging systems This type of communication occurs lsquoon theflyrsquo and usersrsquo discourse is co-constructed very much as in oral conversations This peer

410 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

tutoring technique stems from one of the collaborative approaches of Peer AssistedLearning in which tutors are matched with NNSs to provide them with feedback andassist them in their academic achievements Interaction of this kind can promote learningin several ways (King 1999) When the tutors and the NNSs are engaged in talking to eachother about the task they present their ideas and perspectives ask questions provideinformation and so on It is an opportunity for them to clarify their own ideas elaborateon them evaluate their existing knowledge for accuracy and gaps integrate and re-organise knowledge or in some other manner re-conceptualise the material (Brown ampCampione 1986) This cognitive change tends to affect subsequent learning andperformance (King 1999)

OECF of this study adopted few strategies from negotiated meaning which is one ofthe main components of Interactional Theories deemed conducive to LL (Long 1996) Asan aspect of social interaction negotiated meaning is a cognitive process whereinterlocutors tend to understand each other better because of modified interaction(Long 1996 Pica 1994) This latter as defined by Long (1983) is partly accomplishedthrough utterances such as clarification requests and comprehension checks Negotiatedmeaning is used to increase comprehensibility between two interlocutors and ultimatelyraise awareness of grammatical and semantic inaccuracies It is usually manifested throughrepair moves (Ellis 1995) When interlocutors recognise the various types of these repairmoves they may attempt to self-correct (Long 1996) or generate modified output (Swain1985) It is in this sense that negotiated meaning is found to be appropriate to the design ofOECF technique of this study NSs as tutors while using this peer tutoring system areexpected to be highly conscious about NNSsrsquo language and react accordingly NNSsrsquolanguage in this instance includes grammatical inaccuracies as well as culturalmisconceptions due to differences in backgrounds The OECF uses implicit and explicitstrategies The former includes moves such as recasts clarification requests and echoingwhereas the latter concerns the use of an overt explanation of what went wrong in previousturns (for more details see Table 1)

There is evidence that a conversation between a NS and a NNS of the target languagecan be a wellspring of misunderstanding These communication problems are usually

Table 1 OECF strategies for NS tutors

OECF Strategies Examples

Implicit Strategies Recast (Long 1996) Eg This city is beautifulin response to thetuteersquos This citybeautiful

The tutor corrects the tuteersquos inaccurateoutput by incorporating implicitly the correction

Confirmation check (Long 1983) Eg Can you trythat againThe tutor asks questions in order to incite

the tutee to make a correctionClarification request (Long 1983) Eg What do you

mean by XThe tutor asks a question to the tutee tomake a correction

Echoing Eg city beautifulThe tutor repeats just the inappropriate word orutterance with an intonation that denotes thatthere is something wrong in his output Thismight incite the tutee to self-correct

Explicit Strategy Explicit correction Eg You should sayThis city is beautifulThe tutor clearly tells the tutee his mistakes

Computer Assisted Language Learning 411

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

rooted in either the misuse of language or the failure to detect cultural nuances embeddedin the target language Because this study is more concerned with helping internationalstudents improve their communicative skills in English through OECF it is important tohighlight the routes a conversation takes when there is a communicative breakdown andwhere OECF strategies are used by NSs to assist their NNS peers It is estimated that thereare four reactions to a trigger in a conversation The first reaction does not require the useof OECF technique but the remainders do (see Figure 1)

The first reaction happens when NNSs misuse the language while typing their messageThis posting is immediately followed by a second message where the NNSs incorporate theright corrections This usually comes about when NNSs are absorbed in keeping theconversation going and in transmitting information By so doing they neglect to focus onhow to formulate their ideas properly It is important to mention here that having theadvantage of seeing the postings on the screen may lead to self-realisation and hence self-correction before the NS attempts to provide feedback Such language awarenessenhancement may well have a positive effect on NNSsrsquo memories Indeed NNSs mightwell experience similar situations in the future and be able to remember and retrieve thecorrect wording or information

In the second instance NNSs may fail to notice that they have made a mistake in theirpostingsNSswould thenuse anOECFexplicit strategy toattract theirNNSsrsquo attention to thegaps they have in their interlanguage Thismaywell encourageNNSs to include corrections intheir subsequent postings or re-use the correct phrasing in other identical situations

In the third case there are two reactions The first exists in contexts in which NNSs arescanning the messages of their NS tutors Feedback then is not provided in a vacuumNNSs either self-correct if they recognise what went wrong or send clarification requestsIn both cases NNSs are likely to retain the information and use it in other circumstancesAs to the second reaction this happens when NNSs fail to notice their tutorsrsquo implicitfeedback In these instances there is a high probability that they will keep on producingthe same mistakes

Research design

This case study explores the value of OECF for ESL learners This study used bothqualitative and quantitative tools to gather data The two main instruments wereConversation Analysis and end-project survey for both NNSs and NSs The analysis ofdata obtained from both these tools was substantiated with relevant extracts fromparticipantsrsquo spontaneous turns produced during their online conversations

The conversation analysis was used to investigate the quality of NNSsrsquo discourse whileconversing online with their NS peers This methodology was applied essentially toencapsulate the perspective of interaction as action which is expressed by means oflinguistic forms in a developing sequence (Seedhouse 2005) The interactional organisa-tion embraced here used turn-taking as units to assess their abundance in a conversationThis was a genuine means by which it was possible to judge the degree of cognitive andsocial activity the NNSs were engaged in during the project For the quality discourseconversation analysis considered three aspects of interaction These features were (1)initiations of topics (2) requests for clarification and (3) elaborated answers to questionsFor language awareness conversation analysis included self-correction approvals aspreferred responses and incorporations of the corrected form or meaning Both aspects ofthe discourse have been borrowed from Long (1980) and Pica (1994) interactionalmodification moves The rationale behind using these aspects to investigate the quality of

412 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Figure

1

Trigger

inaconversationandOECF

model

Computer Assisted Language Learning 413

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

discourse of NNSsrsquo interlanguages lie within their engaging potential Both aspects ofdiscourse were quantified from week one to week eight

To get insights on the value of OECF from the NNSsrsquo and NSsrsquo perspectives aresearcher-developed survey was created It was a five-point Likert scale ranging fromStrongly Disagree to Strongly Agree This was used to gauge NNSsrsquo perspectives andattitudes They indicated their level of satisfaction by ranking the question from 1 to 5 (5 isthe highest score)

At this stage it is important to keep inmind that the findings of this studymay ormay notillustrate that the OECF programme contributed to the quality of discourse of the NNSs

Participants

An ESL teacher at the Language Centre of the University of Dundee who was in charge of anon-accredited programme volunteered to encourage his international students to take partin this study When he read the information sheet of the project he thought it had potentialto his students as it promised to be an opportunity firstly to interact with NS in English andsecondly to reflect on the language as it is produced in the written form Ten of his studentssigned up They were from a diverse background seven Chinese one Italian and twoIndians The participants were three males and seven females They evaluated themselves asintermediate learners of English Most of them were between 20 and 25 years old Only twowere between 30 and 35 years oldMost of them had little exposure to English and had rarelypractised it with a NS It is interesting to mention here that all the NNSs at the time whenthey signed up for this project had no friends as NSs of English (a friend in this instancemeant a person to spend time share hobbies and socialise with) NNSs reported that theyhad little contacts with NSs of English either in terms of study or at their accommodationEven within the latter where there should be more socialising and more room to establishfriendship and hence practise the target language it appeared that international studentshad problems connecting with NSs of English ESL learners chose to be part of this projectbecause they believed that it was a good opportunity to practise their English with NSs toimprove their communicative skills in English as these are practised through reading andwriting rather than listening and speaking to make friends who are NS of English and toimprove their confidence in using English

NSs were also an important population of this study These were recruited from thestudent community of the University of Dundee The researcher used two channels toapproach this group of people First one of the supervisors of this study helped indisseminating the information through his BEd (Bachelor in Education) students Secondan advert was launched via the internal mailing system of the university These actionsproved beneficial as 10 potential candidates manifested as soon as the appeal was instigatedThe tutoring group consisted of five females and five males six of whom were students andthe rest were university staff members Four of these NS tutors were in their twenties threein their thirties two were over forty and one in his late teens A large number of tutors werefrom Scotland only two were from non-English-speaking backgrounds Though one wasoriginally from France and the other from Nepal their bio-data and their emails revealedthat they not only had a very good command of English but they also had a soundunderstanding of the British culture This volunteering group opted to be part of this studyfor twomain reasons First the research sounded interesting in concept and provided a goodopportunity to help and give assistance to minority students Second NSs liked the idea ofbeing twinned with international students they thought it was a useful way to meet peoplefrom different cultures and hence exchange knowledge

414 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

At this stage it is important to mention that both groups were IT literate From thesetwo groups 10 pairs were formed NNSs and NSs were matched with each other randomly

Procedure

Before the project started three main things were considered developing activitiestraining participants and considering the usability of MSN as an e-learning environmentfor this study

The activities that were meant to fuel the online conversation between NNSs and NSswere open-ended tasks They were developed to involve learners in sharing exchangingand debating information through self-expression and self-discovery Topics were chosenby bearing in mind that NNSs were both within the intermediate range of Englishlanguage proficiency and also willing to practise their English in a user-friendlyenvironment Though each week had a particular topic NSs and NNSs were free todiscuss whatever interested them (for more details see Table 2)

Neither the NS nor NNS groups were trained face-to-face except when requests weremade by a few participants It was almost impossible to gather them all at a common date

Table 2 Activities

Period Topics

March 2005 Week 1 Try to introduce yourself and get to know your partner (Culturelikes and dislikes what do you usually do during the weekendsDo you like practising sports What is your favourite sportetc )

Week 2 Chat with your partner about your studies job in Scotland

Week 3 We invite you to discuss a book or a newspaper article you readrecently

Week 4 It is a free discussion

May 2005 Week 5 Story summary Many people in Britain consider the number 13 to beunlucky Some airlines avoid having a seat row numbered 13 ndash sothe rows go from 12 to 14 And there are many other superstitions

Read the above article (a link was provided) and discuss its contentwith your chat pal online using the letrsquos talk area Help yourselfwith the following questions

Are you superstitiousWhat are the most common forms of superstitions in your cultureWhat do you think about superstitionYou will find attached another interesting article it is on how to belucky You can ultimately read it and discuss its content with yourchat pal

Week 6 httpwwwscotarget languageandcomWhen you open this site you will find many links which will lead todifferent aspects of the Scottish culture Feel free to browsethrough these and discuss them with your chat pal

Week 7 lsquoListening to music might act as a painkiller a study has foundrsquo This isan article that might be of interest to you Try to read it and discussits contents with your chat pal

Week 8 In this week try to share your views with your chat pal on yourexperience while engaged in this project

Computer Assisted Language Learning 415

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

attitudes toward how they should be learning a language Sadly enough long hours arespent on coursework and almost no time is left to socialise with NSs of English a vitalcontext for them to not only learn the target language (Jepsen 2005) but also becomesocially balanced happy and confident (Beasley 1997 Kalkowski 1995) This supportsthe argument that social interaction is essential to language learning (LL) as has beenshown by studies of Hall and Verplaetse (2000) Lantolf (2000) Long (1983) and Pica(1994) and in the communicative approach to language teaching

Given these facts it is worth investigating the value of online enhanced correctivefeedback (OECF) as a useful peer tutoring provision for international students to developtheir language skills and at the same time experience a successful and healthy sojourn inthe hosting country while studying for their academic courses This programme isstructured yet very flexible It entails the use of (1) NSs as peer tutors and (2) Internet as ameans of social interaction NSs in this instance are meant to assist NNSs in practisingtheir L2 while socialising online This peer tutoring approach is mainly based onVygotskyrsquos (1978) theory where competent learners scaffold weaker ones and help theirprogression through the zone of proximal development The proposed peer tutoringprogramme embraces the one to one cross-age or same age mode of tutoring This is anoptimal environment for NNSs to become active self-regulated learners (Person ampGraesser 1999) It is also a learning context which encourages NNSs to be inquisitive self-motivated and in charge of rectifying their own knowledge deficits as advocated routinelyby educational researchers such as Bruner (1961) Papert (1980) Piaget (1952) andZimmerman Bandura and Martinez-Pons (1992)

Online interactive tools such as emails and online chats provide very practical ways ofcommunication these days Therefore NSs would appreciate using these tools as theywould feel flexible about when and where they need to assist their peers This would alsobe a convenient and pleasant approach for NNSs to practise their English as they would betyping rather than speaking and would have no fear of being embarrassed or losing facewhen making mistakes

Previous studies on computer-mediated communication (CMC) reported severalbenefits for language learning (LL) CMC for example does not demand for competition(Kitade 2000) and provides for more equal participation (Kern 1995) It also enables shyand less motivated learners to interact with others (Beauvois 1992 Kelm 1992Warshauer 1996) A further advantage would be that the NNSs in CMC environmentshave the possibility to re-examine and edit the text-based conversations They thereforebecome more aware of the language structures that they and their peers are using tocompose messages (Lee 2002)

Despite the bulk of literature on CMC it appears that there is little research on thequality of interaction of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners (Jepsen 2005)Also according to King (1999) the impact of peer learning experiences on subsequentindividual learning competences remains understudied Added to this Kalkowski (1995)notes that there has been insufficient research and validation of peer tutoring programmeswhich might explain why this is not widespread It is therefore timely to explore the valueof online peer tutoring on ESL learners from (1) the quality of their interaction online (2)their perceptions and (3) the challenges encountered

OECF as a peer tutoring technique for ESL learners

OECF uses online instant messaging systems This type of communication occurs lsquoon theflyrsquo and usersrsquo discourse is co-constructed very much as in oral conversations This peer

410 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

tutoring technique stems from one of the collaborative approaches of Peer AssistedLearning in which tutors are matched with NNSs to provide them with feedback andassist them in their academic achievements Interaction of this kind can promote learningin several ways (King 1999) When the tutors and the NNSs are engaged in talking to eachother about the task they present their ideas and perspectives ask questions provideinformation and so on It is an opportunity for them to clarify their own ideas elaborateon them evaluate their existing knowledge for accuracy and gaps integrate and re-organise knowledge or in some other manner re-conceptualise the material (Brown ampCampione 1986) This cognitive change tends to affect subsequent learning andperformance (King 1999)

OECF of this study adopted few strategies from negotiated meaning which is one ofthe main components of Interactional Theories deemed conducive to LL (Long 1996) Asan aspect of social interaction negotiated meaning is a cognitive process whereinterlocutors tend to understand each other better because of modified interaction(Long 1996 Pica 1994) This latter as defined by Long (1983) is partly accomplishedthrough utterances such as clarification requests and comprehension checks Negotiatedmeaning is used to increase comprehensibility between two interlocutors and ultimatelyraise awareness of grammatical and semantic inaccuracies It is usually manifested throughrepair moves (Ellis 1995) When interlocutors recognise the various types of these repairmoves they may attempt to self-correct (Long 1996) or generate modified output (Swain1985) It is in this sense that negotiated meaning is found to be appropriate to the design ofOECF technique of this study NSs as tutors while using this peer tutoring system areexpected to be highly conscious about NNSsrsquo language and react accordingly NNSsrsquolanguage in this instance includes grammatical inaccuracies as well as culturalmisconceptions due to differences in backgrounds The OECF uses implicit and explicitstrategies The former includes moves such as recasts clarification requests and echoingwhereas the latter concerns the use of an overt explanation of what went wrong in previousturns (for more details see Table 1)

There is evidence that a conversation between a NS and a NNS of the target languagecan be a wellspring of misunderstanding These communication problems are usually

Table 1 OECF strategies for NS tutors

OECF Strategies Examples

Implicit Strategies Recast (Long 1996) Eg This city is beautifulin response to thetuteersquos This citybeautiful

The tutor corrects the tuteersquos inaccurateoutput by incorporating implicitly the correction

Confirmation check (Long 1983) Eg Can you trythat againThe tutor asks questions in order to incite

the tutee to make a correctionClarification request (Long 1983) Eg What do you

mean by XThe tutor asks a question to the tutee tomake a correction

Echoing Eg city beautifulThe tutor repeats just the inappropriate word orutterance with an intonation that denotes thatthere is something wrong in his output Thismight incite the tutee to self-correct

Explicit Strategy Explicit correction Eg You should sayThis city is beautifulThe tutor clearly tells the tutee his mistakes

Computer Assisted Language Learning 411

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

rooted in either the misuse of language or the failure to detect cultural nuances embeddedin the target language Because this study is more concerned with helping internationalstudents improve their communicative skills in English through OECF it is important tohighlight the routes a conversation takes when there is a communicative breakdown andwhere OECF strategies are used by NSs to assist their NNS peers It is estimated that thereare four reactions to a trigger in a conversation The first reaction does not require the useof OECF technique but the remainders do (see Figure 1)

The first reaction happens when NNSs misuse the language while typing their messageThis posting is immediately followed by a second message where the NNSs incorporate theright corrections This usually comes about when NNSs are absorbed in keeping theconversation going and in transmitting information By so doing they neglect to focus onhow to formulate their ideas properly It is important to mention here that having theadvantage of seeing the postings on the screen may lead to self-realisation and hence self-correction before the NS attempts to provide feedback Such language awarenessenhancement may well have a positive effect on NNSsrsquo memories Indeed NNSs mightwell experience similar situations in the future and be able to remember and retrieve thecorrect wording or information

In the second instance NNSs may fail to notice that they have made a mistake in theirpostingsNSswould thenuse anOECFexplicit strategy toattract theirNNSsrsquo attention to thegaps they have in their interlanguage Thismaywell encourageNNSs to include corrections intheir subsequent postings or re-use the correct phrasing in other identical situations

In the third case there are two reactions The first exists in contexts in which NNSs arescanning the messages of their NS tutors Feedback then is not provided in a vacuumNNSs either self-correct if they recognise what went wrong or send clarification requestsIn both cases NNSs are likely to retain the information and use it in other circumstancesAs to the second reaction this happens when NNSs fail to notice their tutorsrsquo implicitfeedback In these instances there is a high probability that they will keep on producingthe same mistakes

Research design

This case study explores the value of OECF for ESL learners This study used bothqualitative and quantitative tools to gather data The two main instruments wereConversation Analysis and end-project survey for both NNSs and NSs The analysis ofdata obtained from both these tools was substantiated with relevant extracts fromparticipantsrsquo spontaneous turns produced during their online conversations

The conversation analysis was used to investigate the quality of NNSsrsquo discourse whileconversing online with their NS peers This methodology was applied essentially toencapsulate the perspective of interaction as action which is expressed by means oflinguistic forms in a developing sequence (Seedhouse 2005) The interactional organisa-tion embraced here used turn-taking as units to assess their abundance in a conversationThis was a genuine means by which it was possible to judge the degree of cognitive andsocial activity the NNSs were engaged in during the project For the quality discourseconversation analysis considered three aspects of interaction These features were (1)initiations of topics (2) requests for clarification and (3) elaborated answers to questionsFor language awareness conversation analysis included self-correction approvals aspreferred responses and incorporations of the corrected form or meaning Both aspects ofthe discourse have been borrowed from Long (1980) and Pica (1994) interactionalmodification moves The rationale behind using these aspects to investigate the quality of

412 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Figure

1

Trigger

inaconversationandOECF

model

Computer Assisted Language Learning 413

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

discourse of NNSsrsquo interlanguages lie within their engaging potential Both aspects ofdiscourse were quantified from week one to week eight

To get insights on the value of OECF from the NNSsrsquo and NSsrsquo perspectives aresearcher-developed survey was created It was a five-point Likert scale ranging fromStrongly Disagree to Strongly Agree This was used to gauge NNSsrsquo perspectives andattitudes They indicated their level of satisfaction by ranking the question from 1 to 5 (5 isthe highest score)

At this stage it is important to keep inmind that the findings of this studymay ormay notillustrate that the OECF programme contributed to the quality of discourse of the NNSs

Participants

An ESL teacher at the Language Centre of the University of Dundee who was in charge of anon-accredited programme volunteered to encourage his international students to take partin this study When he read the information sheet of the project he thought it had potentialto his students as it promised to be an opportunity firstly to interact with NS in English andsecondly to reflect on the language as it is produced in the written form Ten of his studentssigned up They were from a diverse background seven Chinese one Italian and twoIndians The participants were three males and seven females They evaluated themselves asintermediate learners of English Most of them were between 20 and 25 years old Only twowere between 30 and 35 years oldMost of them had little exposure to English and had rarelypractised it with a NS It is interesting to mention here that all the NNSs at the time whenthey signed up for this project had no friends as NSs of English (a friend in this instancemeant a person to spend time share hobbies and socialise with) NNSs reported that theyhad little contacts with NSs of English either in terms of study or at their accommodationEven within the latter where there should be more socialising and more room to establishfriendship and hence practise the target language it appeared that international studentshad problems connecting with NSs of English ESL learners chose to be part of this projectbecause they believed that it was a good opportunity to practise their English with NSs toimprove their communicative skills in English as these are practised through reading andwriting rather than listening and speaking to make friends who are NS of English and toimprove their confidence in using English

NSs were also an important population of this study These were recruited from thestudent community of the University of Dundee The researcher used two channels toapproach this group of people First one of the supervisors of this study helped indisseminating the information through his BEd (Bachelor in Education) students Secondan advert was launched via the internal mailing system of the university These actionsproved beneficial as 10 potential candidates manifested as soon as the appeal was instigatedThe tutoring group consisted of five females and five males six of whom were students andthe rest were university staff members Four of these NS tutors were in their twenties threein their thirties two were over forty and one in his late teens A large number of tutors werefrom Scotland only two were from non-English-speaking backgrounds Though one wasoriginally from France and the other from Nepal their bio-data and their emails revealedthat they not only had a very good command of English but they also had a soundunderstanding of the British culture This volunteering group opted to be part of this studyfor twomain reasons First the research sounded interesting in concept and provided a goodopportunity to help and give assistance to minority students Second NSs liked the idea ofbeing twinned with international students they thought it was a useful way to meet peoplefrom different cultures and hence exchange knowledge

414 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

At this stage it is important to mention that both groups were IT literate From thesetwo groups 10 pairs were formed NNSs and NSs were matched with each other randomly

Procedure

Before the project started three main things were considered developing activitiestraining participants and considering the usability of MSN as an e-learning environmentfor this study

The activities that were meant to fuel the online conversation between NNSs and NSswere open-ended tasks They were developed to involve learners in sharing exchangingand debating information through self-expression and self-discovery Topics were chosenby bearing in mind that NNSs were both within the intermediate range of Englishlanguage proficiency and also willing to practise their English in a user-friendlyenvironment Though each week had a particular topic NSs and NNSs were free todiscuss whatever interested them (for more details see Table 2)

Neither the NS nor NNS groups were trained face-to-face except when requests weremade by a few participants It was almost impossible to gather them all at a common date

Table 2 Activities

Period Topics

March 2005 Week 1 Try to introduce yourself and get to know your partner (Culturelikes and dislikes what do you usually do during the weekendsDo you like practising sports What is your favourite sportetc )

Week 2 Chat with your partner about your studies job in Scotland

Week 3 We invite you to discuss a book or a newspaper article you readrecently

Week 4 It is a free discussion

May 2005 Week 5 Story summary Many people in Britain consider the number 13 to beunlucky Some airlines avoid having a seat row numbered 13 ndash sothe rows go from 12 to 14 And there are many other superstitions

Read the above article (a link was provided) and discuss its contentwith your chat pal online using the letrsquos talk area Help yourselfwith the following questions

Are you superstitiousWhat are the most common forms of superstitions in your cultureWhat do you think about superstitionYou will find attached another interesting article it is on how to belucky You can ultimately read it and discuss its content with yourchat pal

Week 6 httpwwwscotarget languageandcomWhen you open this site you will find many links which will lead todifferent aspects of the Scottish culture Feel free to browsethrough these and discuss them with your chat pal

Week 7 lsquoListening to music might act as a painkiller a study has foundrsquo This isan article that might be of interest to you Try to read it and discussits contents with your chat pal

Week 8 In this week try to share your views with your chat pal on yourexperience while engaged in this project

Computer Assisted Language Learning 415

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

tutoring technique stems from one of the collaborative approaches of Peer AssistedLearning in which tutors are matched with NNSs to provide them with feedback andassist them in their academic achievements Interaction of this kind can promote learningin several ways (King 1999) When the tutors and the NNSs are engaged in talking to eachother about the task they present their ideas and perspectives ask questions provideinformation and so on It is an opportunity for them to clarify their own ideas elaborateon them evaluate their existing knowledge for accuracy and gaps integrate and re-organise knowledge or in some other manner re-conceptualise the material (Brown ampCampione 1986) This cognitive change tends to affect subsequent learning andperformance (King 1999)

OECF of this study adopted few strategies from negotiated meaning which is one ofthe main components of Interactional Theories deemed conducive to LL (Long 1996) Asan aspect of social interaction negotiated meaning is a cognitive process whereinterlocutors tend to understand each other better because of modified interaction(Long 1996 Pica 1994) This latter as defined by Long (1983) is partly accomplishedthrough utterances such as clarification requests and comprehension checks Negotiatedmeaning is used to increase comprehensibility between two interlocutors and ultimatelyraise awareness of grammatical and semantic inaccuracies It is usually manifested throughrepair moves (Ellis 1995) When interlocutors recognise the various types of these repairmoves they may attempt to self-correct (Long 1996) or generate modified output (Swain1985) It is in this sense that negotiated meaning is found to be appropriate to the design ofOECF technique of this study NSs as tutors while using this peer tutoring system areexpected to be highly conscious about NNSsrsquo language and react accordingly NNSsrsquolanguage in this instance includes grammatical inaccuracies as well as culturalmisconceptions due to differences in backgrounds The OECF uses implicit and explicitstrategies The former includes moves such as recasts clarification requests and echoingwhereas the latter concerns the use of an overt explanation of what went wrong in previousturns (for more details see Table 1)

There is evidence that a conversation between a NS and a NNS of the target languagecan be a wellspring of misunderstanding These communication problems are usually

Table 1 OECF strategies for NS tutors

OECF Strategies Examples

Implicit Strategies Recast (Long 1996) Eg This city is beautifulin response to thetuteersquos This citybeautiful

The tutor corrects the tuteersquos inaccurateoutput by incorporating implicitly the correction

Confirmation check (Long 1983) Eg Can you trythat againThe tutor asks questions in order to incite

the tutee to make a correctionClarification request (Long 1983) Eg What do you

mean by XThe tutor asks a question to the tutee tomake a correction

Echoing Eg city beautifulThe tutor repeats just the inappropriate word orutterance with an intonation that denotes thatthere is something wrong in his output Thismight incite the tutee to self-correct

Explicit Strategy Explicit correction Eg You should sayThis city is beautifulThe tutor clearly tells the tutee his mistakes

Computer Assisted Language Learning 411

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

rooted in either the misuse of language or the failure to detect cultural nuances embeddedin the target language Because this study is more concerned with helping internationalstudents improve their communicative skills in English through OECF it is important tohighlight the routes a conversation takes when there is a communicative breakdown andwhere OECF strategies are used by NSs to assist their NNS peers It is estimated that thereare four reactions to a trigger in a conversation The first reaction does not require the useof OECF technique but the remainders do (see Figure 1)

The first reaction happens when NNSs misuse the language while typing their messageThis posting is immediately followed by a second message where the NNSs incorporate theright corrections This usually comes about when NNSs are absorbed in keeping theconversation going and in transmitting information By so doing they neglect to focus onhow to formulate their ideas properly It is important to mention here that having theadvantage of seeing the postings on the screen may lead to self-realisation and hence self-correction before the NS attempts to provide feedback Such language awarenessenhancement may well have a positive effect on NNSsrsquo memories Indeed NNSs mightwell experience similar situations in the future and be able to remember and retrieve thecorrect wording or information

In the second instance NNSs may fail to notice that they have made a mistake in theirpostingsNSswould thenuse anOECFexplicit strategy toattract theirNNSsrsquo attention to thegaps they have in their interlanguage Thismaywell encourageNNSs to include corrections intheir subsequent postings or re-use the correct phrasing in other identical situations

In the third case there are two reactions The first exists in contexts in which NNSs arescanning the messages of their NS tutors Feedback then is not provided in a vacuumNNSs either self-correct if they recognise what went wrong or send clarification requestsIn both cases NNSs are likely to retain the information and use it in other circumstancesAs to the second reaction this happens when NNSs fail to notice their tutorsrsquo implicitfeedback In these instances there is a high probability that they will keep on producingthe same mistakes

Research design

This case study explores the value of OECF for ESL learners This study used bothqualitative and quantitative tools to gather data The two main instruments wereConversation Analysis and end-project survey for both NNSs and NSs The analysis ofdata obtained from both these tools was substantiated with relevant extracts fromparticipantsrsquo spontaneous turns produced during their online conversations

The conversation analysis was used to investigate the quality of NNSsrsquo discourse whileconversing online with their NS peers This methodology was applied essentially toencapsulate the perspective of interaction as action which is expressed by means oflinguistic forms in a developing sequence (Seedhouse 2005) The interactional organisa-tion embraced here used turn-taking as units to assess their abundance in a conversationThis was a genuine means by which it was possible to judge the degree of cognitive andsocial activity the NNSs were engaged in during the project For the quality discourseconversation analysis considered three aspects of interaction These features were (1)initiations of topics (2) requests for clarification and (3) elaborated answers to questionsFor language awareness conversation analysis included self-correction approvals aspreferred responses and incorporations of the corrected form or meaning Both aspects ofthe discourse have been borrowed from Long (1980) and Pica (1994) interactionalmodification moves The rationale behind using these aspects to investigate the quality of

412 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Figure

1

Trigger

inaconversationandOECF

model

Computer Assisted Language Learning 413

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

discourse of NNSsrsquo interlanguages lie within their engaging potential Both aspects ofdiscourse were quantified from week one to week eight

To get insights on the value of OECF from the NNSsrsquo and NSsrsquo perspectives aresearcher-developed survey was created It was a five-point Likert scale ranging fromStrongly Disagree to Strongly Agree This was used to gauge NNSsrsquo perspectives andattitudes They indicated their level of satisfaction by ranking the question from 1 to 5 (5 isthe highest score)

At this stage it is important to keep inmind that the findings of this studymay ormay notillustrate that the OECF programme contributed to the quality of discourse of the NNSs

Participants

An ESL teacher at the Language Centre of the University of Dundee who was in charge of anon-accredited programme volunteered to encourage his international students to take partin this study When he read the information sheet of the project he thought it had potentialto his students as it promised to be an opportunity firstly to interact with NS in English andsecondly to reflect on the language as it is produced in the written form Ten of his studentssigned up They were from a diverse background seven Chinese one Italian and twoIndians The participants were three males and seven females They evaluated themselves asintermediate learners of English Most of them were between 20 and 25 years old Only twowere between 30 and 35 years oldMost of them had little exposure to English and had rarelypractised it with a NS It is interesting to mention here that all the NNSs at the time whenthey signed up for this project had no friends as NSs of English (a friend in this instancemeant a person to spend time share hobbies and socialise with) NNSs reported that theyhad little contacts with NSs of English either in terms of study or at their accommodationEven within the latter where there should be more socialising and more room to establishfriendship and hence practise the target language it appeared that international studentshad problems connecting with NSs of English ESL learners chose to be part of this projectbecause they believed that it was a good opportunity to practise their English with NSs toimprove their communicative skills in English as these are practised through reading andwriting rather than listening and speaking to make friends who are NS of English and toimprove their confidence in using English

NSs were also an important population of this study These were recruited from thestudent community of the University of Dundee The researcher used two channels toapproach this group of people First one of the supervisors of this study helped indisseminating the information through his BEd (Bachelor in Education) students Secondan advert was launched via the internal mailing system of the university These actionsproved beneficial as 10 potential candidates manifested as soon as the appeal was instigatedThe tutoring group consisted of five females and five males six of whom were students andthe rest were university staff members Four of these NS tutors were in their twenties threein their thirties two were over forty and one in his late teens A large number of tutors werefrom Scotland only two were from non-English-speaking backgrounds Though one wasoriginally from France and the other from Nepal their bio-data and their emails revealedthat they not only had a very good command of English but they also had a soundunderstanding of the British culture This volunteering group opted to be part of this studyfor twomain reasons First the research sounded interesting in concept and provided a goodopportunity to help and give assistance to minority students Second NSs liked the idea ofbeing twinned with international students they thought it was a useful way to meet peoplefrom different cultures and hence exchange knowledge

414 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

At this stage it is important to mention that both groups were IT literate From thesetwo groups 10 pairs were formed NNSs and NSs were matched with each other randomly

Procedure

Before the project started three main things were considered developing activitiestraining participants and considering the usability of MSN as an e-learning environmentfor this study

The activities that were meant to fuel the online conversation between NNSs and NSswere open-ended tasks They were developed to involve learners in sharing exchangingand debating information through self-expression and self-discovery Topics were chosenby bearing in mind that NNSs were both within the intermediate range of Englishlanguage proficiency and also willing to practise their English in a user-friendlyenvironment Though each week had a particular topic NSs and NNSs were free todiscuss whatever interested them (for more details see Table 2)

Neither the NS nor NNS groups were trained face-to-face except when requests weremade by a few participants It was almost impossible to gather them all at a common date

Table 2 Activities

Period Topics

March 2005 Week 1 Try to introduce yourself and get to know your partner (Culturelikes and dislikes what do you usually do during the weekendsDo you like practising sports What is your favourite sportetc )

Week 2 Chat with your partner about your studies job in Scotland

Week 3 We invite you to discuss a book or a newspaper article you readrecently

Week 4 It is a free discussion

May 2005 Week 5 Story summary Many people in Britain consider the number 13 to beunlucky Some airlines avoid having a seat row numbered 13 ndash sothe rows go from 12 to 14 And there are many other superstitions

Read the above article (a link was provided) and discuss its contentwith your chat pal online using the letrsquos talk area Help yourselfwith the following questions

Are you superstitiousWhat are the most common forms of superstitions in your cultureWhat do you think about superstitionYou will find attached another interesting article it is on how to belucky You can ultimately read it and discuss its content with yourchat pal

Week 6 httpwwwscotarget languageandcomWhen you open this site you will find many links which will lead todifferent aspects of the Scottish culture Feel free to browsethrough these and discuss them with your chat pal

Week 7 lsquoListening to music might act as a painkiller a study has foundrsquo This isan article that might be of interest to you Try to read it and discussits contents with your chat pal

Week 8 In this week try to share your views with your chat pal on yourexperience while engaged in this project

Computer Assisted Language Learning 415

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

rooted in either the misuse of language or the failure to detect cultural nuances embeddedin the target language Because this study is more concerned with helping internationalstudents improve their communicative skills in English through OECF it is important tohighlight the routes a conversation takes when there is a communicative breakdown andwhere OECF strategies are used by NSs to assist their NNS peers It is estimated that thereare four reactions to a trigger in a conversation The first reaction does not require the useof OECF technique but the remainders do (see Figure 1)

The first reaction happens when NNSs misuse the language while typing their messageThis posting is immediately followed by a second message where the NNSs incorporate theright corrections This usually comes about when NNSs are absorbed in keeping theconversation going and in transmitting information By so doing they neglect to focus onhow to formulate their ideas properly It is important to mention here that having theadvantage of seeing the postings on the screen may lead to self-realisation and hence self-correction before the NS attempts to provide feedback Such language awarenessenhancement may well have a positive effect on NNSsrsquo memories Indeed NNSs mightwell experience similar situations in the future and be able to remember and retrieve thecorrect wording or information

In the second instance NNSs may fail to notice that they have made a mistake in theirpostingsNSswould thenuse anOECFexplicit strategy toattract theirNNSsrsquo attention to thegaps they have in their interlanguage Thismaywell encourageNNSs to include corrections intheir subsequent postings or re-use the correct phrasing in other identical situations

In the third case there are two reactions The first exists in contexts in which NNSs arescanning the messages of their NS tutors Feedback then is not provided in a vacuumNNSs either self-correct if they recognise what went wrong or send clarification requestsIn both cases NNSs are likely to retain the information and use it in other circumstancesAs to the second reaction this happens when NNSs fail to notice their tutorsrsquo implicitfeedback In these instances there is a high probability that they will keep on producingthe same mistakes

Research design

This case study explores the value of OECF for ESL learners This study used bothqualitative and quantitative tools to gather data The two main instruments wereConversation Analysis and end-project survey for both NNSs and NSs The analysis ofdata obtained from both these tools was substantiated with relevant extracts fromparticipantsrsquo spontaneous turns produced during their online conversations

The conversation analysis was used to investigate the quality of NNSsrsquo discourse whileconversing online with their NS peers This methodology was applied essentially toencapsulate the perspective of interaction as action which is expressed by means oflinguistic forms in a developing sequence (Seedhouse 2005) The interactional organisa-tion embraced here used turn-taking as units to assess their abundance in a conversationThis was a genuine means by which it was possible to judge the degree of cognitive andsocial activity the NNSs were engaged in during the project For the quality discourseconversation analysis considered three aspects of interaction These features were (1)initiations of topics (2) requests for clarification and (3) elaborated answers to questionsFor language awareness conversation analysis included self-correction approvals aspreferred responses and incorporations of the corrected form or meaning Both aspects ofthe discourse have been borrowed from Long (1980) and Pica (1994) interactionalmodification moves The rationale behind using these aspects to investigate the quality of

412 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Figure

1

Trigger

inaconversationandOECF

model

Computer Assisted Language Learning 413

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

discourse of NNSsrsquo interlanguages lie within their engaging potential Both aspects ofdiscourse were quantified from week one to week eight

To get insights on the value of OECF from the NNSsrsquo and NSsrsquo perspectives aresearcher-developed survey was created It was a five-point Likert scale ranging fromStrongly Disagree to Strongly Agree This was used to gauge NNSsrsquo perspectives andattitudes They indicated their level of satisfaction by ranking the question from 1 to 5 (5 isthe highest score)

At this stage it is important to keep inmind that the findings of this studymay ormay notillustrate that the OECF programme contributed to the quality of discourse of the NNSs

Participants

An ESL teacher at the Language Centre of the University of Dundee who was in charge of anon-accredited programme volunteered to encourage his international students to take partin this study When he read the information sheet of the project he thought it had potentialto his students as it promised to be an opportunity firstly to interact with NS in English andsecondly to reflect on the language as it is produced in the written form Ten of his studentssigned up They were from a diverse background seven Chinese one Italian and twoIndians The participants were three males and seven females They evaluated themselves asintermediate learners of English Most of them were between 20 and 25 years old Only twowere between 30 and 35 years oldMost of them had little exposure to English and had rarelypractised it with a NS It is interesting to mention here that all the NNSs at the time whenthey signed up for this project had no friends as NSs of English (a friend in this instancemeant a person to spend time share hobbies and socialise with) NNSs reported that theyhad little contacts with NSs of English either in terms of study or at their accommodationEven within the latter where there should be more socialising and more room to establishfriendship and hence practise the target language it appeared that international studentshad problems connecting with NSs of English ESL learners chose to be part of this projectbecause they believed that it was a good opportunity to practise their English with NSs toimprove their communicative skills in English as these are practised through reading andwriting rather than listening and speaking to make friends who are NS of English and toimprove their confidence in using English

NSs were also an important population of this study These were recruited from thestudent community of the University of Dundee The researcher used two channels toapproach this group of people First one of the supervisors of this study helped indisseminating the information through his BEd (Bachelor in Education) students Secondan advert was launched via the internal mailing system of the university These actionsproved beneficial as 10 potential candidates manifested as soon as the appeal was instigatedThe tutoring group consisted of five females and five males six of whom were students andthe rest were university staff members Four of these NS tutors were in their twenties threein their thirties two were over forty and one in his late teens A large number of tutors werefrom Scotland only two were from non-English-speaking backgrounds Though one wasoriginally from France and the other from Nepal their bio-data and their emails revealedthat they not only had a very good command of English but they also had a soundunderstanding of the British culture This volunteering group opted to be part of this studyfor twomain reasons First the research sounded interesting in concept and provided a goodopportunity to help and give assistance to minority students Second NSs liked the idea ofbeing twinned with international students they thought it was a useful way to meet peoplefrom different cultures and hence exchange knowledge

414 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

At this stage it is important to mention that both groups were IT literate From thesetwo groups 10 pairs were formed NNSs and NSs were matched with each other randomly

Procedure

Before the project started three main things were considered developing activitiestraining participants and considering the usability of MSN as an e-learning environmentfor this study

The activities that were meant to fuel the online conversation between NNSs and NSswere open-ended tasks They were developed to involve learners in sharing exchangingand debating information through self-expression and self-discovery Topics were chosenby bearing in mind that NNSs were both within the intermediate range of Englishlanguage proficiency and also willing to practise their English in a user-friendlyenvironment Though each week had a particular topic NSs and NNSs were free todiscuss whatever interested them (for more details see Table 2)

Neither the NS nor NNS groups were trained face-to-face except when requests weremade by a few participants It was almost impossible to gather them all at a common date

Table 2 Activities

Period Topics

March 2005 Week 1 Try to introduce yourself and get to know your partner (Culturelikes and dislikes what do you usually do during the weekendsDo you like practising sports What is your favourite sportetc )

Week 2 Chat with your partner about your studies job in Scotland

Week 3 We invite you to discuss a book or a newspaper article you readrecently

Week 4 It is a free discussion

May 2005 Week 5 Story summary Many people in Britain consider the number 13 to beunlucky Some airlines avoid having a seat row numbered 13 ndash sothe rows go from 12 to 14 And there are many other superstitions

Read the above article (a link was provided) and discuss its contentwith your chat pal online using the letrsquos talk area Help yourselfwith the following questions

Are you superstitiousWhat are the most common forms of superstitions in your cultureWhat do you think about superstitionYou will find attached another interesting article it is on how to belucky You can ultimately read it and discuss its content with yourchat pal

Week 6 httpwwwscotarget languageandcomWhen you open this site you will find many links which will lead todifferent aspects of the Scottish culture Feel free to browsethrough these and discuss them with your chat pal

Week 7 lsquoListening to music might act as a painkiller a study has foundrsquo This isan article that might be of interest to you Try to read it and discussits contents with your chat pal

Week 8 In this week try to share your views with your chat pal on yourexperience while engaged in this project

Computer Assisted Language Learning 415

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Figure

1

Trigger

inaconversationandOECF

model

Computer Assisted Language Learning 413

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

discourse of NNSsrsquo interlanguages lie within their engaging potential Both aspects ofdiscourse were quantified from week one to week eight

To get insights on the value of OECF from the NNSsrsquo and NSsrsquo perspectives aresearcher-developed survey was created It was a five-point Likert scale ranging fromStrongly Disagree to Strongly Agree This was used to gauge NNSsrsquo perspectives andattitudes They indicated their level of satisfaction by ranking the question from 1 to 5 (5 isthe highest score)

At this stage it is important to keep inmind that the findings of this studymay ormay notillustrate that the OECF programme contributed to the quality of discourse of the NNSs

Participants

An ESL teacher at the Language Centre of the University of Dundee who was in charge of anon-accredited programme volunteered to encourage his international students to take partin this study When he read the information sheet of the project he thought it had potentialto his students as it promised to be an opportunity firstly to interact with NS in English andsecondly to reflect on the language as it is produced in the written form Ten of his studentssigned up They were from a diverse background seven Chinese one Italian and twoIndians The participants were three males and seven females They evaluated themselves asintermediate learners of English Most of them were between 20 and 25 years old Only twowere between 30 and 35 years oldMost of them had little exposure to English and had rarelypractised it with a NS It is interesting to mention here that all the NNSs at the time whenthey signed up for this project had no friends as NSs of English (a friend in this instancemeant a person to spend time share hobbies and socialise with) NNSs reported that theyhad little contacts with NSs of English either in terms of study or at their accommodationEven within the latter where there should be more socialising and more room to establishfriendship and hence practise the target language it appeared that international studentshad problems connecting with NSs of English ESL learners chose to be part of this projectbecause they believed that it was a good opportunity to practise their English with NSs toimprove their communicative skills in English as these are practised through reading andwriting rather than listening and speaking to make friends who are NS of English and toimprove their confidence in using English

NSs were also an important population of this study These were recruited from thestudent community of the University of Dundee The researcher used two channels toapproach this group of people First one of the supervisors of this study helped indisseminating the information through his BEd (Bachelor in Education) students Secondan advert was launched via the internal mailing system of the university These actionsproved beneficial as 10 potential candidates manifested as soon as the appeal was instigatedThe tutoring group consisted of five females and five males six of whom were students andthe rest were university staff members Four of these NS tutors were in their twenties threein their thirties two were over forty and one in his late teens A large number of tutors werefrom Scotland only two were from non-English-speaking backgrounds Though one wasoriginally from France and the other from Nepal their bio-data and their emails revealedthat they not only had a very good command of English but they also had a soundunderstanding of the British culture This volunteering group opted to be part of this studyfor twomain reasons First the research sounded interesting in concept and provided a goodopportunity to help and give assistance to minority students Second NSs liked the idea ofbeing twinned with international students they thought it was a useful way to meet peoplefrom different cultures and hence exchange knowledge

414 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

At this stage it is important to mention that both groups were IT literate From thesetwo groups 10 pairs were formed NNSs and NSs were matched with each other randomly

Procedure

Before the project started three main things were considered developing activitiestraining participants and considering the usability of MSN as an e-learning environmentfor this study

The activities that were meant to fuel the online conversation between NNSs and NSswere open-ended tasks They were developed to involve learners in sharing exchangingand debating information through self-expression and self-discovery Topics were chosenby bearing in mind that NNSs were both within the intermediate range of Englishlanguage proficiency and also willing to practise their English in a user-friendlyenvironment Though each week had a particular topic NSs and NNSs were free todiscuss whatever interested them (for more details see Table 2)

Neither the NS nor NNS groups were trained face-to-face except when requests weremade by a few participants It was almost impossible to gather them all at a common date

Table 2 Activities

Period Topics

March 2005 Week 1 Try to introduce yourself and get to know your partner (Culturelikes and dislikes what do you usually do during the weekendsDo you like practising sports What is your favourite sportetc )

Week 2 Chat with your partner about your studies job in Scotland

Week 3 We invite you to discuss a book or a newspaper article you readrecently

Week 4 It is a free discussion

May 2005 Week 5 Story summary Many people in Britain consider the number 13 to beunlucky Some airlines avoid having a seat row numbered 13 ndash sothe rows go from 12 to 14 And there are many other superstitions

Read the above article (a link was provided) and discuss its contentwith your chat pal online using the letrsquos talk area Help yourselfwith the following questions

Are you superstitiousWhat are the most common forms of superstitions in your cultureWhat do you think about superstitionYou will find attached another interesting article it is on how to belucky You can ultimately read it and discuss its content with yourchat pal

Week 6 httpwwwscotarget languageandcomWhen you open this site you will find many links which will lead todifferent aspects of the Scottish culture Feel free to browsethrough these and discuss them with your chat pal

Week 7 lsquoListening to music might act as a painkiller a study has foundrsquo This isan article that might be of interest to you Try to read it and discussits contents with your chat pal

Week 8 In this week try to share your views with your chat pal on yourexperience while engaged in this project

Computer Assisted Language Learning 415

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

discourse of NNSsrsquo interlanguages lie within their engaging potential Both aspects ofdiscourse were quantified from week one to week eight

To get insights on the value of OECF from the NNSsrsquo and NSsrsquo perspectives aresearcher-developed survey was created It was a five-point Likert scale ranging fromStrongly Disagree to Strongly Agree This was used to gauge NNSsrsquo perspectives andattitudes They indicated their level of satisfaction by ranking the question from 1 to 5 (5 isthe highest score)

At this stage it is important to keep inmind that the findings of this studymay ormay notillustrate that the OECF programme contributed to the quality of discourse of the NNSs

Participants

An ESL teacher at the Language Centre of the University of Dundee who was in charge of anon-accredited programme volunteered to encourage his international students to take partin this study When he read the information sheet of the project he thought it had potentialto his students as it promised to be an opportunity firstly to interact with NS in English andsecondly to reflect on the language as it is produced in the written form Ten of his studentssigned up They were from a diverse background seven Chinese one Italian and twoIndians The participants were three males and seven females They evaluated themselves asintermediate learners of English Most of them were between 20 and 25 years old Only twowere between 30 and 35 years oldMost of them had little exposure to English and had rarelypractised it with a NS It is interesting to mention here that all the NNSs at the time whenthey signed up for this project had no friends as NSs of English (a friend in this instancemeant a person to spend time share hobbies and socialise with) NNSs reported that theyhad little contacts with NSs of English either in terms of study or at their accommodationEven within the latter where there should be more socialising and more room to establishfriendship and hence practise the target language it appeared that international studentshad problems connecting with NSs of English ESL learners chose to be part of this projectbecause they believed that it was a good opportunity to practise their English with NSs toimprove their communicative skills in English as these are practised through reading andwriting rather than listening and speaking to make friends who are NS of English and toimprove their confidence in using English

NSs were also an important population of this study These were recruited from thestudent community of the University of Dundee The researcher used two channels toapproach this group of people First one of the supervisors of this study helped indisseminating the information through his BEd (Bachelor in Education) students Secondan advert was launched via the internal mailing system of the university These actionsproved beneficial as 10 potential candidates manifested as soon as the appeal was instigatedThe tutoring group consisted of five females and five males six of whom were students andthe rest were university staff members Four of these NS tutors were in their twenties threein their thirties two were over forty and one in his late teens A large number of tutors werefrom Scotland only two were from non-English-speaking backgrounds Though one wasoriginally from France and the other from Nepal their bio-data and their emails revealedthat they not only had a very good command of English but they also had a soundunderstanding of the British culture This volunteering group opted to be part of this studyfor twomain reasons First the research sounded interesting in concept and provided a goodopportunity to help and give assistance to minority students Second NSs liked the idea ofbeing twinned with international students they thought it was a useful way to meet peoplefrom different cultures and hence exchange knowledge

414 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

At this stage it is important to mention that both groups were IT literate From thesetwo groups 10 pairs were formed NNSs and NSs were matched with each other randomly

Procedure

Before the project started three main things were considered developing activitiestraining participants and considering the usability of MSN as an e-learning environmentfor this study

The activities that were meant to fuel the online conversation between NNSs and NSswere open-ended tasks They were developed to involve learners in sharing exchangingand debating information through self-expression and self-discovery Topics were chosenby bearing in mind that NNSs were both within the intermediate range of Englishlanguage proficiency and also willing to practise their English in a user-friendlyenvironment Though each week had a particular topic NSs and NNSs were free todiscuss whatever interested them (for more details see Table 2)

Neither the NS nor NNS groups were trained face-to-face except when requests weremade by a few participants It was almost impossible to gather them all at a common date

Table 2 Activities

Period Topics

March 2005 Week 1 Try to introduce yourself and get to know your partner (Culturelikes and dislikes what do you usually do during the weekendsDo you like practising sports What is your favourite sportetc )

Week 2 Chat with your partner about your studies job in Scotland

Week 3 We invite you to discuss a book or a newspaper article you readrecently

Week 4 It is a free discussion

May 2005 Week 5 Story summary Many people in Britain consider the number 13 to beunlucky Some airlines avoid having a seat row numbered 13 ndash sothe rows go from 12 to 14 And there are many other superstitions

Read the above article (a link was provided) and discuss its contentwith your chat pal online using the letrsquos talk area Help yourselfwith the following questions

Are you superstitiousWhat are the most common forms of superstitions in your cultureWhat do you think about superstitionYou will find attached another interesting article it is on how to belucky You can ultimately read it and discuss its content with yourchat pal

Week 6 httpwwwscotarget languageandcomWhen you open this site you will find many links which will lead todifferent aspects of the Scottish culture Feel free to browsethrough these and discuss them with your chat pal

Week 7 lsquoListening to music might act as a painkiller a study has foundrsquo This isan article that might be of interest to you Try to read it and discussits contents with your chat pal

Week 8 In this week try to share your views with your chat pal on yourexperience while engaged in this project

Computer Assisted Language Learning 415

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

At this stage it is important to mention that both groups were IT literate From thesetwo groups 10 pairs were formed NNSs and NSs were matched with each other randomly

Procedure

Before the project started three main things were considered developing activitiestraining participants and considering the usability of MSN as an e-learning environmentfor this study

The activities that were meant to fuel the online conversation between NNSs and NSswere open-ended tasks They were developed to involve learners in sharing exchangingand debating information through self-expression and self-discovery Topics were chosenby bearing in mind that NNSs were both within the intermediate range of Englishlanguage proficiency and also willing to practise their English in a user-friendlyenvironment Though each week had a particular topic NSs and NNSs were free todiscuss whatever interested them (for more details see Table 2)

Neither the NS nor NNS groups were trained face-to-face except when requests weremade by a few participants It was almost impossible to gather them all at a common date

Table 2 Activities

Period Topics

March 2005 Week 1 Try to introduce yourself and get to know your partner (Culturelikes and dislikes what do you usually do during the weekendsDo you like practising sports What is your favourite sportetc )

Week 2 Chat with your partner about your studies job in Scotland

Week 3 We invite you to discuss a book or a newspaper article you readrecently

Week 4 It is a free discussion

May 2005 Week 5 Story summary Many people in Britain consider the number 13 to beunlucky Some airlines avoid having a seat row numbered 13 ndash sothe rows go from 12 to 14 And there are many other superstitions

Read the above article (a link was provided) and discuss its contentwith your chat pal online using the letrsquos talk area Help yourselfwith the following questions

Are you superstitiousWhat are the most common forms of superstitions in your cultureWhat do you think about superstitionYou will find attached another interesting article it is on how to belucky You can ultimately read it and discuss its content with yourchat pal

Week 6 httpwwwscotarget languageandcomWhen you open this site you will find many links which will lead todifferent aspects of the Scottish culture Feel free to browsethrough these and discuss them with your chat pal

Week 7 lsquoListening to music might act as a painkiller a study has foundrsquo This isan article that might be of interest to you Try to read it and discussits contents with your chat pal

Week 8 In this week try to share your views with your chat pal on yourexperience while engaged in this project

Computer Assisted Language Learning 415

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

and time Information and instruction sheets were therefore developed and sent out NStutorsrsquo instruction sheets were different from the NNSsrsquo ones In addition to the detailsneeded to open lsquohotmailrsquo accounts to activate MSN messengers NS tutors were providedwith the detailed information on how to assist their NNS peers The directives they neededfor their tutelage tasks were sent to them via email These directives were largely based onOECF strategies mentioned previously in Table 1 It is important to highlight here thatNSs and NNSs did not meet each other face-to-face before the project Instead this wasscheduled as a social get-together at the end of the programme

Participants of this study used MSN messenger for their online conversations Thisinteractive technological application was chosen because of two main reasons Firstly it isfree popular and it has a user-friendly interface Secondly it has the possibility to saveinteractions Most NSs and NNSs reported that they have used it before to contact familymembers or friends Most of the participants said that they would be using MSN fromhome only a few mentioned that they would be using it from the university Allparticipants were told to avoid using their private emails for this project Instead they wereencouraged to open new accounts on hotmail and activate new MSN messengers For thisend account details (including passwords user names and hotmail addresses) were createdfor each NS and NNS and they were ultimately included in their information sheets Priorto the commencement of the project both NNS and NS groups were asked to save theirconversations and send these through to the researcher using their new emails

Before starting the project NNSs and NSs were provided with each otherrsquos contactdetails They used these to get in touch with each other and fix times for their online chatmeetings NNSs and NSs were told to send a copy of their emails to the researcher Bydoing so the researcher made sure that everything was moving in the right direction

NS tutors and NNSs were active for eight weeks Though tutelage was set for twice aweek a few dyads managed only one online conversation per week The length of thesessions varied from one dyad to another This was highly dependent on NS tutorsrsquo andNNSsrsquo availability Participants were free to arrange when and from where they would bechatting with each other It is important to re-emphasise here that the researcher did notmonitor participantsrsquo online conversations She intervened in the course of the project onlywhen a potential technical or practical problem occurred

Though the project had a relatively successful start there was an attrition of two pairsthen three by week four leaving the project running with only five pairs These active dyadssuccessfully completed the eight-week scheduled time for this project

By week eight a survey was conducted on both groups

Results and discussion

The online conversations produced during the eight-week project of five pairs wereanalysed using conversation analysis Relevant extracts were also drawn to substantiatethe results obtained on quality participation

1 Quality participation

Quality participation was investigated using few of the turns that are valued for theircontribution to language development (Long 1996 Pica 1994) These were elaborationinitiation of topics and requests for clarification These three aspects of conversation werequantified from week one to week eight It is important to highlight here that onlydata from NNSs that had evidence of their active involvement in the project during the

416 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

eight-week intervention were considered for analysis Graph 1 represents the average ofturns produced by both NNSs and NS tutors This is followed with Graph 2 where qualityparticipation is shown

It is clear from the first graph that the majority of pairs (45) had either the NS or theNNS who was more active sending postings The remaining pair displays an equal numberof turns sent by each member of the dyad In general the chart shows that NNSs and NStutors had more or an even participation the overall average of turns produced is between40 and 60 This shows that NS tutors did not try to monopolise the conversation NNSswere given time to think formulate and type their messages and hence contribute to theconversation as much as their tutor peers

The quality of turns NNSs sent to their NS tutors is represented below in Graph 2This was as mentioned earlier assessed through the quantification of turns where NNSselaborated a particular point in their discussion changed the flow of their onlineconversation by initiating topics and asked for clarification when misunderstanding hadoccurred in previous turns

From this graph NNSs appear to be more elaborative in their postings It is importantto highlight here that their elaborated answers were mere reactions to their tutorsrsquo usage ofimplicit OECF strategies This promoted the scaffolding by which the tutors assisted theirNNSs in composing meaning (ideas) and form (grammar) Graph 2 shows that the tutee of

Graph 2 Quality participation

Graph 1 Participation

Computer Assisted Language Learning 417

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

pair five in comparison to other NNSs distinctively produced the highest rate of elaboratedturns The analysis of the NNSsrsquo bio-data revealed that the tutee in question was the onlyESL student from a European origin The use of conversation analysis revealed that he usedan average of 45 elaborated postings in his eight-week online conversations

Both Graphs 2 and 3 reveal the fact that NNSs were less tempted to take initiatives inchanging topics or in asking questions

Elaborated answers were 2355 of the total turns generated by all NNSs during theproject It is the highest rate compared to other types of turns Initiation of topics representsthe lowest rate with 715 and asking for clarification has a production rate of 78 Thefact that NNSs did not produce many of these sorts of turns in their online conversationdoes not mean that they did not have quality participation Their lack of self-confidence incommunicating in English changing topics and leading their tutors to discuss issues ofinterest to them may be linked to their perceptions of their roles in the project Having thetutee role with limited language knowledge for example might have determined theirbehaviour in managing their online conversations by expecting the NS tutors to do most ofthe topic shifts It is interesting to note here that though they did produce very few turns ofthis nature their online conversation was kept vivid and interesting as is illustrated in theexample below It is also important to mention that the overall average of their qualityparticipation during their eight-week commitment to the project is 3850 This finding is toa certain extent consistent with that of Pelletierri (2000) and Smith (2004) who reported thatnegotiated routines accounted for 34 of the total turns generated by all dyads engaged intask-based CMC The small difference between their findings and the ones reported heremay be related to the fact that this study did not focus on completing tasks per se buthighlighted the interactivity of NNSsrsquo social conversations with their allocated NS tutors

2 Language awareness

The second aspect of quality discourse is represented in terms of NNSsrsquo reactions onlanguage inaccuracies in their outputs These either trigger self-correction or enhancedcorrection As the name suggests the latter is merely NNSsrsquo reaction to their tutorsrsquo use ofOECF strategies The use of these latter was meant to draw NNSsrsquo attention to the gapsthey have in their interlanguage

Conversation analysis showed that from all the generated turns where errors weremade NNSs self-correction was only 202 However conversation analysis revealed that

Graph 3 Overall quality participation

418 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

Graph 4 Language awareness

NNSs did largely notice and react to the corrective feedback provided by their respectivetutors (9333) NNSsrsquo attention to their output was significantly stimulated by the use ofeither implicit or explicit OECF strategies The following example provides an interestingexchange of turns of this nature

During the conversation

NS Have you done your presentation on body language yetNNS Yes I was a little bit nervousNS A bit nervous is fine We all are How did it goNNS I deleted 2 slidesNS Did the audience like it

(1) NNS I had deleted 2 of them which were irrelavent to my topic (Trigger)(2) NS Good move lsquoIrrelevantrsquo is a useful word (Implicit OECF)(3) NNS some of my classmates thought my POWERPOINTWASQUITEGOOD

After a few turns

(4) NS Well done Fun interesting and relevant There at last the correctspelling of relevant (Explicit OECF)

(5) NNS Yes I see (Notice and approve)(6) NNS by the way my mother has been here (Trigger)(7) NS Is your mother here now (Implicit OECF)

(8) NNS Oh sorry Yes she is she came from China two days ago (Noticeand correct)

(9) NNS Can I see you tomorrow to give you some pocket food (Trigger)NS yes of courseNNS Maybe about 1030

(10) NS I would love some pocket food Is this what we call snack food Likenuts crisps or even dried fish (Check for information)

(11) NNS Yes thatrsquos right (Notice and approve)NS About 1030 is fine If your mum is around I would be very happy to

meet her

Computer Assisted Language Learning 419

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

There is much going on in this friendly exchange of turns This is a very beautifulcollaborative piece of conversation where the NS tutor is gently and elegantly assisting hisNNS tutee in focussing on both meaning and form In this example there are three maininstances of tutorrsquos use of OECF strategies

The first example is taking place between turns 1 and 5 In this exchange the NNS wasvery thrilled to tell her NS tutor that she made a good presentation It is obvious that theNS tutor had prior knowledge about this most probably she had showed it to him forfeedback before her in-class presentation Though she knew the word lsquoirrelevantrsquo she speltit wrong in turn 1 The NS tutor used an OECF strategy to draw her attention to the rightspelling while praising her effort and boosting her self-confidence It is interesting tohighlight here that though the online conversation was conducted through text the NStutor used inverted commas around the target word At first the NNS did not seem tonotice the correction Instead she was excited about her performance she expressed thismatter using capital letters (turn 3) The NS tutor thereafter genuinely and explicitly re-emphasised the correct spelling of lsquoirrelevantrsquo (see turn 4) This time the NNS reacted byposting an approval message (turn 5)

In the second instance which is within turns 6 7 and 8 the NNS tried to tell her NStutor other exciting news Confused she used the present perfect to express that hermother came from China to visit her The NS tutor in turn 6 interestingly recasts by usingthe right tense This was immediately followed by an apology It is interesting to note herethat though the NNS knew she had a grammatical gap while wanting to express thepresent tense she carried on the conversation using what she thought might be correct Byso doing she was testing her language knowledge Her NS tutor immediately typed animplicit feedback which was followed with an apology The NNS here got to know theright tense for the relevant situation The corrections provided by the NS tutor in thisexchange did not inhibit the NNS from carrying on the conversation and being herself shedoes not seem to be embarrassed Instead she appeared grateful and very pleased to learnfrom her mistakes

The third instance which is the most interesting example of the OECF usage is of acultural exchange nature The use of the expression lsquopocket foodrsquo by the NNSpushed the NS tutor to check for its meaning by literally writing down what this mightimply in English culture Though this phrase is not common in the English languageits meaning can be guessed from the context The wording of this phrase is mostprobably a literal translation of how snacks are expressed in the Chinese language It isclear that from this exchange the NNS learnt that lsquopocket foodrsquo cannot be usedin English Therefore in similar future situations she would have to use lsquosnacksrsquoinstead

Using OECF strategies for the purpose of developing ESL was really advantageous asNNSs had time to read reflect memorise and expand their English language knowledgerepertoire In this tele-immersion setting most of the NNSsrsquo senses were intensely directedon how the target language works in conversations This authentic environment providesNNSs with time to process their L2 they could read their NS tutorsrsquo postings extractgenerate exchange and build meaning

The lack of facial expressions and cues that are deemed important in socialconversations were genuinely replaced by the use of punctuation signs In the exampleabove expressing excitements as emotions and changing tones to highlight the gist of aconversation were successfully conveyed Such events may have an impact on languagelearners as they connect input internal capacities ndash particularly selective attention ndash andoutput in productive ways Language learnersrsquo attention to either a discrepancy between

420 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

their interlanguages or to an area of English language about which they have little or noinformation may be a priming device for LL (Gass 1997 Mackey 1999)

3 NNSs and NSsrsquo perceptions

The end-of-semester surveys were employed to report and justify the findings At the endof the semester both NSs and NNSs were asked to fill out the survey concerning theirperspectives about using online chats with their partners The data presented in Table 3record the results of both the NNSsrsquo and the NS tutorsrsquo reactions to their online socialconversations with their partners For the purposes of this study discussions of Table 3centre on the perceptions of the NNSs regarding the online exchanges with the NS tutorsand only where relevant on the NSsrsquo point of view

The results of the end-of-semester surveys reveal that both NNSs and NSs in this studyhad a positive experience while engaged in this project (see statements 1 and 10) For theNNSs this project offered a socially and linguistically rich environment to practise thetarget language They strongly believed that text-based communication had a positiveimpact in improving both their writing and reading skills (see statements 2 and 3) andmight well have had a positive impact on their speaking skills In the words of one of theNNSs lsquo it is just like a casual way to practise your oral English it is like speakingbecause you have to think about it it is like speaking because the only difference it isthat you have to write it on computersrsquo (unedited extract from an online conversation)

Though few of the dyads ran out of topics for their online discussions most of theparticipants praised the topics initially suggested by the researcher The themes thatstimulated cultural exchange like the one on superstition had a particularly significantimpact on participantsrsquo engagement They perceived them as an effective way not only toexchange ideas and to ask for and clarify information but also to express and support theirpoints of view (see statements 4 5 and 6)

NNSs found the use of CMC to practise English with their NS partners very usefulThey emphasised their preference for this channel of communication over the face-to-face

Table 3 NS tutorsrsquo and NNSsrsquo perspectives on peer tutoring project

Statements of the Survey

Non-NativeSpeakers

NativeSpeakers

(NNSs) (Tutors)

1 I enjoyed my online chats M 46 M 422 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos reading

skillsM 46 M 36

3 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos writing skills M 48 M 44 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquos cultural

knowledgeM 46 M 46

5 Online chats were useful in developing my my partnerrsquoscommunicative skills

M 46 M 46

6 During online chats I my partner asked questions to clarifymisunderstanding

M 36 M 34

7 During online chats I my partner noticed herhismy mistakes M 38 M 288 During online chats I my partner noticed mistakes when these were

salientM 4 M 36

9 Online chats improved mymy partnerrsquos self-confidence M 36 M 3810 Overall it was a positive experience for me M 48 M 42

Computer Assisted Language Learning 421

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

means Though the quantitative analysis of the conversation showed almost no evidence ofNNSsrsquo self correction the end-project survey showed that NNSsrsquo perceptions of thismatter were positive Indeed they thought they had noticed their mistakes and they haveeventually self-corrected NS tutorsrsquo perceptions on the same issue however tended to beslightly less positive than their partners (see statement 9) When asked if their attentionwas drawn to their mistakes when these were made salient through OECF strategiesNNSs responded positively (see statement 8) NNSs and NS tutorsrsquo perceptions aboutraising awareness on language inaccuracies through the use of OECF coincided with theconversation analysis results mentioned in the previous section NNSs were very keen tolearn from their NS tutors Despite the fact that they were mostly absorbed in maintainingand nurturing their conversations they did not mind being overtly corrected as shown inthe following extract

During the conversation

(1) NNS finally I find it (Trigger)

(2) NS You should say lsquoI found itrsquo (OECF explicit)

(3) NS Hope you donrsquot mind me correcting you ndash feel a bit like a teacher(4) NNS thank you for correcting me(5) NNS I can learn from it you see

In this passage though the NS tutor was not comfortable providing an explicit OECF(turn 3) the NNS did appreciate it (turn 5) In turn 2 the negative feedback did not appearto violate politeness rules of a normal conversation (for additional information onpoliteness see Brown and Levinston (1987)) This might well be linked to the fact thatcommunication is conducted through writing and therefore it did not have a face-threatening effect as the tutee did not seem to shut down It is interesting to add at thisstage that during the project the NNSs repeatedly asked their respective NS tutors tocorrect their English as shown in the extracts below

During the conversation

(1) NNS can you tell me my mistakes in english(2) NS yes of course(3) NS so that it is big help to me

NNSs were very concerned about developing their English language skills as theyneeded to write their exams in this language

4 Limitations of the project

In the implementation of this project there were problems which were raised byparticipants and some others were observed by the researcher The practical challengesidentified may well be summarised in the following terms lsquoattrition of participantsrsquo andlsquolow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo

The drop-out of participants might be related to (1) the misunderstanding of theproject objectives (2) misjudgement of the time required for the project and (3) therandom pair matching of participants Despite the instruction sheets (where cleardirectives and details of the project were provided) some members of both NSs and NNSs

422 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

groups appeared to misunderstand the objectives of this study On one occasion theproject was taken as a dating opportunity by a NNS The NS in question who was amarried woman expressed concerns to the researcher and decided to withdraw from theproject In other cases NNSs (in particular) indicated repeatedly either through email orduring their online discussions that it was difficult to meet online with their partnersAlthough they contacted each other in advance via email and fixed a time for their onlinechat meeting participants found it almost impossible to contact each other whenunexpected circumstances occurred Several students felt frustrated by having to wait fortheir NS partners in an empty chat room In cases of unexpected contingencies theirpartners might not show up in which case they were not able to execute the assignmentSuch participants had to go to the trouble of re-scheduling another time to meet Thisnegatively affected the NNSsrsquo motivation and attitude a few became frustrated anddisinterested in carrying on the project something which has also been found in the studiesof Jepsen (2005)

Another factor that affected participantsrsquo commitment to the project was lsquorandom pairmatchingrsquo This study shows that the drop-out of the volunteers was sometimes due topersonality clashes within dyads a potential problem already highlighted by Beasley(1997) Therefore this programme in future needs to be carefully co-ordinated in order totroubleshoot where appropriate

lsquoLow language skills and topics for discussionrsquo were also among the practical problemsencountered in this study First NNSs believed that their NS partners might have feltfrustrated or even bored working with them because of their inferior language skills Theyexpressed repeatedly in their chatlogs that they were slow in composing ideas andsometimes they did not know what to say about something on which they had limitedknowledge Although the students knew they would be chatting with NS partners somestudents experienced anxiety about communicating with NSs at the beginning of theproject This was also among the challenges reported in Lee (2004) Second a single topicfor each week was regarded as insufficient by participants It was also observed thatbecause NNSs and NS tutors did not know each other NNSs were less inquisitive Hencethey produced only few topic shifts In this case NNSs might well have been inhibited toask questions that they thought might be of a sensitive nature

Only one serious technical problem occurred during the implementation of this projectThis was related to the use of MSN from the IT suites of the university The fewparticipants who chose to use the universityrsquos physical space to chat online with theirpartners experienced problems in installing the MSN application on computers Likemany other applications this online chat tool is not authorised to be downloaded on theuniversityrsquos hard drives These participants were then instructed by the researcher to usethe web version of MSN messenger which did not require to be installed on computers buthad the facility to save their interactions The web version of MSN messenger at the timewas new and not yet widely known by online chat users

Conclusion

The findings of the present study would appear to support the value of OECF for ESLlearners despite the problems encountered Results of the conversation analysis clearlyshow that NNSs were actively involved in processing English either through reading whatwas written to them and answering accordingly or through expanding their interlanguageswhile committed in nurturing and keeping their conversations going with their allocatedpeer tutors Conversation analysis also shows the benefits of OECF when it is used to raise

Computer Assisted Language Learning 423

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

the awareness of NS tutees on the gaps they had in their interlanguages This peer tutoringprogramme according to participantsrsquo opinions appears to be a very pleasant way topractise the target language or meet different people for NNSs and NSs respectively

Suggested solutions for the problems encountered can be summed up in a few pointsFirst setting up a face-to-face training session and a social get-together before the projectcommences would be helpful These meetings would prepare the participants and provideuseful background details to help them approach the project fully informed It would alsoallow participants to choose their chat pals Second the language centre should integratethis peer tutoring programme into its curriculum Third recruitment of NSs should bemade attractive through incentives such as being paid for their tutelage tasks or beingprovided with an acknowledgement certificate for their contribution The latter was verymuch appreciated by NSs who were still students at the time

Note

1 An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of asecond language who has not become fully proficient yet but is only approximating the targetlanguage preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the targetlanguage and creating innovations (Richards 1974)

Notes on contributor

Rayenne Dekhinet has nearly completed her PhD in the Department of Education University ofDundee Scotland Her PhD is on Technology for Peer Assisted Language Learning (TPALL) Herbackground is in Second Language Education Her experience in teaching and learning foreignlanguages led to her current research interest which is the use of ICT tools to connect people ofdifferent backgrounds for the purpose of learning each otherrsquos languages Within the framework ofher PhD she designed managed and co-ordinated three international projects

References

Beasley C (1997) The benefits of peer tutoring Paper presented at the Learning Through Teachingthe 6th Annual Teaching Learning Forum Perth Australia

Beauvois MH (1992) Computer assisted classroom discussion in the foreign language classroomConversation in slow motion Foreign Language Annals 25 455ndash464

Brown AL amp Campione JC (1986) Psychological theory and the study of learning disabilitiesAmerican Psychologist 41 1059ndash1068

Brown P amp Levinston SC (1987) Politeness Some universals in language use Cambridge UKCambridge University Press

Bruner JS (1961) The act of discovery Harvard Educational Review 31 21ndash32Ellis R (1995) Modified oral input and the acquisition of word meanings Applied Linguistics 16(4)

409ndash441Furnham A (2004) Foreign students education and culture shock The Psychologist 17(1) 16ndash19Gass SM (1997) Input interaction and the second language learner Mahwah NJ ErlbaumGraesser AG amp Person NK (1994) Question asking during tutoring American Educational

Research Journal 31 104ndash137Hall JK amp Verplaetse LS (2000) Second and foreign language learning through classroom

interaction Mahwah NJ ErlbaumJepsen K (2005) Conversation ndash and negotiated interaction ndash in text and voice chat rooms

Language Learning amp Technology 9(3) 79ndash98Kalkowski P (1995) Peer and cross age tutoring North West Regional Educational LaboratoryKelm O (1992) The use of synchronous computer networks in second language instruction A

preliminary report Foreign Language Annals 25 441ndash454Kern R (1995) Restructuring classroom interaction with networked computers Effects on quantity

and quality of language production Modern Language Journal 79 457ndash476

424 R Dekhinet

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014

King A (1999) Discourse patterns for mediating peer learning In M Angela amp ODA King(Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning (pp 87ndash115) Mahwah New Jersey LondonLawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Kitade K (2000) L2 learnersrsquo discourse and SLA theories in CMC Collaborative interaction inInternet chat Computer-Assisted Language Learning 13(2) 143ndash166

Lantolf JL (Ed) (2000) Socio-cultural theory and second language learning Oxford OxfordUniversity Press

Lee L (2004) Learnerrsquos perspectives on networked collaborative interaction with native speakers ofSpanish in the US Language Learning and Technology 8(1) 83ndash100

Lee L (2002) Enhancing learnersrsquo communicative skills through synchronous electronic interactionand task-based instruction Foreign Language Annals 35 16ndash23

Long M (1983) Native speakernon-native speaker conversation in the second language classroomIn MA Clarke amp J Handscombe (Eds) On TESOL 82 Pacific perspectives on languagelearning and teaching Washington DC TESOL

Long M (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition In WCRitchie amp TK Bhatia (Eds) Handbook of research on language acquisition (Vol 2 Secondlanguage acquisition) (pp 413ndash468) New York Academic Press

Mackey A (1999) Stepping up the pace An empirical study of input interaction and secondlanguage development Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588

Papert S (1980) Mindstorms Children computers and powerful ideas New York Basic BooksPelletierri J (2000) Negotiation in Cyberspace The role of chatting in the development of

grammatical competence In M Warschauer amp R Kern (Eds) Network-based languageteaching Concepts tutoring and practice (pp 59ndash86) Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Person NK amp Graesser AG (1999) Evolution of discourse during cross-age tutoring In AMOrsquoDonnell amp A King (Eds) Cognitive perspectives on peer learning Mahwah New JerseyLondon Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Piaget J (1952) The origins of intelligence New York International University PressPica T (1994) Research on negotiation What does it reveal about second language learning

conditions processes and outcomes Language Learning 44(3) 493ndash527Richards JC (1974) Error analysis Perspectives on second language acquisition Longman PressSeedhouse P (2005) Language analysis and language learning Language Teaching 38(4) 165ndash187Smith B (2004) Computer-mediated negotiated interaction and lexical acquisition Studies in

Second Language Acquisition 21 557ndash588Swain M (1985) Communicative competence Some roles of comprehensible input and

comprehensible output in its development In S Gass amp C Madden (Eds) Input in secondlanguage acquisition (pp 235ndash253) Rowley MA Newbury House

Topping K (1998) Paired learning in literacy In K Topping amp S Ehly (Eds) Peer assistedlearning (pp 87ndash104) Mahwah New Jersey London Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers

Vygotsky LS (1978) Mind in society Cambridge MA Havard University PressWarschauer M (1996) Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in the second language

classroom CALICO Journal 13 7ndash23Zimmerman BJ Bandura A amp Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation of academic

attainment The role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals setting American EducationalResearch Journal 29 663ndash676

Computer Assisted Language Learning 425

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f H

ong

Kon

g L

ibra

ries

] at

22

12 1

0 N

ovem

ber

2014