An example of how computers made collaboration
possible in an ESL writing class is explicated in Jacquelyn A. Cassidy's
article, "Computer-Assisted Language Arts Instruction for the ESL Learner."
In her article, Ms. Cassidy explains her experience assisting in an ESL
advanced writing class at Montclair State University. ESL students in the
class were paired with native speakers in a linguistics class for the same
teacher. Over the course of the semester, the ESL students and their native
speaker "tutors" corresponded several times in the form of email
using the local area network (LAN). There were approximately ten email assignments
for the ESL students ranging from interviewing their "tutor" to
describing an important cultural event to their "tutors." Since
this correspondence was not based around a writing center, there would have
been no other way for these students in separate classes to interact other
than using the computer, in this case, e-mail; therefore, the computer made
tutor-student collaboration possible. Interaction with other speakers of
the language has been proven to be the best way to learn a second language,
therefore this email exchange with native speakers is an important interaction
for the ESL students. The ingenious idea for the ESL students' final project
was for the class to "write a manual for use of the Montclair State
University LAN which would be used by other ESL classes. The manual, Alpha
Network Guide, was a collaborative class activity . . .While compiling
this guide, the students polished their skills in writing a process essay"
(56). A manual calls for clear and focussed writing that describes a process,
the type of writing the ESL students learned to master through their email
interactions with their "tutors."
The email sessions proved a successful learning
tactic because all of the ESL students showed a substantial improvement
in their writing. These email assignments were student writer-based because
the ESL students initiated the email every time, the native speaker
tutors were simply providing feedback. Creation of text was left in the
hands of the writers. Ms. Cassidy considered other opinions about computers
and writing, and she quoted Nancy Kroonenberg, Principal for Academics at
the Hong Kong International School, who:
prefers computer use [in writing classes] because the tactile and screen involvement `make the work easier to read, help thoughts to flow, and enhance the overall thinking-composing-writing process' (Kroonenberg, 27). Students are also more motivated to write well knowing that their work will be read not only by the teacher, but by classmates" (57).
Therefore, computers and collaboration aid the
cognitive writing process that Flower and Hayes discuss, due to the visibility
of the words on the screen in front of the student that cause thoughts to
flow more naturally. In terms of increased facility of writing, ESL students
do not have to worry about handwriting since they type on the computers,
and the words they write have more possibility to be revised when writing
on a computer, since it is easier to use the backspace button than an eraser.
The visibility can especially help ESL students, who are learners
of the English language. In addition, the increase in the audience, previously
discussed in relation to Balester's et al.'s article on collaboration in
a computer-based course, has an effect on students that causes them to write
more clearly and explicitly. From experience in the Writing Center, clear
writing is one of the problems of ESL writers. Some ESL students that were
helpful editors aided their classmates in the revision of papers. Assessing
the work of their peers helps students to evaluate their own writing, since
they compare their peers' work to their own. Overall, the ESL students benefited
from the use of the computer in the writing classroom.
George Braine's very recent article (April
1997) "Beyond Word Processing: Networked Computers in ESL Writing Classes,"
shows several ways newly developed computer technology can help ESL students
collaboratively work to excel in their writing classes. Braine explains
research that shows how networked computers in ESL writing classes help
to increase interaction between the class members. Cassidy's article explained
how the computers aided peer collaboration in the classroom, too. This interaction,
or collaboration, led the students to more actively pursue ideas and information
from their peers, to analyze their peers' ideas, and to determine or negotiate
knowledge from networked interactions. In the research Braine provided,
and in his own study, networked interactions were in the form of synchronous
conferencing. The author emphasized some of the many benefits of synchronous
conferencing over verbal class discussion, such as: there is no turn-taking
necessary, interruptions are eliminated, immediate feedback and free interaction
are allowed. These advantages are especially important to ESL students,
who can sometimes feel inadequate in comparison to native writers, apprehensive
about their own writing skills, and may feel neglected in a traditional
classroom discussion. ESL students cannot be ignored in synchronous conferencing
because every student has the opportunity to express their ideas. Another
important advantage of synchronous conferencing over classroom discussion
for ESL students is that it eliminates trying to distinguish accents, and
therefore eliminates many bias based on race, skin color, gender and age.
Instead of judging each other, classmates can truly see each other as peers
and equals by the employment of synchronous conferencing.
In Braine's study, he compared a networked
and non-networked ESL writing class that both used a collaborative approach
to learning, which Braine calls the "process approach." This approach
consisted of "small group discussions, peer reviews, teacher feedback,
occasional teacher-student conferences, and multiple drafts of papers"
(49). The results to Braine's study, as well as those to similar studies
of two of his colleagues, proved that ESL students in the networked classes
had a higher quality of writing in both their first and second drafts for
all their papers than those ESL students in the traditional classes. In
Braine's study, the mean scores of papers holistically scored on a six-point
scale from the networked classes were .4-.5 points higher than papers from
traditional classes. This is a significant difference that would probably
mean the difference between an "A" and a "B" in a writing
class for students.. In addition, peer evaluators in networked classes wrote
an average of 150% more comments on papers than in the traditional classrooms.
Writing more comments is simply more practice in writing for students who
need the extra practice. Some of the other reasons that Braine outlined
for why networked, collaborative classrooms prove more beneficial than traditional
classrooms for ESL students were:
· The
networked classroom provides a less threatening environment where the ESL
students were less afraid to take risks because they observed their peers
taking risks.
· The
computers allowed for more writing to take place. The more a student writes,
the better a student writes.
· The
collaborative nature of the class led to more peer interaction. The best
way to learn a second language is through interaction with others in that
language.
Networked computers allowed more emphasis to
be placed on students as "knowers" in the classroom setting, as
opposed to the teacher being the sole determiner of knowledge. Students,
especially ESL students, learn more through interaction with other students
than through a dominating teacher. Braine writes, "use of networked
computers may be one of the most effective ways of reducing dominant teacher
talk and increasing student interaction to ensure effective language learning"
(53). Here, the teacher-student relationship is being addressed, as opposed
to the tutor-student relationship, but the principle is the same: in a collaborative
relationship, the student writer deserves and needs more control on her
writing than the teacher or tutor has. This reinforces my point that computers
help to give students, specifically ESL students, more control over and
less apprehension about writing. This increase in control and decrease in
apprehension lead to increased capacity to learn and increased quality of
writing for ESL students.
TOPICS, an Online Magazine for and by
Learners of English, is an excellent example of successful creative collaboration
of ESL students in writing. Since this magazine is for ESL students, it
is logical that the ESL students publish the magazine. This is a fun outlet
for learners of English, because they are learning more about the language
through peer interaction, as well as helping other learners of English around
the world. TOPICS includes student writings, quizzes, interviews, links
to websites on similar topics, readers' responses, and language help. ESL
students share their viewpoints about "Chatting Online" and explain
how they like to learn how other people around the world think, which is
an example of how meaning or knowledge is socially constructed. Peers help
peers in other countries through the conferencing provided by this magazine,
and peers also aid peers in the publishing of this magazine, so several
collaborative techniques are employed here through computers.
Click here to check out TOPICS Online Magazine.
Back to Why Computers Aid Collaboration.
Check out my next section! Do you want to know Why Use Computers in LD Classes?
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