EnglishDynamic

RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC:

“THE USE OF SKYPE CHAT FOR IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS

IN AN A2 ADULT LEARNERS GROUP”

RESEARCH QUESTION:

Will the use of Skype Chat in English Language Teaching let an A2 adult learners’ group improve their English writing skills?

To assure a complete coherence among theories and concepts in order to carry out this research project, it is necessary to have a theoretical support on the following constructs: the computer - assisted language learning (CALL) which deals with constructivism theory and collaborative work. Also, the use of chat in language teaching and finally teaching English with technology to adult learners. These constructs will give a clear justification of what it is expected to demonstrate through the action research project. The main purpose of this project is to put into evidence the effectiveness of applying and implementing technology “chat” in the English classroom. For this reason, the authors chosen to analyze and explain this theoretical framework are: Ken Beatty, H. Douglas Brown, Gavin Dudeney, Jeremy Harmer and Nicky Hockly.

According to Brown (1994), the collaborative work in the acquisition of a foreign language can be performed by using the new educational applications of computer equipments and programs. For this reason this project is also supported by the computer assisted language learning (CALL). It is said that CALL is a student-centered model that promotes the self-paced learning and it is used by teachers to enable the language learning process in an interactive or an individualized way. Beatty (2003).

Warschauer (1996) divided the development of CALL into three phases: behaviorist CALL, communicative CALL and integrative CALL. Taking into account that this research project that is a collaborative work, the communicative CALL is the phase that fixes perfectly to the purpose of the project. Since Computer and computer-based resources as the Internet are used to present, reinforce and assess material to be learned. For that reason, this specific project will apply Skype chat text to improve writing skills in an adult English language course.  

In other words, Computer - assisted Language Learning can be defined by Beatty (2003) as learning language at the computer by working structured lessons to promote language awareness and acquisition. In some cases, computer software that is used for teaching subjects other than language, such as mathematics, is included under the umbrella of CALL if the software’s language has been simplified or otherwise adapted for use by non-native speakers. (Beatty, 2003).

For that reason, CALL is related and linked to the constructivism theory, which is defined as “the interaction of various paradigms with an emphasis on social interaction and the discovery or construction of meaning” according to Brown (2007, p. 12). Therefore, constructivism is understood as the integration of linguistic, psychological, and sociological paradigms which in essence combines cognitive processes and social interaction of an individual within specific contexts.

It is important to keep in mind what learning means in order to guide learners through the most reliable paths and strategies to make their language acquisition process successful.  Kaufman (2004, p.304) defines learning as “a developmental construction process built on prior learning experiences. The meaning is socially constructed by learners and emerges out of their social interactions with their environment.” The previous statement supports the idea of practicing as a developmental process involving prior experiences, cooperative learning and cultural issues.

Taking into account that a constructivist classroom relies on collaboration among learners where language is used for interacting and communicating through the use of technological tools like “Skype chat” in this project specifically. The Constructivism and CALL work  together as they provide an idea of how knowledge is being organized. Moreover, Constructivism supports key constructs of CALL, collaboration and negotiation of meaning. Collaboration provides opportunities for negotiation of meaning as learners struggle to build new concepts and extend existing ones. Therefore, the role of the teacher in a constructivist educational environment includes presenting opportunities for learning and encouraging reflective and critical thinking in learners by working collaborative group activities. So CALL programs can encourage language learning because it addresses cooperative, teamwork and collaborative skills such as: recognizing problems and responding appropriately by using coordination, decision – making, interpersonal and communication abilities.

Nevertheless, it could be thought that working at a computer can be an isolated experience for learners, there are some others point of view about this matter. According to Crook (1994) working in terms of teaching and learning with computers facilitate the social interaction and organization of the classroom rather than inhibit learning. Finally, this computer work to promote collaboration is sometimes teacher – initiated but is always more often learner – initiated (Beatty, 2003). However, that is exactly what this project will be about it will provide answers about the fact of using “ Skype chat” to improve writing skills  in an adult English language course.

Chat is understood as real – time communication over the internet. (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007). Using a chat can be fruitful not only for teachers but also for learners as they are familiar with it when interacting in their social lives. Therefore, this project is challenging as it will be put into evidence the use of Skype chat with a specific academic purpose which is improve writing skills in an adult English language course. For this reason, the teacher must be skillful enough to link classes, topics and groups by working collaboratively in projects based on chat sessions outside the classroom. Thus, the most important issue to bear in mind is that using chat needs to have a clear purpose, a real learning goal and a teaching aim of course. Otherwise, there is not worthy to make students chat without a real reason (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007).

It is necessary to know about the types of chats that can be put into action to integrate effectively this technological tool into regular teaching, so according to .(Dudeney and Hockly, 2007). It is important to distinguish between text and audio chat and public and private chat in order to see the advantages and disadvantages when using them such as: the synchronous communication e.g. mobile phone texting, and when the chat users are able to see the status or availability of other chat users. Now, those differences or characteristics will be presented below:

• Text chat: it is when the chat communication between users is carried out by typing texts. The process consists in typing a message into the chat program, it is sent and it appears instantly on the screen of the other user.

• Audio or voice chat: it is when the chat communication between users is carried out via audio, like a phone call conversation, but is conducted on the internet.

• Public chat: it can be described by identifying its characteristics. These types of chat rooms are open to any kind of users, users do not know each other. Users or chat participants get to know each other over time.  Also,  they are able to decide to use an alias instead of their real name. e.g. yahoo chat public forum  where these chat rooms are grouped into categories like Business and Finance, Schools and Education, Movies, Music, etc.

• Private chat: requires the installation of a client program, which connects individual users over the Internet. While users may be linked over an intranet. Private text chat is also known as instant messaging. e.g. yahoo instant messenger, MSN messenger, Google talk, Skype and Aol instant messenger. For this project it will be used Skype chat as students and teacher are familiar with by the advantages in terms of management such as: easy access,  appealing layout, good communication video and audio communication. Furthermore, this private chat is currently used with academic purposes by Sabana University where this project will have a final academic interaction.

In spite of the fact that all these types of chats are different they can be used as academic tools to improve learning. There are several different types of educational chat that can set up learners. According to  .(Dudeney and Hockly, 2007) chat can be set in the following way:

• Free topic chats: this type of chat does not have topic or agenda or specific moderator. Here, learners can work in pairs or small groups via an instant messaging program to practice English.

• Collaborative, task – oriented chats: this type of chat let learners meet out of class to complete real tasks. This fact implies that they have to e-mail all the documents, presentations, etc to each other previously, so then they will be able to work them during the chat session.

• Informative or academic chats: This type of chat disseminates information. As an illustration, a learner or teacher gives a presentation on a topic via chat. Then, there is a stage of questions and answers. This is a blended learning approach that is put into action when learners meet some of the time online and some other face to face.

• Practice chats: these chats will reinforce the practice of specific function or form of language by developing specific skills through the use of concrete strategies and all this process will take place out of classroom time.

This project will be based on collaborative, task – oriented chats because  learners will have the opportunity to work outside of the classroom to  complete and design new activities for presenting in the F2F sessions. In other words, learners by using Skype chat  will have to interact previously to collaborate cooperatively in the construction of their tasks.

The advantages of the software “Skype chat” to be used on this research project are the following: this is the software that is being used the most because it is free. Skype is known as P2P (peer – to – peer) data transfer techniques to facilitate free audio and video conversations over the Internet. This is often referred to as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology. Most instant messaging applications include webcam facilities, so in that way it is not only possible to text chat and voice chat, but also to see the participants, if they have a webcam installed on their computer.

For that reason, this research project requires a software that fits the aimed goals to be reached during this process and the best found option was “Skype” that is an eBay company, headquartered in Luxembourg (with several offices located throughout the world)--began in 2003, and was founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Skype is an online communication tool that can be used to talk to anyone anywhere in the world. This software can be used as an instant messaging service, or as a telephone with a special Skype phone, or traditional headset. It even works for video calls, too. For all those reasons, learners will be able to have academic Skype chat room sessions with students fro other universities or educational contexts around the world. Basically, this aim will be the final action to be carried out by the end of the project to put into evidence how significant was this group of adult English language learners in terms of their writing skills.

It is important to take into account that using tools such as synchronous text chat can improve learners’ language abilities. Since chat provides opportunities for negotiating meaning, seen as the key in the language acquisition process. According to (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007) it has also been proved that online chat, especially text chat, does not follow the same rules of face-to-face interaction. For that reason, text chat can often appear disjointed where conversation threads get lost or questions are ignored. What is more, there are overlapping turns and certain amount of confusion during the session while voice chat is more likely to make learners produce more fluent language. Consequently, text and voice chat rely on “language interaction” one typed and the other spoken. Both options provide learners use and develop different sets of skills to be able to communicate on the second language. Fortunately, many chat programs combine text and voice capabilities. For that reason, exposing learners to this combination will be fruitful to their language learning process. Now, as noted (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007). There are some advantages and disadvantages of text chat that are already put them into this project context.

Advantages that are taking into consideration with this specific group of learners:

• learners may already use text chat at home.
• brings current technology into the classroom.
• use of a new tool can be motivating for learners.
• enables learners to make contact with learners in other (settings).
• a low tech option.
• non-threatening and easy to learn to use.
• chat transcript can be used later for language analysis

Disadvantages that will be transform into strengths as long as the project goes on and learners get familiar with it:

• unclear whether text chat improves learners’ English.
• the need to teach “chat speak”.
• it can be difficult to identify errors vs. typos vs. non-standard “chat speak”.
• weaker typists are put at a disadvantage.

According to (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007) the best way to get started is by using text chat and then moving to voice chat and it is possible to share this real spoken experience with learners from other contexts. Basically, that is the final aim of this project to let and encourage learners to interact with other learners by using their writing skills to perform a final task that will be monitoring by the teacher.

Moreover, the most interesting feature of methodology is the possibility for teachers to work with a variety of types of software or hardware. Since they integrate the contents into their daily teaching plans by the use of computers and technology. However, it has been difficult to assimilate this idea into the educational community all around the world.  As there are still teachers whose fears are managing and facing technological tools into their classrooms despite of the latest advances applicable to language teaching such as specialized websites, blogs, wikis, language teaching methodology, journals, and so.

Although many countries have done institutional efforts to modernize their equipment, spent large amounts in technology and to be up dated in order to  prove the positive effects of integrating computers in language learning (Tsou, Wang & Tzeng, 2006). Unfortunately, some teachers still miss the appropriate interest, strong commitment, and positive attitude towards teaching with computers. Most of the times the reasons are the lack of time out-of school, poor training in combination with the natural difficulty in incorporating new teaching strategies within their own classrooms.

Fortunately, nowadays, language teachers and learners are more used to working on CALL approach (Computer Assisted Language Learning) to get learners involved in the process to receive stimuli, guidance and feedback on the computer screen in order to carry out specific tasks. According to (Dudeney and Hockly, 2007) there are strong and supportive reasons to use technology in the ELT classroom when working with adult learners these reasons can be addressed in the following way:

• Adult learners have a wider range of life experiences to be used as an advantage to be more disciplined than adolescents and children in using technology to carry out specific activities during their English language learning process.

• Adults often have a clear understanding of the reasons why they are learning things and sustain their motivation by perceiving and holding on to long-term learning goals. (Harmer, 2007)

Basically, that is why this research project will demonstrate how adult learners are ready to work with technology in the classroom in order to develop their autonomy by evidencing the improvement of their writing skills in English language. Finally, it is important to realize some characteristics that are essential in adult learners according to (Harmer, 2007)

• They can engage with abstract thought.

• They have a whole range of life experiences to draw on.

• They have expectations about the learning process, and they already have their own set patterns of learning.

• Adults tend to be more disciplined than other age groups and crucially they are often prepared to struggle on despite of boredom.

• They come into classrooms with rich range of experiences which allow teachers to use a wide range of activities with them.

Finally, this research project is based on the need to make a (A2) adult learners group improve their writing skills. As they can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. However, the complexity of their terms is poor and their background related to the language as well. For those reasons, it is essential to take into consideration that the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages provides a guideline to be used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and the world. In other words, by carrying out this project it will be possible to foster, reinforce and enhance learners’ abilities to improve their writing skills through the use of Skype chat.

In order to let them understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. This specific group of adult learners will be able to deal with more complex situations, they will produce simple connected writing texts on topics which are familiar or of personal interest and they will be able to describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans interacting with some other groups in other settings via Skype chat.

To conclude, it is important to take into account all these factors and characteristics to teach to adults. It is essential for teachers to be aware of their learners’ capabilities, needs and expectations during the language learning process. For those reasons, teachers must encourage learners to use their own life experience in their process. Finally, that is the reason why, this research project will be based on Skype chat rooms (that is a technological tool used in the learners’ social lives) to be part of their academic process to improve their writing skills in English language.

The data collection instruments chosen for carrying out this project are “questionnaires” and “documents” Talking about the first ones: are often viewed as quick and easy to do. However, this is not always the case. So to get useful responses, in a cost-effective way, it is important to be clear about the aim of the questionnaire and how the responses will help improve the learning process in this case applying technology “Skype chat”. It is essential also to think about the analysis of results. It can be sobering to consider the amount of data to be generated and the time it will take to analyze. As a result there are some advantages of using questionnaires. (Milne, 1999)

·         The responses are gathered in a standardized way, so questionnaires are more objective, certainly more so than interviews.

·         Generally it is relatively quick to collect information using a questionnaire. However in some situations they can take a long time not only to design but also to apply and analyze.

·         Potentially information can be collected from a large portion of a group.

·         This potential is not often realized, as returns from questionnaires are usually low. However return rates can be dramatically improved if the questionnaire is delivered and responded to in class time.

To summarize, questionnaires offer an alternative form of data collection because they involve predetermined questions presented in written form. It means that they assume adequate literacy skills on the part of those to be surveyed. For that reason, this research project will need this type of instrument to get the specific data to design the tasks and activities to work with the learners according to their wants, needs and expectations.  On the other hand a very important support to collect data in this research project will be by the use of Documents.

Documents will be used as a way to collect all the class work material (students’ written production) these papers will be the factual evidence of students’ progress during the research project. For that purpose, there will be a file where all the written papers will be attached chronologically. Moreover, using Documents has a great advantage that is to put into evidence the real “strengths, weaknesses and needs” of learners and let to the researcher realize and analyze that production as an authentic data. Finally, using this instrument will promote reflection and improvement in terms of the decisions to be taken by the researcher because Documents show specific aspects that must be taken into consideration during the research project.