Teaching writing using Instant Messaging Software Client.docx

Teaching writing using Instant Messaging Software Client.docx

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TeachingwritingusingInstantMessagingSoftwareClient

TeachingwritingusingComputer-MediatedToolsinESLcontext

ApplicationsofInstantMessagingSoftwareClients,emailandblogonteachingofwritingforMalaysiansecondaryschoolstudents

YUANSHIZHAN（G76966）

LIXIAOJIA（G73576）,JIAFANGZI（G76934）

BAIJIALE（G76902）,HUANGFEILU（G76932）

Abstract

Real-timeTextandComputer-basedCommunicationSystem（InstantMessagingSoftwareclients,Email,andblog）hasbeenwidelyusedaroundtheworld.ThecommoninstantmessagingsoftwareclientsareMSNLiveMessenger,ICQ,TencenQQ.SendingemailandwritingblogarealsothedailyactivitiesforNetizens.Theseinternet-basedtoolscouldnotonlyenablepeopletocommunicatewitheachotherfreely,butalsohavewideapplicationsinlanguageteachingandlearning.ThisarticlewilldiscusshowteachersandstudentsusethemtofacilitateteachingandlearningEnglishwritinginanESLcontextinMalaysiansecondaryschool,thefindingisbasedonsurvey.ThisarticlewillalsoputforwardsomenewmodelsofteachingandlearningEnglish-writingbyusing“Text-basedNetworkedCommunicationSystem”basedtechnology.

Keywords:

Real-timeComputer-basedcommunicationsystem,enhancecommunication,applicationinteachingandlearning,ESLcontext,Malaysiasecondaryschool,newmodelsofEnglishteachingandlearning

1Introduction

ComputermediatedtoolssuchasInstantMessagingsoftware（onlinechatting）,online-forum,blog,andaudio-visualconferencehavewidelyusedinourdailylifeandtheyaregoodwaysofcommunication.Accordingto“InternetWorldStat”,（ChanFoongMae2002）.InMalaysiathereare16.9millionsofinternetusersin2009whichaccountsfor64.6%ofitstotalpopulation（26.1millions）.InternethasbecomethemainresourcesforMalaysiantoacquireusefulinformationandimportanttoolsofsocialcommunication.TheapplicationofICTcouldnotonlyenablestudentsandteacherstogetaccesstoallkindsoflearningandteachingmaterialandrevolutionizethewaysofteachingandlearning,butalsohelpsMalaysiansecondaryschoolsmoveawayfrommemory-based,teacher-centeredlearningandteachingtoanewmodelofeducationthatisstudents-centeredandfocusoncreativity,thinking,andcaring,caterstoindividualdifferencesandlearningstyles.

InstantMessagingsoftware,blog,andemailareimportantapplicationsofICT,theyareintriguing,convenient,andfashionablesoalotyoungpeopleespeciallysecondaryschoolstudentsextremelylovetousethem.Accordingtoourinvestigation,alloftheschoolstudentsin2differentsecondaryschoolsin4classesoftenwriteblog,email,andchatonline.So,asEnglishteachersintheInformationAge,theymustusethelatestinternettechnologytofacilitateteachingandstudents’learningtoadapttothechangesofthetimeandmeetdifferentrequirementsofstudents.

ThispaperwillillustratehowsecondaryschoolstudentsintwoMalaysiansecondaryschoolsutilizeIM,blog,andemailinordertopracticetheirEnglishwritingandtheEnglish-writingbehaviorofsecondaryschoolstudents,andwhatimplicationscouldanEnglishteachergetfromstudents’writingbehaviorinordertohelpstudentslearnEnglishwriting.

2Literaturereview

2.1ConventionalEnglishWritingClass

AsforEnglishwriting,theconventionalwritingclassesarelikethis:

allofthelearnersusuallyseatedinthephysicalclassroom,theteacheronlyusechalkandblackboardasteachingaids,andtheteacherusuallyprovidesguidanceforthestudentsonthespotswithinthelimitedperiodofteachinghoursbypassivelydisseminatingandinstillinghisideasandalloftheimportantinformationaboutthewritingtasktostudents,theseinformationinclude:

（1）Howtounderstandaquestionoratopic.

（2）Thepossibletrainofthoughtforatopic.（3）Thematerialthatstudentscouldbeusedtocompletethetasksuchasmodelarticles.Theteacherwilllisttheusefulinformationandstructureofessayontheblackboard.Theteachermayonlygivestudentsaveryshorttimeperhapslessthan10minutestodiscussthetopicsandthecontentofwritingtask.Andalsotheteacherdoesnothaveenoughtimetoanswerallofthequestionsthatstudentsasked.Thenwithouteffectiveideasexchangeandabundantdiscussionthestudentsaregivenlimitedtimetofinishthewritingtask.Whenstudentsfinishtheirwritingtask,theteachergivesstudentsfeedbackontheirwritingbycorrectingandevaluatingstudents’work.WeusedtobesecondaryschoolstudentsinChina,andtraineeteachersinsecondaryschoolsinMalaysia,andwefoundthatthecharacteristicsoftheconventionalclassroomteachingmethodsareasfollowing:

（1）Theteacheristheonlyresourceofinformationforstudents’writingtask.

（2）Chalk,blackboardandmodelarticlesareonlyteachingaids.

（3）Sincealloftheinformationandideasareprovidedbyteacherratherthanstudentsthemselves,studentswillhavelittleopportunitiestothinkoftheirownopinionsandideas.Theirarticlesarealackofcreativityandnovelty.

（4）Lackofeffectiveinteractionandcommunicationbetweenstudentsandteacher,studentsandstudents.

（5）Studentsdon’thaveenoughtimetoreadandunderstandtherequirementofwritingtask,tobrainstormdifferentideas,togathertheirownmaterials,toorganizetheirthoughtsandtoplantheirwritingbecausestudentshavetofinishtheirwritinginagiventimeusuallynotmorethan40minutes.

（6）Thestudentsmayfeelstressfulandboring,sincethereisnotenoughinteraction,andnoactivitiescouldbearrangedtomaketeachinginteresting.

（7）Theclassroomenvironmentarenotconductivetonewideas,forsomestudents,theyareafraidofvoicingtheirideasintheclassroomenvironmentduetotheharshclassroommanagementmethodsmanipulatedbytheteacher.Thestudentsareafraidofmakingmistakesandgettingthepenaltywhentheyspeakouttheirideas.

（8）Teachingandlearningonlyhappenintheclassroom,teachersdonotmakegooduseofstudents’sparetime.

2.2Englishwritingclassusingcomputer-mediatedtool

Itisnotexaggeratedtosaythattheadventofcomputerandinternethasrevolutionizedthelanguagelearningandteaching.Nowadayscomputerandinternet-basedtechnologysuchasmultimediaandcomputer-mediatedcommunication,haveallowedlanguagelearnersandeducatorstodomorethaninthepast.

AsKern（1995,p.457）puts“computernetworks,bothlocalandworldwide,providepossibilitiesfornewinterpersonalcontactsandcommunicativeengagementamonglanguagelearnersastheyexplorethetargetlanguage”,however,notonlythelearnersandteachersareconnectedinthisinformationage,buteverythingandeverybodyisconnectedbytheinternet.Teachersandstudentsteachingandlearningmaterial,differentideasandopinions-everythingareinthismagicweb.

AsDanielLinder（2004）putsinhispaper,theinternetoffersfivebasicpossiblefornetworkingEnglishclassroom:

1）Real-timecommunicationwithothernetworkusers（usinginternetasatelephoneorvideoconferencingdevice,internetchatandothers）.

2）Deferred-timecommunicationwithothernetworkusers（email,mailinglists,newsgroupandothers）.

3）Sourceofinformation（text,image,voice,sound）.

4）Outletforpublication（text,images,voice,sound）.

5）Distanceteaching/learning.

Intheprocessoflanguageteachingandlearning,theinternetservesasoneofthemostimportantinstructionaltechnologyforthecommunicationbetweenteachersandstudents,studentsandstudents.

Theinternetbasedcommunicationcouldeitherbeintheformofreal-time（synchronized）suchasonlinechatting,onlinevideoconference,orintheformofdeferredtime（asynchronies）suchasblog,email.TheInternetbasedcommunicationtechnologyallowsthelanguageteachingandlearningnotonlyhappenintheclassroom,butinfact,withthehelpofthelatestcomputerandnetworktechnology,teachingandlearninghasgobeyondtheboundaryandlimitationsoftimeandspace,andlong-distanceeducationmethods（videoconferencing）allowstudentsinthemountainandruralareashavetheequalaccessibilityandopportunitytoreceivehighqualityeducationwhichwasonceonlyenjoyedbythestudentsintheurbanareas,andaslongasyousearchtheinternetyoucanfindenormousteachingandlearningmaterialofanysubject,andyoucanalsowatchonlinevideorecordatanytime.Sotheteachingandlearningcouldhappenatanywhereandanytimeaslongasyouhaveinternetavailability.

Basedonthewidelyapplicationsofcomputerandinternettechnologywehavelotsofnewnotionsandmodelsonlanguagelearningandteachingmethods,accordingtoWikipedia（2008）nowadayswehaveE-learning,Distanceeducation,Computer-basedLearning,Computer-supportedCollaboratedLearning（CSCL）,TechnologicalEnhancedLearning（TEL）,inadditiontheComputer-assistedLanguageLearning（CALL）,Computer-assistedLanguageLeaching（CALT）arealsowhatweoftenheard.

Thereisnodoubtthatthecomputer-mediatedtoolssuchasonlinechatting,blogandEmailcouldalsobeusedinprocessofteachingofwriting.Theadvantagesofthecomputer-mediatedtoolsinteachingofwritingareasfollowing:

（1）Theinstructionandlearningprocesscouldhappenatanytimeandanywhereaslongaswehaveinternetaccessibility.Andthestudentsarenoneedtogotheclassroom,theycanstudyathome.

（2）Studentscancommunicatewithteacherandotherstudentsthroughonlineinstantmessagingsoftware,blogandemail.Theycanshareandexchangetheirideasaboutthecontentoftheirwritingaswellasthewritingstrategies.

（3）Thestudentscouldalsobeabletogath