Using electronic mail for English as a Foreign Language instruction

Abstract This study investigates the efficacy of integrating electronic mail (e-mail) writing into two EFL classrooms and explores the dynamics involved in the process of e-mail exchanges. The students in one class were paired up to exchange e-mail messages with the students in the other class for one semester. At the end of the project, a written survey and group interviews were conducted to collect students' comments on and assessment of the approach. E-mail entries were analyzed to obtain information on the social and linguistic occurrences during the exchange process. Findings from survey and group interviews revealed positive responses. Whereas the improvement of English language skills was not obvious, the use of e-mail did provide the student with a necessity to use English to communicate with another L2 speaker. Acquiring computer skills and establishing potential friendship with mysterious partners were interpreted by many students as a wonderful experience. An analysis of the e-mail messages suggested social interaction to be a major driving force for active communication between partners. Pairing by gender also affected the interaction dynamics. The study concludes with suggestions for effective integration of e-mail writing into L2 classrooms and future research on the social/interactional aspects involved in network-mediated collaborative L2 learning environments.

[1]  Richard G. Kern.  Restructuring Classroom Interaction with Networked Computers: Effects on Quantity and Characteristics of Language Production , 1995 .

[2]  Mark Warschauer,et al.  E-Mail for English Teaching , 1995 .

[3]  John Underwood.  Correo: Electronic Mail as Communicative Practice , 1987 .

[4]  J. Frommer,et al.  Foreign language learning using e-mail in a task-oriented perspective: Interuniversity experiments in communication and collaboration , 1993 .

[5]  Nancy Kroonenberg.  Developing Communicative and Thinking Skills via Electronic Mail , 1995 .

[6]  Douglas Fisher,et al.  Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts , 1991 .

[7]  Adrian Holliday,et al.  Appropriate Methodology And Social Context , 1994 .

[8]  Dorothy M. Chun.  Using computer networking to facilitate the acquisition of interactive competence , 1994 .

[9]  Bertram C. Bruce,et al.  Network-Based Classrooms , 1994 .

[10]  Seppo Tella.  The Adoption of International Communications Networks and Electronic Mail into Foreign Language Education , 1992 .

[11]  John H. Underwood.  Linguistics, Computers, and the Language Teacher: A Communicative Approach , 1984 .

[12]  Josef Hellebrandt,et al.  The Classroom and the Language Learner , 1990 .

[13]  Zane L. Berge.  Electronic discussion groups , 1994 .

[14]  Odvard Egil Dyrli,et al.  Gaining the Online Edge. Part 2: Energizing the Classroom Curriculum through Telecommunications. , 1995 .

[15]  Boyd H. Davis,et al.  Long-Distance Collaboration with On-Line Conferencing. , 1995 .

[16]  Daniel G. Foster.  In praise of Lan-based e-mail , 1994 .