The reading for this week tends to answer the question whether chatting holds the same potential for the development of grammatical competence as oral interaction.
Some benefits that interaction has to language development were discussed in this article. First of all, it was mentioned that interaction fosters negotiation of meaning. As it is often argued in SLA studies, negotiation of meaning provides enhanced input. Moreover, comprehensible input is crucial for the development of the grammatical competence. Second, negotiation of meaning fosters output. Third, providing feedback that focuses attention to form is also considered crucial for the development of grammatical competence. This study demonstrates the importance of the negotiation of meaning in language acquisition. Furthermore, the study shows that computer mediated communication has a potential to foster the negotiation of meaning in task-based interaction where as a result the grammatical competence will be developed.
Would you use computer mediated communication to supplement face to face interaction in your classroom? Does CMC have more or less benefits when compared with face to face oral communication (in terms of negotiation of meaning and development of grammatical competence)?
Moving forward!
11 years ago
Very good points and I like the reference to using this (NBC) in place of face to face interaction, how useful is it and can it be considered a replacement for oral communication, will development be the same?
ReplyDeleteI think that computer based communication and face to face communication can benefit language learners in a different way. For example computer based communication can make grammar forms and spelling salient, while face to face (oral)communication has impact on pronunciation.
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