Text Chat During Video/Audio Conferencing Lessons: Scaffolding or Getting in the Way?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v33i2.26026Keywords:
Bimodal input, written chat, private online tutoring, audio and video conferencing, students' immediate uptakeAbstract
Private online language tutoring is growing in popularity. An important pre-requisite for development of effective pedagogies in this context is a good understanding of how different modalities can be combined. This study provides a detailed account of how several experienced online teachers use text chat in their English lessons conducted via Skype with their long-term students, and the pedagogical role and interactional effect of these messages. The study investigates the relationship between characteristics of a text message and students’ observable reaction to this message. The study employs a sequential Qualitative-Quantitative design and finds that text chat serves pedagogic and organizational roles in the analysed context and that several characteristics of a text message were correlated with students’ reaction to this message. Specifically, students were more likely to incorporate a text message if (i) it introduced new vocabulary and (ii) if it was produced bi-modally (speaking and typing). The study also finds that teacher typing may have a negative effect on students’ fluency and teacher attention to student language production. The study calls for further research to investigate how written and spoken channels can be effectively combined in one-to-one English lessons via video/audio conferencing lessons.References
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