AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF USING INTERNET-BASED DESKTOP VIDEOCONFERENCING IN AN EFL SETTING. A dissertation presented to.

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF USING INTERNET-BASED DESKTOP VIDEOCONFERENCING IN AN EFL SETTING A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Education of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Mingli Xiao November 2007

2 This dissertation titled AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF USING INTERNET-BASED DESKTOP VIDEOCONFERENCING IN AN EFL SETTING by MINGLI XIAO has been approved for the Department of Educational Studies and the College of Education by Teresa J. Franklin Associate Professor of Educational Studies Renée A. Middleton Dean, College of Education

3 ABSTRACT XIAO, MINGLI, Ph.D., November 2007, Curriculum and Instruction, Instructional Technology AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF USING INTERNET-BASED DESKTOP VIDEOCONFERENCING IN AN EFL SETTING (180 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Teresa J. Franklin The recently developed Internet-based desktop videoconferencing as the highest level of CMC offers an authentic learning environment in which language learners can orally and visually interact with another human being in the target language, much in the same way as in a face-to-face interaction (Wang, 2004a, 2004b). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of interaction with native speakers via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing on EFL learners language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity, as well as examine L2 learners perception on using Internetbased videoconferencing to access native speakers to promote L2 learning. A control group and an experimental group were applied in this study, with 10 native-nonnative dyads participating in Internet-based desktop videoconferencing as a treatment for experimental group and10 nonnative-nonnative dyads using traditional face-to-face interaction for the control group. Ten topics were assigned to both groups and the research lasted about 10 weeks. Data collected from the two groups in Weeks 2, Week 6 and Week 10 were transcribed, coded and analyzed in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity using doubly multivariate repeated measures of ANOVA for the

4 statistic analysis. Follow-up questionnaires with both groups and online interviews with five of the participants in the experimental group were also conducted. The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in fluency, a slightly significant improvement in accuracy, but no improvement in complexity for the L2 learners in the experimental group. Interactional mode has a significant effect on L2 learners language proficiency. Using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to talk with native speakers resulted in better performance by the participants in the experimental group than those in the control group in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. There was a significant interaction effect of time by interactional mode in terms of fluency, but no interaction effects were detected in terms of accuracy and complexity. Results from the participants follow-up questionnaires and interviews indicated that the Internet-based desktop videoconferencing creates a comfortable, spontaneous and less threatening environment for L2 learners to interact with native speakers. L2 learners have perceived great improvement in their language proficiency in terms of fluency and accuracy. Pedagogical implications, limitations of the study and recommendations for future research were also provided. Approved: Teresa J. Franklin Associate Professor of Educational Studies

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to my academic advisor and chair of the committee member Dr. Teresa Franklin. Thank her for her faith in my ability and for her love, support and stimulating encouragement throughout this process. I am very grateful to Dr. Scott Jarvis for his valuable time and assistance. Many of the ideas have evolved from talking with him. I wish to thank Dr. Gorden Brooks for providing me with invaluable feedback regarding my research methods and data analyses which tremendously helped me to formulate the design of my research. Thanks also go to Dr. Greg Kessler who has served on my committee and provided constructive suggestions for my dissertation. Thanks are also given to my colleague and friend Sarah Rist for her numerous encouragement and support. This study was also made possible with the engagement of all the participants as well as with the help of my colleagues, Mr. Hongbo Song and Mr. Weidong Gong who have assisted me with the research process. I would like to acknowledge thanks to my mother Ms. Changfen Na who came twice to the USA to help me take care of my children during my Doctor Degree journey. Thanks also go to my father, my sisters and my brothers for their love and support. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my husband, Mr. Xiangui Yang, for his love, patience, support, help and understanding throughout this entire process.

6 Special thanks are also given to my three lovely children, Grace, Daniel and Evan who are the joy and prides of my life.

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...5 LIST OF TABLES...9 LIST OF FIGURES...10 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...11 CMC AND L2 ACQUISITION...11 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM...12 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY...18 LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITATIONS...19 DEFINITION OF TERMS...21 SUMMARY...25 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW...26 SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (SLA) THEORIES RELEVANT TO CMC...26 Comprehensible Input...27 Comprehensible Output...28 Negotiation of Meaning...29 CURRENT RESEARCH ON TEXT-BASED SCMC IN L2 LEARNING...33 Text-based SCMC as a Learning Environment...33 Linguistic Outcomes in Text-based SCMC...36 Interaction and Negotiation of Meaning in Text-based SCMC...43 CURRENT RESEARCH ON INTERNET-BASED AUDIOCONFERENCING IN LANGUAGE LEARNING...48 CURRENT RESEARCH ON VIDEOCONFERENCING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING...50 SUMMARY...57 CHAPTER THREE: METHOD...59 RESEARCH DESIGN...60 PARTICIPANTS...61 TASKS AND ACTIVITIES...63 PILOT STUDY...65 DATA COLLECTION...70 PROCEDURES...72 Recruiting participants...73 Treatment...75 DATA CODING...78 DATA ANALYSIS...79 TESTS OF ASSUMPTIONS...81 SUMMARY...85 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS...86 RESULTS FOR RESEARCH QUESTION 1...87 RESULTS FOR RESEARCH QUESTION 2...93 RESULTS FOR RESEARCH QUESTION 3...99 RESULTS FOR RESEARCH QUESTION 4...100 Perceived Strengths of using Internet-based Videoconferencing to Talk with Native Speakers Online...101 Perceived Improvements in Language proficiency...110 Findings from the Control Group...112

Perceived Potentials of Using Videoconferencing as Alternative to Face-to-face Interaction with Native Speakers...113 SUMMARY...118 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOGMMENDATIONS...120 SUMMARY OF THE STUDY...120 DISCUSSIONS OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS...122 Discussions of Findings for Research Question 1...122 Discussions of Findings for Research Question 2...123 Discussions of Findings for Research Question 3...127 Discussions of Findings for Research Question 4...128 PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS...134 LIMITATIONS...137 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH...140 SUMMARY...141 REFERENCES...143 APPENDICES...159 (FROM APPENDIX A TO APPENDIX M)APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM FOR EFL PARTICIPANTS...159 APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM FOR EFL PARTICIPANTS...160 APPENDIX B: CONSENT FORM FOR NNES PARTICIPANTS...161 APPENDIX C: CONSENT FORM FOR NES PARTICIPANTS...162 APPENDIX D: SEEKING SENIOR ENGLISH MAJOR VOLUNTEERS AT YANTI UNIVERSITY...164 APPENDIX E: SEEKING NATIVE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH...165 APPENDIX F: TOPICS AND TASKS FOR ONLINE INTERACTION WITH NATIVE SPEAKERS USING INTERNET- BASED DESKTOP VIDEOCONFERENCING...166 APPENDIX G: DATA CODING SHEET FOR LINGUISTIC FLUENCY, ACCURACY AND COMPLEXITY...168 APPENDIX H: STUDENT EVALUATION OF THEIR VIDEOCONFERENCING EXPERIENCE...169 APPENDIX I: STUDENT EVALUATION OF THEIR FACE-TO-FACE TALK EXPERIENCE...172 APPENDIX J: DEFINITIONS OF TERMS FOR DATA CODING:...175 APPENDIX K: COLLECTED DATA...176 APPENDIX L: PARTICIPANTS ORAL ENGLISH COURSE SCORES FOR THE TWO GROUPS...180 8

9 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Test of Normality... 83 Table 3.2 Mauchly s Test of Sphericity (b)... 85 Table 4.1 Means and Standard Deviations of the Experimental Group on Dependent Variables... 88 Table 4.2 One-way Repeated Measure ANOVA: Greenhouse-Geisser Univariate Test for the Experimental Group... 90 Table 4.3 Pairwise Comparisons of the Dependent Variables for the Experimental Group....92 Table 4.4 Greenhouse-Geisser Univariate Tests of Interaction Effect...100

10 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1 Estimated marginal means of accuracy.... 94 Figure 4.2 Estimated marginal means of complexity.... 95 Figure 4.3 Estimateded marginal means of fluency Rate A.... 96 Figure 4.4 Estimated marginal means of fluency Rate B.... 97 Figure 4.5 Negotiating meaning 1.... 106 Figure 4.6 Negotiation of meaning 2.... 107 Figure 4.7 Asking for confirmation and clarification.... 108 Figure 4.8 Negotiating meanings about a custom in a culture... 109

11 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION With the rapid development of computer technologies and the worldwide use of the Internet for communications, there have been growing interests and attempts to apply advanced technology in second language (L2) and foreign language (FL) education. Since its emergence in the early 1960s, the concept of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has evolved alongside the rapid development of computer technology. The most significant change in CALL has been a shift away from the computer-as-tutor model to the computer-as-tool model (Warschauer & Kern, 2000). This shift to the new model has been represented by using the computer as an interactive tool for students to connect with other people and access otherwise distant resources through computer mediated communication (CMC). CMC and L2 Acquisition Computer mediated communication (CMC) is defined as communication that takes place between human beings via the instrumentality of computers (Herring, 1996, p. 13). CMC can be used either through a local area network or through the Internet. In the former case, communication takes place within an enclosed setting such as a single classroom. In the latter case, communication can be world-wide and cross-cultural. In addition, CMC can take place in real time, which is called synchronous CMC (SCMC). It can also have some delay in when the message is sent, received, and answered. In this case, it is called asynchronous CMC (ACMC). The commonly used SCMCs are textbased chat rooms, audio-video conferencing; the commonly used ACMCs are emails or electronic discussion boards. In this paper, chatting refers to using text to interaction

12 with somebody in text-based SCMC. Videoconferencing refers to the oral-visual interaction in synchronous CMC. Since the early 1990s, computer-mediated communication has been used in many ways to foster second/foreign language teaching and learning. Asynchronous CMCs, such as E-mail, discussion forums, web boards have been suggested as useful medium for second language acquisition. The emergence of synchronous CMCs, such as text-based online chatting has gained popularity and is considered a particularly effective means to facilitate second language acquisition (Abrams, 2003; Beauvois, 1992; Kern, 1995; Sotillo, 2000; Warschauer, 1996; Yuan, 2003). The term chatting, in the computing context, refers to the use of synchronous or real time text-based communication tools such as freely available chatting lines or commercial chatting software. A number of researchers have uncovered the similarities between text-based interactions via computer and face-to-face interactions (Chun, 1994; Kern, 1995; Pellettieri, 2000; Warschauer & Kern 2000). Their research shows that this type of CMC resembles face-to-face interaction, and allows L2 learners to develop not only linguistic competence, but also communicative and socio-cultural competence in the second language by actively negotiating meaning with others (Lee, 1999; Kötter, 2001; Kung, 2004; Pyun, 2003). Statement of the Problem Though text-based chatting has proved an effective way for improving learners communicative competence (Black, 2002; Lee, 1999; Kötter, 2001; Kung, 2004; Pyun, 2003), it cannot replace oral interaction in a real life context (Tudini, 2003, p. 157). An obvious drawback is that many physical aspects of oral interaction, such as

13 pronunciation, speed, stress and intonation and other nonverbal features, are missing from text-based chatting activities (Tudini, 2003). Learners cannot use their mouths to chat and can not have eye contact (Tudini, 2003) which could limits the learners opportunities to improve their speaking skills. Since oral interaction in the real world is a multidimensional activity, imbued with a multiplicity of elements that provide meaning (Kramsch & Anderson, 1999, p. 32), the omission of other paralinguistic features such as direct eye contact in text-based CMC is also a major obstacle for communication (Tudini, 2003). Another disadvantage of the text-based CMC for L2 learners is that it has a cognitive demand, associated not only with thinking in the target language (TL), but also with typing skills under the fast-going time constraints, thereby providing simplified linguistic or syntactically broken input (Kern, 1995; Ko, 1996) and diminishing the possibility of improving L2 learners language proficiency in the aspects of linguistic accuracy, fluency, and complexity. Researchers (Goodfellow, Manning & Lamy, 1999; Hampel & Hauck, 2004; Kötter, 2001, Wong & Fauverge, 1999, Wang, 2004b) have found that the development of distance learning students speaking and interactional skills has largely been left to students themselves with little academic support and no spontaneous feedback, and as a result, the distance language learners speaking skills and interactional skills are often poor or non-existent. The same is true for students who are learning English in foreign language (FL) settings. It is especially true for EFL learners in China, since most of the teachers there are used to teaching with conventional methodology, which tends to provide students with only discrete knowledge about language, such as grammar and

14 vocabulary, thereby failing to prepare students for dealing with active conversations outside the classroom. Recently, communicative language teaching (CLT) methodology has become the trend of second language teaching. This approach focuses on teaching students how to speak competently, not only in terms of knowing the grammatical rules of a language, but also knowing the necessary sociolinguistic rules in creating socially and culturally appropriate utterances. CLT considers the goal of language learning as training language learners communicative competence, which is the ability of knowing what to say to whom, in what circumstances, and how to say it (Hymes, 1972, 1974). The assumption of CLT concerning language learning is that if students can be actively pushed to produce the target language (TL) in communicative activities, they stand higher chances of receiving abundant linguistic input as well as practicing verbal output through interaction (Krashen, 1985; Swain, 1985). It is very important for L2 learners to have an authentic interactive learning environment in which they can engage in creative language learning by associating with other people and negotiating meanings in the target language. Following the recent trends of second language teaching, CLT has been practiced in China s EFL classrooms, especially in the English class for English majors in colleges and universities. Due to the specific EFL teaching conditions in China, such as limited class time, large class size and students tendency of sticking to their stereotype of learning, CLT methodology in China s EFL teaching has not been as successful as expected. In addition, due to the deep-rooted belief that the best way of learning a foreign language is to communicate with the native speakers, many students lack interest and

15 motivation to talk to learners who are equally incompetent in communicative skills as they are. Most college English teachers were taught by traditional teaching methods and lack experience and ability in facilitating classrooms with CLT methods effectively in fluent English. Consequently, students in China s EFL classrooms have suffered severely from large sizes and limited opportunity for authentic interaction (Cheon, 2002, p. 5), and have often failed to acquire the necessary communicative competence and speaking skills within the EFL classroom, and their oral English is often poor. Students who want to improve their oral English have to find alternatives outside of the classroom, such as listening to tapes, watching movies, or using computer language learning programs. Occasionally, they go to the self-organized English Corner (a place for learners of English to practice their oral English) to speak with other learners, but often lose interest after a while because of the lack of authentic exposure to the target language. Due to the large population of English learners in China, EFL students seldom have sufficient English native speakers with whom to practice their English. There is an urgency of establishing a constructive and engaging language learning environment for EFL learners so that they can communicate with native speakers in a natural and real context and have more enjoyable and effective learning experience in their L2 acquisition. The recent development of CMC has offered a potential solution to creating such a highly interactive learning environment. The Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tool has the capabilities of facilitating both video-mediated and audio-mediated interactions in real world synchronous online interaction. These newly developed CMC

16 tools can make online interaction happen in an oral, visual, or written context or in a combination of the three, between learner and instructor, among the learners, and/or even between native speakers in the target language speaking countries and learners in their own countries (Wang, 2004a; Wang 2004b). At present time, oral-visual interaction represents the highest level of CMC-based interaction. It offers an authentic learning environment in which language learners can orally and visually interact with another human being in the target language, much in the same way as in a face-to-face interaction (Wang, 2004a; Wang 2004b). Many such highly accessible programs can be downloaded from the Internet for free. To name a few, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, and MSN Messenger are some of the popular programs. These programs offer audio-video conferencing as well as text-based chat, and they not only allow the presentation of prosodic elements of oral interaction including accent, intonation and rhythm, but also allow the interlocutors to see each other through a web camera. Because of their low cost and easy accessibility, many language learning researchers and practitioners have adopted them as promising possible solutions to the poor speaking and interactional skills of EFL learners (Wang, 2004b). The potential of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing for language learning, however, has not been sufficiently investigated. Until the present, research in CMC for language learning has been concentrating primarily on written interaction using web-based tools such as e-mail, Internet Relay Chat, MOO (MUD object oriented), and Webchat. Interestingly, the potential of this type of interaction is often interpreted using methodological paradigms pertaining to oral discourse in face-to-face interaction, such as

17 conversational analysis (Kitade, 2000; Negretti, 1999; Smith 2003; Sotillo, 2000; Tudini, 2003). Research on oral-visual interaction in CMC has only occupied a marginal status in CMC research. To date, there are only a few studies examining the technological capabilities and learners perceptions of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing in facilitating oral and visual interaction (Wang, 2004a; Wang, 2004b). Even though there are claims that videoconferencing offers great potential for interactive and collaborated learning in distance mode (Stevens & Atlun, 2002; Wang, 2004a ; Wang, 2004b), no empirical studies have been found focusing on the effects of using Internetbased desktop videoconferencing in online oral-visual interaction for language learning outcomes. Thus, the present study aims to fill this gap. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to improve EFL students language learning outcomes. Specifically, the study will address the following research questions: 1. As the time increases for the experimental group to interact with native speakers online using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing, do the L2 learners make statistically significant improvements in their language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy, and complexity? 2. Does interactional mode influence L2 learners language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy, and complexity? 3. Does the influence of time on L2 learners improvements in their language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity depend on the interactional mode they use to communicate with their partners?

18 4. How do L2 learners perceive the use of oral-video talk with native speakers via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing--- can it be used as an alternative for face-to-face interaction to improve EFL learners language proficiency? Significance of the Study The significance of the study is that it will serve as an empirical investigation of the pedagogical efficacy of the growing medium of the use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing as a device to encourage greater empowerment for L2 learners and high-quality interaction among interlocutors. Findings of this research will extend our knowledge of the viabilities and effects of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing as an effective tool for language learning. The study can provide useful information for language professionals who are interested in using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tools to facilitate L2/foreign language learning and help them foresee the challenges. This study differs from previous studies in several ways: (a) it covered a longer period of time (10 weeks), as compared to Wang s (2004a; 2004b) 6-week study; (b) it compared one-to-one interactions involving learner-to-learner and native-speaker-tolearner dyads in two different modes: face-to-face interaction and oral-visual interaction via Internet-based videoconferencing; and (c) it not only investigated L2 learners perceptions of applying Internet-based desktop videoconferencing for language learning, but examined the effects of Internet-based videoconferencing on the students language outcomes in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity.

19 Limitations and Delimitations This study didn t compare text-based online chatting with videoconferencing as many studies have been conducted to compare text-based to face-to-face interaction. The researcher believes that videoconferencing has more resemblance to face-to-face interaction than text-based chatting and therefore has more tendencies to be used as an alternative way to substitute for traditional face-to-face interaction. The sample size in this empirical study is very small due to the difficulty of accommodating participants in this new environment. The experimental group includes 10 native-to-nonnative dyads. The control group includes 10 nonative-to-nonative dyads. The results, therefore, may not be generalizable to other EFL students from different backgrounds and different nationalities. In addition, the data in this study were obtained from second year college students majoring in English. Therefore, the results may not be applicable to other Chinese students who have different majors and whose levels of English proficiency are higher or lower than the participants in this study. In analyzing the grammatical accuracy of the linguistic output derived from the discussions between nonnative speakers of English (NNSE) and native speakers of English (NSE), the researcher only took into consideration the output of the sophomore English majors, excluding the senior English majors and the NSEs output in the measurement of grammatical accuracy. Although it is possible that the senior English majors and the NSEs may have made grammatical mistakes, the researcher s aim was to examine whether the second year NNSE s grammatical ability would increase as the time they spent using online interaction with voice and webcams increases. Therefore, the

20 utterances of their partners were not included in the analysis of the data. Another limitation is that, because of time constraints for the participants and the researcher, this empirical study covers a period of only 10 weeks, which might not be enough for the researcher to see the expected progress that could be made by the participants. Finally, the present study did not take the gender into consideration and it is unknown whether the gender of participants (e.g., a mixed gender dyad or the same gender dyad) has an impact on each dyad s language performance during their conversations.

21 Definition of Terms 1. Asynchronous CMC: Communication in which there is a significant delay between the time the message is sent and when it is received by the addressee. Email and bulletin boards are the most common examples of asynchronous communications. 2. Audio-conferencing: It refers to the simultaneous connection of many different telephone lines. In this way a group of people can communicate with each other by way of the telephone. Nowadays it is also available on the Internet using Internet audioconferencing tools such as I-phone or NetMeeting (Wang, 2004a). 3. Average turn length: Average turn length is operationally defined as the mean number of words contained per turn, which is measured by calculating the total number of words divided by the total number of turns. 4. CMC: Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) is defined as a communication that takes place between human beings via the instrumentality of computers (Herring, 1996, p.13). It includes email, videoconferencing, IRC and other forms of CMC (Harrington & Levy, 2001). 5. EFL: English as a Foreign Language. In an EFL learning setting, English plays no major role in the community and is primarily learnt only in the classroom. Examples

22 of foreign language learning are English learnt in France, or Japan (Ellis, 1994, p. 12). 6. ESL: English as a second language. When English is leant in a country where the language plays an institutional and social role in the community, it is called ESL setting. For example, English as a second language is learnt in the United states, The United Kingdom, and countries in Africa such as Nigeria and Zambia (Ellis, 1994, p. 12). 7. FL: Foreign langue. In a foreign language learning setting, the foreign language is mainly learnt in classroom and plays no major role in the community (Ellis, 1994). 8. Grammatical errors Grammatical errors can be defined as inaccuracy in the way that the sentences or words are constructed. In this study, grammatical errors will be limited to morphological errors, syntactic errors, and lexical errors. Morphological errors are errors in word formation such as in the use tenses (e.g. * He go to school; *I speaked fast). Syntactic errors are errors in sentence organization such as wrong word order or missing words (e.g. * I went two times there; * He goes school). Lexical errors are errors in word selection (e.g. * how many water do you want?) 9. Internet-based desktop videoconferencing: Internet-based desktop videoconferencing is a type of CMC which is conducted via Internet through chatting software with a webcam on a personal computer. (Wang, 2004b)

23 10. L2: Second language. It is also used to generally refer to any language other than the first language (Ellis, 1994, p. 11). 11. Linguistic accuracy: Linguistic accuracy concerns the extent to which the language produced conforms to target language norms. It is usually measured as the percentage of error-free clauses or t-units (Skehan & Foster 1997). 12. Linguistic complexity: Linguistic complexity concerns the elaboration or ambition of the language that is produced (Skehan 1996, p. 22). Measures of complexity are generally based on the extent to which subordination is evident (for example, the number of clauses per T- unit or C-unit or by means of type-token ratio). 13. Linguistic fluency: Linguistic fluency concerns the learner s capacity to produce language in real time without undue pausing or hesitation (Skehan, 1996, p. 22). Fluency is usually measured by speech rate (i.e., number of syllables per minute of speech), length of run, pause length, silence, false starts, repetitions and reformulations). 14. Linguistic productivity: Linguistic productivity refers to the quantity of linguistic production, or the capability to produce an increased amount of language (Kern, 1995; Warschauer, 1996; Sullian & Pratt, 1996). 15. MOO

24 It is a type of object-oriented multiple-user domain. It refers to a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time. 16. Synchronous CMC: Synchronous CMC refers to real time interaction, between people over either a local or wide-area network. 17. T-unit: A t-unit is an independent clause and any subordinate clauses or nonclausal structures associated with it (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999). In this study, the T-unit is used as an index of syntactic complexity. An independent clause is a clause containing a subject and predicate that can stand on its own. A subordinate clause is introduced by such words as since, because, when, where, after, while, although, as if and even though. Examples of T-units are: [A lot of people didn t like it]; [It s better to change their customs when they move to another country]; [I don t think you really have to do that]. 18. Videoconferencing: Real time video and audio communication between people in different locations. A video camera, a monitor and some features to control them are needed to send and receive the information. This system is also available on the Internet.

25 Summary In this chapter, some problems related to CMC in L2 acquisition have been addressed and research questions for further investigation have been raised. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the potential use of the Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tool for EFL learners to make contact with and communicate with native speakers, so as to improve their language proficiency. The following chapter will examine second language acquisition theories relevant to CMC and review previous literature on computer-mediated communication. The present study consists of five chapters. Chapter one includes an introduction to the problem under investigation along with the specific research questions to be pursued in this study. Some of the background information necessary for understanding the present study is also provided. Chapter two provides a theoretical review of the literature supporting this study. Chapter three discusses the research method used in this study, including the research design, the selection of participants and samples, instruments, data collection procedures and data analysis methods. In Chapter four, the results of the data analysis will be presented and discussed. Chapter five will summarize the study, discuss the findings, as well as explore the implications of the study and make recommendations for further research.

26 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW As mentioned in Chapter One, a careful search of the literature only located a few studies conducted to explore the effects of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to improve EFL students language proficiency. To lay a foundation for this research, this chapter will discuss the relevant CMC-related theories and research in the following four sections: second/foreign language learning theories related to CMC, current research on text-based CMC in second/foreign language learning, current research on audio-conferencing in second/foreign language learning and current research on videoconferencing in second/foreign language learning. Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Theories Relevant to CMC When examining the effectiveness of CMC in language learning, it is necessary to base the observations and research on solid second language acquisition (SLA) theories and select from the many approaches that are relevant (Chapelle, 1998 ). The interactionist theory is considered the most relevant one (Chapelle, 1997, 1998; Blake, 2000; Sotillo, 2000). Interactionist theory, also called the Interaction Hypothesis, emphasizes the joint contributions of the linguistic environment and the learners internal mechanisms in language development (Hamzah, 2004, p. 17). Interactionists believe that when learners engage in interaction with their interlocutors, they are forced to negotiate meaning in order to produce comprehensible input and thus arrive at a mutual understanding. Negotiating meaning also allows learners to test hypotheses related to their developing interlanguage systems, to have access to feedback related to their output and to produce comprehensible output (Long, 1996; Swain & Lapkin, 1995).

27 Interactionists believe that these processes can significantly enhance learners' L2 language proficiency. A brief explanation of various aspects related to the Interactionist Hypothesis is provided. Comprehensible Input Input refers to the target language the learner is exposed to through natural conversation or reading. Input is taken as the starting point for acquiring a foreign language. The Input Hypothesis proposed by Krashen (1985) assumes that language is best learned when it is acquired in a natural subconscious condition. Krashen (1985) insists that in order for input to be available for acquisition, it must be comprehensible at the i+1 level, in which i stands for the learner s current level of competence and i+1 is just one stage beyond that. In other words, language acquisition and comprehension occur when learners receive language input that is just one level above their current level. In addition, Krashen (1982) also emphasizes that comprehensible input can only be effective when language learners are fully motivated, have strong self-confidence and feel free of stress and anxiety. Otherwise, the affective filter will impede their acquisition even though the input is understandable. Long (1981, 1983, 1985) extended Krashen s Input Hypothesis and claims that comprehensible input is necessary but not sufficient for language acquisition. Long (1981, 1983, 1996) argues that it is the input through interaction and modification that makes language acquisition more powerful and meaningful. For instance, Long (1983, 1985, 1996) considers the modifications in the interactional structure of conversation between native and non-native speakers as a necessary means for input to be made

28 comprehensible. He believes that learners participation in negotiating meaning with native speakers enlarges their opportunities to improve their second language. Many other researchers (Hatch, 1983; Doughty & Pica, 1986; Hegelheimer & Chapelle, 2000; Larsen-Freeman & Long, 1991) also believe that modified interaction is the necessary mechanism which can help input become intake (i.e. comprehended language that holds the potential for developing the learners linguistic system). Comprehensible Output In contrast to Krashen s Input Hypothesis, which emphasizes the necessity of comprehensible input for SLA, Swain s (1985) Output Hypothesis stresses the crucial role of learners comprehensible output for language production in L2 development. According to Swain (1985), comprehensible output provides learners with opportunities to use linguistic forms in contextualized, meaningful ways and helps them test hypotheses about the target language, so as to move learners from a purely semantic analysis of the language to a syntactic analysis of it ( p. 252). For instance, when learners encounter communicative failure, they have to exert effort to make their output more consistent, accurate, and understandable, which helps learners internalize new forms (Pica, Holliday, Lewis, & Morgenthaler, 1989) and improve the accuracy of their grammatical knowledge (Nobuyoshi & Ellis, 1993). Comprehensible output ascribes considerable importance to feedback since feedback provides learners with information for revising their interlanguage (Ellis, 1994). In SLA, negative feedback is seen more necessary and important for learners interlangauge development (Long, 1996; Schachter, 1991). Negative feedback highlights

29 differences between the target language and learners output and pushes learners to make their output more comprehensible. Negative feedback can be given in the form of overt error correction or in an implicit way, such as by employing negotiation strategies in the form of repetition, confirmation checks or clarification requests or by attempting to repair communication breakdowns (Long, 1983). It can also be given in the form of recasts (Long, 1996) 1. Through negative feedback, certain linguistic features can be made more salient to learners and thus learners will notice the gap between their output and the target-like production and be more aware of their errors whether lexical, grammatical, phonological, semantic, or pragmatic in nature (Long, 1983, 1996). On the whole, language learners comprehensible output relies on meaningful interaction and effective feedback. Output produced solely for practice in isolated contexts does not work well for learners L2 development (Long, 1996). Negotiation of Meaning Another important aspect of interactionist theory is the negotiation of meaning. Chapelle refers to negotiation of meaning as the process of comprehending input with less than perfect comprehension, producing output with less than perfect success, identifying instances of imperfect communication and trying to resolve them (Chapelle, 1998, p. 19). In other words, negotiation of meaning is a process of communication during which learners attention is focused on resolving a communication problem 1 Long defines recasts as utterances which are rephrased by changing one or more sentence components while still maintaining the central meaning of the message, e.g. I m born in China. You were born in China?)

30 through modified interactions to understand L2 input and make their output comprehensible. Interactionist researchers proposed that negotiation of meaning is inevitable between speaker and hearer due to the need for understanding, interpreting, and responding to a message in the process of communication. Researchers in SLA believe that negotiation of meaning is a particular way of modifying interaction. Negotiation of meaning offers more opportunities for learners to receive negative feedback and various language modifications such as elaborations, confirmations, comprehension checks, clarification requests or recasts, which can facilitate their L2 development (Gass, 1997, Long, 1996). By doing so, learners attention is drawn to both form and meaning. Negotiation of meaning helps learners to make input more comprehensible and modify their own output (Gass, 1997; Pica, Young & Doughty, 1987; Pica, 1992, 1994). Many researchers have taken negotiation of meaning as the basic and crucial condition for enhancing L2 learning (Long & Robinson, 1988; Gass & Varonis, 1985; Long, 1996). Some researchers studies indicate that the benefits of negotiation of meaning are particularly enhanced in the context of NNS-NS oral exchange (Long & Robinson, 1988; Long, 1983; Pica, 1988). For instance, Pica (1988) examined negotiated interactions between one native speaker (NS) and 10 nonnative speakers (NNS) of English with lowlevel proficiency to find out how the NNSs make their interlanguage utterances comprehensible when native speakers show difficulty understanding them. Based on the data of 10 one-hour transcribed topic discussions between the native speaker and the 10 Spanish learners of English, Pica found that NNSs can generate their own modifications

31 of their interlangauge utterances in response to an NS signal to make their output more comprehensible and targetlike. In another study, Pica, Holliday, Lewis, and Morgenthaler (1989) analyzed the English interactions between 10 dyads of Japanese learners of English and native speakers of English in a noninstitutional, experimental setting. The 10 NNSs were of low-intermediate and mid-intermediate proficiency levels. The tasks assigned for data collection were information gap, jigsaw, and discussions (opinion-exchange). Pica, Holliday, Lewis, and Morgenthaler (1989) found that when learners showed difficulty in understanding, the native speakers provided linguistic modifications in the input by repeating or reformulating their original utterances for the learners. The results also showed that regardless of the task, native speakers feedback type had a significant influence on the NNSs output. NNSs tended to modify their output more often when a NS gave an explicit request for clarification rather than providing a model utterance for confirmation. Linnell s (1995) study found that NNSs produced numerous syntactic modifications in response to native speakers clarification requests and those modified or improved syntactic structures were maintained over time. Garcia s (1992) study addressed the linguistic choices made by American and Venezuelan female speakers in a role-play situation responding to a request in English. Ten NNS-NS dyads engaged in a role-play conversation. Speech samples were transcribed and linguistic choices were grouped according to several categories. The results suggest that nonnative speakers can benefit from learning and using native speakers' rules of language, particularly their use of appropriate frames of participation.

32 Some other studies indicated that learner-learner interaction involving NNS-NNS dyadic interactions also result in meaning negotiation and equally benefit L2 development (Shehadeh, 1999; Gass &Varonis, 1985). These studies were conducted in ESL situations with learners from different L1 backgrounds, and therefore may not be true in the EFL situation. As is known in a foreign language situation, learners often have very little natural exposure to the target language outside of the classroom. Sometimes, due to the large size and the homogenous nature of the class, activities assigned to learners for modified interaction in the classroom often do not lead to meaningful negotiation in L2. Students often revert to their native language to resolve miscommunications (Cheon, 2004). Therefore, EFL students would prefer an opportunity that provides for NS-NNS interaction and meaning negotiation in an authentic naturalist context (Tudini, 2003). On the whole, the interactionist theory implies that SLA would be more enhanced if the learners were provided more opportunities to receive comprehensible input, get involved in modified interaction and meaning negotiation and produce their own modified output in a natural, authentic, relaxed and meaningful learning environment. The use of CMC, especially the synchronous CMC seems to have provided possibilities for new interpersonal contact and communicative engagements; for instance, in textbased SCMC, students can communicate with teachers, native speakers or other learners by typing. Audio-video conferencing allows audio visual communication so that students can interact in a very natural and spontaneous way similar to face-to-face interaction. Research in SLA has shown that SCMC is an excellent facilitator of communicative

33 activities. It provides more opportunities for interaction and meaning negotiation and has been taken as a powerful and important tool to promote L2 learning. In the next section, a thorough review of the studies in regard with using various types of SCMC to facilitate L2 teaching and learning will be presented. Current Research on Text-based SCMC in L2 Learning Over the past two decades, many studies of CMC have been pursued to examine the pedagogical advantages of CMC in language learning (Blake, 2000; Chun, 1994; Kelm, 1992; Kern, 1995; Lee, 1999; Pellettieri, 1999, 2000; Salaberry 1999; Warschauer, 1996). Studies of text-based synchronous computer mediated communication (SCMC) based on the interactionist theory are especially rich and abundant. These studies have suggested that text-based SCMC generates a high level of interaction, which gives L2 learners an opportunity to receive abundant linguistic input, negotiate meaning with others, and produce comprehensible output in an authentic real-life environment (Lee, 1999; Salaberry, 1999). Text-based SCMC has been considered a meaningful and motivating activity of interlanguage development and a bridge to oral interaction (Tudini, 2002, 2003). In what follows, features and benefits of text-based SCMC in language learning will be discussed in three categories, namely, in terms of psychological aspects, communicative and interactive aspects, and linguistic outcomes. Text-based SCMC as a Learning Environment Early research on text-based synchronous computer mediated communication (SCMC) mainly emphasized the social-psychological aspect and suggested that textbased SCMC could provide a comfortable, supportive and less stressful environment for

34 second and foreign language acquisition (Beauvois, 1992; Belcher, 1999; Kelm, 1992; Kern, 1995; Kroonenberg (1994/1995); Sullivan & Pratt, 1996; Warschauer, 1996). Participants in such a learning environment were reported having less anxiety, enjoying equal participation and being more motivated to communicate with others using the target language (Beauvois, 1992; Freirmuth, 2002; Kern, 1995; Ramzan & Saito, 1998; Warschauer, 1996). Their attitude toward the target language also improved after participating in the text-based discussions (Abrams, 2003; Beauvois, 1994; Bump, 1990; Chun, 1994; 1992; Warschauer, 1996). Kroonenberg (1994/1995), for example, observed the pair interaction of her higher school French students using text-based CMC and found that even shy or indisposed students appeared very expressive in this mode. Similar results were also found by some other researchers (Beauvois,1992; Chun, 1994; Kern, 1995; Warschuer, 1996). Chun (1994) discovered that some of the quieter students in her class were actually the most productive during computer-mediated discussions. She also observed that students felt more at ease in suggesting a new topic, following an idea, or requesting more information during computer assisted class discussion (CACD). Beauvois (1992), Kern (1995) and Warschuer s (1996) studies all indicated that students involved in synchronous text-based CMC showed less anxiety about participation and demonstrated an increased level of motivation for using the target language. Text-based CMC can also be particularly beneficial for people in subordinated positions (Belcher, 1999; Bump, 1990; McGuire, Kiesler & Siegel, 1987; Selfe, 1990) such as serving to equalize women s participation (McGuire, Kiesler and Siegel, 1987,

35 and Flores, 1990) and enabling access for students with disabilities or economic limitations (Selfe 1990). More evidence for this benefit can be found in Hartman et. al. (1991) and Bump's (1990) studies, which revealed increased participation by poor performing students and shy students in online learning activities. The lack of time pressure to respond or the fear of looking foolish also contribute to the equalizing power of text-based SCMC (Chun, 1994). As Ortega (1997) claimed, the relatively equal pattern in text-based SCMC: may be attributed partly to the reduction of static and dynamic social context cues in computer-mediated communication, and partly to the oral interaction constraints such as fear to interrupt or of being interrupted, need to manage the floor and the transfer of speakership, and need for interlocutors to co-orient to the production of sequentially relevant discourse (p. 84). Text-based CMC is also seen by some researchers as a psychological filter. Barker and Kemp (1990) claimed that the absence of certain features such as voice, intonation and appearance in text-based SCMC makes participants feel much safer and less constrained. In the case of second and foreign language learning the evidence of such a filter is even more prominent since L2 learners, especially adult L2 learners, often feel stressful or experience anxiety in language classrooms (Horwitz & Young, 1991; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1991; Price, 1991; Young, 1992). The absence of physical presence in a text-based SCMC may help to lower the affective filter of interactants and thus affect students L2 performance positively. As Ortega (1997) explains:

36 interactants are less apprehensive about being evaluated by interlocutors, and thus more willing to participate at their leisure; and they are less affected by wait time, turn-taking, and other elements of traditional interaction, enabling them to participate as much as they want, whenever they want, with opportunities for contribution being more equally distributed among participants (Ortega, 1997, p. 85). In sum, studies have indicated that text-based SCMC allows each individual to contribute equally at his/her own pace and leisure with more freedom and comfort and is considered as a non threatening, less stressful and more motivating learning environment for L2 learners. Such beneficial effects are attributed to the unique characteristics of this type of medium, such as the absence of oral interaction constraints and the lack of dynamic social context cues. A question may arise: do these findings imply, that in a CMC environment, which is free of oral interaction constraints and has more dynamic social context cues, such as in Internet-based videoconferences, these benefits will no longer exist? This question will be explored later in the chapter. The following section will review previous studies on linguistic outcomes in text-based CMC. Linguistic Outcomes in Text-based SCMC Although CMC has increasingly received recognition for its ability to improve foreign language performance, few studies have concentrated on how well the language abilities that learners display in the CMC can improve oral communication (Abrams, 2003). Language abilities are often measured in terms of, fluency, grammar accuracy and syntactic complexity. Fluency refers to the learner s capacity to produce language in real

37 time without undue pausing or hesitation; accuracy refers to the extent to which the language produced conforms to target language norms; and complexity concerns the elaboration or ambition of the language that is produced (Skehan, 1996). Up till present, these aspects of language ability have not been the focus of most studies on Text-based CMC in language learning. Most studies to date have focused on examining the linguistic features that CMC generates compared with traditional written and spoken language use in terms of linguistic fluency, syntactic complexity, and grammatical accuracy. Linguistic fluency. Linguistic fluency concerns the learner s capacity to produce language in real time without undue pausing or hesitation (Skehan, 1996, p. 22). Fluency was often measured in terms of "continued performance and repair avoidance (Foster & Skehan 1996, p. 305). In text-based SCMC, linguistic fluency mainly refers to the ability to keep conversation flowing (Tudini, 2003, p. 17). It is closely related to overall language productivity and may involve variables such as typing and computer skills, writing apprehension and learner attitudes towards computers (Ortega, 1997). In her study comparing the discourse functions and syntactic complexity in synchronous and asynchronous mode, Sotillo (2000) claimed that synchronous communication seems to encourage communicative fluency (p.102). However, she didn t directly address this issue as it was not the main focus of her study. The most relevant research of text-based SCMC in foreign language literature has been mainly focused on linguistic productivity, or the quantity of linguistic production, or the capability to produce an increased amount of language (Kern, 1995; Pyun, 2003; Sullian & Pratt, 1996; Warschauer, 1996). The

38 current finding suggests that students produce more Target Language during text-based SCMC than in real classroom activities (Ortega, 1997). Kern s (1995) study of using Daedalus Interchange, a chatting program to discuss various topics in French found that students produced 2 to 3.5 times more turns and 2 to 4 times more sentences and words in electronic discussion than in oral discussion. Ortega (1997) argued that Kern's use of rough measures of language productivity (such as length of learner output in terms of number of words, sentences and turns) makes the data difficult to interpret. There were no controlled comparisons with the face-to-face language production under equivalent conditions, such as number of participants, plus or minus teacher participation. Pyun s (2003) study investigated the effects of networked computers in foreign language (FL) and second language (L2) learning by comparing synchronous online discussions with traditional face-to-face discussions. The subjects of this study were 10 NNSEs (nonnative speakers of English)-NSEs (native speakers of English) dyads who participated in one electronic discussion and one face-to-face discussion. The results of this study showed that electronic communication provided more opportunities for NNSEs to participate in the discussion and, as a result, the electronic mode contributed to more equal sharing of participation and output whereas face-to-face communication was more dominated by NSEs. Freiermuth's (2001) study investigated the interaction of mixed groups (2 NS- NNS) both in traditional face-to-face conversation and in an online chat format. He used words and turns to measure the control groups and the experimental groups' output and

39 found that the native speakers (NSs) in the control groups (face-to-face interaction) took control of the speaking opportunities and produced more output; whereas the online chatting groups gave nonnative speakers (NNSs) a little more social space and allowed them to produce almost equal output to the native speakers (NSs). In summary, the above studies seem to suggest that text-based SCMC could effectively facilitate second language and foreign language acquisition in terms of linguistic fluency. Due to the fact that text-based SCMC allows more forced output through meaningful interaction, it is believed to help create an authentic and meaningful context for L2 learners and offer them opportunities to produce more comprehensible linguistic output than in traditional L2 classrooms (Ortega, 1997, Sotillo, 2000). Linguistic accuracy. Linguistic accuracy concerns the extent to which the language produced conforms to target language norms and is considered as another important dependent variable in task-based SLA experimental studies (Foster & Skehan, 1996). However, few studies have been found focusing on linguistic accuracy in textbased SCMC and research has indicated mixed results. Some scholars insisted that the degree of accuracy in CMC, especially in the text-based SCMC interactions, would be lower as compared to face-to-face interaction (Beauvois, 1992; Kelm, 1992; Kern, 1995). The reason is that participants tend to engage in quick-paced dynamic exchanges (Pyun, 2003, p. 27), thus, they tend to concentrate on meaning delivery without much concern about correct grammatical forms. This claim was supported by supported by Kung s (2004) study.

40 Kung (2004) adopted a qualitative method to analyze the linguistic features and the interactional features of 47 EFL learners' output in synchronous electronic discussions in Taiwan. He found that the students' discussions contained a large number of spelling, usage, and grammatical errors and suggested that text-based SCMC should be carefully applied and that students need to be appropriately guided to use this tool in order to enhance their language learning. Unfortunately, he did not indicate how this could be accomplished. Some other researchers believed that both synchronous and asynchronous CMC allow students to focus both on language forms and meaning than in face-to-face discussions and thus tend to improve linguistic accuracy (Pellettier, 2000; Sotillo, 2000). A representative study that supports this claim was conducted by Pellettieri (2000). In her study of 20 nonnative speakers in Spanish chats, Pellettieri analyzed the language data out of the five communication tasks assigned to the participants in one-on-one sessions based on a model for nonnative speaker negotiation established by Varonis and Gass (1985). The results indicated that that over 70% of explicit and inexplicit feedbacks in the online discussions was relevant to the target form usages. She also observed that the visual display of text-based SCMC allows learners to see their errors and self-monitor their language forms by backspacing, repairing spelling mistakes and morphological agreement errors. Pellettieri argued that in text-based electronic discussions, focusing on form is also enforced; linguistic accuracy does not surrender to focusing on the meaning. Abrams (2003) study provided a complex picture. Abrams compared the performance of three groups (Control group, SCMC group and ACMC group) of learners

41 of German with a total number of 96 participants on three oral discussion tasks during the course of one semester. The control group did regular classroom exercises, the SCMC group participated in one hour, text-based, online chatting using WEBCT chat tool on the day immediately before the oral discussion day. The ACMC group participated in a week long asynchronous CMC session using WEBCT s Bulletin Board, beginning exactly one week before the weekly oral discussion day. Abrams examined the output of the number of idea units and words, the lexical richness and diversity and the syntactic complexity of the three groups. Her study showed that although the students in the SCMC group had more output in the quantity of their production than the other two groups, the ACMC group did not produce more output than the control group. Furthermore, no significant difference was found among the three groups in terms of the quality of language they produced either lexically or syntactically. The above studies suggest that what text-based CMC can offer in relation to linguistic accuracy, such as grammatical accuracy in L2, still remains unclear. One reason might be that most of the studies regarding text-based CMC and linguistic outcomes are based on anecdotal observations. Few studies have explicitly focused on how well the language (often measured in terms of linguistic accuracy, fluency and complexity) that learners display in text-based CMC can improve oral communication, or whether the transferability of text-based CMC into real face-to-face communication is possible as measured in linguistic accuracy, fluency and complexity. Syntactic complexity. Syntactic complexity refers to the degree of complexity that words can be arranged to form grammatical phrases or sentences. Studies on language

42 learning with text-based SCMC have shown mixed results with respect to syntactic complexity. Kern (1995) investigated the use of Daedalus Interchange, a chatting tool to discuss various topics in his French class. He used the number of conjunctions and types of clauses as measures of syntactic complexity and found that qualitatively, the language produced in text-based SCMC were more complex in terms of syntactic structures than those found in oral discussion, but quantitatively, the language output in the online chat held a higher proportion of simple sentences than did the language produced in the faceto-face mode. Kern explained that the reason that sentences were usually simpler and shorter in the computer sessions was because such sentences tended to elicit quick response than long, complex sentences. A similar result was reached in a study by Chun (1994) on the language production of some on-campus learners of German. Chun (1994) studied the learners regular weekly 15-20 minutes chat over two semesters and found that the proportion of simple sentences produced in the text-based SCMC was three times higher than in the face-to-face discussion. Pyun s(2003) study of comparing the linguistic outcomes of 10 NNSEs -NSEs dyads in the two different modes also found that the discourse produced in the electronic mode was simpler and shorter than in the face-to-face mode. In contrast, Warschauer s (1996) study of 16 ESL learners output showed different results. Warschauer used lexical range such as Type-Token Ratio (TTR) and Coordination Index (CI) as indexes of syntactic complexity. Warschauer concluded that students in electronic discussion showed higher syntactic complexity than they did in the face-to-face discussion.

43 Still another result was found by Sotillo (2000) who examined the discourse functions and syntactic complexity produced by some university-level ESL learners in synchronous or asynchronous CMC environment. Sotillo (2000) found that the output produced by learners in synchronous discussions was often simple and informal and was very close to the types of interactional modifications found in face-to-face discussions. Sotillo s finding was not unexpected, since the asynchronous mode allowed students to have more time to plan, modify and revise their text messages. In sum, there were contradictory results regarding whether text-based SCMC leads to syntactic complexity due to the use of different measures by the researchers (Pyun, 2003). To accurately assess the effects of SCMC on syntactic complexity, consistent measurements of syntactic complexity should be defined and employed in future research. Interaction and Negotiation of Meaning in Text-based SCMC One of the features of text-based SCMC that has been well recognized in SLA is its ample capacity to generate a high level of interaction (Salaberry, 1999). This feature has been seen as an effective vehicle to develop L2 learners communicative and interactive competence (Chun & Plass, 2000). Communicative competence refers to the ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to accomplish communication goals in various contexts, and it has been considered equally important as grammatical competence to language proficiency in SLA (Hymes, 1972). Interactive competence refers to the ability to create meaningful interaction by using authentic, communicative, and socioculturally appropriate language to express, interpret and negotiate meaning

44 (Canale & Swain, 1980; Kramsch, 1986). Interactive competence is also considered as an essential component of L2 abilities (Kramsch, 1986). Recently, there has been a growing interest in the role of text-based SCMC as a means to facilitate interaction and negotiation of meaning to improve L2 learner s interactive competence and communicative strategies, and studies on these aspects are flourishing. Since in foreign language settings, L2 learners often do not have sufficient opportunities to use the target language outside the classroom, text-based SCMC offered learners more opportunities to use the target language to interact with native speakers. A representative example is Toyada and Harrison s (2002) study of the negotiation of meaning, which took place between L2 learners of Japanese and native Japanese speakers over a series of online text-based chatting on the JEWEL (Japanese-language Education Worldwide Electronic Learning Space) program. This study used discourse analysis to categorize the difficulties encountered during negotiation. Toyada and Harrison sorted the negotiations into nine categories according to the cause of the difficulties: recognition of a new word, misuse of a word, pronunciation errors, grammar errors, inappropriate segmentations, abbreviated sentences, sudden topic changes, slow response, and intercultural communication gaps. By examining these categories of negotiation, they found that there were some language aspects that are crucial for communication, but had been neglected in teaching. Toyada and Harrison claimed that chatting with native speakers provided students the opportunity to notice these aspects that had been ignored. Negretti s (1999) study also examined the interactions between native speakers and nonnative speakers on the Webchat program. She employed Conversation Analysis to

45 discover the patterns and conversational strategies used by the participants in this online context. One of the interesting findings was that both the native and nonnative speakers showed awareness of the limitations of the Webchat environment. They compensated for the inability to use paralinguistic features that carry semantic loads in normal face-to-face communication by using a variety of economical devices, such as punctuation, onomatopoeia, uppercase letters or emoticons. This study suggested a disadvantage for the unavailability of sufficient paralinguistic features for interaction in text-based SCMC. Another study which focused on text-based synchronous interactions between learners and native speakers was conducted by Tudini (2003). Tudini explored interactions between the intermediate learners of Italian and Italian native speakers in dyads on a web-based Italian native speaker chat room program. Her analysis of the chat log interactions indicated that native speaker interlocutors offered learners a type of informal conversational practice which includes a central component, namely, negotiation of meaning, and that learners do negotiate with NS, receiving both implicit and explicit feedback. She also found that text-based chatting with NS provided an authentic and purposeful cross-cultural experience which is otherwise limited to the language teacher, members of the local community or other learners (Tudini, 2003, p. 157). Although Tudini concluded that a text-based synchronous chat environment is likely to facilitate SLA for the distance learner, she also maintained that chatting with NS in text-based chat rooms cannot replace oral interaction in real life contexts since it can not provide the physical aspects of oral discourse such as pronunciation and other nonverbal features.

46 A recent study of the dyadic interactions between nonnative speakers and native speakers in text-based SCMC was carried out by Schwienhorst (2004). Schwienhorst examined topic negotiation and initiation in native-speaker/nonnative speaker discourse in a bilingual MOO (object-oriented multiple-user domain) project. The participants were 29 Irish students learning German and 22 German students learning English. The Irish students had low intermediate proficiency in German, while the German students English proficiency was advanced. Participants formed native speaker-nonnative speaker dyads to chat on certain topics in both languages taking turns one hour each week in MOO over an eight week time span. The results suggested that the amount of topic initiations was far more balanced between NSs and NNSs. The more proficient the learners were in L2, the fewer questions were used to initiate topics. Wh-questions were more predominantly used than yes-no questions, and the more proficient the learners were in their L2s, the more similar the interaction features were displayed to those often encountered in NS-NS than NS-NNS conversations. Smith (2003) explored the role of task types in communication strategy and compensatory strategy use among 18 low-intermediate level ESL adult learners in a textbased one-to-one Internet Relay Chatroom (IRC) program: ChatNet. Communication strategies refer to those strategies which learners use for discourse or conversation maintenance (Smith, 2003, p. 38) and compensatory strategies are a type of communication strategy used to compensate for a lack of competence in the target language when problems (or potential problems) in communication arise (Smith, 2003, p. 38). The task types examined in this study were jigsaw and decision-making. The

47 results suggested that learners use a variety of communication strategies in text-based CMC, similar in many ways to those found in face-to-face interaction. Communicative task type was found to have no significant effect on communication strategy use, but has more influence on compensatory strategy use by learners. In sum, studies related to the negotiation of meaning and interaction in text-based SCMC are very rich and most of the recent work in this area has been focused on exploring discourse and interactional features, the role of negotiation, interactions between different types of interactants (such as learners and native speakers), the importance of task types on meaning negotiation and the effects of task type on the use of communication strategies. While these studies have provided positive evidence for the capability of text-based SCMC to generate interaction and negotiation of meaning to enhance communication and interaction between learners and interlocutors, they have also implied that because of the lack of certain paralinguistic features, text-based SCMC can only be a bridge to, but not a substitute for, oral interaction. The recent development of CMC tools has offered more possibilities for using online oral-visual interactions to resemble face-to-face interactions in a CMC context (Wang & Sun, 2001, Wang, 2004a, 2004b). Researchers, such as Lee (1999) and Wang (2004b) have predicted that Internet-based videoconferencing would be the best exemplary technology to compensate for the constraints of text-based CMC in facilitating L2/foreign language learning (Lee, 1999; Wang, 2004a, 2004b). In the following section, a review of current research on Internet-based audio-conferencing tools and videoconferencing tools in language learning will be provided.

48 Current Research on Internet-Based Audioconferencing in Language Learning Internet-Based Audioconferencing is a type of real-time spoken interaction of CMC that is often realized through such Internet audioconferencing tools as I-phone or NetMeeting (Wang, 2004a). Compared to text-based online chatting, audioconferencing is a step closer toward face-to-face interaction. Wang (2004a, 2004b) even argued that this type of Internet conferencing tool can generate richer interactions than face-to-face interaction in terms of its content and scope. A review of the literature found very few studies that have examined the use of these audioconferencing tools in language learning. A possible reason, according to Wang (2004a), is that most of the available audio-conferencing tools (e.g., I-phone and NetMeeting) have not been designed particularly for language teaching and learning. The only detected studies conducted in this area were the MERLIN Project, the Open University Project (Hauck & Haezewindt, 1999; Kötter, Shield & Stevens, 1999; Shield, Hauck & Hewer, 2001), and an audiographic conferencing project using a system tool called Lyceum (Hampel & Hauck, 2004). The MERLIN project was released by the University of Hull and British Telecommunications in 1996 to support an intermediate level English as a foreign language course. The project used the Internet and telephone conferencing systems to enable learners to interact with one another in small groups. Participants were screened through a computer window and their interactions were recorded (Marsh, et al., 1997). Two trials were conducted on the MERLIN project: a Beta trial and a Gamma trail. In

49 the Beta trial, 17 EFL learners took the initial six weeks of a 15-week course with a tutor in UK. The Gamma trial was on 40 EFL learners recruited world-wide. Students were required to conduct a series of communication tasks involving meaningful interaction between the learners and the tutor. The results of the Beta trial were very positive, but the results of the Gamma trial were not reported and could not be examined in the research holdings. The Open University project was an assessment of the impact of using audioconferencing software and email to provide real-time tutorials for learners of French and German (Kötter, Shield, & Stevens, 1999). Through a campus server, students were able to communicate with one another and carry out role-playing and other taskbased activities using a headset with a built-in microphone and speaker. No visual input was provided. The findings of this project suggested that although considered a promising tool for practicing speech, receiving rapid feedback and interacting with peers, audio-conferencing still had problems due to the lack of visual input. The report showed that students were unwilling to take the risks to talk because of this limitation and thus resulting in substantial broken utterances (Kötter, Shield, & Stevens, 1999). A recent report on a newly improved Internet-based, real-time audiographic conferencing tool: Lyceum, by the Open University for German language learning and teaching suggested some similar results (Hampel & Hauck, 2004, p. 5). A test of Lyceum with 15 volunteer learners of German carrying out problem-solving tasks in four 75- minute sessions showed that the use of Lyceum has created a greater sense of interaction and intimacy among the students than many face-to-face courses (Hampel & Hauck,

50 2004, p. 5). Such issues as lack of body language and depersonalization of communication were identified in this audio-based CMC. As described by a participant, since tutors do not receive visual clues and body language, it is easier for students unsure of what is going on, but to sit quietly without participating and without getting help or encouragement (Hampel & Hauck, 2004, p. 7). In sum, the few studies conducted on audio-conferencing suggested that although audio-conferencing provides intense interactions and flexible speaking opportunities, there is still a need for visual input to make oral-based SCMC more supportive for language learning. The following part will review videoconferencing for language learning. Current Research on Videoconferencing in Foreign Language Learning Videoconferencing offers a much higher level of interaction, which is similar to, but much richer than that of face-to-face interaction (Wang, 2004a, p. 378). Wang (2004b) identified two types of videoconferencing: studio-based videoconferencing and desktop videoconferencing. The studio-based videoconferencing system is also called room-based video conferencing. It is a room equipped with such devices as multipoint control systems, document viewers, overhead cameras, vision switchers and so on. The costs of studio-based videoconferencing are often very high and the setup is often complicated. It is for this reason that limited research has been conducted on how studiobased videoconferencing is used for language learning (Wang, 2004b). On the other hand, desktop videoconferencing is conducted via a webcam with a headset or microphone and freely downloaded software such as NetMeeting on a personal computer

51 (Wang, 2006). It can be Internet or Intranet-based and it is a more economical option with minimum initial investment and no ongoing maintenance (Wang, 2004b, p. 93). Internet-based desktop videoconferencing offers a very effective real-time learning environment that allows language learners to orally interact with one another in the target language as well as to use paralinguistic cues such as facial expressions and body movements (Wang, 2004b). Since the late 1990s, there have been an increasing number of studies on Internet-based desktop videoconferencing as a learning environment (Folley & Schuck, 1998; Freeman, 1998; Kodama, 2001; Byrne & Staehr, 2002). Most of these studies, however, have focused on such areas as business, but not on the use of videoconferencing for language learning. The only recognized few studies are the reports on HIPERNET, LEVERAGE and ReLaTe projects, O Dowd s (2000) investigation of intercultural leaning via videoconferencing and Wang s (2004a; 2004b; 2006) studies of using NetMeeting as an Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tool for distance Chinese language learning. HIPERNET is an online language learning system based on the GRANTA Backbone Network which connects the different institutions of Cambridge University. McAndrew, Foubister, and Mayes (1996) reported a project that used videoconferencing in the HIPERNET system to support 24 remote users learning of business French through collaborative role-play. In this project, participants were asked to work in pairs to perform the role-play in two different conditions respectively over six weeks: working remotely with their partners via videoconferencing and working together with their partners in face-to-face interaction. A balanced repeated measures experimental design

52 was used. Participants improvement in oral competence in terms of pronunciation, fluency and grammar were measured on a 5-point scale through self-rating. Comparisons of their oral competence were also conducted based on the two conditions. In addition, participants self-assessments of confidence were also measured and compared between the initial and final questionnaires using a 5-point scale. The results suggested that no significant improvements were detected for individuals oral competence due to the short time period of the experiment, and no noticeable difference was found between the HIPERNET and the face-to-face interaction conditions in terms of oral competence. There was, however, a greater increase in assessor rated confidence for the face-to-face mode than the videoconferencing mode, which might ascribe to the instability of the HIPERNET system. Although frustrations were reported because of occasional crashes of the HIPERNET, learners were very positive toward the new alternative for face-to-face interaction. McAndrew et al. (1996) concluded that videoconferencing could adequately support collaborative task-based learning and could be used as a tool for distance education. LEVERAGE (LEarn from Video Extensive Real Atm Gigabit Experiment) was another project looking into the capability of multimedia broadband technology for distance language teaching and learning. According to Wong & Fauverge (1999), the system exploited in this three-year project was based on an ISDN dial-up connection and supported oral-visual interaction among the participants from three different sites namely the University of Cambridge, the Insitut National des Telecommunications, and the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. This multipoint or point-to-point videoconferencing

53 capability allowed learners to see each other over a distance. Some participants regarded it as the most important learning tool and one of the strongest motivating factors for carrying out the prescribed work" (Wong & Fauverge, 1999, p.138) In 1994, the University of Exeter and University College, London developed a similar project called ReLaTe (Remote Language Teaching) which was aimed at examining the use of videoconferencing for language learning in various scenarios (Buckett, J., & Stringer, 1997, Buckett, Stringer, & Datta, 1999). The use of the MBone (short for Multicast Backbone) and RAT (short for Robust Audio Tool) techniques was a main feature of this project, and was considered the most innovative contribution to Internet-based videoconferencing (Wang, 2004). The MBone technique employs the so called intelligent routers to transfer data to avoid congestion on the Internet and provide better audio and video quality for the conferencing. Some different language courses such as French, German and Portuguese were taught through ReLaTe. The results were reported as positive, cost-effective and feasible (Buckett, & Stringer, 1999). O Dowd s (2000) study opened new dimension by looking at intercultural learning via videoconferencing. O Dowd reported a pilot language leaning and cultural exchange project performed between two universities: the University of Leon in Spain and the University of Northern Michigan in the Untied States. A 128 Kb ISDN connection was exploited for this project. The purpose of the project is to help students to be more aware of how they view their own and the target cultures (O Dowd, 2000, p. 49). In the study, 13 upper-intermediate-level EFL students in Spain and 10 upperintermediate-level learners of Spanish in the USA were asked to carry out three tasks:

54 cultural questionnaires, home-made video presentations and videoconferencing for exchange views about their own culture and the target culture in a group-to-group setting. While students feedback seemed to be very positive about this learning experience, O Dowd (2000) pointed out that this technology alone will not fulfill students needs (p. 58) due to some practical limitations, such as group size, economic cost, sound quality and time shortage. Wang (2004a, 2004b, 2006) conducted a series of studies on the use of Internetbased videoconferencing in distance Chinese language learning. In an empirical study, Wang (2004a) investigated the technological capabilities of four Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tools: CuseeMe, ICU, Video VoxPhone Gold and Net-Meeting for language learning based on such criteria as user friendliness, audio and video quality, reliability and cost. The evaluation carried out with language teachers and computer specialists in this study revealed that NetMeeting was (at the time of her research) the most appropriate tool for supporting oral and visual interaction for distant language learners. In another study, Wang (2004b) reported a more in-depth two-stage evaluation of NetMeeting in the Intranet and Internet environments by several Australian learners of Chinese. The first stage of evaluation was conducted via a local area network without using a modem at Griffith University in Australia. The results were very positive. The video and the audio were well synchronized and both are clear and consistent with minimum delays. NetMeeting in the intranet environment proved to have reached a

55 sufficiently high level of quality and sophistication to support one-to-one interaction in real-time synchronous language learning. The second stage of evaluation went through three network environments (Modem-Internet-Modem, LAN-Internet-Modem and LAN-Internet-LAN) with participants from various parts of Australia. This stage of the evaluation revealed that Internet bandwidth and latency are two critical factors affecting the consistency and reliability of audio and videoconferencing (Wang, 2004b, p. 105). Wang (2004b) insisted that language professionals should not wait for the improvement of the technology. Rather, they should be informed of these problems and work to maximize the potential of videoconferencing and minimize the effect of narrow bandwidth and latency. The students perception of using NetMeeting in supporting oral-visual interaction for language learning was very positive. They expressed their appreciation of the built-in conferencing functions of NetMeeting, such as the Whiteboard, Sharing, and File Transfer and they also enjoyed the oral-visual interactivity that NetMeeting offered. Wang (2004b) provided some valuable suggestions for future users or researchers of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing. For instance, she suggested that early mornings before 8:00am or weekends appear to be better times for Internet-based desktop videoconferencing and that to receive the best audio quality, users should wear headphones instead of using the speakers with the computer. She warned that too many or too quick movements in front of the Webcam could cause the video image to blur. In addition, Wang (2004b) reminded future researchers to be aware of the issue of firewalls when using a LAN or ISP to connect to the Internet.

56 Wang s (2006) most recent study investigated the quality of negotiation of meaning based on the empirical data from an evaluation of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing-supported task completion conducted through NetMeeting by distance of learners of Chinese. Wang examined the instances of interactional modification that occurred during the videotaped 19 real-time videoconferencing sessions between the teacher and five participants on a one-to-one base using the Varonis and Gass model (1985). According to the Varonis and Gass (1985) model, an occasion of interactional modification involves two parts of the negotiation routing, i.e. the trigger and the resolution. The resolution includes indicator (I), response(r) and a reaction the response (RR). These three functional primes, together with the trigger form the four functional primes of the model. Wang (2006) analyzed the individual instances of interactional modification based on these primes. She also discussed the unique features of NetMeeting for assisting meaning negotiation, such as, the function of the video, the Whiteboard, Document Sharing, File Transfer and My Video. Wang stated that visual cues transmitted through NetMeeting promoted understanding and communication (Wang, 2006, p. 135). In addition to the various types of responses discussed in the Varonis and Gass (1985) study, Wang pointed out that additional response type, such as target language equivalent was discovered in videoconferencing sessions. Wang concluded that videoconferencing-supported negotiation of meaning may facilitate second language acquisition at a distance and has its own distinctive features in comparison to face-to-face interaction (Wang, 2006, p. 122). In sum, current research on videoconferencing in foreign language learning is

57 very scarce and is in its initial stages, focusing mostly on the technological capabilities and feasibilities of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing in supporting oral-visual interaction for language learning (Wang, 2004a, 2004b, 2006). Few studies have concentrated on the effects of videoconferencing on students linguistic outcomes and students perception of using Internet-based videoconferencing to communicate with native speakers to practice the target language to a greater extent. There is a pressing need for more studies in these areas to provide more insights about what Internet-based desktop videoconferencing as an advanced CMC tool can offer for second/foreign language learning. Summary The review of the literature on computer-mediated communication in second/foreign language learning has suggested that CMC, on the whole, has proved to generate positive learning environments for L2 or foreign language learners. Studies on text-based CMC are far richer and have covered many aspects of language learning, such as linguistic outcomes, social-psychological aspects and communicative and interactional aspects. Studies on Internet-based desktop videoconferencing, however, have investigated very few such aspects; most of the previous studies in Internet-based desktop videoconferencing have looked at the technological capabilities and learners perceptions. More in-depth investigations need to be conducted to address the many issues and aspects that have not been examined in using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to support L2 learning. For instance, no one has ever explored whether the use of Internetbased desktop videoconferencing between learners and native speakers is more effective

58 in developing L2 learners language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity than traditional face-to-face communication between L2 learners. In addition, L2 learners perceptions of whether talking with native speakers with Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can be used as an alternative to face-to-face interaction with other L2 learners has not been researched fully. The present study is designed to provide some insights into these issues.

59 CHAPTER THREE: METHOD As discussed in the previous chapter, recent publications on text-based CMC have concluded that learners of second/foreign languages produce more utterances in electronic discussions than they would in face-to-face discussions, and text-based CMC is often taken as a bridge for face-to-face interaction. With the development of new technologies, Internet-based desktop videoconferencing is becoming more and more popular. Previous studies, however, lack documentation of how learners perceive videoconferencing as a way to support oral-visual interaction in a CMC language learning environment and how videoconferencing can improve L2 learners language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity. In order to fully understand the benefits and challenges of videoconferencing, it is necessary to conduct more empirical research. The present study attempts to fill this gap. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potentials and the effects of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to improve EFL students language learning outcomes and examine L2 learners perceptions of using online videoconferencing to talk with native speakers as an alternative to face-to-face interaction with other L2 learners to facilitate L2 learning. The research questions are as follows: 1. For the experimental group, as the L2 learners increase their time to interact with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing, do the L2 learners make statistically significant improvements in their language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity?

60 2. Does the interactional mode influence L2 learners language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity? 3. Does the influence of time on L2 learners improvements in their language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity depend on the interactional mode they use to communicate with their partners? 4. How do L2 learners perceive the use of oral-video talking with native speakers via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can it be used as an alternative to face-to-face interaction to improve EFL learners language proficiency? Specifically, this chapter describes the research design, data collection procedures, and data analysis issues. In the discussion of the research design, issues such as the participants, tasks and topics, and instruments are discussed. In addition, two pilot studies evaluating the software programs used for Internet-based videoconferencing are reported. In the discussion of data collection, detailed descriptions of the procedures for recruiting participants and the treatments are provided. In the discussion of the data analysis, issues such as dependent variables, independent variables, measures and statistical analyses of the study are also discussed. Research Design This study applied GLM repeated measures design with a control group and an experimental group. The experimental group participated in Internet-based desktop videoconferencing for oral-visual interaction with native speakers as a treatment. The control group used traditional face-to-face interaction with nonnative English speakers. The study examined how interactional mode affects participants language proficiency

61 differently in the different groups; how the participants language proficiency in the experimental group changes over time and what the interaction effect of interactional mode is by time between the two groups. Interactional mode refers to the different approach that the L2 learners use to interact with different types of interlocutors. For instance, the interactional mode used for the L2 learners in the experimental group is Internet-based desktop videoconferencing with native speakers; for the L2 learners in the control group, it is traditional face-to-face interaction with other L2 learners, that is, nonnative speakers of English. It is important to note that the interactional mode used in this research is a confounder. An ideal research design would be three groups: one group using videoconferencing between L2 learners and native speakers, one using face-to-face interaction with native speakers, and one using face-to-face interaction with other learners. However, due to the impracticality of the research, for instance, the lack of native English speakers for the L2 learners to communicate with in an EFL learning setting, which has been discussed in Chapter One, no native speakers could be recruited for the study; therefore, a confounding variable had to be used. One needs to be aware of this confounding factor when examining the findings and results of the present study. Participants The accessible populations for this study were 189 undergraduate sophomores who were English majors in the School of Foreign Languages at a university in northeastern China in the year 2006. At the time when the data was collected, most of these students were between the ages of 19 and 22. They had been learning English as a foreign language in China for about eight years, starting from elementary school to

62 middle and high school and then in college. Their English proficiency level could be considered upper-intermediate. There were 6 classes for the English major sophomores, each having a class size of 30-40 students. Besides some common core courses, such as the History of the Communist Party, Philosophy, College Chinese, Law, and Computer Literacy, the sophomores had an average of 14 hours of English classes each week, which included 6 hours of intensive English, 2 hours of Spoken English, 2 hours of English composition, 2 hours of English Listening and 2 hours of American culture or literature. The spoken English class and the composition class were taught by native English speakers. Other than that, students had little chance to speak with native speakers or to use English for authentic communicative purposes outside of the classroom. None of the students had ever been to an English speaking country such as the USA, Britain or Australia. The students in the population are homogeneous in terms of learning experience and learning environment. For this study, 20 students were randomly selected from the 189 English sophomores and were then divided into two groups, an experimental group and a control group, each group with 10 participants. Each participant in the experimental group was assigned to talk with one of the three native English speakers hired at an eastern university in the USA to form an NNES-NES (Nonnative English speaker Native English speaker) dyad. The 10 participants in the control group were assigned to 10 nonnative speakers respectively to form a different type of dyad, NNES-NNES (Nonnative English speaker to Nonnative English speaker). Details of how all the

63 participants were selected will be explained in the section of data collection procedures in this chapter. The rationale for using only 10 dyads in the experimental group was based on the practicality of the research. Practicality refers to the relationship between the resources that will be required in the design, development, and use of a test (or research) and the resources that will be available for these activities (Bachman & Palmer, 1996, p. 36). Due to the time difference (13 hours at the time when the research was conducted) between China and the United States, the limitation of the equipment available for the study (only one computer station and one set of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing equipment was available on each side), and the limited available hours for each participant and for the researcher and her research assistant, online interaction with a native speaker using Internet-based videoconferencing could only be administered at a certain time, such as 6:00 pm-7:00 pm Sunday through Thursday, 8:00 am -9:00 am on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm on Fridays at eastern time in the USA. Only 10 hours could be guaranteed each week with each dyad for one hour. Therefore, 10 dyads were the maximum that could be managed for this research. The rationale of using 10 dyads of NNES-NNES was to have a balanced design with the experimental group. Tasks and Activities Pica, Kanagy, and Falodun (1993) have cited two important features for effective language learning tasks. The first feature is that language learning tasks should be goaloriented, which means that language learners are expected to arrive at an outcome accomplished through their tasks. The second feature is that language learning tasks

64 should be activity-driven, which suggests that language learners should take an active role in their task performance. Language learning tasks with these features, such as those two-way tasks like jigsaw, decision-making and information exchange tasks are more effective for meaning negotiation and interaction (Smith, 2003). For this study, open-ended questions for information exchange were applied as the tasks for the study. According to Duff (1999), open-ended questions can trigger more turn-taking during interaction and therefore lead to the use of comprehension checks, confirmation checks and clarification requests for the negotiation of meaning. Based on the task features and the scope and language level of the NNES participants, ten topics with open-ended questions were designed and selected by the researcher. These topics, varying from college life, food, holidays, and travel, to Internet, film and other interesting issues were very broad and relevant to real life. It was easy for the students to relate the issues to their own experiences. Specific tasks such as decision making, debating, seeking clarification, exchanging opinions, seeking information, asking for suggestions, making requests, and invitations were developed according to specific topics. Before each session, a topic serving as a point of departure for discussion was assigned to both the NNES-NNES dyads of the control group and to the NNES-NES dyads of the experimental group so that they could start their dyadic interactions with two different types of interactional modes: face-to-face between NNES-NNES versus online Internetbased audio-visual interaction between NES-NNES. Appendix F gives the details of the tasks and topics that were assigned to the participants.

65 Pilot Study Prior to the actual study, several pilot studies were conducted. The purpose of these pilots was to compare the quality of different software applications for Internetbased desktop videoconferencing and detect the best time period to conduct the online videoconferencing while avoiding Internet congestion. These pilots also helped the researcher understand the general procedures to be followed for this study, and to be better prepared for the possible technical difficulties that might be encountered in the real study. The first pilot study was conducted between a Chinese colleague of the researcher s in a northeastern university in China and a graduate student at an eastern university in the USA between December 2004 and January 2005. This pilot examined three highly recommended software programs for Internet-based desktop videoconferencing: Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger and QQ. The evaluation of the effectiveness of these software programs was based on Wang s (2004b) criteria, which includes user friendliness, audio-video quality, reliability and cost. According to Wang (2004b), user friendliness refers to the effectiveness and the ease of setting up the videoconferencing tools. Audio-video quality is the level of learner acceptance for the quality of sound and image for facilitating interactive language learning. Wang (2004b) pointed out that too much sound distortion and too many freezing and jumpy images could affect the flow of interaction and make learners feel frustrated. In addition, Wang (2004b) emphasized that the synchrony of sound and video images should also be taken into consideration. Reliability refers to the stability of the videoconferencing tool, for

66 instance, whether it crashes easily or not. Cost refers to the initial setup expenses and ongoing maintenance (Wang 2004b). Since all three videoconferencing tools can be downloaded from the Internet for free, the pilot study mainly focused on examining the other three criteria: user friendliness, audio-video quality, and reliability. Each of the software programs was used for three sessions at three different periods of time during a week: 6:00 pm -7:00 pm and 8:00 am -9:00 am on weekdays, and 7:00 pm -8:00 pm on weekends (American Eastern Time). The researcher purchased two different brands of web cams; one is a Veo Connector Web Camera, and the other is a Creative Labs PD1130 WebCam NXpro, each of which cost about $50. Both were tested with the three different programs in this pilot study. The Internet connection on the researcher s side in the USA was a PC with broadband cables in the library of the eastern university and the Internet connection on her research assistant s side was a PC computer at his home in China with a DSL connection. All three programs were downloaded and installed in the English version on both sides. In terms of user friendliness, the results showed that there was not much difference among the degree of difficulty in installing and setting up the three programs. The average length of time for download and setting up the three videoconferencing tools was about 15 minutes. In terms of the ease of use, both participants indicated that the interfaces of the three programs were very similar and easy to use. They pointed out that QQ has too many advertisements and pop ups which was very distracting. They indicated that they liked Yahoo Messenger the best because they were more familiar with it and felt more comfortable using it.

67 The audio-video quality appeared to have much to do with the quality of the webcams and the microphones as opposed to the videoconferencing tools. It was also affected by Internet congestion. In terms of the video quality, the Creative Labs PD1130 WebCam NXpro worked better than the Veo Connector Web Camera. Both external microphones and headsets were tested. Results showed that the external microphone allowed the researcher to listen to both sides conversation but produced too much noise and echoes. Using headsets on the other hand could reduce echoes and produce better quality. Headsets only allowed the researcher to get some parts of the conversation as an observer. The synchrony of sound and video images tested on the three programs yielded unsatisfactory results. The image seemed to be always delayed for several seconds compared to the sound and easily froze after a while of interaction due to the slow Internet speed on the China side. In addition, when using too many gestures and movements, the image was very jumpy and jerky. These limitations had much to do with the Internet bandwidth and congestion. Testing the reliability of the three programs again did not show significant differences between them. Rather, the stability of the programs was mostly affected by the congested Internet transmission and the lower speed of connection in China. Sometimes, the instability of the programs was also caused by accidentally forgetting to plug in the webcam before starting the computer or by improper operation of the computer. Wang (2004b) maintains that "more than one crash during a videoconferencing session will deter students from using it" (p. 383). Throughout the sessions, there were more crashes (4 times) during 8:00 am-9:00 am sessions than the

68 other two periods of time. Results mostly agreed with Wang s (2004b), indicating that early evening, between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time, was the best time for conducting Internet-based desktop videoconferencing. During this time, the Internet was the least crowded on both sides, so there were fewer crashes and breakdowns of the connection, and the audio quality was clear and stable. The video image quality was a big concern in the first pilot. To further detect the possibility of solving the image quality problem, a second pilot study was conducted. The second pilot was conducted between June and July in 2005. The purpose was to find a solution for the synchrony of the video image and audio sounds. During these trials, the researcher first suggested that her researcher assistant in China use the campus Internet connection in his office instead of his home to test Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger again since the campus Internet connection was much faster. After 3 unsuccessful trials, with the video image never showing up, the research assistant realized that there was a firewall issue which didn t allow the transfer of the video image. The school s firewall was set to block the transfer of Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger videos. At that time, the researcher found there was another free software application called Skype which was gaining popularity as an online audio conferencing program. The researcher also tested Skype with her research assistant. They found that Skype s voice quality was much better than Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger. They tried to use Skype s voice-chat combined with Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger s video function several times, but failed again because of the firewall settings. The researcher

69 had to change her original plan of using her research assistant s Internet connection on campus due to the firewall problems. The third pilot was conducted between December 2005 and January 2006. During that time, Skype 2.0 Beta version had provided an audio-video chatting function instead of only audio interaction and text-based chat. For this pilot, the researcher asked her research assistant to set up a commercial Internet connection with a broadband cable at a speed of 7mbps in the researcher s own apartment in China. Several trials of oral-visual interaction using Skype 2.0 Beta were conducted between an English major undergraduate in China and a graduate student at the eastern university in the USA at different times, such as between 6:00-7:00 pm, in the morning from 8:00 am to 9:00 am on weekdays, and between 7:00 pm-9:00 pm on weekends. The results were very satisfactory both for the audio and the video transferring and in terms of the audio video synchrony. Due to the increase of Internet speed and good quality of the Skype 2.0 Beta program, this pilot study indicated that oral-visual interaction via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing could be conducted with high reliability. Thus, the researcher decided to use Skype 2.0 to conduct her research. The pilot studies helped the researcher identify some relevant issues before starting her formal research. Through these pilot studies, several different software programs for internet-based desktop videoconferencing were compared and evaluated. Some technical problems such as the firewall issue were recognized and avoided. Most importantly, the pilot studies helped the researcher discover Skype 2.0 as a useful and powerful tool for Internet-based desktop videoconferencing.

70 Data Collection 1. Skype 2.0: Skype is a highly accessible Internet based videoconferencing program that can be downloaded from the Internet for free. It is used for real-time communication where messages are instantly delivered in text, audio and video format. For this research, the Skype2.0 beta was employed. 2. Audiotape Recorder A portable audiotape recorder was used to record the conversation session between each of the dyads of the experimental group. Since no software was available at the time of this study for use of recording the voices from both sides of an online session directly onto a computer storage device such as an internal hard drive, the recording of the conversations between native and nonnative speakers was completed using an external portable audiotape recorder. Typically, the output from a sound card is only the signal of a sound internally processed by the computer, while the signal received by the earphones plugged into the output jack of the computer can also be the input signal from the microphone being amplified by the headset itself. A great amount of experimenting was conducted in order to find a way to record both parties at the same time. Eventually, a self made adaptor was used to transmit the voice of the native speaker to both the computer microphone input and the input of the tape recorder, thus allowing the voice to be recorded on the tape as well as heard by the nonnative speaker on the other end of the line. For the voice of the nonnative speaker from the other side of the ocean, the signal was simply extracted from the output of the sound card and then spliced into the input cable to the tape recorder. Both the tape recorder and computer sound card were adjusted

71 to an ideal input level to achieve maximum clarity of recording. Throughout the research, one hundred 60-minute tapes were used to record the conversations and another 10 tapes were used to record the interviews between the researcher and selected participants. 3. Oral English course grade Participants oral English course grades from the semester of fall 2005 were used to assign the 20 participants into the control group and the experimental group. The purpose of using this course grade was to confirm that the two groups were equal in their English oral proficiency before the treatment started. The participants oral English course grades were given by their course instructors, who were 3 native speakers of English hired to teach at the northeastern university in China. The same oral English course book was used across the six oral English classes of the sophomore students. By the end of the semester, the same oral English final term test was given to the students of all the classes. The test was held in language labs. During the test, the students listened to various situations described by a speaker and provided responses in the restricted time. Their answers were recorded to the computer automatically. In the test, they were also required to role-play in pairs based on certain topics and situations. The instructors graded their tests based on their language performance on the test. Though the validity and reliability of the test was not known, it was assumed that the oral English course grades should reflect participants oral English proficiency by the time they participated in the research. 4. Follow-up questionnaires and interviews

72 Two follow-up questionnaires, one for the control group and one for the experimental group, as well as some online and face-to-face interviews with the participants and the three native speakers in the experimental group were used in this study. These qualitative methods were applied based on the fact that this study is exploratory in nature, since little research has been conducted on how Internet-based videoconferencing affect L2 learners language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and fluency. According to Miles and Huberman (1994), qualitative data can be used to supplement, validate, explain, illuminate, or reinterpret quantitative data gathered from the same subjects or site (as cited in Bogdan & Biklen, 1998, p. 37). Based on grounded theory, themes were categorized and classified from the data collected through the follow-up questionnaires and the interviews. These qualitative methods helped to get in-depth understanding of participants perceptions of their learning experience in the study and examine their views on how online oral-visual interaction with native speakers via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can help their L2 learning. Procedures This study was conducted over the period of an academic quarter in spring 2006 between a northeastern university in China and an eastern university in the USA using Internet-based videoconferencing. Prior to the study, the researcher had submitted an application for permission to use human subjects to the office of Behavioral and Social Science Institutional Review Board (IRB) in the USA and had been granted permission to use human subjects in her research. Meanwhile, she also obtained permission to use the

73 English major students in her study from the northeastern university in China. The study started on March 3, 2006 and ended on June, 15, 2006. The following section gives detailed explanations on how the four-stage experimental procedures (i.e., recruiting participants, assigning research groups, providing treatments, and conducting follow-up questionnaires and interviews) were implemented. Recruiting participants A total of 20 college students were recruited from the 189 sophomore English majors at the northeastern university in China. First, a list of names was obtained from the Administration Office of the School of Foreign Languages at that university. The 189 names were placed into Excel 2003 in cells A2:A190 with the id numbers from 1 to 189 in B2:B190. Next, the formula =RAND() was entered in the adjacent column C and random numbers were acquired in column C. In the next column in cell D2, the formula =INDEX($B$2:$B$190,RANK(C2,$C$2:$C$190)) was entered, and then, cell D2 was copied down to cover 20 cells as desired selections. Thus, 20 names were acquired. After the 20 sophomore English majors were selected, their oral English course scores were requested from the department s administration office with the students agreement (Appendix L: participants Oral English course grades). Based on the scores, the 20 participants were assigned to two groups, each with 10 students. An independentsamples T-test was run based on an alpha level of 0.5 to confirm the two groups were equal in their English oral proficiency. Before carrying out the independent-samples T- test, the assumptions for the t-test such as normality and homogeneity of variance were both examined. The results for the K-S test of normality and Levene s test of

74 homogeneity of variance showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Therefore, a parametric independent-samples t-test was performed. The results indicated that no significant difference existed between the mean of the experimental group (M = 86.4; SD = 5.38) and the mean for the control group (M = 84.6, SD = 4.27) with t(18) =.829, p =.42. The 95% confidence interval for the difference in means ranged from -2.764 to 6.364. The null hypothesis that the two groups are equal in means in their oral English course grades was not rejected. The two groups were then randomly assigned to be a control group and an experimental group respectively. To form 10 dyads of NNES-NNES for the control group, fliers were distributed to senior English majors at the northeastern university in China by the research assistant and 10 volunteers were chosen to form the needed 10 NNES-NNES dyads. The reason for using senior English major students as one party of the NNES-NNES dyads was to provide more interactional moves (Iwashita, 2001) and to ensure that both the L2 learners in the control group and in the experimental group can interact with interlocutors who have higher English proficiency than the L2 learners. The 10 sophomores in the control group ranged between 19 and 21 in age, and there were eight female students and two male students in the group. All of the 10 senior students in the control group for forming NNES-NNES dyads were female students with ages from 22 to 24. To form the NNES-NES dyads for the experimental group, three male college students at the eastern university in the USA were hired, with each assigned to three or four different Chinese learners of English separately to form ten dyads. The 10

75 sophomores in the experimental group consisted of two males and eight females, with an age range of 19 to 21. The three male college students in the USA were all undergraduates, aged from 18 to 24. One of them majored in linguistics, one in Spanish and German and the other in political science. All the recruited NNES and NES were asked to fill out a demographic information questionnaire to provide information regarding their age, sex and major. Before the research was conducted, a practice session for using Skype 2.0 was conducted between the researcher and the participants in the experimental group in China for one hour. The researcher gave a brief introduction about herself and her research and met with the 10 participants one-on-one. The purpose was to get acquainted with them, train them in the use of the internet-based desktop videoconferencing tool and familiarize them with the online videoconferencing setting. After creating the control group and the experimental group, the treatment formally began on March 3, 2006, and lasted for 10 weeks. Treatment During the spring quarter of 2006, both the dyads of the control group and the experimental group completed a total of 10 weeks of conversation on 10 topics (Appendix F) using two different interactional modes: face-to-face interaction with nonnative speakers versus oral-visual interaction with native speakers using the Internetbased desktop videoconferencing tool, Skype 2.0. Each face-to-face and videoconferencing conversational session lasted about one hour each time, during which

76 the dyads were asked to talk on a specific topic for at least 45 minutes. Then they had about 15 minutes for free conversations if they felt they needed or wanted more time. The face-to-face interaction for the control group was administered in a language lab at the northeastern university in China. This language lab was equipped with one instructor computer and 48 powerful student computers, one at each student seat. The 10 dyads in the control group were scheduled to come to the language lab every week to have a face-to-face conversation for one hour on the same topic as the experimental group. Each dyad was seated in a pair of adjacent student seats in the lab to achieve real face-to-face interaction. The dyads did wear headsets so that their voices could be picked up by the microphone and transmitted to the controlling computer. The recording function was turned on by the language lab administrator before each dyad started a conversation. With the recording function on, each conversation was recorded on the hard drive of the controlling computer and automatically compressed to MP3 files which were later sent to a server for the researcher to download. The online oral-visual interaction via videoconferencing for the dyads in the experimental group was administered between the two places: one was in the researcher s former home apartment in China on the campus of the northeastern university and the other was in the researcher s office in the library at the eastern university in the United States. The equipment on both ends of the line is identical. Each side was equipped with a Compaq SRNX1601 desktop computer that features an AMD Athlon 2800+ processor; 512 MB of DDR2 random access memory; 160 GB of hard drive space; an ATI Radon 128 MB video card; and a 24 bit Creative sound card. The webcams used on both sides

77 were Logitech QuickCam Orbit Personal Webcameras which are capable of capturing and displaying high quality video (640 x 480 pixels) at 30 frames per second. The reason of choosing the Logitech web cams rather than using the other two brands tested in the pilot studies was that this web cam brand had a better quality. The headset (headphones and microphone) used on each side is a USB ULSounnic high end headset which is capable of receiving and outputting crystal clear sound signals. Both sides used a broadband connection for the Internet, with the researcher s home apartment having 7 Mbps broadband cable and the researcher s office at the eastern university having 10 Mbps Ethernet. During each online videoconferencing session, the research assistant in China helped set up all the necessary equipment and settings before it started. The researcher did the same for the participants at the eastern university in the USA. The researcher and her research assistant in China administered each videoconferencing session at the same time in different locations. Because of the limitation of equipment, each time only one dyad was allowed to conduct the one-on-one online talk. After the session started, the researcher and her research assistant stayed nearby to provide troubleshooting in case the participants had technical problems. Out of 100 hours of videoconferencing sessions within the 10-week experiment period, the participants in the experimental group only experienced three connection cut-offs and one power cut-off in China. Other than these incidents, everything went smoothly. All the conversations from both parties were recorded using a tape-recorder connected to the computer on the US side (Detailed descriptions of how the tape recorder was connected with the computer has been discussed on page 70). By the end of the experiment, a hundred one-hour tapes of

78 the videoconferencing sessions were recorded. Only the data of the second week, the sixth and the tenth week of the face-to-face interaction and online videoconferencing sessions were transcribed and coded in terms of linguistic fluency, syntactic complexity, and grammatical accuracy by two hired graduate students in linguistics at the eastern university in the USA. After the treatment, follow-up online questionnaires for the control group and the experimental group were sent out to the participants via email (Appendix H, Appendix I). In addition, several follow-up online interviews using videoconferencing were also administered to five randomly selected participants from the experimental group. In addition, interviews with the three native speakers in the experimental group were also conducted. The questionnaires and interviews sought more information about the participants perceptions of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing for oralvisual interaction in second language learning. Data Coding Two graduate students majoring in Linguistics at the eastern university in the USA were hired to code the transcripts for Week 2, Week 6, and Week 10 for both the control and the experimental group in terms of linguistic fluency, syntactic complexity, and grammatical accuracy according to the coding sheet and guidelines provided by the researcher (Appendix G and Appendix J). One is a native English speaker, female, and in her 30s; the other is a nonnative male English speaker who has been in the USA for six years and has a native-like English proficiency. Both raters have more than three years of experience in teaching English as a second/foreign language. The raters spent nearly one

79 hour receiving instructions on rating rules and linguistic terms and definitions provided by the researcher. Then both were given the same six transcripts ( three from the control group and three from the experimental group) of Week 2 to code (rate) according to linguistic fluency, syntactic complexity, and grammatical accuracy. To ensure inter-rater reliability, a Pearson s product-moment correlation was operated based on the two raters rating (coding) of the 6 transcripts. The result shows that these two raters positively correlated with the coefficient r =.92 at a significant level of.05. The rest of the tapes were then distributed between the two raters for coding. The finished data coding sheets were then put into Excel 2003 and were analyzed using SPSS 14.0. Data Analysis In order to access participants improvements in language proficiency as measured in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity over time for the experimental group (n =10, using videoconferencing to talk with native speakers of English) and the control group (n =10, using face-to-face talking with L2 learners), a doubly multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied using GLM repeated measures in SPSS 14.0 to analyze the collected data. The design is considered to be doubly multivariate because in this design, the dependent variables represent measurements of more than one variable for the different levels of the within-subjects factors (Norusis, 2006, p. 602). The dependent variables are linguistic accuracy, fluency and complexity. The within-subjects factor is time; and the between-subjects factor is the interactional mode. This design tested the null hypotheses concerning the effects of both the within-subjects factors and the between-subjects factors. In addition, interactions

80 between within-subjects factors and between-subjects factors were also investigated. The measurements of the dependent variables were adopted and modified on Yuan and Ellis (2003) study, whose measures were based on Foster and Skehan s influential research in 1996. Detailed descriptions of the measurements are as follows: Fluency measures. Fluency was measured in two ways: the first way is to examine the average number of syllables produced by the nonnative speaker per minute (Rate A). This measurement measures the productivity of the speaker; the second way is to examine the number of meaningful syllables by the nonnative speaker per minute (Rate B). This measurement measures the meaningful productivity of the speaker. (Yuan & Ellis, 2003) The calculations are listed below: 1. Rate A (number of syllables per minute): the number of syllables produced by the nonnative speakers within a conversational session, divided by the number of seconds that the nonnative English speaker used to complete the task and multiplied by 60. 2. Rate B (number of meaningful syllables per minute): as in Rate A but with all syllables, words, phrases that were repeated, reformulated, or replaced, excluded. Complexity measure. Complexity measure focuses on examining the syntactic complexity. It is measured as the ratio of clauses to T-units in the participants' production. Clause refers to either a simple independent finite clause or a dependent finite or nonfinite clause. A t-unit is an independent clause and any subordinate clauses or nonclausal structures associated with it (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999). In this study, T-unit is used as an index of syntactic complexity. An independent clause is a clause containing a subject and predicate that can stand on its own. A subordinate clause

81 is introduced by such words as since, because, when, where, after, while, although, as if and even though. In Yuan & Ellis s study (2003), syntactic variety and mean segmentaltype-token were also applied to measure complexity. However, these two measurements were not applied in this study due to the fact that this study examined participants conversational production rather than monolog production. Therefore, it is difficult and impractical to measure these two variables. Accuracy Measure. Accuracy is measured in terms of error-free clauses. It looks at the ratio of correct clauses to the total number of clauses used by the nonnative speakers within a conversational session. All grammatical errors, such as errors in syntax, morphology, and lexical choice are considered. Syntactic errors are errors in sentence organization such as wrong word order or missing words (e.g. * I went two times there; * He goes college). Morphological errors are errors in word formation such as in the use of tenses (e.g. * He go to college; *I runned fast). Lexical errors are errors in word selection or collocation (e.g., * how many butter do you want; * I was waiting you). Though this study examined the oral production of the L2 learners; phonological error was not included when measuring linguistics accuracy. As in Yuan and Ellis s study (2003), grammatical accuracy was the focus of this research as well. Tests of Assumptions Prior to the analysis, the assumptions associated with multivariate repeated measures were tested; these include independence, multivariate normality and homogeneity of covariance matrices. Multivariate normality is difficult to test directly, so it was tested by investigating univariate normality of individual items. Since Shapiro-

82 Wilk test is better to use for small sample size, the results are reported in Table 3.1. As Table 3.1 indicates, all the data is normally distributed, except the data for videoconferencing in complexity in Week 6 is not. However, this shouldn t have a great effect on Type I error and power for the doubly multivariate repeated measures of ANOVA.

83 Table 3.1 Test of Normality Interactional Mode Shapiro-Wilk Statistic df Sig. Accuracy (Week 2) Accuracy (Week 6) Accuracy (Week 10) Complexity (Week 2) Complexity (Week 6) Complexity (Week 10) Fluency A (Week 2) Fluency A (Week 6) Fluency Rate A (Week 10) Fluency Rate B (Week 2) Fluency Rate B (Week 6) Fluency Rate B (Week 10) Videoconferencing.887 10.158 Face-to-face.929 10.441 Videoconferencing.853 10.062 Face-to-face.923 10.386 Videoconferencing.953 10.700 Face-to-face.957 10.753 Videoconferencing.890 10.168 Face-to-face.878 10.123 Videoconferencing.778 10.008 Face-to-face.876 10.117 Videoconferencing.945 10.609 Face-to-face.862 10.080 Videoconferencing.932 10.463 Face-to-face.938 10.528 Videoconferencing.940 10.550 Face-to-face.978 10.956 Videoconferencing.937 10.525 Face-to-face.886 10.153 Videoconferencing.894 10.186 Face-to-face.957 10.751 Videoconferencing.882 10.136 Face-to-face.947 10.633 Videoconferencing.845 10.050 Face-to-face.947 10.636

84 To test the homogeneity of covariance matrices, that is, whether the variancecovariance matrices across the cells are the same, results of the Mauchly s Test of Sphericity indicated that the null hypothesis is not rejected for accuracy, complexity and fluency in Rate A. However, sphericity cannot be assumed for fluency in Rate B (see Table 3.2). According to Norusis (2006), when the assumption of sphericity can not be assumed, an adjustment value, called epsilon, can be used for multiplying the numerator and denominator degrees of freedom in the F test based on three criteria: Greehouse- Geisser, Huynh-Fedlt and Lowerbound (p. 600). Because the Greehouse-Geisser test is conservative, especially for a small sample size (Norusis, 2006, p. 600), the statistic tests used in the univariate tests in Chapter Four were mostly based on the Greenhouse-Geisser epsilon adjustments.

85 Table 3.2 Mauchly s Test of Sphericity (b) Within Subjects Effect Measure Mauchl y s W Appro x Chi- Squar e df Sig. Epsilon(a) Greenhous Huynh- Lower- e-geisser Feldt bound time Fluency1.766 4.528 2.104.810.929.500 Fluency2.566 9.673 2.008.697.780.500 Accuracy.782 4.189 2.123.821.942.500 Complexity.990.175 2.916.990 1.000.500 Summary This chapter explained and described the method used in the study, including a description of the research design, participants, tasks, treatments, variables, instruments and data measurements, data coding and statistical analysis, etc. Several pilot studies regarding the evaluation and selection of an effective videoconferencing tool were also reported. In the following chapter, the results of the data analysis and findings of the present study will be presented.

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS 86 This chapter will present the results of data analysis based on the collected data in the experiment and discuss findings of the study. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential and viability of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to improve EFL students language learning outcomes. Specifically, it explores how paired discussion with native speakers via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing impacts EFL learners language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity as compared to face-to-face communication between EFL learners and non-native English speakers. The first section of this chapter presents the results and findings of the first research question and seeks whether the L2 learners made statistically significant improvements in their language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy, and complexity, as the hours accumulate to interact with native speakers using Internetbased desktop videoconferencing. The second section provides results for the second research question and answers whether interactional modes have impacted L2 learners language proficiency differently in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity. The third section answers to the third research question: whether the influence of time on L2 learners improvements in their language proficiency depends on the interaction mode they use to communicate with their partners. The last section of this chapter provides findings for the fourth research question on how L2 learners perceive their experience of talking with native speakers via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing. This section also examines whether Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can be used as an alternative for face-to-face interaction to improve

87 EFL learner s language proficiency. Before the results are presented, it is worthy to mention that due to the small sample size of this research, the power of multivariate tests are not large enough to see the statistic significance. Therefore, the univariate results are focused, yet multivariate results are also reported. Results for Research Question 1 Research question 1 examines the within-subjects effects of time for the experimental group. The hypothesis for this question was that using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to talk with native speakers would result in significant improvements in L2 learners linguistic accuracy, fluency and complexity. The mean and standard deviation for the three dependent variables are displayed in Table 4.1. A GLM repeated measure analysis was run using SPSS 14.0. The Wilks Lambda multivariate test result for within-subjects is Wilks Λ =.052, F (8, 2) = 4.536, p = 0.193, multivariate η 2 =.948; indicating that there is no significant time effects across the group for the overall three dependent variables of the experimental group.

88 Table 4.1 Means and Standard Deviations of the Experimental Group on Dependent Variables Std. Language proficiency Mean deviation Accuracy (Week 2).8060.06501 Accuracy (Week 6).8250.06060 Accuracy (Week 10).8600.03972 Complexity (Week 2) 1.2050.12457 Complexity (Week 6) 1.1930.11557 Complexity (Week 10) 1.2140.09228 Fluency Rate A (Week 1) 110.350 8.2721 Fluency Rate A Week 6) 121.720 10.9167 Fluency Rate A (Week 10) 122.780 10.8107 Fluency Rate B (Week 2) 101.640 9.9585 Fluency Rate B (Week 6) 108.730 12.8477 Fluency Rate B (Week 10) 111.100 11.2524 N=10

89 The Wilks Lambda s multivariate analysis considers the effects of the withinsubjects factor of time on all the four dependent variables (i.e. fluency in Rate A and Rate B, accuracy and complexity) at once. To further examine the within-subjects effects of time on single dependent variables, the univariate analysis based on Greenhouse-Geisser epsilon adjustment were performed. The results displayed in Table 4.2 indicate that there is no significance for complexity, with the F(1.926, 17.332) =.25, p =.773, η 2 =.027; but there is barely significance for accuracy (F(1.352) = 4.543, p =.045; η 2 =.335) and great significances for fluency in Rate A (F(1.586, 14.272) = 17.350, p <.001, η 2 =.658) and Rate B (F (1.471, 13.236) = 8.796, p =.006, η 2 =.494).

90 Table 4.2 One-way Repeated Measure ANOVA: Greenhouse-Geisser Univariate Test for the Experimental Group Effect Measure Type III Sum of Squares Source Mean Square F Sig. Partial Eta Squared Time Accuracy.015 1.352.011 4.543.045.335 Complexity.002 1.926.001.250.773.027 Fluency Rate A 949.685 1.586 598.887 17.350.000.658 Fluency Rate B 484.589 1.471 329.502 8.796.006.494 Error Accuracy.030 12.167.002 Complexity.080 17.332.005 Fluency Rate A 492.629 14.272 34.518 Fluency Rate B 495.825 13.236 37.460

91 The Bonferroni pairwise comparisons in Table 4.3 provide detailed descriptions of the mean differences on the dependent variables. Twelve pairwise comparisons among the means for Week 2, Week 6 and Week 10 for the three dependent variables (accuracy, complexity and fluency) were conducted. Results showed that, for syntactic complexity there was little change in means throughout the experiment; however, for accuracy and fluency, there were significant differences between the means of Week 10 and Week 2, which suggests that the more time the L2 learners interact with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing, the greater chance that their language proficiency in terms of accuracy and fluency will improve.

92 Table 4.3 Pairwise Comparisons of the Dependent Variables for the Experimental Group Measure (I) (J) time Mean Std. Sig.(a) 95% Confidence time Difference (I- Error Interval for J) Difference(a) Lower Bound Upper Bound Accuracy 2 1.019.024 1.000 -.050.088 3 1.054(*).015.017.010.098 2.035.014.114 -.007.077 Complexity 2 1 -.012.027 1.000 -.090.066 3 1.009.031 1.000 -.081.099 2.021.032 1.000 -.072.114 Fluency 2 1 11.370(*) 2.786.008 3.197 19.543 (Rate a) 3 1 12.430(*) 2.392.002 5.415 19.445 2 1.060 1.714 1.000-3.967 6.087 Fluency 2 1 7.090 2.833.101-1.220 15.400 (Rate b) 3 1 9.460(*) 1.548.001 4.920 14.000 2 2.370 2.471 1.000-4.878 9.618 Based on estimated marginal means *The mean difference is significant at the.05 level.

93 In sum, the results related to research question 1 indicate that while L2 learners in the experimental group did not show significant improvement on their overall language proficiency, they did make significant progress in their language proficiency in terms of accuracy and fluency. Talking with native speakers online using Internetbased desktop videoconferencing helped them produce more accurate output and speak more fluently in the target language. Results for Research Question 2 The second research question tests the between-subjects effect. A doubly multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted, with interactional mode as the between-subjects factor, and accuracy, fluency and complexity being the dependent variables. The interactional mode is a confounding variable as mentioned in chapter three (p. 62). It refers to face-to-face talk between L2 learners and nonnative speakers or Internet-based desktop videoconferencing between L2 learners and native speakers. The multivariate test results of doubly multivariate repeated measures of ANOVA indicated that the interactional mode effect is significant, Wilks Λ =.140; F(4,15) = 23.048, p < 0.01, multivariate η 2 =.86, indicating that interactional mode has an effect on L2 students language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. The following profile plots of estimated marginal means of the dependent variables further display the mean differences between the experimental group and the control group in terms of accuracy, complexity and fluency.

94 Figure 4.1 Estimated marginal means of accuracy. Figure 4.1 indicates both groups have shown steady increases in accuracy as time went by. However, the slope and the elevation of the experimental group are much higher than that of the control group. In fact, It is even higher at time 1 (i.e. Week 2), which calls into question whether the experimental groups is already more proficient, or whether this is a task effect. This issue will be discussed in Chapter 5.

95 Figure 4.2 Estimated marginal means of complexity. Figure 4.2 indicates that the experimental group has a much higher average mean than the control group in terms of complexity even though both groups have shown a decrease in complexity as time passed by. For the experimental group, the mean in terms of complexity in Week 2 was much higher than in Week 6 and Week 10. The mean in Week 6 largely dropped compared with Week 2, but there was a slight increase in Week 10. For the control group, the mean in Week 2 was also the highest like the experimental group. But the mean in Week 6 slightly increased in contrast with

96 the large decrease in the experimental group. Contrary to the mean increase in Week 10 for the experimental group, there was a large mean decrease in Week 10 for the control group. To understand the complicated situation for complexity, further and deeper examinations are required. Figure 4.3 Estimated marginal means of fluency Rate A. Figure 4.3 indicates that for fluency Rate A (i.e. the number of syllables produced by the nonnative speakers within a conversational session, divided by the number of seconds that the nonnative English speaker used to complete the task and

97 multiplied by 60), there was a great increase for the experimental group as time passed, and that the means for the experimental group in the three weeks, Week 2, Week 6 and Week 10, are significantly higher than those for the control group in the corresponding weeks. There was only a very slight increase in Rate A fluency for the control group. The figure implies that oral-visual interaction with native speakers has greater impact on L2 learners fluency than face-to-face interaction with nonnative speakers. Figure 4.4 Estimated marginal means of fluency Rate B.

98 Figure 4.4 indicates that the means of experimental group in terms of Rate B fluency for the 3 weeks (Week 2, Week 6 and Week 10) are significantly higher than those of the control groups. The experimental group showed steadier and greater increase in fluency than the control group. For the control group, the mean of its Rate B fluency remained almost unchanged from Week 2 to Week 6. However, it somewhat increased in Week 10. As Figure 4.3 has indicated, Figure 4.4 also implies that oralvisual interaction with native speakers has a larger effect on L2 learners fluency than face-to-face interaction with nonnative speakers. Overall, the results of the between-subjects effects using doubly multivariate repeated test of ANOVA indicated that interactional mode has an effect on L2 students language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. A close examination of the estimated marginal means of the two groups seems to support that talking with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing helps students produce better linguistic output in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity as compared with face-to-face interaction with nonnative English speakers. However, before reaching these conclusions, the researcher realized that for each dependent variable the mean for the experimental group in Week 2 was much higher than that in the control group. Since the two groups were assigned equally in terms of their language proficiency and since it was only the second week of the research, the researcher suspected that the Oral English course grades she used for assigning the two groups might not accurately reflect the two groups linguistic proficiency levels. Or, there may be something that happened in Week 1, which was not caught in this

99 research. Future research should look at the data in Week 1 to better understand what caused the differences. There might be some other factors that cause this significant difference, for example, the use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing might elicit higher level of language performance; the fact that the experimental group spoke with native speakers may also have impacted the experimental group s output. Therefore, the results should be viewed with caution. Results for Research Question 3 Research question 3 addresses the interaction between time and interactional mode. The multivariate test of Wilk s lambda shows that there is no statistical significance at α = 0.05, (Wilks Λ =.329, F(8,11)= 2.81; p =.058, η 2 =.671) across the groups on the dependent variables. The univariate test, does show that there is significant interaction between time and interactional mode with respect to both Rate A and Rate B at α = 0.05 (For Rate A: F (2,36) = 9.972; p =.001, η 2 =.357; for Rate B: F(2,36) = 4.019; p =.044, η 2 =.183). But no significant interaction between these two factors was found for accuracy or complexity (see Table 4.4).

100 Table 4.4 Greenhouse-Geisser Univariate Tests of Interaction Effect Source Measure Type III df Mean F Sig. Partial Sum of Squares Square Eta Squared time * Accuracy.002 1.642.001.549.549.030 interactional mode Complexity.003 1.980.002.617.544.033 Rate A 440.745 1.621 271.900 9.972.001.357 Rate B 166.929 1.395 119.679 4.019.044.183 Results for Research Question 4 Research question 4 explored how L2 learners perceive Internet-based desktop videoconferencing for oral-visual interaction in their L2 learning; a questionnaire (Revised based on Wang s study (2004, b)) was given to the experimental group (Appendix H) and the control group (Appendix I) separately. In addition, several online interviews with the EFL learners, as well as face-to-face interviews with the native speakers in the experimental group were also conducted. The collected data from the questionnaires for both group further confirmed that EFL students have similar backgrounds in their English learning. They all had studied English for 8 to10 years. Most of them practiced their English speaking skills through

101 talking with classmates, or listening to tapes. They had very limited hours to practice spoken English with their native English teachers; only one or two hours per week during the teacher s office hours. But each time, there would be more than 15-20 students present in the office hours. The individual student didn t have many opportunities to speak with the native speakers and therefore there is a need for them to have access to English native speakers to practice and speak spontaneously in the target language in a meaningful environment. Generally, the results of the questionnaire from the experiment group and the interviews with the five out of the ten EFL learners in the experimental group indicated that they all had positive perceptions about their experiences in using Internet-based desktop video-conferencing to talk with native speakers as a way to improve their English. They described their experience in general as happy, fun, enjoyable, interesting, motivating, wonderful and meaningful. None of them showed any dislike with this experience. Most of them admitted that they felt a little nervous the first time they talked with the native English speaker partner, but they all felt very comfortable later on; some even described their weekly talking with the native speaker as a normal gossip. The perceptions of talking with native speakers using online videoconferencing can be described in the following categories: Perceived Strengths of using Internet-based Videoconferencing to Talk with Native Speakers Online 1. Allowing seeing and getting access to native speakers. The participants in the experimental group recognized many strengths of using Internet-based desktop

102 videoconferencing to talk to native speakers online. One of the most distinguishable features they liked about videoconferencing is its ability to allow them to see one another via webcam while talking. For instance, the video function often helped break the ice and added fun and playfulness to their conversations. Comments like You look tired today, Are you OK? You got your haircut. You look handsome! and some index pronoun usage such as maybe this big can often be seen in the transcripts of the conversations. Because of the video feature, some participants claimed that Internetbased desktop videoconferencing is just like face-to-face talk. One student described: We can see each other, we can hear each other s voice, we can also see the action or the body language, so it s kin to face to- face speaking, not very different I think. In fact, all of the participants claimed that speaking with native speakers online using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing was almost the only way that they could fully have one-on-one access to a native speaker. The researcher s follow-up online interviews with five of the participants from the experimental group confirmed their claim. From the interviews, the researcher learned that even though their Oral English class was taught by a native English teacher, students do not have much opportunity to practice oral English because of the large class size (30-40 students in a class) and limited class time (100 minutes, each week). The only way for students to have access to native speakers after class is to attend the one-hour office time offered by the native English teacher in his/her apartment once every week. Because of the crowded attendees, for instance, often 15 to 20 students show up at one time, as one of

103 the students described, maybe for one or two hours, we can just talk one or two sentences. The use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to access native speakers to practice students oral English really satisfied students needs. For instance, one student explained, I like using Skype for online oral-visual ting, because I can speak with a native speaker only myself and I can see him. Another claimed, The most reason I enjoy ting with native speaker using Skype is that at that time I think the native speaker belongs (to) myself. 2. Less threatening and more comfortable environment. Another interesting finding was that more than 60% of the participants think that Internet-based desktop videoconferencing makes them feel less anxious and more comfortable than face-toface talk. During the researcher s interview with the participants, one of them commented videoconferencing in this way: Video-conferencing makes me feel more comfortable and relax than faceto-face interaction, especially there is a conversation breakdown. Maybe psychologically, I feel safer. Because you can see each other but you are not on the same spot. You don t feel the large pressure like in face-to-face talk. Students with shy personalities expressed a special fondness of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing. One participant described his feelings in a more detailed way as follows: I want to mention that I m afraid of eye contact. I m very shy while I have a conversation with a guy face-to-face. Especially eye-to-eye, I can, I can t focus

104 my eyes on his eyes or her eyes. But during our conversation online, I just watch the screen; I don t have to watch his or her eyes directly like in face-toface, that makes me feel more comfortable, because I really fear to have conversation with strangers. While I was talking (using videoconferencing), I was not nervous, because they don t know you well, they don t know where you are from, where you live, I think it s more safer. It s very relaxed because I don t care a lot. Interestingly, the three native speakers expressed similar opinions in their interviews with the researcher. One of them said, using videoconferencing makes me feel more comfortable than face-to-face. You know someone was there, you can see him, but he is far away. That s a kind of nice feeling. You don t feel threatening or uncomfortable or embarrassed even when there is conversation breakdown. 3. Building confidence and increasing motivation. All of the 10 participants in the experimental group asserted that using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to talk to native speakers helped them build confidence in speaking English. Seventy percent of the respondents admitted that their motivation to learn the language has also been increased. The interviews indicated that the participants felt motivated, because using Internet-based videoconference to talk with native speakers provided them with the opportunity to establish close personal relationships with the native speakers. At the end of the research, everybody told the researcher that they made friends with their partner and thanked the researcher for offering them such an opportunity. Another factor for their motivation came from their belief that the best way for an English

105 learner to improve his comprehensive English skill is talking with the native speakers as much as possible. 4. Facilitating the Negotiation of meaning. Another advantage of speaking with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing is that it can create an effective learning environment which allows negotiating for meaning. Nine out of the 10 participants believed that talking with native speakers online via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing provided them the opportunity to interact spontaneously in English and allowed instant feedback from the native speaker and allowed mistakes to be corrected on the spot. In addition, all of them agreed that talking with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing offered them an opportunity to ask for more information, clarify and infer meaning according to the context and negotiate for meaning in English. The following are some examples from the transcripts:

106 Figure 4.5 Negotiating meaning 1. In Figure 4.5, the Nonnative speaker does not know what a canoe is, which triggered the negotiation for meaning. The native speaker s explanation helped the L2 learner grasp the meaning of the word and made the conversation go on smoothly.

107 Figure 4.6 Negotiation of meaning 2. Figure 4.6 is another example of meaning negotiation. It can be seen that the video feature helped when the native speaker explained the size of the squirrels. He used maybe like this big, which obviously indicated that a gesture was applied to aid meaning negotiation.

108 Figure 4.7 Asking for confirmation and clarification. In Figure 4.7, the nonnative speaker is trying to tell the native speaker what kind of job she wants to do in the future. However, she didn t know what English equivalent to use to express the meaning. Through recasting, asking for clarification and confirming, the native speaker helped the nonnative speaker to find the right word to express what job she wants, which is a talk show host.

109 Figure 4.8 Negotiating meanings about a custom in a culture. In Figure 4.8, the nonnative speaker is describing an American movie she watched before. She couldn t understand a scene in which the main hero cut off his brother s head. By asking for confirmation, the native speaker was trying to make sense of the scene of the movie and explained to the nonnative speaker about the Native American Indian s custom. Of course, there are numerous examples like these in the conversations between native speakers and the L2 learners in the experimental group. Negotiations of meaning

110 can also be found in the transcripts of the control group. As the participants admitted, since their partner s English was not as good as native speakers, many times, they had to use their native language, Chinese, to resolve confusion and negotiation for meaning. This didn t happen in the interaction between the native speakers and the L2 learners online interaction using videoconferencing. Perceived Improvements in Language proficiency To address whether they feel that online speaking with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing has improved their language ability, all of the 10 EFL learners in the experimental group had positive answers in their questionnaires and claimed that speaking with native speakers online helped them improve their language ability, especially in fluency and accuracy. In terms of fluency, one participant indicated speaking with a native speaker builds her habit of speaking English spontaneously and helped her speak more fluently: It can make me speak English more fluently, like a warming up, once in a week, every night I speak English at this one hour, after that I went to the dormitory, I also speak English with my roommates, because, you see the environment, I couldn t change to Chinese, so that is good. Another student emphasized that talking with native speakers trained her to react quickly in English which resulted in the increase of her fluency. She described: When talk to a group of people, we don t have to be nervous or very fast, because others may answer it. But when we talk just between the two people,

111 we have to react very quickly and concentrate. I feel like chatting with native speakers makes me speak more fluently and faster. In terms of linguistic accuracy, most participants in the experimental group admitted that they were more attentive to their own grammar accuracy during interaction with native speakers, because talking with native speakers helped them be aware of their own grammar mistakes. Some participants also mentioned that the native speaker s feedback to their mistakes was very helpful. One of the participants commented, This is a wonderful experience, since chatting with native speakers helps me know more about their country and they always point out my mispronunciation and grammatical mistakes that helps me a lot. Participants perception of their improvements of syntactic complexity was somewhat in accordance with the results of the research question one, which showed that there were no significant improvements in terms of complexity. Fifty percent of the respondents from the experimental group admitted that they didn t feel great improvements in terms of grammar complexity and structures. Another fifty percent reported that there were improvements in terms of grammar competence after ten weeks online interaction with native speakers. Besides fluency and accuracy, participants also claimed that there are many other aspects of improvements in terms of their language learning. For instance, ninety percent of the respondents agreed that they have had noticeable gains in their listening abilities and conversational tactics, and seventy five percent admitted that talking with native speakers helped enlarge their vocabulary.

112 One participant pointed out that in terms of listening, it did help. It definitely can practice listening. She added that Talking with the native speakers can train me some other abilities, such as the communication skills, the way of speaking to others, to keep from the embarrassment of silence, etc. Raising cultural awareness is another benefit perceived by the participants. For instance, one student remarked, our knowledge about the western country has been enlarged. I learned some custom differences between China and the United States. Another claimed, I also learned some native idioms and phrases, things like the ways they thought and how they thought. Most of all, all the participants admitted that talking with native speakers helped them develop personal relationships and make friends with the native speakers. Findings from the Control Group In contrast to the experimental group s positive view of their experience of talking with native speakers online using videoconferencing, the participants in the control group did not show much favorable response regarding their experience of talking face-to-face with senior English majors. Most of them expressed no fondness of talking with other L2 learners. Eight out of the ten respondents admitted that talking with nonnative speakers was boring. Nine out of the ten respondents claimed that they did not learn that much from this experience. For instance, many of them pointed out in their questionnaires that their nonnative speaking partners made the same mistakes as they did, which made it hard to for them to detect and improve their own accuracy levels. One respondent addressed her experience in this way: While talking with the seniors, I found that they are not much superior to me. Actually, I learned a little from

113 them. Another respondent expressed that, Frankly speaking, I do not like to speak English with a nonnative English speaker very much, because they are easy to make mistakes but I do not realize it, so I maybe also make such mistakes. Even the only one who held positive view about his experience pointed out that, there are also some problems, such as our pronunciation was not native; our knowledge about the foreign countries was limited As a result, we cannot benefit in learning from our conversation. The most recognized benefits of talking with nonnative speakers, based on the questionnaire from the control group were that it offered the learners an opportunity to speak English and express themselves in English, and therefore motivated them to learn English to some extent. However, some respondents also indicated that they felt frustrated during the conversations because their partners had to stop when they could not find the vocabulary they needed. It reduced their interest in the conversation. Perceived Potentials of Using Videoconferencing as Alternative to Face-to-face Interaction with Native Speakers In addressing whether videoconferencing can be used as an alternative to faceto-face interaction with native speakers, two aspects were investigated in the questionnaires and interview: the readiness of technology and students preference. In terms of the readiness of technology, 80 percent of the respondents in the experimental group indicated that they didn t have any technical problems at all during the period of the experiment. They thought that the videoconferencing tool is very easy to use and the Internet is very stable and reliable. Only two respondents claimed that they

114 encountered one or two Internet cutoffs during their ten weeks videoconferencing with native speakers online, but it was connected soon and it didn t bother them at all. The researcher s interview with the participants indicated that having easy access to the Internet for students in the university in China was not an issue at all. All the language labs have access to broadband Internet connections. In addition, each dorm is also provided with a computer for students to share. In terms of students preference, the following question was raised for the participants in both the control group and the experimental group: If you were given a choice between one-to-one interactions with native speakers supported by a videoconferencing tool and face-to-face-interaction with other English learners, which one would you choose? Please explain why. Results from the questionnaires indicated that one hundred percent of the participants in both groups showed a preference for using videoconferencing to talk to native speakers. In addressing the reason for their choices, one participant explained: I will choose talk to the native speakers. I think I had talk too much with the English learners. I want to have another experience, like talk to a native speaker. There are lots of limitations when we want to talk to native speakers face-toface, but you can talk to native speakers online at any time. There is no space limitation and no time limitation. I think that really works, you don t have to worry about anything, just talk.

115 Another student commented that talking with native speakers online using videoconferencing helped her learn something real and authentic from the American counterpart about the target culture: I prefer to talk to native speakers. Because the goal of learning English is to speak clearly and correctly, English native speakers can speak more standard English than nonnative speakers in terms of pronunciation and grammar. I definitely will choose to talk to native English speakers. Also, what we have learned about the culture and customs from our textbook is quite different from what the native speakers told us. Some participants also addressed the disadvantages of talking with nonnative speakers as their reasons to favor speaking with native speakers. For instance, one participant pointed out that they couldn t learn much from their nonnative English counterpart: I would like to talk to native speakers. We can meet junior or senior English majors in the English corner every week. But because we think the same, we have the same topics, but it always the same topics. Actually their pronunciation and intonations are not very good, we may make the same grammar mistakes, so when we talk we can seldom improve. Just enjoy. Another reason that participants prefer to speak with native speakers rather than nonnative English learners was that talking with native speakers can reduce their attempt to use their mother tongue and force them to use English to communicate:

116 I think I will choose one-to-one-interaction with native speakers, since when talk with English learners around us, we always inclined to use our mother language, that s did nothing good for English learning. And many English learners pronunciation and expression may mislead us. But when we talk with native speakers, we needn t to worry about this; we only have to make every effect to make ourselves be understood, that could help us a lot. Overall, the results of questionnaire and interviews indicated that the participants in the experimental group all showed positive perceptions about their experience in using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to improve their English proficiency. Most of them felt comfortable and less threatened when talking with native speakers online. Most of them believed that their English has improved in terms of fluency, accuracy, listening ability, speaking ability, vocabulary and conversational tactics. Most of them felt that the topics used for the videoconferencing were interesting and motivating. They all agreed that talking with native speakers online using this format enriched their learning experience in a socially and culturally engaging environment. All of the participants in both the experimental group and control group preferred talking with native speakers using Internet-based videoconferencing instead of having face-to-face interactions with other EFL English learners because they all believed that the best way to learn to speak English is to speak with native speakers. In addition, they believed that the natives can serve as a model for standard pronunciation, correct grammar, as well as provide them with interesting aspects of American culture. They all agreed that internet-based desktop videoconferencing can

be used as an alternative way for EFL learners to reach native speakers and to practice the target language in an authentic, motivating and meaningful environment. 117

118 Summary In this chapter, the results of the statistical analyses of the first three research questions were displayed, and findings from the follow-up questionnaires and interviews were also presented. The results related to research question one indicated that there was a significant improvement in fluency, a slightly significant improvement in accuracy but no improvement in complexity for the L2 learners in the experimental group over the ten weeks online interaction with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing. The results related to research question two demonstrated that interactional mode has a significant effect on L2 learners language proficiency. Using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to talk with native speakers online resulted in better performance by the participants in the experimental group than those in the control group in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. The results related to research question three indicated that there was a significant interaction effect of time by interactional mode in terms of fluency, but no interaction effects were detected in terms of accuracy and complexity. Reports from the participants follow-up questionnaires and interviews indicated that the Internet-based desktop videoconferencing creates a comfortable, spontaneous and less threatening environment for L2 learners to interact with native speakers. L2 learners have perceived great improvement in their language proficiency in terms of fluency and accuracy. Their listening ability, speaking ability, vocabulary and conversational tactics were also reported to have been promoted. Talking with native speakers using Internet-based videoconferencing was preferred as an effective

119 way for EFL learners to have access to native speakers, and to practice the target language in an authentic motivating and meaningful environment.

120 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOGMMENDATIONS Summary of the Study This study was designed to explore the effects of using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to talk with native speakers online on EFL learners language proficiency. The review of literature indicated that research on the use of synchronous CMC in L2 learning has thrived in recent years. Most studies focus on how synchronous text-based chatting can help oral production. Research on how oral-visual interaction supported by Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can enhance L2 learning seems less in quantity and lacks in depth (Wang, 2006). The main purpose of the present study was to investigate what effect that Internet-based videoconferencing with native speakers has on EFL learners language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. This study was conducted in a period of over 10 weeks in spring quarter 2006 in an eastern university in the USA and a northeastern university in China simultaneously. Twenty participants were randomly selected out of 189 sophomore English majors from the English department in a university in China and were assigned into a control group and an experimental group based on their oral English course grades, each group with 10 participants. For the control group, 10 senior English majors in the same university in China were recruited to form 10 EFLL (English as foreign Language learner)-nnes (Nonnative English speaker) dyads. The control group was assigned to use regular faceto-face-talk to complete the tasks. For the experiment group, three native English college students were hired and assigned to the 10 EFL learners to form 10 EFLL-NES

121 dyads to conduct Internet-based videoconferencing using Skype. Ten topics were assigned by the researcher to both groups. The face-to-face talk for the control group was administered in a language lab in the university in China. Students conversations were recorded in MP3 audio format using computer software. The online videoconferencing was conducted with the EFLL-NES dyads between the end links of China and USA weekly over the Internet. Each conversation for the videoconferencing was also recorded using a tape recorder connected to the computer. The collected data from both groups were transcribed and coded in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. The study addressed four research questions. The first research question addressed the between-subjects factor and asked whether the L2 learners in the experimental group made statistically significant improvements in their language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity as their time to interact with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing increases. The between-subject factor was time and the dependent variables were linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity. A GLM repeated measure ANOVA was utilized to analyze the data from three time periods (Week 2, Week 6 and Week 10) collected for the experimental group. The second research question addressed the between-subjects factor and explored whether interactional mode influenced L2 learners language proficiency in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity. The third research question addressed the interaction effect of time by interactional mode and provided answers to

122 whether the influence of time on L2 learners improvements in their language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity depends on the interaction mode they used to communicate with their partners. A doubly multivariate repeated measure was employed to answer research question two and three. The last research question addressed how the L2 learners perceived the use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to interact with native speakers via and looked into whether Internet based video conferencing can be used as an alternative to face-to-face interaction to improve EFL learners language proficiency. Follow-up questionnaires for the participants of the control group and experimental group and follow-up online interviews with five out of the 10 participants in the experimental group were summarized. A qualitative analysis was also applied to answer this research question. Discussions of the Major Findings Discussions of Findings for Research Question 1 The results related to Research Question 1 indicated that L2 learners in the experimental group did not show significant improvement on the overall language proficiency. However, they did make significant progress in their language proficiency in terms of accuracy and fluency. Talking with native speakers online using Internetbased desktop videoconferencing helped them produce more accurate output and speak more fluently in the target language. It is somewhat surprising that participants did not show improvement in complexity in the experimental group over time. One reason could be that the

123 experiment only lasted 10 weeks, which perhaps is not enough time to demonstrate improvement in complexity since language learning is a complex process and involves many competing aspects. Blake (2000) suggested that syntactical knowledge may be acquired implicitly through modeling from more proficient learners or native speakers. It may take longer time to see a significant result. Therefore, a longer experiment period may be needed. Another reason may be that as the conversation went on, each week s topic was different; the topics assigned in the later weeks may increase in level of difficulty. For instance, the third week s topic talking about campus life seems much easier than the topic talking about famous persons in the last week. Students questionnaires also proved this. In answering what do you think of the topics for the research, one student described it in this way: Most of them are interesting, we can talk about a lot, and especially they are referred to our university life. But some are difficult, such as Internet, famous person, etc. Therefore, students may have a tendency to use simple structures to talk about difficult or unfamiliar topics. Discussions of Findings for Research Question 2 The results of Research Question 2 indicated that the interactional mode had effects on L2 learners language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. Participants using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing in the experimental group outperformed the L2 students in the control group throughout the treatment in terms of fluency, complexity and accuracy. A question that arises from the results might be what caused the results or why the participants in the experimental

124 group outperformed the participants in the control in their language output. One of the reasons might be that the participants in the experimental groups were more motivated. As it is known, second language acquisition is emotionally driven and demands a high level of personal engagement (Schumann, 1997). Affective components, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasm, motivation, and attitudes contribute as much and often more to language learning than the cognitive skills (Stern 1983). Previous studies (Meunier, 1998, Warschauer, 1996, Freirmuth, 2001) have indicated that synchronous CMC elicited a higher level of motivation and produced a positive attitude because it provides opportunities for original, natural, spontaneous and authentic communication. The results of the questionnaires and the interviews of the current study have also suggested that participants in the experimental group were more motivated because the use of Internet-based videoconferencing allowed them access to native speakers who were geographically far away and made them feel that the native speakers belong to themselves only. The participants in the control group, on the other hand, indicated that talking with senior students was not stimulating and motivating since their partners English was not as standard as native speakers. Another reason might be that the participants in the experimental group received more standard modeling input from the native speakers. When learning a foreign language, learners like to imitate NS discourse (St. John, 1995), especially in an EFL setting, because the utterances of NSs are original, authentic and accurate, in direct contrast to the non-target-like discourse produced by NNSs (Lee, 2004, p. 89). Learners in the experimental group had more opportunities to acquire new lexical

125 items, standard pronunciation and correct grammatical structures through communicating with native speakers. In addition, according to Toyoda and Harrison (2002), many aspects of language, which came to the fore in talking with native speakers could be usually overlooked in EFL classroom teaching, and there was nowhere for L2 learners to acquire them except from native speakers. The native speakers may have played the role of experts in assisting their NNS partners in the various aspects of language learning. Participants second language acquisition might be better enhanced and promoted through interaction with native speakers online using videoconferencing than those in the control group. Talking with native speakers online using videoconferencing increased participants self-repair or self-monitoring of their own linguistic productions and helped them produce better output than those in the control group. Repair refers to the practices of dealing with problems or troubles in speaking, hearing and understanding the talk in conversation (Schegloff, 2000). Self-repair of the L2 learners usually can signal their awareness and conscious knowledge of the target language. As some of the participants in the interview and follow-up questionnaires described, conversing with native speakers might help them notice their own mistakes and the gaps they had in their linguistic knowledge; thus, this pushed them to rectify errors they had made and monitor their linguistic output (Swain & Lapkin, 1995). The task-related effect of talking with native speakers via videoconferencing may also be attributed to the outperformance of the experimental group. Researchers in SLA found that the accuracy of second language learners production varies based on

126 task difference, interlocutor difference, topic difference or situation difference (Tarone & Parrish, 1988, Tarone, 1998). Since the two groups in this study performed the same tasks and used the same topics, interlocutor difference could have played an important role. According to the Speech Accommodation Theory (Thakerar, Giles and Cheshire, 1982), speakers tend to adapt to other s speech, such as speech rate, pause, and utterances, etc to gain the approval of others or for other social reasons. For instance, Beebe and Zuengler s (1983) study of two Chinese-Thai children indicated that the two children adjusted their speech in the two separate interviews they were given to accommodate to the speech of their interlocutors to make them sound more Thai or more Chinese. The researcher s interview with the participants from the experiment group provides evidence that task-related effect did exist and played an important role in participants online interaction with the native speakers. One of the participants described her feeling of talking with native speakers online one-on-one in this way: When talk to a group of people, we don t have to be nervous or very fast, because others may answer it. But when we talk just between the two people, we have to react very quickly and concentrate. I feel like talking with native speakers makes me speak more fluently and faster. The interviewee admitted that talking with native speaker online in a one-onone situation forced her to react quickly and adopt native speaker s speech rate to make the conversations flow smoothly. It can be deduced from this example that the L2 learners in the experimental group may have had the tendency to adopt the native speakers speech style, speech rate and other linguistic features to make them sound or

127 act more native-like. As a result, they outperformed their counterpart in the control groups in their language proficiency in terms of accuracy, fluency and complexity. Discussions of Findings for Research Question 3 Research Question 3 addresses the interaction effect of the within-subjects factor and the between-subjects factor: time by interactional mode. The multivariate test of Wilk s lambda shows that there is no statistically significant difference among the groups on the dependent variables. The univariate test does show that there is a significant interaction effect for fluency, but no significant interaction for accuracy and complexity was found. These results suggested that the influence of time on L2 learners improvements in fluency depends on the interaction mode they use to communicate with their partners. In other words, as L2 learners spend more time using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to communicate with native speakers, their improvements in fluency will be much greater than face-to-face interaction with nonnative speakers. However, in order to be sure of the interaction between time and interactional mode, both groups would need to be tested in the same way. Due to the lack of a post-test (e.g., an oral English achievement test) testing the two groups improvements in their language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity, cautions need to be made when looking at these results. It is not surprising that there was a significant interaction effect of time by interactional mode in terms of fluency as speech rate is influenced by many temporary factors. In this research, the native speakers normal speech rate might have affected their EFL learners speech rate, and thus, when interacting with a person who talks fast,

128 one tends to talk fast too. The participants in the experimental group tended to talk faster than those in the control group. As one of the participants described: when talking with native speakers, I had to concentrate more and react quickly and I like this challenge. Since I don t have to worry that my partner will make mistakes, I just focused on talking which is far better than talking with other learners, like my classmates. Although no significant interaction effect of time by interactional mode was found in terms of complexity and accuracy, there were trends in the right direction, which implies that given enough length of time for practicing, the experimental group will outperform the control group in terms of complexity and accuracy as well. Discussions of Findings for Research Question 4 The results from the questionnaires and interviews for Research Question 4 confirmed findings from previous studies and showed that internet-based desktop videoconferencing creates a comfortable and non-threatening learning environment in which L2 learners are more motivated, confident and empowered to learn the target language (Buckett, Stringer & Datta, 1999; McAndrew, Foubister & Mayes, 1996; Wang, 2004 a; Wang, 2004b; Wang, 2006). The results also confirmed previous finding that Internet-based desktop videoconferencing provides effective support for the communication demands of the language learning tasks for distance learning as well as facilitates meaning negotiation and promotes L2 learners language proficiency (McAndrew, Foubister, & Mayes, 1996; Wang, 2004a, 2004b, 2006).

129 Increasing motivation. First, participants in the experimental group in this study enjoyed a stronger sense of empowerment compared to the participants in the control group. One reason for their motivation might be their fascination with the novelty of internet-based desktop videoconferencing, which eliminates physical barriers and allows people from different places, even different countries to talk. During the first week of the research, the researcher witnessed many occasions when the native speakers and the L2 learners showed their excitement at the new technology. For instance, in one of their conversations, a nonnative speaker said to her native speaker partner I can t believe that you are on the other side of the ocean. This is so great! Another reason for the motivation and empowerment was the unique video feature of the internet-based desktop videoconferencing tools. The video feature played an important role in motivating and empowering the learners in this study. It offered visual input which allowed sufficient paralinguistic cues, such as facial expressions, body movements, volume and intonation changes that are similar to oral interaction in real life face-to-face contexts, and thus rendered more natural and communicative conversations between the nonnative speakers and the native speakers. The third reason for participants positive attitude and high level of motivation was the opportunity to talk to native speakers. As discussed before, there is an extreme lack of opportunities for L2 learners to speak to native speakers in an EFL setting. The students in this research are all English majors and had on average an intermediateadvanced level of English proficiency. Their career goals for learning English would be working as English teachers, tour guides, interpreters, translators or doing other jobs

130 related to English. Therefore, they have a strong desire to make contact with native speakers and practice the target language for an authentic and communicative purpose. The use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to talk with native speakers greatly fulfilled the needs of the L2 learners and helped them develop personal relationships and make friends with the native speakers. However, the researcher also suggests that one needs to be cautious about this conclusion on the motivation to talk with native speakers. Since all the L2 learners in this study are English majors with relatively high proficiency in English, it is not known whether the L2 learners from non-english majors with lower English proficiency would be equally motivated to talk with native speakers. More work needs to be done to find this out. Creating a less threatening environment. Similar to the previous findings of text-based CMC, which shows that the slow-pace and impersonal nature of text-based chatting created a non-threatening environment for L2 learners (Beauvois, 1992, 1993, 1994; Lee, 1998; Sullivan & Pratt, 1996), this study also suggests that Internet-based desktop videoconferencing helped create a comfortable and less threatening context for language learners. Again, the comfort of the learning environments is attributed to the unique video feature of the Internet-based videoconferencing, which allows the interactants to see each other, without direct eye-to-eye contact. Interestingly, in McAndrew, Foubister and Mayers s study (1996), lack of eye contact was perceived as a problem of videoconferencing because it was distracting to the participants when they speak. Maybe, at that time, the Internet was still slow and the technology for Internetbased desktop videoconferencing was not mature enough to support effective oral-

131 visual communication online. Another possible reason might be that McAndrew et al s study compared interactions between learners under two conditions: face-to-face discussion and internet-based desktop videoconferencing. This study, however, compared learner-to-learner face-to-face conversation with learner-to-native speaker interaction using Internet-based videoconferencing. If given the opportunity to compare face-to-face interaction with videoconferencing between the learner and native speakers, the result may be the same as it was described in McAndrew, Foubister and Mayers study: desktop video conferencing, even with the VHS-quality achieved, still falls short of face-to-face quality (1996, p. 215) Facilitating negotiation of meaning. The result related to question four also confirms previous findings that Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can facilitate meaning negotiation (Wang, 2006) and that interaction with native speakers provides learners with an authentic and purposeful cross-cultural experience which is difficult to gain in a foreign language setting (Tudini, 2003). As was mentioned in Chapter 2, interactionist theory has suggested that negotiation of meaning is necessary to the overall process of language acquisition (Long, 1981; Pica, 1987, 1994). Negotiation of meaning assists comprehension of input through interactional modifications to the structure of conversation. However, comprehension input alone is not sufficient for language acquisition because learner output is also essential in promoting L2 learning (Swain, 1985). According to Swain, L2 learners need opportunities for pushed output in order to develop specific linguistic knowledge, because this knowledge can not be acquired solely through input. The present study confirms previous studies (Wang,

132 2004a, 2004b, Tudini, 2003) and suggests that the use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing could provide the necessary opportunities that Swain describes. By using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing, L2 learners were given the chance to receive comprehensive input from native speakers. Native speakers feedback, either implicit or explicit, helped L2 learners realize the gaps between their interlanguage and the target language and therefore, forced them to produce comprehensible output by modifying interactions with native speakers. This continuous process of generating and testing new hypotheses was very necessary and helpful for developing L2 learner s language proficiency as well as cross-cultural knowledge. Improving language proficiency. Results related to Research Question 4 also revealed that participants perceived great improvement in their language proficiency after 10 weeks of talking online with native speakers. Language proficiency in fluency and accuracy, listening ability, pronunciation and cultural knowledge was claimed as the most explicitly improved areas. Compared to findings from previous text-based SCMC, this finding is more meaningful and encouraging. Previous studies on text-based SCMC suggested that chat language used in text-based CMC is very similar to oral language and that text-based chatting can help L2 learners improve their oral skills (Abrams, 2003: Beauvious, 1996; Lee, 1999). These studies also indicated that because of the lack of paralinguistic features, there is no way to improve L2 learners fluency, pronunciation or listening ability through text-based chatting and, therefore, text-based SCMC is only a bridge, but not a substitute for oral interaction. The findings from this study suggested that

133 Internet-based videoconferencing is more powerful and useful in promoting L2 learners oral skills in terms of fluency, pronunciation, intonation and listening due to the fact that Internet-based desktop videoconferencing noticeably resembles face-to-face oral interaction. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of this study, no control group of textbased chatting between L2 learners and native speakers was available. Future studies comparing the linguistic outcomes of interactions between L2 learners and native speakers using text-based SCMC and Internet-based desktop videoconferencing may provide more interesting and insightful findings. Preferring to talk with native speakers. The result related to Research Question 4 showed that L2 learners in an EFL setting preferred using videoconferencing to talk to native speakers to using face-to-face-interactions with their L2 partners. This result confirmed many researchers claim that L2 learners in a foreign language setting have a special need to access native speakers for using their target language (Negretti, 1999; Pyun, 2003; Tudini, 2003; Schwienhorst, 2004). Such a special need might arise from the special conditions in a foreign language learning environment such as the large class size and the lack of communicative teaching methods. It might also have something to do with the L2 learners proficiency levels, their cultural background and beliefs. As mentioned before, all of the participants had intermediate-advanced level of English proficiency and majored in English, which could be the reason that they preferred to talk to native speakers rather than nonnative speakers. Therefore, it is worth exploring whether the L2 learners of lower English proficiency also prefer to interact with native speakers online. Most of the participants indicated that they believe

134 the best way of learning a foreign language is to learn from native speakers, because they think that native speakers speak standard and make no pronunciation or grammar mistakes. Could this be a cultural factor which affects the participants preference for native speakers? More research needs to be conducted to investigate the reasons. Overall, the results and findings for research question four are very encouraging and suggest that Internet-based videoconferencing seems to be able to provide a solution for L2 learners in EFL settings. With the use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing, L2 learners can have an access to native speakers all over the world to expand their language learning experience and improve their language proficiency and cross-cultural awareness. Pedagogical Implications and Suggestions The findings of this study provide several pedagogical implications on the use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing for language teaching and learning in an EFL setting. The students in this study showed a special preference for talking with native speakers online using Internet-based video conferencing rather than having faceto-face conversations with nonnative speakers. The research results also suggested that accessing to native speakers could be very beneficial to language learners in EFL setting in improving their language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. Therefore, providing students in EFL settings with convenient access to Internet-based videoconferencing to talk with native speakers online can greatly enhance L2 learners interest in and enthusiasm for using the target language for communicative purposes.

135 Due to the growing popularity of computers and the Internet, language learners can be exposed to target languages in plentiful, pervasive and authentic (Skehan, 2003, p. 409) ways via the Internet or by using various types of computer mediated communications (CMC). Of these, Internet-based desktop videoconferencing has been shown to be an easy, convenient, inexpensive and highly effective tool for L2 learners to reach native speakers and practice with them in the target language in an authentic and meaningful context. To fully employ the potentials of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing as a powerful pedagogical tool, partnerships between language learning classes or programs can be established between different countries, such as between the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) in China and the CFL (Chinese as a Foreign Language ) in the United States. This way, students can form language partners, meet and talk regularly on a one-on-one basis via Internet-based videoconferencing to practice their target language in turn, either in the form of openended free discussion or tutor-to-student instruction. Because of the limited hour of class time and the large class size in foreign language learning settings, where students do not have many opportunities to speak the target language either within or outside the classrooms, teachers of foreign and second languages may utilize Internet-based videoconferencing as a complement to native speakers through this type of partnership. Students can be given class-related topics or task-based projects to complete with their language partners. Based on this study, choosing the right topic or giving students the right tasks seems to be important as well. Follow-up questionnaires and participant interviews indicated that topics that are

136 interesting and relevant to students experiences can greatly increase students motivation and comfort. Free talking without topics as guidelines seems not to be preferred by the participants in this study because they were strangers and they wanted to have something to start with. In addition, when assigning students in pairs, pay attention to age differences as they are an important factor to consider when implementing institutional CMC for language teaching (Lee, 2001). The present study suggested that putting students with similar ages or backgrounds in dyads will greatly promote communication and interaction. Overall, interaction with native speakers using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can promote L2 learners communicative competence and interactive competence by providing learners with ample opportunities to receive modeling input from native speakers, negotiate meaning and modify their own output. With the continued development of computer hardware and software and Internet technology, more advanced Internet-based or web-based videoconferencing tools, such as one-to-many or many-to-many forms of oral-visual interaction over the Internet using reliable high-fidelity audio combined with DVD quality video will appear and gain popularity (Cziko & Park, 2003). Foreign language teachers need to change their teaching methods and encourage their students to use the Internet-based videoconferencing to interact and communicate with native speakers of the language they are learning. Students need to meet the challenge and take advantage of using this pedagogical tool for their foreign language acquisition.

137 Limitations This study did not compare text-based online chatting with videoconferencing as many studies have been conducted to compare text-based to face-to-face interaction. The researcher assumed that videoconferencing has more resemblance to face-to-face interaction than text-based chatting, and therefore, has more tendencies to be used as an alternative way to substitute for traditional face-to-face interaction. The second limitation pertains to the use of a confounding variable. Due to the unavailability of forming another face-to-face interaction between EFL learners and native speakers as a control group, the interactional mode used as between-subjects factor to distinguish the control group and experimental group is confound. The L2 learners in the experimental group used internet-based desktop videoconferencing to talk with native speakers. The L2 learners in the control group used face-to-face interaction to converse with other L2 learners. The interactional mode therefore was composed of two factors to distinguish the two groups, one is the different interlocutors that the two groups dealt with and the other is the different communicative modes (online VS. face-to-face) the two groups applied. The interactional mode as a confounder, therefore, is the possible source of bias in estimating causal effects. For instance, it made it difficult to know whether certain statistical significance was attributed to the use of videoconference technology or because of the interaction with native speakers. A control group of face-to-face interaction with native speakers for this study would definitely have prevented such confounding results. However, because of the impracticability of having 10 native speakers join in the research for 10 weeks in an

138 EFL setting in China, this confounding factor could have created unknowing biases and affected the interpretations of the research results tremendously. Small sample size is the third limitation. Due to the time difference between the two countries (13 hours of time difference between USA and China) and the limitation of resources (equipment and time cost), it was not feasible for the researcher to conduct a large-scale study. The experimental group includes 10 EFL students from China and 10 native speakers of English (NSE) in the USA. The results, therefore, may not be generalizable to other EFL students from different backgrounds and different nationalities. In addition, the data in this study are obtained from second-year college students majoring in English and the results may not be applicable to other Chinese students who have different majors and whose levels of English proficiency are higher or lower than the participants in this study. A fourth limitation of the study relates to the oral English class scores used to assign participants to different groups. Though the participants were evaluated by the same teacher based on the same standards, the course scores did not show participants specific English proficiency levels in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity. Rather, it was only an end-of-semester summary of their performance in oral English class as a whole. These scores are not indicative of the specific aspects of their language proficiency levels. The groups assigned based on the oral English course scores may not be exactly equal in their English proficiency level in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity, which might have skewed the statistical results of the first three research questions and affected the reliability of the research. Future

139 studies should use a pretest that is designed to address participants specific oral skills in terms of linguistic fluency, accuracy and complexity to enhance the reliability of the study. Another limitation is that a post test was not given to the two groups as a follow-up of the study to measure participants improvement under same environment. If a language proficiency test, such as a spoken English test was given to both the experimental and the control group in the same context after the treatment, the effect of the use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing for L2 learners could be more accurately evaluated. In analyzing the fluency, accuracy and complexity of the linguistic output of the sophomore English majors in both the control and the experimental group, their partners, the senior English majors of nonnative speakers (in the control group) and the three native speakers (in the experiment group) linguistic output was not taken into consideration. The influence of their partners linguistic performance on the L2 learners linguistic performance in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity, remains unknown. Caution is needed to be made in evaluating the results of the statistical analysis. Due to the time constraints for the participants and the researcher, this study was limited to 10 weeks, which may not have been enough for the researcher to see the expected progress that could be made by the participants. Continued studies which focus on the types of negotiation devices or feedback used by both NSs and NNSs over

140 a longer period of time will offer a clearer picture of how Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can enhance L2 learning. Finally, the present study did not take gender into consideration. It is unknown whether the gender of the participants (e.g., a mixed gender dyad or the same gender dyad) has an impact on each dyad s language performance during each session of their conversations. Recommendations for Future Research There are many areas regarding the effects of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing on L2 learning left open for research because of the complexity involved in learning a language. One possible area worthy of further exploring is the effect of Internet-based videoconferencing on oral proficiency in terms of pronunciation and intonation and listening ability. The similarities between Internetbased videoconferencing and face-to-face interaction tend to lead one to believe that the use of Internet-based videoconferencing to interact with native speakers can result in improved pronunciation and listening ability. A closer examination would provide us with a better understanding and more evidence. Replication of the present study with more dyads and more groups such as a group of text-based chat and a group of face-to-face talk between native speakers and EFL learners in a larger sample size would provide more vigorous comparisons. In addition, a valid and reliable oral-proficiency measuring instrument would strengthen the findings of the study.

141 Future studies should analyze how Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can be used as an instructional tool for instructors, such as in a one-to-many mode, to facilitate language learning tasks. In addition to one-on-one interactions, future research can also examine the effects of using Internet-based videoconferencing to facilitate cooperative learning between EFL distant learners. Future research can also explore how interaction with native speakers using Internet based-videoconferencing can help EFL learners learn about the target culture and understand how their own culture is seen by native speakers, which could benefit both L2 learners and native speakers to improve their intercultural competence. Finally, additional studies should also analyze how learners and native speakers personalities and backgrounds impact EFL learners attitudes, performance and outcomes by participating in online Internet-based desktop videoconferencing. Summary In this chapter, an overview summary of the study was presented and findings of the study were summarized and discussed. In addition, pedagogical implications, limitations and recommendations for future research were also addressed. The study investigated the effects of chatting with native speakers via Internet-based desktop videoconferencing on EFL learners language proficiency in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity, as well as examined L2 learners perception of using Internet-based videoconferencing to access native speakers to promote L2 learning. The results showed that using Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to access native speakers is a feasible and effective way to promote L2 learning and improve EFL learners

142 language proficiency, especially in terms of fluency. This study provides evidence that Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can provide L2 learners with a less threatening, more comfortable, motivating and authentic learning environment. Internet-based desktop videoconferencing is very beneficial to L2 learner in the EFL settings and can be utilized as an alternative to face-to-face interaction with native speakers in Foreign Language situations, where native speakers are difficult to access. Due to the small number of participants and other limitations of the study, cautions need to be made when generalizing the results and findings to other populations. It is the researcher s sincere hope that continued observations and evaluations based on the recommendations of this study are carried out so that more in-depth knowledge about how Internet-based desktop videoconferencing can promote and enhance L2 and foreign language teaching and learning will be gained.

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159 APPENDICES (From Appendix A to Appendix M)

160 Appendix A: Consent Form for EFL Participants Title of Research: An Empirical Study of Using Internet-based Desktop Videoconferencing in an EFL Setting Principal Investigator: Mingli Xiao Department: Department of Educational Study, College of Education Federal and university regulations require us to obtain signed consent for participation in research involving human subjects. After reading the statements below, please indicate your consent by signing this form. This study will investigate the potential use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to improve EFL students language learning outcomes, such as their speaking skills. Findings of this research will extend our knowledge of the capabilities and effects of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tools for language learning. To participate in this study, you are going to take a language test, which will last for 20 minutes. You will also be required to attend to discuss on a certain topic in English for one hour with a partner once a week either in face-to-face interaction or via an online videoconferencing mode. Your utterances will be recorded and transcribed. The recorded tapes will be destroyed after the research is completed. If you are chosen to use online videoconferencing, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed because of the use of Internet. However, because the subject matter is not controversial, therefore, it would not seem to place you at risk. There are no other known risks associated with participation in the research. It is expected that your participation in this study will help you improve your spoken English ability in terms of fluency, accuracy and complexity. You will receive a CD of all the conversational sessions of the participants as a gift. If you are willing to be a participant of this study, please sign this form. If you have any questions regarding the research, please contact the researcher: Mingli Xiao, 1001 Carriage Hill Dr. Athens, OH, 45701. Phone: (740) 589-6591 E-mail: minglixy2000@yahoo.com or contact her academic advisor: Dr. Teresa, Franklin, Associate professor of Instructional Technology, 313 McCracken Hall, College of Education, Ohio university, Athens, OH, 45701. Phone: (740) 5934561 e-mail: franklit@ohio.edu If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact Jo Ellen Sherow, Director of Research Compliance, Ohio University, (740) 593-0664. I certify that I have read and understand this consent form and agree to participate as a subject in the research described. I agree that known risks to me have been explained to my satisfaction. I certify that I am 18 years of age or older. My participation in this research is given voluntarily. I understand that I may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of any benefits to which I may otherwise be entitled. Signature Printed Name Date

161 Appendix B: Consent Form for NNES Participants Title of Research: An Empirical Study of Using Internet-based Desktop Videoconferencing in an EFL Setting Principal Investigator: Mingli Xiao Department: Department of Educational Study, College of Education Federal and university regulations require us to obtain signed consent for participation in research involving human subjects. After reading the statements below, please indicate your consent by signing this form. This study will investigate the potential use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to improve EFL students language learning outcomes, such as their speaking skills. Findings of this research will extend our knowledge of the capabilities and effects of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tools for language learning. To participate in this study, you will also be required to attend to discuss on a certain topic in English for one hour with a sophomore English major as a partner once a week in face-to-face interaction. Your utterances will be recorded and transcribed. The recorded tapes will be destroyed after the research is completed. There are no known risks associated with participation in the research. It is expected that your participation in this study will provide you opportunity to use English and to gain confidence in speaking English. You will receive a CD of all the conversational sessions of the participants as a gift. If you are willing to be a participant of this study, please sign this form. If you have any questions regarding the research, please contact the researcher: Mingli Xiao, 1001 Carriage Hill Dr. Athens, OH, 45701. Phone: (740) 589-6591 E-mail: minglixy2000@yahoo.com or contact her academic advisor: Dr. Teresa, Franklin, Associate professor of Instructional Technology, 313 McCracken Hall, College of Education, Ohio university, Athens, OH, 45701. Phone: (740) 5934561 e-mail: franklit@ohio.edu If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact Jo Ellen Sherow, Director of Research Compliance, Ohio University, (740) 593-0664. I certify that I have read and understand this consent form and agree to participate as a subject in the research described. I agree that known risks to me have been explained to my satisfaction. I certify that I am 18 years of age or older. My participation in this research is given voluntarily. I understand that I may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of any benefits to which I may otherwise be entitled. Signature Printed Name Date

162 Appendix C: Consent Form for NES Participants Title of Research: An Empirical Study of Using Internet-based Desktop Videoconferencing in an EFL Setting Principal Investigator: Mingli Xiao Department: Department of Educational Study, College of Education Federal and university regulations require us to obtain signed consent for participation in research involving human subjects. After reading the statements below, please indicate your consent by signing this form. This study will investigate the potential use of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing to improve EFL students language learning outcomes, such as their speaking skills. Findings of this research will extend our knowledge of the capabilities and effects of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tools for language learning. To participate in this study, you will be required to attend to discuss on a certain topic in English for one hour with an EFL (English as a foreign language) learner as a partner once a week via an online videoconferencing mode. Your utterances will be recorded and transcribed. The recorded tapes will be destroyed after the research is completed. Because of the use of Internet, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. However, because the subject matter is not controversial, therefore, it would not seem to place you at risk. There are no other known risks associated with participation in the research. It is expected that your participation in this study will help understand different people form different culture. To protect your privacy, a subject code will be given to you instead of using your real name. You will receive a $7/hour payment for compensation. If you are willing to be a participant of this study, please sign this form. If you have any questions regarding the research, please contact the researcher: Mingli Xiao, 1001 Carriage Hill Dr. Athens, OH, 45701. Phone: (740) 589-6591 E-mail: minglixy2000@yahoo.com or contact her academic advisor: Dr. Teresa, Franklin, Associate professor of Instructional Technology, 313 McCracken Hall, College of Education, Ohio university, Athens, OH, 45701. Phone: (740) 5934561 e-mail: franklit@ohio.edu If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, please contact Jo Ellen Sherow, Director of Research Compliance, Ohio University, (740) 593-0664. I certify that I have read and understand this consent form and agree to participate as a subject in the research described. I agree that known risks to me have been explained to my satisfaction. I certify that I am 18 years of age or older. My participation in this research is given voluntarily. I understand that I may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of any benefits to which I may otherwise be entitled. Signature Date

Printed Name 163

164 Appendix D: Seeking Senior English Major Volunteers at Yanti University I am a PhD student in the College of Education at Ohio University. I am seeking senior English majors who would like to participate in my dissertation research about the effects of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing on ELF learner s language proficiency. You will be asked to have a weekly one-hour face-to-face discussion in English on a given topic with a sophomore English major at your university for 10 weeks. Participation in this research will provide you opportunities to practice your oral English and make friends with sophomore students. You will get a CD of all the conversational sessions of the participants as a gift. To participate in this study, you must be: (1) Nonnative Speakers of English (2) Senior English majors at Yantai University (3) Over 18 years old (4) Do not have hearing, speech or verbal difficulties If you meet all the criteria above and would like to participate in the study, please contact me at: minglixy2000@yahoo.com. Your participation and contribution are highly appreciated. Mingli Xiao PhD student of College of Education Ohio University, USA. Phone: (740) 274-0972 Email: minglixy2000@yahoo.com

165 Appendix E: Seeking Native Speakers of English $7/h Reward for Research Participation I am a PhD student in the College of Education at Ohio University. I am seeking native speakers of English who would like to participate in my dissertation research on the effects of Internet-based desktop videoconferencing for ELF learner s language proficiency. You will be asked to have a weekly one-hour online conversation in English on a given topic with a sophomore English major student in China vie Internetbased desktop videoconferencing for ten weeks. You will be paid 7 dollars per hour as a reward. To participate in this study, you must be: (1) Native Speakers of English (2) College students at Ohio University (3) Over 18 years old (4) Do not have hearing, speech or verbal difficulties If you meet all the criteria above and would like to participate in the study, please call me or email me. Your participation and contribution are highly appreciated. Mingli Xiao PhD student of College of Education Ohio University, USA. Phone: (740) 274-0972 Email: minglixy2000@yahoo.com

Appendix F: Topics and Tasks for Online Interaction with Native Speakers Using Internet-Based Desktop Videoconferencing 166 Week 1: Getting familiar with each other. Introduce yourselves to each other, talk about your family, you major, your likes and dislikes. Week 2: Talking about your college life Are you satisfied with your campus life or not? Give reasons for your answer. Is there any difference between your expectation of college life and reality? If yes, what is it? Week 3: Talking about parents and kids Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents are the best teachers. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. What are the important qualities of a good son or daughter? What are some of the qualities of a good parent? Use specific details and examples to explain your answer. Have these qualities changed or remained the same over time in your culture? Week 4: Talking about success What is your understanding of Success? What is a very important skill a person should learn in order to be successful in the world today? Week 5: Talking about food and holidays What are the important holidays in your country? What food do you usually eat during these holidays? Can you explain how to make a specific type of food you like? Week 6 Talking about Internet What do you think is impact of Internet on life? Is chatting on the Internet a good way to make friends? Please make comments. Today a huge number of teenagers are becoming crazy about the Internet. They get on line to chat or play computer games, sometimes staying there day and night. What do you think of this? Some people think that staying on line may lead to loneliness. Do you agree? Why or why not? Week 7 Talking about movies Some movies are serious, designed to make the audience think. Other movies are designed primarily to amuse and entertain. Which type of movie do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Week 8 Talking about customs Describe a custom from your country that you would like people from other countries to adopt. Explain your choice, using specific reasons and examples. 167 Week 9 Talking about traveling If your partner has one week to spend in your country. Where do you suggest she or her go to visit? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your choice. Week 10 Talking about famous persons If you could meet a famous entertainer or athlete, who would that be, and why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice. If you could ask a famous person one question, what would you ask? Why? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.

Appendix G: Data Coding Sheet for linguistic Fluency, Accuracy and Complexity Subject Name: Week Descriptions Number 1. number of syllables that NNS produced within the conversational session 2. number of syllables that NNS produced within the conversational session but excluding all syllables, words, phrases that were subsequently repeated, reformulated, or replaced Fluency 168 3. number of seconds that the NNS used to in the conversational session Accuracy Complexity 4. Total number of clauses produced in the conversational session 5. Number of error free clauses produce by the NNS in the conversational session which includes Morphological errors Lexical errors Syntactic errors 6. Number of clauses produced 7. Number of T-units produced

169 Appendix H: Student Evaluation of Their Videoconferencing Experience Name: Sex Age Part One. 1. How long have you been learning English? 2. How did you practice your oral English before participating in this study of using online videoconferencing using Skype? (Check all that apply) Never practiced With friends of native speakers of English With tapes With computer programs With my classmates Other (please specify) Part Two. Please rate the following features of Skype according to the usefulness in learning English. (a) Video: Not useful Useful Very Useful (b) Audio: Not useful Useful Very Useful (c) File Transfer: Not useful Useful Very Useful (d) Text chat: Not useful Useful Very Useful Part Three. Below is a list of possible strengths of Skype for language learning. Please use YES or NO in front of each sentence to indicate whether Skype helped you in that aspect. You may select as many as apply: Seeing the person I am talking to Building my confidence in speaking English Reducing my anxiety in learning English Increasing my motivation in learning the language Allowing instant feedback from the native speaker Allowing mistakes to be corrected on the spot Providing me the opportunity to interact spontaneously in a natural context Negotiating for meaning using English Allowing me to ask for more information using English Allowing me to clarify meaning using English Inferring meaning from the context Improving my listening ability

Other (please specify) 170 Part Four. Below is a list of possible weakness of Skype for language learning. Please use YES or NO in front of each sentence to indicate whether Skype has weakness in that aspect. You may select as many as apply: It's too difficult to use. It's too difficult to set up. The quality of the video is not good enough for language learning. The quality of the audio is not good enough for language learning. The Internet transmission was not reliable You have to do it at certain times because of Internet congestion Other (please specify) Part Five. After 10 week videoconferencing sessions, what aspects have you felt improved in your English? Please use YES or NO in front of each sentence to indicate whether Skype helped you in that aspect. You may select as many as apply: My fluency in speaking English has been improved. My pronunciation has been improved. My listening ability has been improved. My vocabulary has been enlarged. My ability of using complex syntactic structures has been improved. My ability in using English correctively and accurately has been improved. My ability in producing complex grammatical sentences My speaking ability has been improved. My conversational tactics (e.g., asking in English for repetition and clarification of meaning, inferring meaning from the context, etc.) has been improved. Part Six. Open-ended questions 1. Please write down what you liked or disliked about using Skype for online oralvisual ting and why.

171 2. Describe your experience of talking with a native speaker using videoconferencing. 3. Do you feel comfortable or nervous? 4. Do you enjoy talking with native speakers online using Skype? Why or why not? 5. What strategies do you usually use to avoid interaction breakdown? 6. Have you met any technical difficulties when using Skype for online videoconferencing? 7. What do you think about the topics for online discussion? 8. Given freedom to choose a topic, what do you want most to discuss with the native speakers? 9. If you were given a choice between one-to-one interactions with native speakers supported by a videoconferencing tool or face-to-face-interaction with other English learners, which one would you choose? Please explain why?

172 Appendix I: Student Evaluation of Their Face-to-face Talk Experience Name: Sex Age Part One 1. How long have you been learning English? 2. How did you practice your oral English before participating in this study of using online videoconferencing using Skype? (Check all that apply) Never practiced With friends of native speakers of English With tapes With computer programs With my classmates Other (please specify) Part Two. Below is a list of possible strengths of having a conversational partner from other class. Please use YES or NO in front of each sentence to indicate whether having a conversational partner helped you in that aspect. You may select as many as apply. Seeing the person I am talking to Building my confidence in speaking English Reducing my anxiety in learning English Increasing my motivation in learning the language Allowing instant feedback from my partner Allowing mistakes to be corrected on the spot Providing me the opportunity to interact spontaneously in a natural context Negotiating for meaning using English Allowing me to ask for more information using English Allowing me to clarify meaning using English Inferring meaning from the context Improving my listening ability Other (please specify) Part Four. Below is a list of possible weakness of talking with a nonnative speaker as your conversational partner. You may select as many as apply: It's too boring. I couldn t learn that much from my partner. Others (Please specify).

173 Part Five. After 10 week face-to-face conversation sessions, what aspects have you felt improved in your English? Please use YES or NO in front of each sentence to indicate whether having a conversational partner helped you in that aspect. You may select as many as apply: My fluency in speaking English has been improved. My pronunciation has been improved. My listening ability has been improved. My vocabulary has been enlarged. My ability of using complex syntactic structures has been improved. My ability in using English correctively and accurately has been improved. My ability in producing complex grammatical sentences My speaking ability has been improved. My conversational tactics (e.g., asking in English for repetition and clarification of meaning, inferring meaning from the context, etc.) has been improved. Part Six. Open-ended questions 1. Describe your experience of talking with your partner for this research. Please write down what you liked or disliked about having a nonnative English speaker, such as a senior student of English as a conversational partner to talk regularly and explain why. 2. Do you feel comfortable or nervous? Why or why not? 3. Do you enjoy talking with conversational partner and why? 4. What strategies do you usually use to avoid interaction breakdown? 5. What do you think about the topics for you to discuss? 6. Given freedom to choose a topic, what do you want most to discuss with your partner? 7. Have you ever used Internet-based desktop videoconferencing tool such as MSN Messenger, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger?

174 8. If you were given a choice between one-to-one interactions with native speakers supported by a videoconferencing tool or face-to-face-interaction with other English learners, which one would you choose? Please explain why.

175 Appendix J: Definitions of Terms for Data Coding: 1. Syllable: A syllable is a word part that contains a vowel or, in spoken language, a vowel sound (e-vent; news-pa-per; ver-y). 2. Repetitions: words, phrases, or clauses that are repeated with no modification whatsoever to syntax, morphology, or word order. 3. Reformulations: Either phrases or clauses that are repeated with some modification to syntax, morphology or word order. 4. Replacement: Lexical items that are immediately substituted for another. 5. Clauses: clauses are either a simple independent finite clause or a dependent finite or nonfinite clause. In this study two main types of clauses were included. 6. Independent clause: An independent clause is a clause containing a subject and predicate that can stand on its own. 7. Subordinate clauses: A subordinate clause is introduced by such words as since, because, when, where, after, while, although, as if and even though. 8. T-unit: A t-unit is an independent clause and any subordinate clauses or nonclausal structures associate with it. Examples of T-unit are: [A lot of people didn t like it. (Independent clause)]; [It s better to change their customs when they move to another country (Independent and its dependent clause)]; [I don t think you really have to do that Independent and nonclausal structure)]. Examples of two T-units: "[In 1991, my husband got a scholarship from Louisiana Tech University][and he came to this country to continue his education]." 9. Morphological errors: Morphological errors are errors in word formation such as in the use tenses (e.g. * He go to college) 10. Lexical errors: Lexical errors are errors in word selection (e.g. * how many butter do you want?) 11. Syntactic errors: Syntactic errors are errors in sentence organization such as wrong word order or missing words (e.g. * I went two times there; * He goes college)

176 Appendix K: Collected Data Linguistic Accuracy for the experimental group (videoconferencing) Week 2 Week 6 Week 10 participant 1 0.73 0.81 0.83 participant 2 0.73 0.83 0.87 participant 3 0.9 0.88 0.89 participant 4 0.81 0.83 0.86 participant 5 0.79 0.87 0.84 participant 6 0.93 0.84 0.94 participant 7 0.77 0.84 0.87 participant 8 0.81 0.89 0.87 participant 9 0.81 0.78 0.84 participant 10 0.78 0.68 0.79 Linguistic Accuracy for the control group (Face-to-face) Week 2 Week 6 Week 10 participant 1 0.65 0.7 0.65 participant 2 0.78 0.68 0.76 participant 3 0.76 0.78 0.71 participant 4 0.71 0.73 0.83 participant 5 0.64 0.69 0.71 participant 6 0.74 0.78 0.76 participant 7 0.67 0.69 0.72 participant 8 0.81 0.75 0.78 participant 9 0.68 0.84 0.82 participant 10 0.8 0.76 0.78

177 Linguistic Complexity for the experimental group (videoconferencing) Week 2 Week 6 Week 10 participant 1 1.31 1.11 1.34 participant 2 1.17 1.13 1.09 participant 3 1.26 1.25 1.24 participant 4 1.49 1.49 1.33 participant 5 1.19 1.14 1.17 participant 6 1.05 1.19 1.25 participant 7 1.16 1.15 1.23 participant 8 1.18 1.21 1.26 participant 9 1.15 1.18 1.17 participant 10 1.09 1.08 1.06 Linguistic Complexity for the control group (Face-to-face) Week 2 Week 6 Week 10 participant 1 1.01 1.02 1.01 participant 2 1.12 1.06 1.03 participant 3 1.02 1.06 1.05 participant 4 1.09 1.11 1.09 participant 5 1.14 1.12 1.15 participant 6 1.04 1.07 1.03 participant 7 1.03 1.01 1.06 participant 8 1.15 1.06 1.04 participant 9 1.13 1.21 1.17 participant 10 1.16 1.23 1.16

178 Linguistic Fluency (Rate A) for the experimental group (videoconferencing) Week 2 Week 6 Week 10 participant 1 122 144.2 144.3 participant 2 113.3 132.5 134.7 participant 3 119.6 121.2 123.2 participant 4 108.6 107.4 113.2 participant 5 109.2 125.1 127.8 participant 6 99.6 122.7 109.6 participant 7 98.5 112.4 115.3 participant 8 104.2 114.6 121.3 participant 9 108.9 112.4 113.2 participant 10 119.6 124.7 125.2 Linguistic Fluency (Rate A) for the control group (Face-to-face) Week 2 Week 6 Week 10 participant 1 112.1 113.2 107.2 participant 2 103.4 101.3 98.3 participant 3 95.2 98.4 97.9 participant 4 99.3 99.1 100.4 participant 5 97.7 101.6 97.1 participant 6 103.1 94.7 98.3 participant 7 97.6 87.5 98.4 participant 8 89.9 105.2 101.7 participant 9 98.9 96.4 99.3 participant 10 89.8 92.3 94.1

179 Linguistic Fluency (Rate B) for the experimental group (videoconferencing) Week 2 Week 6 Week 10 participant 1 122.4 138.6 138.4 participant 2 110.2 114.3 113.2 participant 3 111.1 110.3 118.5 participant 4 97.3 99.2 103.2 participant 5 101 112.3 109.7 participant 6 89.4 115.3 101.2 participant 7 97.3 93.2 105.4 participant 8 93.2 103.6 108.6 participant 9 96.5 99.3 99.7 participant 10 98 101.2 113.1 Linguistic Fluency (Rate B) for the control group (Face-to-face) Week 2 Week 6 Week 10 participant 1 89.7 87.9 90.4 participant 2 86.1 79.5 87.2 participant 3 77.4 78.2 83.1 participant 4 87.9 90.5 89.1 participant 5 83.1 92.4 91.3 participant 6 86.9 84.3 88.1 participant 7 93.1 78.3 92.6 participant 8 79.7 86.3 86.9 participant 9 78.1 82.6 79.3 participant 10 85.4 84.9 86.2

Appendix L: Participants Oral English Course Scores for the Two Groups 180 Control Group (Face-to-face ) Experimental Group (Videoconferencing) 1 81 74 2 79 90 3 82 91 4 82 83 5 85 87 6 82 89 7 90 90 8 84 87 9 91 82 10 90 91