Abstract
This chapter will trace recent trends in research on audio and video conferencing for language learning and teaching and outline the affordances and mediating effects of each platform that have communicative, socio-affective, and cognitive implications. On the basis of these characteristics, the author will argue that both audio and video conferencing have the potential to foster language learner interaction; however, neither medium is appropriate for all tasks, learners, and learning contexts. The focus of future inquiry should be driven by the need to better understand the complex interrelationship of interaction and the multimodal context in which it occurs. The chapter will conclude with considerations for selecting the platform most appropriate for task goals and learning setting.
TopBackground
CMC can be broadly defined as “any communication pattern mediated through the computer” (Metz, 1994). In language learning, CMC emerged in the 1990s when asynchronous text-based networking opportunities were first offered to language students (Lamy & Hampel, 2007). CMC then quickly evolved with the increasing availability of and easy access to a variety of digital media, such as hypertext graphics, sound, animation, and video.
There are two broad categories of CMC: asynchronous, such as discussion boards, blogs, and wikis, and synchronous, e.g., text-based instant messaging, chat, multiuser virtual realities, and audio and video conferencing. The key differences between the two categories are: 1) the need for participants to be online at the same time; and 2) the amount of time participants generally have to edit and revise their messages (Levy & Stockwell, 2006).
Early CMC environments were predominantly realized through one mode: written communication. Much of the early research reflected that trend by focusing on reading and writing skills, with listening and speaking significantly underrepresented. (Jung, 2005; Liu et al., 2002).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Audiographic/Audio Conferencing: A conference between two or more participants by using computer networks to transmit live audio, text, and image data.
Video Conferencing: A conference between two or more participants by using computer networks to transmit live audio, video, text, and image data.
Non-Verbal Communication: Gestures, gaze, facial expressions, body language.
Social Presence: Social and psychological distance between interlocutors.
Negotiation of Meaning: A process during which the speakers communicate their level of understanding, clarify, or paraphrase their utterances until they reach clear understanding of each other.
Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA): Apprehension experienced in learning or using a target language.
Non-Native Speaker: A person who did not learn the target language as a child in a ‘natural’ setting.
Computer-Mediated Communication: Any communication mediated through technology.