Cooperative Vs Collaborative Online Language Exchanges: A Comparative Study Eric Hagley Muroran Institute of Technology Don Hinkelman Sapporo Gakuin University Japan

EFL Vs ESL We have wanted to ensure my students have access to real communication. We want to give our students access to other speakers of English. Use the Internet to overcome the limitations of an EFL context.

The pedagogical background Output required (Swain, 1985) Interactionist theory and negotiation of meaning. (Long, 1996) CMC - balanced and equitable interaction (Warschauer, 1997) CMC can take the place of face-to-face communication in an EFL context. (Chapelle, 2004)

Exchange--purposes ✤ Students in different countries using the Internet to develop their language skills and deepen cultural understanding of both their own and other cultures. ✤ Three purposes for exchange: ✤ Language Exchange: to learn a new language--communicate in L2 ✤ Cooperative (including ‘tandem learning’): differing L2 i.e. Japanese and English as foreign languages ✤ Collaborative: same L2 i.e. English as a common second language ✤ Cultural exchange: to learn a new culture and build personal relationships--communicate in L1 or L2 i.e. home-stay/lifestyle ✤ Content exchange: to learn a new subject, theme or skill--communicate in L1 or L2 i.e. nursing, engineering, child education, environment

Three venues of exchanges: ✤ Online Exchange: students communicating in an online environment ✤ Face-to-face exchange: students traveling and communicating ✤ Blended exchange: Face-to-face exchange plus online exchange ✤ pre-event: online communication ✤ event: face-to-face communication ✤ post-event: online communication

Cooperative Online Language Exchanges Cziko, (2004) eTandem learning - “eTandem language learning occurs when two learners of different native languages work together to help each other learn the other language electronically” Numerous others have continued most recently Bower & Kawaguchi (2011)

Collaborative Online Language Exchanges Where English as a Foreign Language learners from different countries interact in English online. English as lingua-franca - project based (Chase & Alexander, 2007)

Blended Exchange--definition ✤ What is ‘blended exchange’? ✤ “a combination of multiple venues, purposes, and modalities in a student exchange program” ✤ multiple venues: to combine face-to-face and online communication ✤ multiple purposes: to learn new language(s), new culture(s), and new content ✤ multiple modalities: to combine text, audio, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile modalities within communication ✤ Content exchange: to learn a new subject, theme or skill-- communicate in L1 or L2

Blended Exchange--modalities ✤ Five modalities employed in exchange: ✤ Text: communicating with written words ✤ Audio/Voice: including prosodic/emotional aspects ✤ Visual/Facial: communicating through images, videos, faces, immersion ✤ Kinesthetic: communicating through physical movement ✤ Tactile: communicating through touch with realia & physical settings

Let’s look at some examples

Blended exchanges ✤ Institutions involved: ✤ Japan: Sapporo Gakuin University ✤ Thailand: Chiang Mai University

Blended exchanges ✤ keypal exchanges ✤ Forum conversations ✤ Public speeches ✤ Multi-media slides ✤ Written reports ✤ Celebrative events ✤ Partner conversations ✤ Survival training

Blended Exchange-- how it happened Pre-event Research writingAsynchronousIndividual Practice role playsSynchronousPair writingAsynchronousPair Event Pair guidingSynchronousPair PresentationsSynchronousWhole group Survival trainingSynchronousSmall group Post-event Social networkingAsynchronousWhole group Report writingAsynchronousIndividual

Date Thai and Japanese students in Chiang Mai

Thai students and Japanese students in Sapporo, Japan

Comparisons What did we see? VolumeQuality Student feedback

Why is cooperative learning doing better? Appreciation of “give and take” Easier communication between teachers Incorporation into the syllabus

Why isn’t collaborative exchange doing as well? Difference in ICT understanding Different ideas regarding the role of communication No “Universal Syllabus” Means of assessment

Blended Exchange-- what we learned? ✤ Collaborative exchange ✤ The design was primarily collaborative. The aim of the exchange was culture learning and content learning, with language learning a minor role in the event. Pre and post-event activities focused more on language learning. The role of the event was to provide an authentic audience and long-term motivation for the ✤ Cooperative exchange ✤ A cooperative or tandem learning design was not possible due to the varying purposes of the groups involved in the project.

Blended Exchange-- questions raised ✤ How important is inter-class and inter-cultural exchange in language learning? In education? ✤ How to enhance L2 language learning? ✤ quantity and quality of communication with collaborative and cooperative designs ✤ presence is a factor in blended exchange, interplay of face-to-face and online ✤ How do theories of language learning inform this practice? ✤ social cognition, how we learn as groups in events ✤ How do teachers design long term communities of participation? ✤ to support collaborative and cooperative exchanges? ✤ How to balance culture learning/content learning with language learning aims?