Effects of different types of tasks on junior ELT students’ use of communication strategies in computer-mediated communication

Abstract

This thesis investigates the effects of different task types on the use of communication strategies (CSs) in computer-mediated communication (CMC) and the attitudes of students to using computers for communication and writing. The use of communication strategies in three different communicative tasktypes: (a) jigsaw (b) decision-making and (c) opinion-exchange were examined, based on and adapted from Dornyei and Scott̕s (1997) and Smith̕s (2003b)taxonomies. 36 junior ELT students participated in on-line chat sessions for six weeksusing Yahoo! Messenger. Before the chat sessions the participants were given Warschauer̕s (1996b) attitude questionnaire which also collected demographic information about participants and their computer familiarity. The participants were given the same questionnaire at the end of the last chat session. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way repeated measures analysis of variance(ANOVA), one-sample and paired-sample t-tests procedures. Qualitative data about participants̕ experiences and feelings about the synchronous CMC to cross-validate the findings of the attitude questionnaire was collected through a post-session questionnaire which was adapted from Wang (1993). The results showed that students used a wide variety of communication strategies during synchronous CMC, and task type affected the frequency and type of communication strategy used. It was also found that participants had positive attitudes towards using computers for communication and writing. The study provided evidence that synchronous CMC medium gave learners the opportunity to interact and negotiate meaning in the target language by providing them with a textbasedcommunicative setting in which communication strategy use was promoted.