A Case Study of Learner Interaction in Technology-Enhanced Language Learning Environments

Abstract

One research perspective that has been overlooked in studies on technology in foreign language education is that offered by qualitative research. This study, focusing on learner interaction, aims to begin to fill that gap. The researchers spent four months observing and interviewing students in two third-semester language classrooms: one French and one Spanish. Data collection involved a variety of sources, such as participant interviews and in-class observations, as well as pertinent documents and materials both in and out of class. Several themes emerge from the data which characterize the phenomenon of learner interaction in technology-enhanced language learning environments. Through thick description of these environments and discussion of the emerging themes, we hope to provide a more contextualized picture of the implementation of technology in foreign language classes at a large research-oriented institution.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Chapelle

, CALL-English as a Second Language, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 16, pp. 139–157, 1996.

Burnett

J. E.

, The Social Construction of Technologizing French 103: Case Studies of Teachers and Computers, Doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University, 1997.

Johnson

, Second Language and Content Learning with Computers, in Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Testing, Dunkel

(ed.), Newbury House, New York, pp. 61–83, 1991.

Warschauer

, Online Learning in Sociocultural Context, Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 29: 1, pp. 68–88, 1998.

Creswell

J. W.

, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, 1998.

Patton

M. Q.

, Qualitative Evaluation Methods (10th printing), Sage, Beverly Hills, California, 1989.

Tagg

S. K.

, Life Story Interviews and Their Interpretations, in The Research Interview: Uses and Approaches, Brenner

Brown

, and Canter

(eds.), Academic Press, London, 1985.

Maxwell

J. A.

, Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, 1996.

Schuman

, Policy Analysis, Education, and Everyday Life, Heath, Lexington, Massachusetts, 1982.

10.

Seidman

I. E.

, Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences, Teachers College Press, New York, 1991.

11.

Stake

, The Art of Case Study Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California, 1995.

12.

Miles

M. B.

and Huberman

A. M.

, Qualitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New Methods, Sage, Beverly Hills, California, 1984.

13.

Brooks

F. B.

, Some Problems and Caveats in ‘Communicative’ Discourse: Toward a Conceptualization of the Foreign Language Classroom, Foreign Language Annals, 26: 2, pp. 233–242, 1993.

14.

Savignon

, Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., Reading, Massachusetts, 1983.

15.

Lee

J. F.

and VanPatten

, Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995.

16.

Walthers

J. B.

, Anticipated Ongoing Interaction versus Channel Effects on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction, Human Communication Research, 4, pp. 473–501, 1994.

17.

Susser

, Networks and Project Work: Alternative Pedagogies for Writing with Computers, Computers and Composition, 10: 3, pp. 63–89, 1993.

18.

Kern

, Technology, Social Interaction and FL Literacy, in New Ways of Learning and Teaching: Focus on Technology and Foreign Language Education, Muyskens

(ed.), Heinle & Heinle, Boston, Massachusetts, pp. 57–92, 1998.

19.

Noblitt

J. S.

, The Electronic Language Learning Environment, in Redefining the Boundaries of Language Study, Kramsch

(ed.), Heinle & Heinle, Boston, Massachusetts, pp. 263–292, 1995.