SON,  J. (2002). Online Discussion in a CALL Course for Distance Language Teachers, CALICO Journal, 20 (1), p-p 127-144.

 For decades, distance learning has been an option in the education of teachers. Unfortunately, along with its perceived advantages: flexibility, self-directed learning and the development of reflective skills, shortcomings such as the lack of spaces to socialize during the knowledge construction process and participants’ tendency to fall behind required contents can make it a challenging experience. Nevertheless, CMC can become an option to help overcome some of the constrains that participants in this learning modality can encounter.

This study sought to evaluate how a group of teacher in a CALL distance learning course perceived and employed CMC to support their education. The literature review included in the article shows the growing amount of studies in relation to the possible applications of CMC in the educational field. In general, CMC has been explored as a means to foster students’ academic writing (Durham, 1990) and intercultural competence (Ma, 1996), for instance. Specifically in relation to CALL, various tools as e-mail  (Barson, 1991; González-Bueno, 1998; Gray & Stockwell, 1998; Kern, 1996; Lunde, 1990; Sanaoui & Lapkin, 1992; Soh & Soon, 1991; Son & O’Neill, 1999) and bulletin boards  (Lamy & Goodfellow, 1999; Meagher & Castaños, 1996) among  several others, have been integrated into the teaching of foreign languages. CMC has also played a role in the education of teachers in CALL. As examples, the author of the article refers to two studies. The first one is Nunan’  (1999) who researched the effect of web-based Master of Science program in TESOL. The second study was Kamhi-Stein’s (2000) who compared interaction patters among a group of student teachers in face to face inter action and a Web-based system.

After the literature review, the author describes the participants in the study.  They were a group of 22 distance students within a wide range of ages, who enrolled in a CALL course towards their Mater Degree in Australia. Most of them spoke English as the first language while a small number, 7, were native speakers of Korean, French, Hungarian and Slovakian. Their participation on online discussions was a requirement for the course and most of them, 19, usually became engaged in this activity. In order to prepare them for the discussions, they were provided with tips to post and respond to messages to the only discussion group.

In order to determine participants’ attitudes and use of online discussion in their learning, the author evaluated the experience. He collected data by means of a questionnaire and he analyzed students’ post.  Firstly, the researcher shared the analysis of posts. Three categories emerged from data analysis in relation to how the topics participants addressed related or not to the content of the course. These three patterns were fully task-focused (topics completely related to course content) , partially task-focused (topics in response to someone’s comments originated from course content) and off-task (topic no related to content in the course).Most of participants’ posts fell almost evenly into the two first categories while only 10% corresponded to issues not related to course content.

Another classification revealed by the author is related to the kind of messages: self-introductions, task-based answers, interactions, instructor’s informative messages, erroneous messages, and administrative matters. In this case, both of them, task- based answers and interactions, cover approximately 90%. In regards to interactive messages, it was determined that most of them involved student-student interaction, only 14%  took place between student and instructor. Peer to peer messages had the following communicative functions: greetings, asking questions, giving opinions/ideas, providing information, expressing support, and offering thanks.

The actions that students took in relation to their peers´ postings varied a lot. Some of them read all postings while others only those of their interest. Several participants posted comments which they thought could support their peers’ learning while other sought to engage in debating topics or finding the answer to a problem. Couple of them expressed they uploaded messages because they were required to do so. Some of them took notes from their peers’ messages since they could help them as models to develop their own tasks or to solve doubts.

The questionnaire showed that most of students enjoyed their participation in the discussions. They thought this practice was constructive because of the support it provided them to collaborate and learn with others. They felt their interest and their willingness to read their peers’ comments encouraged them to take part in the discussions. Having CALL as the topic for discussions was considered interactive. The convenience of this practice was also highlighted since it enabled them to obtain immediate answers. Several other issues were commented in a smaller proportion, among them, the opportunity nonnative English speakers had to practice English, the stimulating nature of the exchanges and the creation of collegiality.

Nonetheless, some of them were not completely satisfied with their own involvement in the discussions. Likewise, they commented that they expected more participation from the instructor and that peer-evaluation created fear and anxiety.  Furthermore, they were overwhelmed by their lack of time, their perception of the task as voluntary or not and difficulties in solving technical problems.

Without a doubt, one of the biggest impacts of CMC has been the expansion of possibilities for distance education. Nowadays it is almost unavoidable to talk about distance education without implying virtual communication; it is a symbiosis.  Specifically in Foreign Language teacher education, one of the benefits has been to connect prospective teachers and in-service teachers with speakers around the world. These practices can surely lead us to build a healthier environment in preparing teachers who can develop a more realistic and practical view of language and its learning. Becoming an efficient language teacher is to a great extent related to gaining a rich understanding of what language is all about. Unfortunately publications involving Foreign Language teachers distance education appeared more often at the beginning of the decade than now. More research is needed to discover how the newest technologies shape this traditional option in education.