Effects of Different Types of Tasks on Junior ELT Students' Use of Communication Strategies in Computer-Mediated Communication

This study describes the use of communication strategies in a synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) environment and examine whether task type has an influence on the frequency and variety of communication strategies (CS) used in this environment. To this end, use of CSs in three different communicative task types: jigsaw, decision-making and opinion-exchange were examined, based on and adapted from Dörnyei and Scott’s (1997) and Smith’s (2003) CS taxonomies. The data for this study was collected from 36 junior ELT students studying in a Turkish university. The results showed that the participants made use of a variety of CSs that were previously observed in face-to-face communication, and they used some CSs which are peculiar to CMC environment. It was also found that task type affected the frequency and type of CS used, favoring jigsaw task types in resulting more use of CSs. DOI: 10.4018/ijcallt.2013040102 18 International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, 3(2), 17-40, April-June 2013 Copyright © 2013, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. downs because of lacking linguistic resources in target language. Selinker (1972) was among the first scholars who mentioned communication strategies to account for certain classes of errors made by second language (SL) learners. He also identified acceptable inaccuracy in these learners’ production while trying to express their meaning in spontaneous speech resulting from gaps in their abilities in the target language knowledge. Later, Varadi (1983) argued that communication starts with language learners’ desire to communicate a meaning in the TL. When learners face a problem in conveying their intended meaning because of insufficient linguistic abilities in the TL, they use various strategies to maximize their potential for communicating and these are called communication strategies. In the past few decades, a growing interest in the use of technology in language learning classrooms has been observed. Especially, computer-mediated communication (CMC) has drawn teachers’ attention owing to its potential use for interactive and collaborative language learning (Warschauer, 1997, Schwienhorst, 2002; Lee, 2002a; Lee, 2009). The literature reveals that, in CMC, beneficial interaction and meaningful communication among learners in TL are fostered and language learning is facilitated when communication contexts based on carefully designed tasks are employed (Blake, 2000; Pellettieri, 2000; Darhower, 2002; Chun, 2003; Smith, 2003; Peterson, 2010).