Abstract:
Although much research has explored computer mediated communication for its
application in second language instruction, there still exists a need for empirical results
from research to guide practitioners who wish to introduce web-based activities into their
instruction. This study was undertaken to explore collaborative online task-based
activities for the instruction of ESL academic writing. Nine ESL students in their midtwenties,
enrolled at a community college in Ontario, engaged in two separate online
prewriting activities in both a synchronous and an asynchronous environment. The
students were interviewed in order to explore their perceptions of how the activities
affected the generation and organization of ideas for academic essays. These interviews
were triangulated with examples of the students' online writing, nonparticipatory
observations of the students' interactions, and a discussion with the course instructor.
The results of the study reveal that a small majority of students felt that
brainstorming in writing with their peers in an asynchronous online discussion created a
grammatical and lexical framework that supported idea generation and organization. The
students did not feel that the synchronous chat activity was as successful. Although they
felt that this activity also contributed to the generation of ideas, synchronous chat
introduced a level of difficulty in communication that hindered the students' engagement
in the task and failed to assist them with the organization of their ideas. The students also
noted positive aspects of the web-based activities that were not related to prewriting
tasks, for example, improved typing and word processing skills. Directions for future
research could explore whether online prewriting activities can assist students in the
creation of essays that are syntactically or lexically complex.
