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Chapter 30 - On-line communication

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2010

Ronald Carter
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
David Nunan
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
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Summary

Introduction

The term on-line communication refers to reading, writing and communication via networked computers. It encompasses:

  • synchronous computer-mediated communication, whereby people communicate in real time via chat or discussion software, with all participants at their computers at the same time;

  • asynchronous computer-mediated communication, whereby people communicate in a delayed fashion by computer, e.g. by email; and

  • the reading and writing of on-line documents via the internet.

  • Second language (L2) researchers are interested in two overlapping issues related to on-line communication:

  • How do the processes which occur in on-line communication assist language learning in a general sense (i.e. on-line communication for language learning)?; and

  • What kinds of language learning need to occur so that people can communicate effectively in the on-line realm (i.e. language learning for on-line communication)?

  • Background

    On-line communication dates back to the late 1960s, when US researchers first developed protocols that allowed the sending and receiving of messages via computer (Hafner and Lyon 1996). The ARPANET, launched in 1969 by a handful of research scientists, eventually evolved into the internet, bringing together some 200 million people around the world at the start of the twenty-first century. On-line communication first became possible in educational realms in the 1980s, following the development and spread of personal computers. The background to on-line communication in language teaching and research can be divided into two distinct periods, marked by the introduction of computer-mediated communication in education in the mid-1980s and the emergence of the world wide web in the mid-1990s.

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    Publisher: Cambridge University Press
    Print publication year: 2001

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    • On-line communication
    • Edited by Ronald Carter, University of Nottingham, David Nunan, The University of Hong Kong
    • Book: The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
    • Online publication: 07 September 2010
    • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667206.031
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    • On-line communication
    • Edited by Ronald Carter, University of Nottingham, David Nunan, The University of Hong Kong
    • Book: The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
    • Online publication: 07 September 2010
    • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667206.031
    Available formats
    ×

    Save book to Google Drive

    To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

    • On-line communication
    • Edited by Ronald Carter, University of Nottingham, David Nunan, The University of Hong Kong
    • Book: The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
    • Online publication: 07 September 2010
    • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667206.031
    Available formats
    ×