최근 교육분야에 널리 활용되고 있는 컴퓨터 기반 의사소통 매체(CMC)는 문화간 교류를 통해 영어권 국가 원어민과의 직접적인 의사소통의 기회를 제공해준다는 점에서 우리나라 영어 학습자들에게 특히 유용하게 활용될 수 있다. 문화간 교류를 통해 영어 원어민을 접할 ...

최근 교육분야에 널리 활용되고 있는 컴퓨터 기반 의사소통 매체(CMC)는 문화간 교류를 통해 영어권 국가 원어민과의 직접적인 의사소통의 기회를 제공해준다는 점에서 우리나라 영어 학습자들에게 특히 유용하게 활용될 수 있다. 문화간 교류를 통해 영어 원어민을 접할 수 있는 기회를 제공해줄 수 있는 다양한 CMC 도구의 활용은 외국어로서 영어를 학습하는 우리나라 환경에서 결여되었던 새로운 차원의 언어학습 환경구현을 가능하게 한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 대학의 영어교육현장에서 CMC 도구를 활용하여 한국의 학생들과 미국 대학 학생들이 공동으로 참여하는 국제적 토론의 장을 마련하여 수업의 질을 높일 수 있는 방안을 연구하여 궁극적으로 영어 교육에서 첨단 테크놀로지를 통합하는데 유용한 정보를 제공하고자 하였다. 본 연구에서는 CMC를 활용한 영어 교수·학습 모형을 한 학기용 교과 과정에 통합시키기 위한 구체적인 요인들을 분석하고 실제로 이러한 모델을 구현하는데 수반되는 사항들, 학습자의 필요분석, 학습자의 특성과 필요에 맞는 수업 목표와 내용 결정, 수업에 활용할 CMC 활동을 위한 구체적인 과제(task) 및 주제 설정, 구체적인 학습활동 개발 절차와 사례를 제시하였다. 특히 문화간 교류 수업을 함께 진행하는 파트너 교수와 처음 접촉하는 과정에서 커리큘럼을 서로 공유하고, CMC를 공동으로 활용하는 방안을 모색하고, 토론의 주제를 함께 결정하는 과정에서 생긴 문제점과 해결책을 자세히 기술함으로써 외국 대학과 국제적 교류를 통해 수업을 진행하고자 하는 교수들에게 실질적인 지침을 제공해줄 것으로 기대된다. 따라서 이 수업모형은 대학에서 전공에 큰 관련 없이 어느 학과에서도 응용할 수 있는 내용중심의 영어수업을 구현하는 프로그램의 개발사례로 활용할 수 있을 것으로 본다. 또한 이러한 수업모형은 미국대학의 교수 및 학생들과 수업내용에 대해서 전체적으로 논의하는 과정에서 한국 학생들의 언어적인 신장뿐만 아니라 전문가로서의 자질 및 전문지식을 습득하는데도 효과가 있어 대학의 경쟁력을 높이기 위한 하나의 모델로서 제시될 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) represents an important forum for opening up new learning possibilities that might not be achievable with a face-to-face classroom alone. Particularly for non-native speakers of English who need to gain fluency in ...

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) represents an important forum for opening up new learning possibilities that might not be achievable with a face-to-face classroom alone. Particularly for non-native speakers of English who need to gain fluency in language skills as well as flexibility in cross-cultural communication, this medium provides both the interactive features and the reflective qualities that oral face-to-face interaction may not provide. Research on CMC has recently been enriched by a shift in focus from single classrooms to long-distance collaboration projects. This shift expands the focus beyond language learning to an emphasis on intercultural competence. It also expands the notion of context beyond the local setting to include broader intercultural contexts. Although an increasing number of EFL teachers in Korea have embraced CMC in their own classrooms, many have not yet explored its potential for language learning from an intercultural collaboration perspective. In fact, without access to a well-designed instructional model that incorporates sound pedagogy, theory, and an integrated curriculum, it is hard to implement intercultural projects that involve so many challenges within them. This study aims to offer guidelines for the effective use of an intercultural CMC project by drawing on a case study of the "KOAM" project which connected one graduate-level EFL classroom in Korea (in-service EFL teacher education course) with one college-level pre-service teacher education course in the United States. This study begins by discussing relevant literature on the uses of intercultrual CMC projects in the language classroom to demonstrate its potential advantages as well as disadvantages for language learning and teaching. Then, drawing on the literature, I will provide several model activities for intercultural CMC projects, identifying what issues have emerged in the process of implementing them. In what follows, I will introduce the KOAM project, with a focus on the rationale for doing the project, who participated in the project, what research questions were addressed, and how we collected and analyzed data. Then I will turn to the very critical issue of how I conducted the project from the very beginning to the end, offering step-by-step guidelines to implementing CMC activities as well as pre- and post-CMC activities. Finally, I will conclude this report by evaluating our own project in light of the challenges that were previously identified and offering some recommendations.

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) represents an important forum for opening up new learning possibilities that might not be achievable with a face-to-face classroom alone. Particularly for non-native speakers of English who need to gain fluency in ...

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) represents an important forum for opening up new learning possibilities that might not be achievable with a face-to-face classroom alone. Particularly for non-native speakers of English who need to gain fluency in language skills as well as flexibility in cross-cultural communication, this medium provides both the interactive features and the reflective qualities that oral face-to-face interaction may not provide. Research on CMC has recently been enriched by a shift in focus from single classrooms to long-distance collaboration projects. This shift expands the focus beyond language learning to an emphasis on intercultural competence. It also expands the notion of context beyond the local setting to include broader intercultural contexts. Although an increasing number of EFL teachers in Korea have embraced CMC in their own classrooms, many have not yet explored its potential for language learning from an intercultural collaboration perspective. In fact, without access to a well-designed instructional model that incorporates sound pedagogy, theory, and an integrated curriculum, it is hard to implement intercultural projects that involve so many challenges within them. This study aims to offer guidelines for the effective use of an intercultural CMC project by drawing on a case study of the "KOAM" project which connected one graduate-level EFL classroom in Korea (in-service EFL teacher education course) with one college-level pre-service teacher education course in the United States. This study begins by discussing relevant literature on the uses of intercultrual CMC projects in the language classroom to demonstrate its potential advantages as well as disadvantages for language learning and teaching. Then, drawing on the literature, I will provide several model activities for intercultural CMC projects, identifying what issues have emerged in the process of implementing them. In what follows, I will introduce the KOAM project, with a focus on the rationale for doing the project, who participated in the project, what research questions were addressed, and how we collected and analyzed data. Then I will turn to the very critical issue of how I conducted the project from the very beginning to the end, offering step-by-step guidelines to implementing CMC activities as well as pre- and post-CMC activities. Finally, I will conclude this report by evaluating our own project in light of the challenges that were previously identified and offering some recommendations.

In this study, I attempted to offer a pedagogical model for intercultural CMC projects, drawing on the KOAM project that connected one graduate-level EFL classroom in Korea with one college-level pre-service teacher education course in the United Stat ...

In this study, I attempted to offer a pedagogical model for intercultural CMC projects, drawing on the KOAM project that connected one graduate-level EFL classroom in Korea with one college-level pre-service teacher education course in the United States. Major suggestions for implementing the project can be summarized as follows:
1) Compatibility between partner classes is essential. During pre-project preparation in moderating with a suitable partner, we considered how many class hours per semester the teacher was willing to devote to the project. We also evaluated respective class goals to make sure they were complementary.
2) CMC projects should be integrated into the larger curricular program, rather than function as stand-alone activities (Warschauer, 1995; Greenfield, 2003). A tremendous amount of teacher set-up and planning must precede a CMC exchange. This may involve familiarizing students with unfamiliar skills, such as those needed for cooperative learning, intercultural understanding, or small group discussions. Our Korean students, for example, required many hours of training and in-class discussion on how to be active participants in the online discussion before they felt comfortable participating in the activities jointly conducted with their American peers.
3) I have learned that sustaining CMC interaction is vital. However, initiating, managing, and sustaining an interaction online can be a real challenge for students. The teacher can help the students acquire some of the socio-pragmatic and socio-cultural skills associated with opening online conversations, seeking out areas of common interest and maintaining the online interaction. For example, raising a learner's awareness of how conversational openings and closings are effected, how topics enter and disappear, and how speakers engage in strategic acts of politeness. These strategies and techniques can be practiced beforehand in the classroom using activities that involve role-play, perhaps, and the real life knowledge and interests of students.
4) It is also important for teachers to monitor communications to help watch out for special problems arising from intercultural communications. The teacher's role, then, is to facilitate the ongoing exchanges. Communication breakdown may occur during intercultural exchanges and students respond to cultural dissonance differently. Although our students did not suffer from any serious culture shock, we noticed that intercultural exchanges inherently involved some sort of misunderstanding that might lead to cultural clashes.
5) Following the discussion of each topic with peers abroad, students should be given opportunities to evaluate the linguistic and cultural information received from their foreign counterparts. An adequate amount of class hours can be set aside for further analysis of syntax and vocabulary observed in the online exchanges received from the students abroad. In our project, students discussed their observations of different perspectives and cultures, weaving recently acquired language structures and vocabulary into the discussion. Such discussions also incorporated comparison and contrast between the target and the native cultures, while promoting increased use of newer vocabulary and of targeted language tasks.
The purpose of the study was to provide step-by-step guidelines for effective implementation of CMC in any college-level EFL classroom, focusing on what teachers should do in each phase. I hope that the recommendations will be useful to CMC-minded teachers and researchers exploring pedagogically sound teaching practices as well as some theoretical foundations underlying them.