Williams: Speaking, Writing, and Hybrid forms of interaction

While I can understand the idea that speaking carries a good deal more pressure in the classroom than perhaps writing does, I still think it is important to encourage speaking in the classroom. When we speak to students, we should monitor our own speech and take note of whether or not we are providing them with an appropriate language model to refer to as they practice their own oral skills. Kumaravadivelu (2006) suggested that by encouraging students to attempt oral production we would be encouraging them to process the target language at a much higher cognitive level.

I can definitely see the value of online chatting as a conversation tool for practicing second language skills. There is a lower risk in using spoken language forms in an online chat situation than in the classroom. People in chat forums tend to expect that the person they are conversing with may take some time in responding. People rarely feel the need to correct other people’s speech in a chat forum, though students would probably take note of the forms and structures most commonly used. This would be a fairly safe space for second language students. I’ve felt less constrained by my own feelings of uncertainty in my L2’s when I chat with people from Germany or German speaking areas online. Also, interestingly, people seem to be far more admiring of second language learners online than in the classroom. Online, people sometimes want to learn how many languages their conversation partner speaks. Bilingualism, biliteracy, and multi-lingualism tend to be praised.