Korean university students’ language performance in synchronous online text chats

초록

The present study investigated the effects of task types on synchronous online text chats by Korean university students. A total of 26 students with low and intermediate oral proficiency participated in this study and performed a convergent and a divergent task in groups using the KakaoTalk mobile messaging app during English classes. The text chats were evaluated for complexity, fluency, and number of turn-taking. The results showed that when compared to divergent tasks, students used more words during convergent tasks, which require agreement to complete, and also employed more turn-taking through the use of interactional modifications. Nonetheless, there was almost no difference in fluency between the two tasks due to their duration for the task completion. Meanwhile, in the divergent task, students used more complex sentences, likely due to the use of mobile dictionaries. The limitations of the research as well as pedagogical implications are also mentioned.

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