Fostering Second Language Oral Communication Through Constructivist Interaction in Desktop Videoconferencing

Abstract: This article describes a classroom project using one-to-one desktop videoconferencing to enhance the development of second language (L2) oral skills. Eighteen university students worked collaboratively with expert speakers to complete task-based activities. The author gathered data from video-recording samples, reflections, and oral interviews to report the participants' experiences and examine the potential of desktop videoconferencing to support speaking skills. While this approach is effective in supporting collaborative learning and fostering L2 oral communication, learners with less sophisticated listening skills experienced difficulties comprehending native speakers. Native speakers' linguistic variations, including regionalisms and accents, also affected the degree of the interactivity. This study suggests three essential ingredients to maximize the potential benefits of desktop videoconferencing for language learning: (1) use of carefully designed tasks that engage learners, (2) appropriate selection of linguistic context, and (3) inclusion of sufficient network training. Key words: collaborative learning, desktop videoconferencing, oral skills, two-way interactive tasks Language: Spanish, relevant to all languages Introduction Communication, one of the five Cs of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century (National Standards, 2006), points to a heightened need for the development of learners' language proficiency. Therefore, the primary goal of foreign language instruction is to assist students in acquiring communicative competence (Canale & Swain, 1980) that achieves fluency, accuracy, and appropriateness in language use. To accomplish this goal, genuine oral interaction that fosters negotiations of meaning (Long, 1996) through scaffolding feedback is imperative. Yet, given the limited time many students spend in the regular classroom (e.g., three days a week for 50 minutes each day) and the lack of opportunities they have to use the target language outside the classroom (e.g., interaction with native speakers or study abroad programs), how can students build their oral communication skills? While technology cannot replace the richness of human-to-human interaction, computer-mediated communication is increasingly thought to be beneficial for the development of learners' language skills. The psycholinguistic approach of recent studies on computer-mediated communication revealed that learners benefited from exposure to authentic input from expert speakers and engage in both meaning and form negotiations through interactive dialogues (e.g., Abrams, 2003; Blake & Zyzik, 2003; Dussias, 2005; Kitade, 2000; Lee, 2002a, 2002b, 2006; Pellettieri, 2000; Smith, 2004; Tudini, 2003). Additionally, learners generated syntactically complex language structures (Sotillo, 2000), and gained particular advanced linguistic forms (Belz, 2005) and pragmatic competence (Kinginger & Belz, 2005). Other researchers view computer-mediated communication as an effective medium not only for developing learners' intercultural competence (e.g., O'Dowd, 2005; Thome, 2003; Ware & Kramsch, 2005), but also for fostering collaborative learning through social engagement and coconstruction of L2 knowledge (e.g., Belz, 2002; Lee, 2004a, 2004b). With the addition of visual and audio features, computer-mediated communication now offers teleconferencing,1 a teaching and learning tool that simulates more closely the interaction and dialogue of face-to-face communication. Videoconferencing opens the way to dynamic exchanges that will reinforce the acquisition of oral skills. It is precisely in this area-oral communication-that computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has long been lacking (Barr, Leakey, & Ranchoux, 2005; Levy, 1997). Although videoconferencing is relatively new, it is rapidly progressing throughout the CALL world. Most of the existing research has focused on class-to-class videoconferencing for intercultural exchanges (e. …