1. ‘CONSIDERATIONS FOR ON-LINE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING IN
GREECE’
Evriklea Dogoriti 1, and Jenny Pagge2
1 PhD student Dept. of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina
2 Professor Dept. of Early Childhood Education, University of Ioannina
Laboratory of New Technologies and Distance Learning
Department of Early Childhood Education
University of Ioannina-Greece
Email:dogoritievi@hotmail.com

2. “Social networking is in its infancy and I
am guessing it will become as
widespread as email”
Richard Kimber
(Google former Managing Director for S. Asia)

3. Presentation Format
 1. Research background
 2. Research design
 3. Findings and discussions
 4. Further exploration
 5. Conclusion

4. 1. Research background
1.1 Pedagogical Theory
 CMC through both asynchronous exchange and synchronous
interaction sets a unique learning environment for (FL) learners to
expand use of L2 and develop communicative language skills
( Abrams, 2003; Blake, 2000; Lee, 2002a; Pellettieri, 2000).
 learning takes place within social contexts.(Davis et al
1997:25)
 Current language instruction goes beyond providing
comprehensible input; it creates socially interactive
contexts for learners to engage themselves in the learning
process (Kinginger, 2001)

5. 1. Research background
1.1 Pedagogical Theory
 The Internet is the primary media of
literacy/communication practices
 opens up multiple communication channels for
interpersonal communication, group discussion
and information sharing (Shetzer & Warschauer,
2000:171-185).

6. 1. Research background
Pedagogical Theory
 Language learning in a social network is based on
sharing friends, instant messaging, links, comments,
video or audio. Participants learn about socialization
through communication and interaction (Wilkenson &
Sherman, 1996)..
 Online learning creates friendly and low-anxiety learning
environment allowing even shy students to participate
and encourages affective support among peers (e.g.,
Kern, 1995; Magnan, Farrell, Jan, Tsai, & Worth, 2003)

7. 1. Research background
Pedagogical Theory
 CMC promotes greater interaction and reduces teacher involvement,
while learners equally share turns in participation (Sullivan & Pratt,
1996).
 Through network collaboration, learners extend their
communicative abilities/experiment on discourse structures /interact
with others (e.g., Kern & Warschauer, 2000; Smith, 2003; Toyoda
& Harrison, 2002; Tudini, 2003).
 Through interaction, learners improve grammatical competence
(Pellettieri, 2000), written and oral communication skills (e.g.,
Abrams, 2003; Blake, 2000; Payne & Whitney, 2002).

8. 2. Research design
 The impact of one example of social networking
–Facebook- on ESL teaching and learning
 Results of the survey and interview
 analysis of a CALL (Computer Assisted
Language Learning) project on the WWW

9. 2. Research design
Using “facebook” in ESL

10. 2. Research design
Facebook: the sixth largest country in the
world

11. 2. Research design
 2.1 Material and Method
25 questionnaires
F: 11
M: 14

12. 2. Research design
2.1 Procedure-Students
 Students are introduced to a web-based
learning environment
 Use Facebook as:
 a content tool to carry out h/w assignment
or self-study
 a communication tool which allows users
to interact with each other

13. 2. Research design
2.1 Procedure-Students
 Students engage in online exchange and chatting
 share and discuss web opinions on the given topic
 Carry out before reading or listening topic-based activities
 post answers on the wall
 send their messages to the language instructor
 log into the chat room for online exchanges.
 continue with writing tasks and corrections of their partner’s
essays.
 download the revised copy and placed it in their portfolio as
part of the course requirement.

14. 2. Research design
2.2 Procedure-language instructor
 identifies students’ mistakes on usage,
vocabulary and grammar
 provides the answers to the
assignments
 posts revised copies of students’
exchanges for the final evaluation.

15. 2. Research design
2.3 Method
 A 5-point Likert scale survey ranging from (1)
“Strongly Disagree” to (5) “Strongly Agree”
regarding students’ perspectives and attitudes
toward Web-based learning through “facebook” was
given to all students at the end of the term
 a final oral interview where students discuss
experiences with online activities and explain the
most valuable, appealing, and difficult aspects of
Web-based instruction.
 Interviews were recorded for data analysis.

16. 2. Research design
2.3 End Of Term Oral Interview Questions
 1. Briefly explain your experience in using Web-based
instruction for this course.
 2. Describe your experience doing the online activities. What
activities did you like the most and the least and why?
 Do you think your English skills have improved through the
online activities and online discussions?
 3. What was the most appealing aspect of using Facebook
and why?
 4. Describe the least important part of the Facebook course
and why.
 5. Overall, tell me how the experience of this course changed
your perspectives on the Web-based instruction?

17. Findings and Discussion
1. 1 The use of web-based
instruction in ESL/EFL learning
Learners’prior English learning
experience on web-based learning

18. Findings and Discussion
1.2
Learners’ Perspectives of Web-based Instruction
Item statements Mean
1. I believe Facebook was useful to me 4.52
2. Online activities helped me improve my English skills. 4.47
3. I was at ease with using Facebook. 4.41
4. I find learning more effective when socialising informally. 4.34
5. I enjoyed chatting online with my peers. 4.02
6. I believe online writing activities have improved my writing skills. 4.16
7. I think chatting online has enhanced my communication skills. 3.25
8. Working with someone online was beneficial to me. 3.48
9. I found the topics to be interesting assignments. 4.30
10. I will continue to explore Internet technology beyond this course. 4.52
Table 1
Oral Interview Results

19. Findings and Discussion
1.3 Oral Interview Analysis
Facebook and Collaborative Learning
 majority of students viewed online-based learning as a
novel and beneficial communication tool for their
language development.
 students feel “connected” to people and the world’s
knowledge. In the classroom they feel “disconnected”
or isolated.
 The constant interaction among learners was a source of
motivation.
 Online learning promoted organization and group work
in the classroom.

20. Findings and Discussion
quotes from the oral interviews
 “Online communication helped me stop being
afraid to speak English in front of other people”
 “I felt quite competitive trying to impress my
peers and tutor performing my best”
 “This method of learning has helped me realize
that I am capable of organizing and carrying out
group work”

21. Findings and Discussion
Feedback
 The goal of online exchange through
social interaction was to engage students
in sharing, exchanging, and debating
information relevant to their life
experiences.

22. Findings and Discussion
 quotes from the oral interviews
 “The feedback the tutor gave us regarding
the tasks was useful and a source of
information”
 “The difficulties that I met allowed me to
become familiar with my weak areas and
try to improve them”

23. Findings and Discussion
Assessment
 quality of the students’ writing positively
showed improvement, especially in use of lexical
items and grammatical structures.
 Task-based instruction was essential to build
language proficiency through listening to
podcasts, watching videos, explaining situations
and expressing opinions in different contexts.
 After a term of writing exchanges, students
received higher scores by the tutor.

24. Findings and Discussion
quotes from the oral interviews
 “The assessments via interviews and
interactions allowed me to evaluate how
much I had learned”
 “I paid more attention to the corrections
posted by my tutor and tried to score
higher each time”

25. Conclusions
 “facebook” as an instructional tool
 facilitated the development of students’ language skills
 reinforced their cognitive skills
 supported an active learning environment
 online exchanges were tailored to students’ needs
 writing activities were integrated into online discussions
 collaborative exchanges among their peers

26. Conclusions
 students were content with and motivated by the
well structured online tasks
 expanded use of target language to enlarge
knowledge beyond classroom setting
 CMC facilitated interaction between students
and instructor
 instructor guided, assessed and provided
constructive feedback to students.

27. Further Exploration
Aspects to be examined:
 the role of the teacher
 evaluation of the Computer Mediated
Synchronous Interaction related to
educational goals and expectations.

28. Thank you for your attention!
Any Questions?