CMC- Computer Mediated Communication I

1.Discuss the types and features of synchronous and asynchronous CMC The types of synchronous CMC includes chatting audio and videoconferencing and MOO,which allows for an active exchange of information virtually in real time where participants can read or listen to messages and respond immediately, while asynchronous CMC includes bulletin boards and e-mail, in this type of CMC participants can log onto the computer when it is convenient for them to do so, providing more freedom in the way that online and collaborative task can be implemented. However the general disadvantage of synchronous CMC is that all participants must be online at the same time, which can be difficult if there are differences in class times or time zones.2. Discuss the modal considerations of CMC in the following aspects. temporal social linguistic material individual. Temporal Dimension: Since there is a concern on the limitation of time learners pay less attention to form both in terms of accuracy or complexity. This time pressure is likely to cause more lexicalized processing, with less concern for analysis,restructuring, and accuracy. Such in cases like e-mail, most learners or the memebers of in the discussion tend to become less motivated to participate due to the extended nature of the interactions, in which learners often had to wait for several days for responses. A matter has also raised on the issue "push of a key" to send a message. In here, it can entail that a participant in the discussion have to press the key before he can send his message and this also regards how fast probably he could type. The wait for responses may change the "flow" of the interactions as well. Moreover, there are also differences in class times, time xones, etc. that should be dealt with. Social and Psychological Dimension: When making choices among technological options there is what we call psycholinguistic consideration which means to say, when making decision about which form of CMC to aplly to a given environment, it is necessary to consider the situation from the viewpoint of the learner. There is also another thing which needs to be considered called social presence which means the degree to which we perceive others in an interaction as "real" people. Like in videoconferencing, in here social presence has been stressed because the paricipants in the interaction are able to see and hear each other. Sometimes, when learners can't see each others faces like in chatting or e-mail,learners provide messages or language input that are inappropriate and they may also adopt personas if possible in online situations that differ in reality in personality or in gender much worse is they can also impersonate others. There's also "lurking" and the use of emoticons. Linguistic Dimension: There has been a study that students provide lexically and syntactically more complex in the electronic discussion compared with face-to-face environments however there are also features of CMC wherein the use of emoticons and use of a range of abbreviations for commonly used expressions such as "btw" (by the way) and "lol" (laugh out loud), "brb" (be right back) and also frequent spelling errors. In e-mail, there are times wherein learners or participants may send multiple topics which is sometimes making it difficult for learners to deal with the large amount of information.Material Dimension: This concerns the actual physical properties of the technology, such as size, weight, and portability. It also covers the ways the technology provides for human-computer interactivity, such as the size of keys, provision of a mouse or pad, the range of interactive moder on offer (text, image, video, voice) and so forth. (except for mobile phones). So, it is important to think carefully if the option of using technology can be accepted in educational contexts. If learners are expected to take part in CMC-based tasks outside the classroom, then it is important to confirm that they have access to the necessary hardware and software, as well as enough technical ability to set up and operate the tools they are required to use.Individual Dimension: Individuals have have personal preferences with regard to the media they choose. Classes are made up of students with different background knowledge, different skills, and different likes and dislikes so these also must be given an amount of attention. In conclusion, the success of implementing CMC modes in CALL depends on having clear pedagogical objectives in mind, knowledge of the technological options and an awareness of hte needs, goals, and skills of the learners. Reading Materials: RSS and Social Personalised Start Pages: Optimizing E-language Learning through Content Syndicataion