Developing Learning Environments: Creativity, Motivation and Collaboration in Higher Education

7. Designing dialogue: Using the Web to enhance interaction in the teaching and learning of English

7฀ Designing฀dialogue:฀Using฀the฀Web฀to฀ enhance฀interaction฀in฀the฀teaching฀and฀ learning฀of฀English฀ Pauline Burton and Wanda Lau INTRODUCTION฀ How can Web-based course design best be used to encourage languag e learners to interact in the target language? Is it possible to identify success factors in using the Web as a means of 'designing dialogue' for learner s of Englis h a s a secon d language ? Thes e ar e th e question s tha t ar e addressed in this chapter . To set these questions in a wider context of enquiry, the importance of dialogue a s th e basis o f human communicatio n — an d hence , o f language learning — is first considered. It is further argued that dialogue is (o r ca n be , under th e righ t conditions ) a n intrinsicall y rewardin g activity, with obvious implications for student motivation . Web-base d teaching, however , i s ofte n treate d mainl y a s a n efficien t mean s o f transmitting information. A s such, its value in language teachin g ma y be questioned. 1 This chapter suggests that thi s is an unnecessarily narro w view of the uses of Web-based instruction. To exemplify a way of using the Web 138฀Pauline ฀Burton฀and฀Wanda฀Lau฀ to facilitate interaction between students and teachers, and between th e students themselves, a case study is presented of Web-based diary writing and response in English by first-year university students in Hong Kong. Possible success factors in using the Web to enhance interaction in the teaching an d learnin g o f English a s a second languag e are proposed , including th e use o f a forum an d th e generatio n o f discussion topic s from students ' own experience . It is argued that course design with built-in interactivity is a necessary but no t sufficien t conditio n fo r success , an d tha t activ e teache r participation and teacher modelling of appropriate response can be key factors in promoting dialogue and increasing student motivation to use the target language. The success of teacher intervention, however, ma y be mediate d b y cultura l factors , an d furthe r researc h i n thi s are a i s suggested. DIALOGUE฀AND฀LANGUAGE฀LEARNING฀ The startin g poin t o f thi s chapte r i s th e premis e tha t th e huma n personality, a sense of self and persona l identity , are formed throug h dialogue. As Bakhtin puts it, ...฀any฀instance฀of฀self-awareness฀(for฀awareness฀is฀always฀verbal,฀ always฀a฀matter฀of฀finding฀some฀specifically฀suitable฀verbal฀complex)฀ is฀an฀act฀o f฀gauging฀oneself฀against฀some฀social฀norm.฀Social฀ evaluation฀is,฀so฀to฀speak,฀the฀socialisation฀of฀oneself฀and฀one's฀ behaviour.฀In฀becoming฀myself,฀I฀attempt฀to฀look฀at฀myself,฀as฀it฀were฀ through฀the฀eyes฀of฀another฀(Voloshinov/Bakhtin฀1976,฀76-7)฀ Clearly, suc h socializatio n i s problematic : i t can , unde r certai n circumstances, be brutally coercive and destructive of the inner life of individuals, especially those whose perceptions and desires run counte r to socia l norms . Also , a s Tanne n (1993 , 1994 ) ha s demonstrated , differences i n conversational styl e and cultura l background ca n caus e misunderstandings between interlocutors; the connection between th e self and 'th e eyes of another' is not always (possibly, ever) a perfect fit . Designing฀dialogue฀ The basic point, however, remains: it is through language — an d more specifically, throug h dialogue — that we become social beings, as Halliday argues (1978,1989). Though the pathways thus laid down are probably uniqu e t o firs t languag e learnin g an d provid e th e basi s (i f utilized) for subsequent language learning experiences, learning a second language can provide the opportunity to develop new selves, new ways of thinking, and to move into new discourse communities — especiall y (in adul t life ) thos e associate d wit h occupationa l an d professiona l groupings. It could be argued that , eve n thoug h socia l identity i s develope d through dialogue, it does not necessarily follow that a second languag e is best or most efficientl y learne d throug h similar means...