USING ONLINE COLLABORATIVE WRITING AS A PRE-SPEAKING TASK: INTEGRATION OF ICT IN THE ESL CLASSROOM

Abstract

Integration of ICT in language education has led to many successful experiments and researches. By comparing the efficacy of face-to-face tasks versus online tasks, researchers have recommended the inclusion of online tasks in regular classroom practice and encouraged teachers to replace traditional tasks with digital tasks. However, from language testing perspective, both these task modes have different features: the testing framework for face-to-face tasks does not fit the digital tasks, and vice versa. In this article, an attempt has been made to blend the online tasks with the traditional speaking tasks for a better output in the target language. Tertiary level ESL learners were exposed to online writing discussion tasks followed by actual face-to-face discussion tasks. Their reflective journals and semi-structured interviews were analyzed to see their perception on online tasks and their effectiveness in the target language learning. The results of the study showed positive influence of online pre-speaking tasks on the actual speaking tasks in terms of decreasing learners’ anxiety to participate in the face-to-face discussions and increasing the task familiarity. Therefore, the study recommends using online discussion tasks as pre-task for face-to-face discussion tasks.