Asynchronous CMC, Collaboration and the Development of Critical Thinking in a Graduate Seminar in Applied Linguistics

Zsuzsanna I Abrams

doi:10.21432/t2g30c

Abstract

A primary objective of graduate education, and often promoted by peer collaboration tasks, is the development of critical thinking skills. The present study compares how graduate students enrolled in a qualitative research design course in applied linguistics utilized asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) and face-to-face interactions to critique field-specific research, to design and conduct their own research projects, and to engage in professional discourse in and out of class. The analyses reveal that 1) it was impossible to measure the development of critical thinking skills within one semester, and 2) rather than ACMC serving as a spring-board for such development prior to or in collaboration with classroom exchanges, ACMC and face-to-face interactions served different social and intellectual purposes in the process of practicing critical thinking skills. While face-to-face exchanges were preferred when discussing previous research, only in the ACMC context were students willing to critique each other’s work.

Highlights

Collaborative learning is gaining attention in the context of teacher training in applied linguistics
At the onset of teaching this course, I had envisioned that Asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) discussions would enrich classroom face-to-face discussions by providing a forum in which student would follow up in-class discussions with continued analysis and synthesis, and would elaborate on points raised but not exhausted in the classroom, leading to a spiral discourse in which old ideas are expanded with novel observations and relevant references to theoretical, pedagogical, practical and research issues
As we presented in the analysis, the participants in this study discussed critically the primary readings in class and used ACMC sessions to critique each others’ research

Summary

Introduction

Collaborative learning is gaining attention in the context of teacher training in applied linguistics. Asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) promises to be an especially effective tool for collaborative learning, and a few studies have examined the efficacy of collaborative learning via this medium in graduate level education (Arnold & Ducate, forthcoming; Belz & Müller-Hartman, 2003), but none, to our knowledge, explore the development of critical thinking among pre-service teachers by using ACMC. The purpose of the present action research-based qualitative study was to explore the juncture of these three fields of enquiry by examining how weekly ACMC discussions in conjunction with classroom interactions promoted critical thinking through collaboration in a graduate seminar in applied linguistics. The ACMC discussions successfully complemented the face-to-face classroom interactions.

Objectives

Results

Conclusion