Does reticence disappear on CMC? A case study of Chinese students' interaction on a bulletin board system

Abstract

There have been many attempts to explore the reasons of Chinese student’s reticence in classroom learning. Interestingly, the years of discussion about the beneficial features of computer mediated communication (CMC) seems able to convince us of the possibility in developing learner interaction via CMC. After a comparison between CMC and a traditional Chinese classroom, this article presents a case study aiming to examine how the seemingly perfect tool – CMC – improves interaction in a Chinese ESL context. This article firstly provides a glimpse of some interpretations of Chinese students’ reticent behaviour. Next, it explains why CMC may possibly help in developing interaction in the Chinese EFL context with the diverse features of CMC related. After that, the Chinese students’ interaction on a bulletin board system is analysed and the reasons behind reticence are articulated.