Techno-Pedagogical Explorations: Computer-mediated Communication in English Writing Instruction

Abstract

Many college EFL teachers in Taiwan like to use the computer classroom for the teaching of English composition. There is no question that computer technology has vastly enhanced the way that teachers work with text and use it to communicate with their students and to disseminate knowledge. Having computers in the EFL writing classroom removes one step of separation or transcription that exists between what students do in ”English class” and what they do when they go away to ”really” work on their writing. Students in the computer classroom can leave after having done real work on their writing. ln addition, all the possibilities of web-based tools show up in the computer-networked classroom and students can access websites, online writing tools, and etc. However, there are still many college EFL teachers in Taiwan who abandon the computer classroom for the teaching of English composition, in frustration and disgust. Obviously, something went badly wrong with this literacy teaching technique. To explore the problems that these Taiwanese college EFL teachers struggle with the computer-based English writing classroom, a review of the more recent literature on computer-based writing instruction is summarized and criticized in this paper. Additionally, based on the author's experience, this paper also argues when computer assisted instruction (CAl) should be chosen as the medium for college EFL composition classes, particularly focusing on what must be in place for CAl to be used successfully as well as explicitly touching on those obstacles that should steer one away from CAl.