Abstract
Abstract The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the replacement of many traditional classroom teaching and learning activities with online interactions through synchronous audio or video conferencing tools. Technically, the key difference between audio and video conferencing is the latter’s use of a webcam. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the webcam’s role in video synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC). Negotiation for meaning episodes, in which interlocutors try to resolve non-understanding through verbal interaction, were selected for analysis because they are widely believed to be helpful for second language acquisition. Specifically, this paper focuses on where interlocutors look during negotiated interactions in video SCMC and whether a statistical relationship exists between looking at a peer’s video image and successful meaning negotiation. Four dyads of English learners completed information gap tasks with potentially unknown words through learner–learner video SCMS interactions. Students’ multimodal performance was screen recorded for a gaze analysis and one-on-one interviews were conducted to confirm the students’ gaze directions. The results reveal a statistically significant positive relationship between the duration of one’s gaze at the peer’s video image and the number of successful meaning negotiation episodes in a dyad.
Highlights
The last 20 years have witnessed the rapid development of online learning and teaching across the world
Negotiation for meaning episodes, in which interlocutors try to resolve non-understanding through verbal interaction, were selected for analysis because they are widely believed to be helpful for second language acquisition
This study aims to answer the following two research questions: 1) How do interlocutors use their gaze during meaning negotiation episodes (MNEs) in video synchronous computermediated communication (SCMC)? 2) What is the statistical relationship between the amount of time interlocutors spend looking at their peer’s video image and their success in meaning negotiation in video SCMC?
Summary
The last 20 years have witnessed the rapid development of online learning and teaching across the world. Synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Li traditional face-to-face teaching has been largely replaced by online teaching using SCMC technology for millions of online learners in China and throughout the world (Crawford, Butler-Henderson, Rudolph, & Glowatz, 2020; Huang, Liu, Tlili, Yang, & Wang, 2020; iiMedia Research, 2020). Research on SCMC for online language learning is urgently needed and has significant practical and pedagogical value for schools and universities worldwide. In the online teaching practice in China, one of the most frequently asked questions by online teachers and students is whether they should open the webcam for video conferencing or only use audio chat.
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