CMC Assignments- Mohd Shakif

Introduction
The research article entitled ‘Toward an Effective Integration of Technology: Message Boards for Strengthening Communication’ written by Arif Altun from Nigde University & Abant Izzet Baysal University focused on how the attitudes and beliefs of language learners about the use of asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools into language teaching gave momentum to the idea of exploring how they would approach these new tools. The findings of the study shows that students tended to develop positive attitudes toward using asynchronous communication tools in their language teaching program. The students also show positive reflections about the use of CMC tools and their integration into teaching.
Thomas and Hofmeister (2002) conducted a study on the efficiency of integrated message board systems into teaching. The researchers investigated whether the students’ responses by using the message boards (asynchronous) would be different according to prompt types. Students were given various types of prompts to comment and reflect upon. The researchers came up with a hypothesis that the more interactive the learning activity, the greater the increase in cognitive complexity. They concluded that the application of message boards into the teaching process would help students develop higher order thinking processes, if designed and handled efficiently.
Another research was done by Vonderwell (2003). She found that CMC was a negative aspect in collaboration among students. However, it is an opportunity for students to communicate and interact with the teacher in learning. Secondly, she found that students tend to favor interpersonal relationships with the instructor, rather than asking questions in class or public. Thirdly, students would expect consistent feedback from the teacher. Vonderwell (2003) then concluded that online instructors need to carefully make use of the web technologies for collaboration and interaction, not just simply providing discussion and group activities because it does not necessarily make the students participate in the community.

Research Questions
1. What are EFL students’ self-perceived attitudes toward communicating on computers?
2. Does access to computers and networks play a significant role with respect to EFL student’s attitudes toward new information technologies—the message boards?
3. Is there a significant difference between EFL students’ attitudes toward communicating on computers after using message boards in their teacher training courses?
4. What are EFL students’ reflections toward using asynchronous CMC tools?

Methodology

Participants
The participants in this research were 52 English teachers.11 male participants and 41 female participants. The students had no experience in using an asynchronous forum messaging system or other electronic conferencing system. In addition to their departmental courses, all participants had received a formal instruction on a basic computer course as well as word and math processing office programs.

Materials
Each participant would be given The Teacher Trainees’ attitudes toward communicating on computers questionnaire (ATC) during the first and the last weeks of the semester to monitor the participants’ attitudes and perceptions of communicating on computers in education in the beginning of their classes and by the end of their semester. The ATC included 10 items in a Likert type with six categories: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Barely Disagree, Barely Agree, Agree, and Strongly Agree coded from one to six respectively. Before the classes started, a web based forum system called CALL Forum was created and developed. Students were asked to register with their own username and passwords before they were allowed to participate in forum discussions.

Data Analysis
The data was analyzed using SPSS 11.05. The students’ attitudes toward communicating through computers before and after using the message boards in their courses were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U statistics. An analysis of the completed reflection papers was included as written data. Students’ reflections were collected. First, a report for students’ interaction was recorded through the database. Then, the data was converted into a word document. Finally, the data was used depending on the content of interaction.

Findings
The students find message boards as a convenient communication environment. And since they communicated with others through writing, they find this way of communicating as an advantage. However, some students find the message boards as pretty vague. Initial beliefs tend to indicate concerns and anxiety, but it required some experience to understand and benefit from this tool. Students find this activity as an extra burden and time consuming activity at first, but after some time, their concerns and anxieties faded away, and they started to enjoy using this tool.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the integration of a message board as an asynchronous CMC tool into teaching process was hard, exhausting, and challenging. However, positive attitudes and students’ cooperation helps instructors and teacher training departments to make use of new technologies in their programs. Future studies including a longer period of time and the use of asynchronous tools are needed to better understand the components of web based instruction. Such research studies will contribute to our understanding of online communication discourses and to help us develop an active online community.