Implementing online discussion forums based on principled approaches

Abstract

For three months, Japanese university learners (N=40) utilized the YoTeach! application by Pedagogic and Active Learning Mobile Solutions (PALMS) Project, PolyU as a part of their English discussion class. Researchers re-purposed the application, which originally was designed to be an online classroom backchannel, as an asynchronous, pre-task activity so that learners could exchange ideas about homework topics (e.g. university life, foreign customs) for their discussion. Researchers chose a backchannel chat room rather than a discussion forum to accommodate the learners’ spoken interactions rather than formal discussion. To foster interactions, researchers implemented the YoTeach! application based on principles in the field of second language (L2) development and Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) from Doughty and Long (2003) and Stockwell and Hubbard (2013). Using learners’ and researchers’ reflection journals, we consider ways we can connect and adapt the principles to our teaching context.