Participation Style of ESL Learners in Face-to-face and Online Discussions

Abstract

Recognising that active involvement with the target language is important in learning a second language, this research compared the participation style of language learners in different discussion settings; online and face-to-face. Personality (extroversion and introversion) and language proficiency (high-intermediate and low-intermediate) of the 48 participants were taken into account during sample selection and data analysis.Qualitative data was obtained through observation, survey and online feedback sessions to substantiate the main data gathered from the quasi-experiment. The findings revealed that the use of synchronous online setting helps to balance the participation of learners and elicits more contribution of words; especially among the introverts and the less proficient ESL learners. The findings also implied that language instructors can capitalize on this setting to elicit more participation from selected groups of students and encourage more balanced participation in the language classroom. In addition, the findings of this study showed that the medium played a role in influencing the messages produced by certain groups of learners more than others.