Schedule: 2009-09-12 (10:00 - 10:45)
Parallel Session 2 (Room A-31)

Title: Developing a community of inquiry in foreign language lower-level courses: Creating a cognitively-engaged social community
Authors: Ana Oskoz, Idoia Elola
Abstract: The use of asynchronous computer-mediated communication, in particular discussion boards, is frequently employed in the foreign language (FL) classroom (Abrams, 2003; Bauer, de Benedette, Furstenberg, Levet & Waryn, 2005; Biensenbach-Lucas, 2004; Kol & Schcolnik, 2008; Sengupta, 2001). The slow-paced interaction of the discussion boards allow students time to recognize connections, understand other's ideas, and develop detailed responses (Meyers, 2003); the discussion boards are also virtual spaces in which learners share and verify hypotheses and points of view, and negotiate meanings and interpretations (Bauer et. al, 2006). Yet, while there is extensive research on the quality of students' reflections and cognitive development in FL higher level courses and teacher education (Arnold & Ducate, 2006; Bauer et. al, 2006; Celentin, 2007; Shin, 2008; Wildner-Basset, 2005 among others), the extent to which lower level FL learners engage in a process of cultural discovery is still scarce.

Applying the theoretical framework for communities of inquiry developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000), this study analyzes the online learning community as it manifests itself on the asynchronous discussion board in an intermediate level Spanish course. By applying the social presence coding scheme developed by Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, and Archer (2001) —affective, interactive and social categories—and Garrison, Anderson, and Archer’s (2001) practical inquiry model—trigger, exploration, integration and resolution—, this study reports on students' social and cognitive constructions, and examines the outcomes and implications of these constructions in a lower-level FL classroom. In particular, this study focuses on:

1. How do FL lower-level learners create a social community in the asynchronous exchanges?

2. How do FL lower-level learners construct and confirm meaning through reflection and discourse in the asynchronous exchanges?

Analysis of the data indicated that the students created an environment that encouraged reflection and meaningful interactions in the online discussions. For both the social and cognitive presences, the results of the ANOVAs indicate that there was a significant differences within the categories of social F(2,57) =14.640, p = .000 and within the categories of cognitive presence F(3,76) = 29.549, p = .000. Post hoc analysis revealed that in social presence interactive category was significantly higher than cohesive and affective (p<.01). For cognitive presence, the post hoc analysis revealed that exploration was significantly higher than trigger, integration (p = .000); integration was also significantly different than resolution (p = .006).

Despite the significant results, findings from this study reveal that FL lower-level students might engage in different types of social and cognitive interactions than the ones previously found in higher-level courses discussions. For example, while higher-level students present a rich presence of cohesive and affective indicators creating a tight social community, the lower presence of cohesive and affective indicators suggest that students at lower-levels in this study focused on those interactions that allowed them to complete the task. At the cognitive level, this study suggests that a visible instructor presence is needed for students to integrate concepts and move beyond simple descriptions of concepts and ideas. Further results and implications will be presented at the conference.
Keywords: cognitive presence, social presence, community of inquiry, discussion boards, online forums

Main topic: Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)

Biodata: Ana Oskoz Assistant Professor of Spanish teaches from Spanish as a foreign language to Second Language Acquisition/Instruction at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Her current research focuses on the use of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance second language writing and intercultural competence development. Idoia Elola Assistant Professor of Spanish & Second Language Studies at Texas Tech University. She teaches a range of courses from Applied Linguistics to Second Language Acquisition/Instruction. Her recent research focuses on collaborative writing through the use of social-web technologies and issues of writing fluency and grammar among Spanish heritage learners.
Type of presentation Paper presentation

Paper category Research

Target educational sector Higher education

Language of delivery English

EU-funded project No

Schedule:	2009-09-12 (10:00 - 10:45) Parallel Session 2 (Room A-31)
Title:	Developing a community of inquiry in foreign language lower-level courses: Creating a cognitively-engaged social community
Authors:	Ana Oskoz, Idoia Elola
Abstract:	The use of asynchronous computer-mediated communication, in particular discussion boards, is frequently employed in the foreign language (FL) classroom (Abrams, 2003; Bauer, de Benedette, Furstenberg, Levet & Waryn, 2005; Biensenbach-Lucas, 2004; Kol & Schcolnik, 2008; Sengupta, 2001). The slow-paced interaction of the discussion boards allow students time to recognize connections, understand other's ideas, and develop detailed responses (Meyers, 2003); the discussion boards are also virtual spaces in which learners share and verify hypotheses and points of view, and negotiate meanings and interpretations (Bauer et. al, 2006). Yet, while there is extensive research on the quality of students' reflections and cognitive development in FL higher level courses and teacher education (Arnold & Ducate, 2006; Bauer et. al, 2006; Celentin, 2007; Shin, 2008; Wildner-Basset, 2005 among others), the extent to which lower level FL learners engage in a process of cultural discovery is still scarce. Applying the theoretical framework for communities of inquiry developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000), this study analyzes the online learning community as it manifests itself on the asynchronous discussion board in an intermediate level Spanish course. By applying the social presence coding scheme developed by Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, and Archer (2001) —affective, interactive and social categories—and Garrison, Anderson, and Archer’s (2001) practical inquiry model—trigger, exploration, integration and resolution—, this study reports on students' social and cognitive constructions, and examines the outcomes and implications of these constructions in a lower-level FL classroom. In particular, this study focuses on: 1. How do FL lower-level learners create a social community in the asynchronous exchanges? 2. How do FL lower-level learners construct and confirm meaning through reflection and discourse in the asynchronous exchanges? Analysis of the data indicated that the students created an environment that encouraged reflection and meaningful interactions in the online discussions. For both the social and cognitive presences, the results of the ANOVAs indicate that there was a significant differences within the categories of social F(2,57) =14.640, p = .000 and within the categories of cognitive presence F(3,76) = 29.549, p = .000. Post hoc analysis revealed that in social presence interactive category was significantly higher than cohesive and affective (p<.01). For cognitive presence, the post hoc analysis revealed that exploration was significantly higher than trigger, integration (p = .000); integration was also significantly different than resolution (p = .006). Despite the significant results, findings from this study reveal that FL lower-level students might engage in different types of social and cognitive interactions than the ones previously found in higher-level courses discussions. For example, while higher-level students present a rich presence of cohesive and affective indicators creating a tight social community, the lower presence of cohesive and affective indicators suggest that students at lower-levels in this study focused on those interactions that allowed them to complete the task. At the cognitive level, this study suggests that a visible instructor presence is needed for students to integrate concepts and move beyond simple descriptions of concepts and ideas. Further results and implications will be presented at the conference.
Keywords:	cognitive presence, social presence, community of inquiry, discussion boards, online forums
Main topic:	Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)
Biodata:	Ana Oskoz Assistant Professor of Spanish teaches from Spanish as a foreign language to Second Language Acquisition/Instruction at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Her current research focuses on the use of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance second language writing and intercultural competence development. Idoia Elola Assistant Professor of Spanish & Second Language Studies at Texas Tech University. She teaches a range of courses from Applied Linguistics to Second Language Acquisition/Instruction. Her recent research focuses on collaborative writing through the use of social-web technologies and issues of writing fluency and grammar among Spanish heritage learners.
Type of presentation	Paper presentation
Paper category	Research
Target educational sector	Higher education
Language of delivery	English
EU-funded project	No