Resumen de Quantitative study comparing network-based language teaching (NBTL) to traditional Spanish classes
Isabel Moreno López, Citlali Miranda Aldaco
Most language teachers, even the self-proclaimed technologically challenged, use some kind of technology in their classrooms. During the last decade, studies on the use of technology for communication purposes or synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) technology have proliferated around the globe. CMC technology has allowed native speakers of the target language into the second language (SL) classroom, transforming it into a real-world context environment. The objective of the study, informed by the information processing approach and the interaction hypothesis, is to compare traditional SL classes to network-based language teaching (NBLT) classes in order to assess whether the use of synchronous and asynchronous CMC technology in NBLT courses enhances language acquisition in the Spanish language class. It also aims to gather quantitative results in a discipline that is overwhelmingly informed by qualitative data. The researchers used the reading and listening sections of the Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessments (MLPA) as pre- and posttest, and analyzed data using a mixed model analysis of variance. From 2008 to 2010, researchers designed the procedures and guidelines to conduct this study. Results from the Spring semester 2011 show that CMC technology plays an important role in students� language learning given that reading and listening scores were significantly higher in the posttest in the NBLT classes compared to the traditional classes. The analysis of the results obtained in this study open new possibilities to further investigate the use of CMC technology in SL teaching-learning.
