Research Questions and Hypotheses on Social Presence in CALL Programs

#lelb_society #onlineschool #onlineeducation #asynchronouscommunication
This study explores how Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) can foster stronger social presence, collaboration, and engagement in online English classes. By examining teacher–student interaction, assessment methods, negotiation of meaning, and Content-Based Instruction (CBI), the research identifies strategies for building interactive and supportive learning communities. The proposed research questions and hypotheses aim to highlight the most effective approaches for integrating technology with pedagogy, helping online English teachers create more dynamic, socially connected, and student-centered virtual classrooms.

Research Questions
The current study is aimed at seeking appropriate and comprehensive answers to the following research questions. It is proposed that by implementing the strategies and techniques investigated throughout this study, the settings of CALL-based educational programs could become more integrative, interactive, and socially oriented, which per se makes it feasible for the students to maximize L2 learning in virtual venues.

What are the most important characteristics of a successful social context in an integrative CALL?
How should an online English teacher interact with L2 learners to promote more collaboration among them?
How can an online English teacher create a sense of belonging and community in L2 learners?
Which type of assessment (self-assessment, peer-assessment, or teacher-assessment) is more crucial in creating social presence in conjunction with CALL?
How could Content-Based Instruction (CBI) help online L2 learners and teachers to become more actively involved?
What is the impact of negotiation of meaning in online English conversation classes on establishing an operationally interactive learning community?
Research Hypotheses
The Role of Social Context in CALL
The social context of CALL programs is regarded as one of the substantial ingredients of social presence (Tu, 2001) in which some level of uncertainty about complex tasks might trigger social communication among computer-mediated communication users (Steinfield, 1986) to be able to form stereotypical impressions of their partners on the basis of language, typographic, and contextual cues (Walther, 1997).

It is presumed that as long as the concept of social context is concerned, between the two modes of computer-mediated communication (i.e., synchronous and asynchronous), the latter might be more effective to generate the sense of social presence. As Smith and Gorsuch (2004) have argued, some potentially important information may be lost during the message construction phase. On the other hand, Brooke (2012) maintains that asynchronous CMC can help the students to manage their affective barriers (feelings of anxiety and stress) in their interaction as they have enough time to reflect upon and formulate their thoughts before expressing them in CMC. This research is going to investigate whether this hypothesis is tenable or not.

Link to this article: https://lelb.net/research-questions-a...