ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION: A VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM

As the practice of teaching English as a second or other language (TESOL) is increasingly moving away from grammar-translation to communicative methods the role of computers and the Internet in teaching communication is becoming more and more prominent. An overview of the reports from the TESOL field shows that e-mail, Facebook, chat rooms, blogs and other methods of electronic communication can provide learners of English with unique opportunities for authentic interaction in the target language. However, there are certain conventions of electronic communication that may present problems for students and interfere with their effective interaction via computers. This presentation looks into some of these problems and their implications for successful use of electronic communication in TESOL classroom.