Idea: Electronic Writing in L2: Accuracy Vs Other Outcomes

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Issue Date
2003-12-01Author
Pérez-Sotelo, Luisa
Gonzalez-Bueno, Manuela
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This article describes the effects of dialogue journaling through e-mail on the language produced by two
groups (experimental and control) of first-semester-Spanish college students. The independent variable was the use of
electronic mail while the dependent variables were accuracy and number of words per message. Quantitative results
showed that the control group significantly outperformed the experimental group regarding grammatical accuracy. Nonsignificant differences for either lexical accuracy or number of words were found. For qualitative analysis, a
questionnaire administered to both groups requested their opinions on the effectiveness and attitude towards the
journaling technique. The authors concluded that, although the e-mail medium promoted a more positive attitude
towards the language, dialogue journals via e-mail did not improve grammar skills. Thus, suggestions are offered to
modify instruction to enhance other positive results from the use of electronic writing in L2, thereby providing a way to
incorporate authentic, real-life writing tasks, develop better classroom rapport, and allow advantages to students
otherwise reluctant to speak in class.
Description
This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.jstor.org/.
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Citation
Pérez-Sotelo, Luisa; González-Bueno, Manuela. (2003). "Idea: Electronic Writing in L2: Accuracy Vs Other Outcomes." Hispania, 86(4):869-873. http://www.dx.doi.org/10.2307/20062959
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