Synchronous CMC text chat versus synchronous CMC voice chat: impacts on EFL learners’ oral proficiency and anxiety

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) text chat and voice chat on Iranian EFL learners’ oral proficiency and anxiety. To this aim, 81 Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners were selected from among 125 students at private English language institutes. The selected participants were divided into two experimental groups (synchronous text chat group and synchronous voice chat group) and a control group; each consisting of 27 pre-intermediate learners of English as a foreign language. Over a 6-week period, the participants in the experimental groups engaged in 60–75-minute-long chat sessions in dyads guided by a total of 10 tasks. The data were collected through pre-anxiety and post-anxiety scales and speaking tests. The analysis of the data revealed that both experimental groups had better performance on their post-test compared to their pretest scores, whereas there was a decrease in the anxiety levels only for the text chat group. The practical implications of the study and suggestions for further research are presented.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• oral proficiency
• synchronous text chat
• synchronous voice chat
• computer-mediated communication

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ehsan Namaziandost

Ehsan Namaziandost was born in Shiraz Province of Iran in 1987. He holds an MA degree in TEFL from Islamic Azad University of Ahvaz. He got his Ph.D. of TEFL at Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran. His main interests of research are Educational Psychology, Motivation and Anxiety, CALL, TEFL, Second Language Acquisition, EFL Teaching and Learning, Language Learning and Technology, Teaching Language Skills, and Language Learning Strategies. Ehsan reviewed more than 773 papers for different international journals. His research papers and articles have been published by different international journals.

Mohammad Hasan Razmi

Mohammad Hasan Razmi is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at Yazd University, Iran. He has been a university lecturer at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran since 2012. His research interests include psycholinguistics, educational psychology, language assessment, and second language acquisition. He has published articles in Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, Reading and Writing Quarterly, International Journal of Psychology, Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, and other international scientific journals.

Ronald M. Hernández

Ronald M. Hernández Master in Education with a major in Computer Science and Educational Technology. Degree in Psychology with a major in Educational Psychology. University professor and qualified researcher RENACYT.

Yolvi Ocaña-Fernández

Yolvi Ocaña-Ferñnández Doctor of Education. Master in University Teaching, with a Bachelor's degree in the specialty of History and Geography, with extensive experience in the education sector.

Masoud Khabir

Masoud Khabir is a PhD candidate in TEFL at Yazd University, Iran. He has been teaching English at different universities and language institutes in Kerman, Iran. His areas of research interest are computer assisted language learning (CALL) and blended learning. He has published articles in international scientific journals.