Writing conferences via synchronous computer-mediated communication: A case study of an ESL learner

This study examined how synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) affected the development of second language (L2) writing skills. The participant in this study was given writing prompts chosen from the Test of Written English (TWE), and was asked to write short essays. He wrote an initial draft and a final essay for each topic, and there was a one-on-one online conference after each draft. The essays were compared to the chat logs for any changes the participant made. Four native speakers of English ranked the essays and two of them made detailed comments on them. The participant was interviewed three times during the observation period of three months. The findings of this study show that SCMC has positive effects on the development of writing skills with respect to short- and possibly long-term revision. The participant made revisions on most of the places that were brought up in the conferences and made more changes by himself in the later essays. The comments from the two writing teachers also show that theses changes helped the essays. In addition, the participant felt more and more comfortable with writing and the conferences as the study progressed and showed a positive attitude toward using SCMC as a tool for developing writing skills. Finally, the findings suggest that SCMC has both advantages and disadvantages in its application to writing conferences. Further discussion and the limitations of the study are also presented.