L2 Learners’ Uses of Cultural Tools of Authority during Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication

Abstract

This study examines how L2 learners frame collaboration by means of cultural tools of authority (Wertsch, 1991; Wertsch & Rupert, 1993) during on-line chat from the perspective of socio-constructivist model on learning. Ultimately, this study attempts to identify empirically contributions of the interactional dimension of L2 synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) to the configuration of collaboration. The data consist of the scripts of more than sixty hours of L2 on-line chat sessions of intermediate-advanced-level English learners enrolled in a college. Tasks assigned to these learners include activities on the grammaticality of different English sentences. The qualitative, empirical analysis reveals that while trying to configure the collaborative framework, the participants primarily depend upon four different types of cultural tools of authority: internet resources; a dictionary; handouts; and the professor. These tools, once they are embedded into the on-line interaction in a well-designed manner, function to define who the more capable learner is, which in turn affects the validity of the suggested solution and organization of the talk on the given task. These findings indicate that in order to properly handle L2 tasks on-line, L2 learners need to be cognizant of how collaboration is framed depending upon their use of the context-specific, cultural tools of authority.