Award Date

1-1-2003

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

First Committee Member

Steven G. McCafferty

Number of Pages

103

Abstract

This qualitative study investigated the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in an online ESL composition course. The study analyzed the correspondence between three Koreans and one Russian participant with their instructor that occurred through the WebCT computer-mediated communication (CMC) software tools of asynchronous e-mail and discussion boards and synchronous chat. The results indicated that, (1) personal background issues, (2) personal views of the instructor, and (3) motivation, attitude, and personal awareness of tool utilization impacted the participants' use of the CMC tools and this in turn impacted the ZPD. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of the impact of the ZPD in relation to the students, tools, materials, and instructor in the online second language classroom.

Keywords

Composition; Course; Development; ESL; Online; Proximal; Zone

Controlled Subject

Curriculum planning; Education, bilingual; Language arts; Educational technology; Rhetoric

File Format

pdf

File Size

2764.8 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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