Investigating the discourse of ICT-mediated instruction: creative research to the use and effectiveness of ICT tools in primary English

Abstract

Although prior research has abundantly revealed the types and methods of applicable hard/software in accordance with the different purposes of language classrooms, the quality of discourse manifested in those information and communications technologies (ICT)-mediated teaching contexts is still unexplored. This study, therefore, provides a detailed sequential analysis of the utterances in ICT-mediated instruction in Korean primary English classrooms. This approach is differentiated from the existing mainstream of research, which takes the top-down process to the ICT-mediated language classrooms. The result of the study reveals that the enriched content of ICT tools was effective in terms of promoting students' interests and motivation, but the teachers did not seem to efficiently maintain the students' participation. This finding will contribute to enlarging the scope of ICT-related research and developing effective interactional practices of ICT-mediated language teaching and learning.