Forums and chats to learn languages: functions, types and uses

Abstract

This chapter explores language classroom uses of two of the most popular, interactive and simple genres on the Internet: the forum and the chat. First, I review the most relevant literature in areas such as computer-mediated communication discourse analysis (within linguistics), online language teaching and learning or e-learning (in education) and the use of virtual learning platforms (in technology), that usually includes forums and chats. Second, I propose a typology of forums and chats for the language classroom: differentiating general practices, covering a whole course, from specific ones that take place within a week or are related to just one item on the syllabus. I also differentiate between open topic-based forums and chats, on one hand, and more controlled or closed ones, on the other. Finally, I also comment on several ways to link a forum or a chat to other resources and classroom practices. For each of these practices, I set out the learning objectives, the instructions used, the roles taken on by the learners and the teacher or the language they generate (register, kind of interaction, etc.). A number of real-life samples from different contexts are provided and analysed.