Abstract

Face-to-face and computer-mediated collaboration have been used extensively in educational practice. However, research on teaching writing skills for English as a foreign language under collaborative conditions has reported mixed or even negative findings. Cognitive load theory can be used to explain many of these contradictory findings. An experiment (n = 60) was conducted to compare the effectiveness of face-to-face and computer-mediated collaborative conditions in fostering learners’ acquisition of writing skills. The results indicated that the face-to-face instructional condition benefitted learners’ development of writing skills more than the computer-mediated communication condition. Evolutionary educational psychology with its distinction between evolutionary primary and secondary skills was used to explain these results. It was suggested that since we have evolved to collaborate in face-to-face contexts, the associated primary skills could be used to leverage the acquisition of the secondary skills required during foreign language writing.

摘要

面对面和计算机介导的协作已广泛用于教育实践中。但是，有关在合作条件下将英语作为外语进行写作技能教学的研究报告了混杂甚至是负面的发现。认知负荷理论可以用来解释许多矛盾的发现。实验（n = 60）进行了比较，以面对面和计算机为媒介的协作条件在培养学习者的写作技能方面的有效性。结果表明，面对面的教学条件比计算机介导的交流条件更有利于学习者的写作技能发展。进化教育心理学及其在进化主要技能和次要技能之间的区别被用来解释这些结果。有人建议，由于我们已经发展为在面对面的环境中进行协作，因此可以将相关的主要技能用于利用外语写作过程中所需的中学技能。