5 EVALUATION OF THE STUDY

The initial aim of the study was to explore the effect of computer-mediated communication on such foreign language learners’ skills, as speaking, writing, reading and listening. Due to a small sample size of the present research, it was not possible to examine the impact of computer-mediated communication on all elements of target language competence mentioned above.

Despite the importance of target language writing, reading and listening competence, the current study is limited to investing a possible effect of CMC only on the foreign language speaking skills. These limitations reveal evidence of the difficulty of collecting data on the impact that computer-assisted language learning can have on all components of language competence. Further data collection is required to determine what impact computer-mediated communication has on learner’s writing, reading and listening skills.

Due to practical constraints, it was not possible to investigate the significant relationship between computer-mediated communication tasks and learners’ anxiety. There is abundant room for further progress in determining the extent to which synchronous computer-mediated communication affects the level of learners’ language anxiety. Therefore, more research on this topic needs to be undertaken before the association between learners’ language anxiety and synchronous computer-mediated communication is more clearly understood.

Notwithstanding the fact that results obtained from interviews’ analysis corroborate the findings of a great deal of the previous work on the role of motivation in foreign language learning, the generalisability of these results is subject to certain limitations.

The current study has been unable to provide a comprehensive review of the impact that synchronous computer-mediated communication may have on learners’ language motivation. A further study with more focus on the synchronous computer-mediated communication tasks in language learning and their effect on the students’ motivation level is therefore suggested.

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In his major study on the research design John Creswell (2014) suggests several criteria to check for the accuracy and validity of the research findings, including validity, reliability, and generalizability.

Noble& Smith (2015) claim reliability, validity, and generalizability as the central concepts of quantitative research evaluation and draw our attention to the continuing discussions about the appropriateness of these concepts for qualitative research evaluation. This view is supported by Cresswell (2014; p.251), who highlights that validity ‘does not carry the same connotations in qualitative research as it does in quantitative research.’

Lincoln & Guba (1985) suggest truth value, consistency or neutrality, and applicability as alternative criteria for qualitative research evaluation. According to Noble& Smith (2015), enhancing the truth value of qualitative research requires researcher’s ‘reflexivity and reflections on own perspectives’ and ‘representativeness of the findings.’

In the current study, the process of reflection was aided by the use of a reflective research diary, where all stages of data collection process and decisions were documented. Reflective journal enabled the researcher to carefully think about the research process, deepen the understanding of all research’s facets and establish transparency of the study.

Another strategy employed to enhance the truth value of the present qualitative research was peer debriefing, which helped the researcher to take a critical look at the research process and ‘to uncover taken for granted biases’ (Noble& Smith, 2015). The representativeness of the research findings was enabled by means of audio recordings of the conducted interviews and audiovisual recordings of the participants’ completion of CityCompass tasks. Those recordings were repeatedly used for checking the objectivity of the findings.

Noble& Smith (2015) associate the concept of consistency with the trustworthiness of the study, which can be enabled by providing clear descriptions of the research process

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and transparency of researcher’s decisions. In the present research, the transparency of research process is enhanced with the help of the detailed description of each cycle of current action research. Summary of all facets of the research is reported in Chapter Three.

Commenting on the evaluation of qualitative research reliability, some researchers argue that it ‘requires researchers to make judgments about the research in relation to the application and appropriateness of the methods undertaken and the integrity of the final conclusions’ (Noble& Smith, 2015). In the present qualitative research, an action research method was considered as the most appropriate due to a participatory nature of the study and its orientation to practice.

Application of action research is also explained by the characteristic for this research type active interaction between a researcher and a researched subject. In the current study, this interaction is presented in a practical experiment, which served as one of the data collection tools. All data of the current research were carefully analyzed and accurately reflected in the research findings. Findings of each data collection method are reported in Chapter Four.

Creswell (2014; p.251) suggests to ‘triangulate different data sources’ to assess the research validity. The present research employed that method by involving multiple types of data collection tools: a qualitative observation, interviews, qualitative documents, practical experiments with the implementation of qualitative audio and visual materials and questionnaires. The use of multiple data collection tools enabled the researcher to examine the evidence from different perspectives and add to the research’s validity.

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6 DISCUSSION

This chapter aims to provide a summary of research findings and to reflect on the connection between obtained results and a theoretical framework on the computer- mediated communication and media literacy. The chapter indicates limitations and prospects for future research.

In the context of the current case study, the impact of computer-mediated communication on Finnish language learners was examined. In present research computer-mediated communication was enabled through result-oriented collaborative tasks of the CityCompass application.

As mentioned in the literature review, the convergence of media and technology is perceived to enrich traditional classroom activities, and a significant number of educators have taken the challenge of introducing computer-mediated activities into traditional teaching methods. Following the present results, previous studies have suggested good prospects for further increasing the integrity of technology and foreign language teaching and learning. And while the benefits of blended learning are subject to continuous discussion, a clear need to modify traditional teaching approach, including a considerable modification of existing task types with regards to the peculiarities of modern technology.

Findings of the current research corroborate this idea and suggest that a significant part of the changes required is in charge of the field of media education. Taking into account the focus of media education on ‘pedagogic support to human relationships with media’ (Kotilainen, 2015), it can thus be suggested that truly effective computer-assisted language learning can be established with the teachers’ professional competence in media literacy in the first place.

Some authors have highlighted the considerable importance of language learners’ active involvement in result-oriented oral activities for the successful target language acquisition (Bruner, 1960, 1962; Gass, 2000). Consistent with the literature, our research found thatafter completion of result-oriented tasks of CityCompass application the majority of participants who took part in the research experiment

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showed better performance in speaking activities of a post-test than in the previous identical tasks of a pre-test.

Despite the fact that most research on computer-mediated communication found evidence on the increased frequency of technology use for educational purposes, the present research findings revealed an unexpectedly poor experience of experiment’s participants in technology use for language learning. It was hypothesized that participants with previous experience of foreign language acquisition would be more familiar with the use of technological inheritance for mastering target language.

Contrary to expectations, research findings indicated that with a few exceptions the majority of respondents rarely used technology as a means of foreign language acquisition. Of the thirteen participants, only three reported a high frequency of technology use in language learning. It is difficult to explain this result, but it might be related to the fact that participants mastered their second languages at the time when the concept of computer-assisted language learning wasn’t common, and in the process of a new foreign language acquisition they tended to use familiar methods.

An implication of this is the possibility that by integrating technology into traditional classroom language teaching may increase learners’ frequency of technology use for independent language learning.

Prior studies have noted the importance of task choice and complexity for the effective language learning (Wang & Winstead, 2016). The findings of the current study are consistent with a great deal of the previous work on synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC), that consider a possibility that due to its strict time limits SCMC may be daunting and inappropriate for a particular group of students (Abrams, 2003; Sotillo, 2000; Hwanf, 2008).

In the present study, a strict criterion for the selection of experiment’s participants was used. To avoid creating participants’ anxiety about the experiment’s task completion, all candidates were required to have an adequate command of the Finnish language.

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Despite a careful selection of participants, our findings indicate the case when the experience of synchronous computer-mediated communication enabled by means of CityCompass weakened student’s confidence in Finnish speaking skills. This result may be explained by the fact that synchronous computer-mediated communication puts a time limit on thinking over the responses and requires participants to produce an immediate reaction to their partner’s speech.

Moreover, findings of the present action research suggest that computer-mediated communication tasks may have an impact on learners’ perception of task complexity. In this study, analysis of evaluation forms indicated that major view amongst the experiment’s participants was that after completion of synchronous computer-mediated tasks of CityCompass, they perceived tasks of a post-test to be easier than similar tasks of a pre-test. However, with small sample size, caution must be applied, as the findings might not be extrapolated to all language students engaged in synchronous computer- mediated communication tasks.

A number of researchers have considered synchronous computer-mediated communication to be more useful for enriching students’ vocabulary and asynchronous computer-mediated communication to be a useful tool for improving learners’ syntactic accuracy (Abrams, 2003; Sotillo, 2000; Hwanf, 2008). Findings of several comparative studies indicate that learners engaged in synchronous computer-mediated communication tasks produced more meaning-focused language output, while asynchronous computer-mediated communication tasks increased learners’ language accuracy (Abrams, 2003; Sotillo, 2000; Hwanf, 2008).

The results obtained in this study mirror those of the previous studies that have examined the effect of synchronous computer-mediated communication on the learners’ vocabulary variety. Analysis of the research results confirmed that engagement in synchronous computer-mediated communication tasks of CityCompass application enabled learners to use wider vocabulary with a larger variety of expressions while performing oral tasks of a post-test.

Taken together, current research findings made it possible to answer the research question of the study and state that computer-mediated communication can have a significant impact on learners’ encouragement to be actively engaged in the learning

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process. The results of this investigation also show that computer-mediated communication has a positive effect on learners’ target language speaking skills. Computer-mediated communication in language learning can be a useful tool for expanding learners’ vocabulary and developing their language fluency.

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APPENDICES