Exploration of The Attitudes of
Freshman Foreign Language
Students Toward Using Computers A
Turkish State University
N97C0004 Betty
＊Introduction

Motivation :
I. Gardner＆Lambert (1972):Social-Educational Model
(1) integrative motivation—the learner’s desire to learn a language
for utilitarian purposes such as school requirement or employment
(2) instrumental motivation—to the desire to learn a language to
integrate into the target language community
II. Dornyei (1994):Taxonomy of motivation comprised of three levels
(1) the language level—coinciding with the social dimension
(2) the learner level—coinciding with the personal dimension
(3) the situational level—coinciding with the subject-matter
dimension
＊Introduction
 Motivation
III. Oxford ＆Shearin (1994):
(1) goal setting theory—goal setting can have exceptional
importance in stimulating L2 learning motivation.
(2) expectancy theory—the higher expectancy for a behavior
to produce a specific outcome, the greater tends to be the
motivation.
(3) self-efficacy
IV. Van Lier (1996): three sources of motivation
(1) the past experience
(2) the enjoyment of the performance in present
(3) future goals
＊CALL and Motivation


Warschauer＆ Healey (1998):three periods of computers
(1) Behaviorist CALL
(2) Communicative CALL
(3) Integrative CALL
Lee (2000): eight categories of contribution of net-work-based
technology
(1) experiential learning
(2) motivation
(3) amelioration of students achievement
(4) supply of authentic materials
(5) opportunities for interaction
(6) support for individualized learning
(7) independence from a single information
(8) global understanding
＊CALL and Motivation


Chpelle ＆ Jamieson (2002): more precise outline on CALL
(1) offering elaborated and rich input
(2) providing negative feedback
(3) promoting collaborative learning
MacIntyre, Clement, Dörnyei and Noels (1998): the construct
of “willingness to communicate (WTC)”
--- an intention to communicate at a specific time to a specific
person
＊CALL and Motivation

Two concerns of CALL and motivation
(1) attitudes towards using computers and network applications
in communication and in writing
 Pennington (1996) concluded that computers are
beneficial in writing processes, revision behavior/ social
outcomes, quality of the written work and quantity of
writing.
 Warschauer (1996) indicated students had positive
attitudes toward computer writing and computer mediated
communication.
＊CALL and Motivation

Two concerns of CALL and motivation
(2) motivational aspects of using computers in communication
 Warschauer (1996) identifies four motivating aspects in
CALL
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•
•
•

The novelty of working with a new medium
Individualized nature of computer-assisted instruction
Opportunities for learner control
Opportunities for non-judgmental and rapid feedback
Sullivan (1993) five ideal characteristics of CMC
•
•
•
•
•
Meaningful interaction
Positive interdependence
Dissention
Opportunities to negotiate
Could be better stored
＊ Research Question
1. What aspects of using a PC for writing and
communication create positive attitudes in
freshman foreign language students?
2. Do attitudes towards CALL vary when
different backgrounds are taken into
consideration?
＊ Method
Quantitative Research
◆ Participants
155 Freshmen students (41M, 114F) at a Turkish state
university in Eskisehir
◆ Data Collection
I. The first part of the survey: questionnaire
(1) personal information (gender, age, family income and
number of years’ experience with a PC) form as the
independent variables of the study
(2) questionnaire (rating the frequency of using PCs for
purposes)
(3) stating the hours of using Internet per week
II. The second part of the survey: questionnaire
(1) questionnaire (Using 30 five-point Likert Scale
questionnaire to know students’ feelings about using
computers)
◆ Data Analysis
Method

Factor Analysis
(1)Maximum Likelihood estimation

Data reduction and data summarization
(2)pricipal component analysis




Factor extraction
T-test
One-way ANOVAs
Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient
◆ Results
a. What aspects of using a PC for writing and communication create
positive attitudes in freshmen foreign language students?
The author suggests that the total score be used as the attitude
score towards computer assisted writing.
◆ Results
b. Do attitudes towards CALL vary when different backgrounds are taken
into consideration?
Gender
The independent samples t-test comparing scores of make and female
students showed that males and females did not differ from each other in
terms of attitudes toward computer assisted writing and communication
Having a PC at home
The students who had a PC at home had significantly more positive
attitude towards computers that students who did not have a PC at home.
Age
The groups did not differ on their attitudes towards CALL in terms of age.
Other Predictors of Total Scores
Attitudes scores of the sample were positively related with experience
with a PC and hours of Internet use per week.
＊Discussion
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Lee (2000)’s and Chapelle and Jamieson (2002)’s hypotheses
were supported that CALL involved a promoting
communication and collaborative learning.
Students had increased self-esteem since they did not face
their addressees in person.
Factors and means scores on relevant items implied that
students were more creative, wrote better essays, and saved
time using computers in comparison to writing by hand.
The items in the current scale generated positive responses
toward using computers in instruction.
The result of the current study support the assumptions of Lee
(2000)—computer assisted language instruction might lead to
more positive attitudes.
＊ Implication
(1)
Qualitative in depth analyses should be conducted to
understand whether students had bought their PCs because
they had positive attitudes, or whether thy had positive
attitudes because they had a PC at home.
＊ Conclusion

Warschauer (1996) considers that giving students more
opportunity to use CMC tools and integrating computer
activities into EFL settings an help teachers enhance students’
motivation.

Computer mediated settings might have the potential to create
and ideal atmosphere in language classroom. It is important for
teachers to get theoretical and methodological knowledge and
experience on CMC tools to help students have more
opportunities to communicate via computers and be more
motivated toward language learning.