Partner in speak:peer coaching and rating through online synchronous communication for ESL learners

Krishnan, S. and Abdullah, M. R. (2016) Partner in speak:peer coaching and rating through online synchronous communication for ESL learners. In: Taylor’s 8th Teaching and Learning Conference 2015 Proceedings.

Abstract/Summary

Peer coaching is emerging as a way to enhance the educational experience amongst learners. However, ESL learners tend to have some inhibition when speaking with peers that are of higher proficiency than themselves in face-to-face conversations. It is essential to know whether they exhibit the same characteristics when speaking to peers via synchronous-based online communication. Thus, this research explores ways learners assess their peers when they are communicating with peers of similar and higher competency in English via synchronous online speaking sessions. This study was conducted for six weeks and the participants had to complete two thirty-minute sessions twice a week with a partner of similar and higher language proficiency. The learners then assessed their partners through a questionnaire after each session. Furthermore, the participants also had to write a short reflection about their completed session. The results were analysed using SPSS. The overall findings indicate that students benefit from online synchronous communication.