The zone of proximal development in an online Esl composition course

This qualitative study investigated the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in an online ESL composition course. The study analyzed the correspondence between three Koreans and one Russian participant with their instructor that occurred through the WebCT computer-mediated communication (CMC) software tools of asynchronous e-mail and discussion boards and synchronous chat. The results indicated that, (1) personal background issues, (2) personal views of the instructor, and (3) motivation, attitude, and personal awareness of tool utilization impacted the participants' use of the CMC tools and this in turn impacted the ZPD. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of the impact of the ZPD in relation to the students, tools, materials, and instructor in the online second language classroom.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2003

Author dc:creator

• Paver, Jennifer Ann

Contributors dc:contributor

• Steven G. McCafferty

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1501

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2500