Looking to the Future of TESOL Teacher Education: Web-Based Bulletin Board Discussions in a Methods Course

This study investigated students' participation in whole-class, face-to-face discussions and in World Wide Web–based bulletin board (BB) discussions in a TESOL teacher preparation course titled Methods of Teaching Second Languages. Participation patterns and attitudes toward the Web-based discussion were identified through quantitative and qualitative analyses of videotapes of whole-class, face-to-face discussions; transcripts of Web-based BB discussions; and interviews with selected students. The results of the study show that students contributed a substantially larger number of turns in the Web-based BB interactions than the instructor did and that there was no statistical difference between the number of turns contributed by nonnative English speakers and native English speakers in either condition. Face-to-face discussions reflected a three-part structure of initiation, response, and evaluation in which the instructor played a large role whereas Web-based BB discussions consisted of primarily student-student interactions that reflected a high degree of peer support and collaboration. Students held positive attitudes toward Web-based BB discussions as a means of hearing the perspectives of their peers. The findings suggest Web-based BB discussion as a means of integrating technology into TESOL teacher education while encouraging students to develop knowledge through collaboration.