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beliefs,customsorhabits.ThisviewisalsocorroboratedbyVilmi(1994),who
demonstrateshowtheprojectsexecutedhadasignificanteffectondecreasing
misunderstandingofpeoplefromdifferentethnicbackgroundsandboostingconfidence
inusingEnglishasalanguageofcross-culturalcommunication.
Whendecidingonintroducingakeypalexchangetothecurriculum,oneshould
takeintoaccounttheargumentsprovidedbyGonglewskietal(2001),placingemailing
inthebroadercontextoftheimpactoftheinstruction.Astheauthorsclaim,email
extendslanguagelearningtimeandplacebyenlargingstudents'exposuretothetarget
languagebeyondtheclassroom,creatingacontextforreal-worldcommunicationand
authenticinteraction.Also,aproperlyfunctioningexchangeallowsforexpandingtopics
beyondclassroom-basedones,promotesstudent-centredlearningandencouragesequal
opportunityparticipation(Gonglewskietal,2001).
Ontheotherhand,Belisle(1996)provestheneedforakeypalelementbyanalyzing
howlearnersacquireknowledgeinanetwork-basedenvironment.Thus,theargument
isthatelectronicnetworkingcanhelplearnerscreate,analyze,andproduceinformation
andideasmoreeasilyandefficiently,sothatlearningistransformedfromatraditional
passive-listeningexercisetoanexperienceofdiscovery,exploration,andexcitement.
Warschauer(1995)explorestheissueofemailingforpromotingrealcommunication,
claimingthatemailsuppliesopportunitiesforindependentlearningwhichisessential
forL2writingasitsuseinvolvesawiderangeofskillsincludingknowinghowtouse
apersonalcomputer.Apartfrominterpersonalskills,onealsoneedstoacquireand
practicethemoretechnicalabilitiesofknowinghowtonavigatethroughtheresources
ofcyberspaceandbecomingfamiliarwiththespecialregisterandinteractiontypeof
emailcommunication.
Itisadvocatedbysomeresearchers(Belisle,1996;Gonglewskietal,2001)thatthe
importantadvantagesofelectronicnetworkingoverthetraditionaloneislesseningthe
impactofphysicallimitationsinvolvedintraditionalletterwritingandinhibitingor
restrictingthewritingprocess.Thus,asweclaimelsewhere(Krajka,2001a),theconstraints
ofprice,timeandspacebecomenolongerparamount,aswasthecasewith(often
insufficientlystructuredandcontrolled)traditionalpenpalprojects.Accordingly,Internet-
basedcollaborationprojectshelpstudentscomingfrompoorerbackgroundstoengagein
realtargetlanguageinteractionwhichwouldbeinaccessibleforeconomicreasons.
Traditionally,partnerfindingwasseverelylimitedandhadtobebasedonpersonal
contacts,withlownumberofpossiblepartnersandlittlepossibilityoffindingaclass
matchinginmoretermsthanjustageortypeofschool.AsKrajka(2001a)stressesit,
withelectronickeypallingboththepossibilitiesoffindingpartnersandcoordinatingthe
exchangehavebecomefeasible,andteacherscanreallyusesuchexchangestorealize
specificteachinggoalswhicharenegotiateduponinadvancebybothpartiesinvolved.
WiththeInternet-basedletter-writingexchangesbeingmuchcheaper,fasterandmore
convenienttooperate,keypalexchangesarenolongerrandom,butcanproceedaccording
toaprearrangedplan,withcloseteachercoordinationandsupervision.