The Language Teacher
December 2001
Utilizing Keypals in the Classroom
Sung Kim
Temple University
QUICK GUIDE
Key Words: Keypals, email
Learner English Level: Intermediate and up
Learner Maturity Level: College to adult
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Activity Time: 10 to 20 minutes a week outside of class (average)
Keypal programs are like pen pals that communicate via email, usually between different classes or cultures. Their primary purpose is to exchange knowledge of languages and culture, or knowledge of either a personal or general nature (Robb, 1996). The main motivation in creating a keypal program is the opportunity to learn about people from different cultures. This main feature of intercultural exchange, however, should not limit the advantages of keypals only to students who are unfamiliar with each other.
Keypals promote two-way interaction between the students (and teacher), which is accompanied by lively discussion through a high level of control over what is being learned and at what pace. Both satisfaction and learning are positive outcomes (Robertson & Stanforth, 1999; Hackman & Walker, 1990). The following is an activity designed to promote the advantages of keypals within a single, content-based class.
The chat group activity
This activity takes the concept of keypals and expands it to form "chat groups." Keypals often refer to one-on-one situations between two students with the teacher acting as observer or monitor. The communication within chat groups, however, is between every member of the group. The teacher has the opportunity to act as either an observer or a participant. The chat group format requires a student to share her opinions with a group of up to six members. The students write an email to one member of the group, and provide CCs (carbon copies) to the rest.
For the activity, assign each student four email exchanges during the course of the entire semester. Of the email exchanges, two must be original (of at least 100 words each) and the other two must be responses (of at least 50 words each). The difference between the original and response categories can at times overlap. I grant a lot of latitude concerning the contents of the assignments -- the primary rubric of distinction being the word count; and if that fails, then whether the email is truly an original thread, or just following the current topic of discussion. The original email is an opinion, insight, researched fact, or commentary on something that deals with the class content. The inspiration for these emails can come from class discussion, research via the Internet or library, discussion outside of class, or epiphany. The response email comments directly on another student's original or response email.
Getting chat groups started
Email access
The first and most important step is to make sure that everyone has an email account. Either a school-generated account or a student's personal account that can be accessed from home would be acceptable.
Forming groups
Next, inform the students that they will need to form groups of two to six students. If possible, it may be more advantageous to have them form their own groups because they need to be comfortable with presenting ideas to others, and it may help if the students are familiar with each other. On the other hand, teachers may also find it advantageous to designate the groups themselves.
Exchange addresses
Within each group, have the students write down everyone's email address -- including the teacher's. This serves two purposes, as first the teacher can monitor the keypal traffic and see the interests of the individual groups. If enough students start their assignments early, the teacher can tailor her class to fit the interests of her students. The teacher also has the ability to join in on a conversation, or "thread," if she so desires. If need be, the teacher can step in if the email exchanges wander from their original purpose, or if content or language become inappropriate. Second, it encourages the students to write their messages in English if they know the teacher needs to read the assignments and cannot read the students' first language.
Timing
Timing is important. Timing refers to when the keypal assignments begin and when they are due. The most optimal time frame for assignments seems to be any time from the beginning of the semester (ideally, the first or second week) to the end. A teacher's first response to this might be that this would be a foolish thing to do because all the students would wait until the last week to fulfill their email assignments. This is in part true, but the real objection to this schedule is that the teacher would have a lot of email to read all at once. In my opinion, I believe that although this schedule has the potential for being difficult for the teacher, there are two reasons why a flexible schedule is preferable. First, one of the advantages of using keypals is that students are able to pace themselves, exerting control over what they learn and how fast they learn it. With a previous class, I once tried making the keypal exchanges very short, weekly assignments. By the very contradictory nature of the assignment, the keypals portion of the program failed dismally. Second, computers do not always agree with humans. Students often have difficulty getting their email accounts set up, whether individually or through the school. Allowing them to join in their group's discussion at their own leisure reduces the stress associated with trying to get an email account working properly, or falling behind in keypal assignments.
Conclusion
Keypals are an excellent way to promote critical thinking, expression, confidence in presentation to other students, and control over learning -- both in speed and content, which can lead to increased motivation. Students who are often silent in class have the chance to participate and be listened to by others. It is also helpful if the class has more vocal students than discussion time, or if the topic of the day is especially provocative; through keypals, the students have the opportunity to express themselves without competing for the floor. Finally, they learn the target language, English in this case, incidentally or directly, by dealing with the content of the course through the keypals program.
References
Hackman, M. Z., & Walker, K. B. (1990). Instructional communication in the televised classroom: The effects of system design and teacher immediacy on student learning and satisfaction. Communication Education, 39, 196-206.
Robb, T. (1996). E-mail keypals for language fluency. Foreign Language Notes, 38(3), 8-10. Retrieved September 27, 1999 from the World Wide Web: <http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~trobb/keypals.html>.
Robertson, L., & Stanforth, N. (1999). College students' computer attitudes and interest in Web based distance education. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 91(3), 60-64.
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