CMC in English Language Learning: Gains and Losses

This paper aims to address the gains and losses of the CMC environment in Language learning. Data were attained from twelve middle school ESL students who took English as a second language class and twelve pre-service teachers taking ESL foundation course. This exploration describes the role of CMC focusing on its' advantages and disadvantages which language teachers need to consider. The findings revealed that the teachers, tasks, and other elements involved in the CMC environment provided several gains and losses for many areas of learning. This implies that CMC alone does not provide an optimal learning environment, but rather it is used as an essential tool in providing opportunities to enhance language learning. Several suggestions are made for teachers and pre-service teacher education how CMC instruction might be better designed. The paper concludes with some practical considerations for future research in the area of CMC.