Synchronous online chatting has been mundanely employed in language classrooms as a supporting instructional medium. To explore the current state of research and inform future studies, this article examines the past studies on the use of Synchronous online text chatting in English as second/foreign language courses. Using frequently referred…

Purpose: Founded in sociocultural theories of learning, the authors argue that engaging learners in collaborative knowledge building is critical. When responding to others' ideas, research shows that learners in online settings more frequently focus on surface-level aspects of colleagues' contributions -- sharing, comparing and praising -- rather…