Abstract:

This article provides a report on NetMeeting as an appropriate fourth-generation tool for interactive language learning in distance mode. It follows on earlier research by Wang and Sun (2000, 2001) on the most urgent problem facing distance language education--lack of provision of oral-visual interaction and the emergence of a fourth-generation distance language learning. The article proceeds through three cumulative parts. The first part is a definitional context of interaction and computer-mediated communication (CMC) as a framework for the article. The second part focuses on interaction as a core problem in the language learning literature and suggests a new taxonomy through CMC in terms of the potential for written, oral, and, more recently, oral-visual interaction. The third part, and the substance of the article, is an empirical investigation of Internet-based videoconferencing tools focusing on NetMeeting as the most appropriate one in terms of meeting criteria proposed for such tools.

Author: Yuping Wang