A draft manuscript has been prepared for TASK-BASED INSTRUCTION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION: PRACTICES AND PROGRAMS, Betty Lou Leaver and Jane G. Willis, Editors. Georgetown University Press.

Chapter 10. Webheads Communities: Writing Tasks Interleaved with Synchronous Online Communication and Web Page Development

Vance Stevens

Vance Stevens is a former consultant and computer-assisted language learning (CALL) Coordinator for the Amideast MLI Project in Abu Dhabi. His interests include multimedia CMC (computer-mediated communication) and the development of communities of practice utilizing web-based software tools.

Introduction

"Webheads" is an umbrella term for an online community of language learners and teachers that has developed in two distinct directions. Writing for Webheads started in 1998 as a synchronous reincarnation of an email-based online writing course. Meeting in text- and avatar-based chat areas, a community of students and teachers gradually formed online. The community was based at a website which served not only as a platform for displaying corrected student writings but as a focal point for community members to get to know each other's faces, voices, and stories. A community of practice has formed where, although much of our interaction is done in writing (hence, Writing for Webheads). The community has also attracted interest within the wider community of educators on the forefront of using technology in language learning. This has been accomplished through assimilating teaching peers into the course, often through Webheads participation in online events and conferences, and has seeded the formation of two additional professional Webheads communities, most recently Webheads in Action. This chapter describes the two communities in the context of task-based learning.

After publication, the full length paper might appear here, pending approval of the publishers (Georgetown University Press). Meanwhile, a pre-publication draft of this work may be found here.

©opyright 2003 by Vance Stevens