Many People, Many Minds

This study investigates the use and potential of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) for students of English as a Second Language (ESL). The hypothesis that drives this study is founded on the assumption that students can work collaboratively online using software which allows them to chat and edit a document simultaneously. The purpose is to study the nature of collaboration and the students’ knowledge transformation. This study is focused on the collaborative process of language work for ESL classrooms, and provides evidence of a potential affordance in the method of CSCL. This potential remains untapped in the ESL classroom today. The need for shared knowledge transformation requires students’ ability to appropriate the necessary skills to learn collaboratively. “Many minds” holds the potential to facilitate and assist ESL students in their language learning with the use of new technological opportunities as well as new didactical practices.