Narrative-based Writing Instruction in a CALL Class : Through the Use of the "Comment Tool"

Abstract

This paper reports on narrative-based writing instruction carried out in a CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) class at Hiroshima University, and also reports on students' impressions on such instruction. The class was an extracurricular lecture, so students had a wide variety of educational backgrounds, reasons for class participation, and proficiency in English. In order to deal with such a variety, the author-instructor divided instructions into three phases. The first phase was to give correct or comment feedback on students' compositions. The second phase was a narrative-based instruction for each student explaining why corrections were made on their compositions. The third phase involved whole class explanation of common mistakes made by students, and the introduction of useful websites and books concerning writing. These instructions were carried out by using the "comment tool" of Microsoft Word.