![]() ![]() ![]() It is inevitable that the process continue, with new and new developments in the field taking over the programs and ideas described here. Over the years, together with the development of new technological solutions, increased bandwidth and CPU power, there has been a notable progress in the types of conferencing tools offered, proceeding from simple text-based chat, through audio- and video-conferencing to the combination of text, graphics and sound in sophisticated whiteboard-enhanced solutions. The availability of free and versatile Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) tools have opened up the language classrooms to the world, adding a truly authentic dimension to the target language interaction taking place in them. Most probably, one of the greatest breakthroughs in the “Information Revolution” of today, as opened by the widespread access to the Internet, has been the communication opportunities opened to individuals, both in the personal, educational and professional settings. The article also provides pedagogical implications and applications for using tools for language teaching purposes. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of the evaluation sheets indicate a clear preference for MSN Messenger and Skype while placing CUworld and Paltalk at the bottom of the list. They also completed an overall evaluation sheet commenting on CMC tools in general and ranking the video chat tools in terms of their potential as language teaching tools and their usability for personal communication purposes. The language teachers were asked to pair up with a partner in the collaborating university to test and then evaluate each of these tools via video chat tool evaluation sheets. This comparison is based on the results of a semester-long project between graduate students at an American university and their counterparts at a university in Turkey. This article presents a critical comparison of the usefulness and practicality of six CMC video chat tools (CUworld, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Paltalk, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger) from the perspective of language teaching professionals. ![]()
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