Individual Differences in Attention to Language Form during Text-based Online Chat

Abstract

The current study examined on what individual variables affect learners’ meta-awareness during chat activities. Participants were 83 English teachers of secondary school and 68 university students. Written questionnaire in the form of survey was used to investigate the effect of learner factors on their attention to form during chat activities. The target variables included career status, blood type, online chat experience in English and Korean, and self-perceived personality. The results showed that while the other variables did not tell any significant differences, career status and blood type were the two significant factors that explained different level of meta-awareness. These results give some methodological implications for this line of research, although it may be hard to implement these findings in the EFL classroom.