I found Yanguas' (2010) article, "Oral Computer-Mediated Interactions Between L2 Learners: Its About Time!," to be interesting and yet the findings seem to be common sense. The students were split into three groups (audio, face-to-face, and Skype) and they had to work with a partner to solve a puzzle in Spanish. Not surprisingly, the face-to-face and Skype peer groups negotiated turn-taking similarly and performed relatively the same. Meanwhile, the audio-only groups negotiated turn-taking more frequently and they elaborated more while communicating to one another (while the face-to-face and Skype peer groups used visual cues instead of elaborating).
So, it all depends on the goal of the assignment. If you want students to work on using just language skills to complete a task, then audio-only communication tools can help students achieve this goal. If you want students to actually learn how to negotiate language as if they would in real life, then face-to-face or Skype chat can provide an avenue where students can figure out how to say something either through the language, body language, or both. In the face-to-face and Skype settings students can also "read" their peers and negotiate meaning-making. In the audio-only group, the sole focus is on language.
As we have discussed multiple times during class, it's ultimately the decision and goals of the teacher to determine how to best use CMC tools to facilitate learning.
Yanguas, Í. (2010). Oral computer-mediated interaction between L2 learners: It’s about time. Language Learning & Technology, 14(3), 72-93.
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