E-Mail as a Resource in Teacher Education.

Use of electronic mail (e-mail) as a resource in a Universiti Kebangsaen Malaysia (UKM) English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teacher education course in 1997-98 is described. The second-year undergraduate course, “The Teaching of Reading Skills in an ESL Context,” enrolled 115 students with a range of experience with computers. One course project was a 7-to-10 page research paper in which students must use information from an electronic bulletin board in ESL reading and further expand the topic using library materials. Students were required to include a minimum of two references from the e-mail resource, and worked in groups of 3-4 students. They were instructed to pose a question or message to the list and engage in a discussion, and submit a print-out as part of the paper. Initially, students were placed into tutorial groups to provide practice with e-mail, gain support during the course of the project, and present their papers before submitting them to the instructor. Participants were surveyed after the project concerning their perceptions of it, difficulties encountered, preferred aspects of using e-mail, experimentation with other lists and Web sites, and perceptions of the small-group project experience. Student comments are included. Contains 9 references. (MSE) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.