From drill-and-practice software,to word-processing programs,to network and hypertext software,the gradual integration of technology in classrooms over the last twenty years has tended to reflect the technological developments and more importantly the theories of learning and instruction developed by scholars.Thus,the introduction of network technologies in education coincided with a shift in education from an interest in cognitive and developmental theories of learning to a social and collaborative view of learning.The present paper focuses on synchronous computer-mediated interaction,namely computer-assisted instruction and discussion in the second language classroom.