【Web-based,Cross-country,E-pal,Enhance,Writing,Teaching】E pal

　　Abstract: This paper examines how the real social context which formed by cross-country E-pal thought internet help students improve second language writing. There is a comparison between 3 groups so that the function of E-pal may be distinguished. Especially, this paper tries to testify the function of real social meaning audience in writing. In the process we try to do some explorations in the field of CALL.
　　Key words: E-pal; Call; Writing; international Communication.
　　1 Background
　　1.1 The development of CALL
　　Since the1980s, computer assisted language learning (CALL) has been developing rapidly, and many studies have been conducted in this area. For example, Beatty (2003) identified eight different types of CALL applications and specified the place of CALL in research and teaching. Lun (2005) proposed an integrated approach to CALL, emphasizing the importance of pulling linguistics, educational psychology, computer science and information technologies together for the effective design and implementation of CALL applications. In addition, Szendeffy (2005) wrote a practical guide to using computers in language teaching, describing various CALL classroom activities. The advent of the Internet has significantly contributed to the boom in educational technology and rapid growth of online education in recent years (Carnevale, 2004), and language instruction is no exception.
　　1.2 The necessity of international communication
　　In our increasingly global community, it is essential that schools support children in developing productive and meaningful relationships with others at home and around the world. “Getting to know each other requires a personal touch. It is not enough to have knowledge about one’s race, one’s ethnicity, one’s country or region of the world. We must come to know each other person to person” (Hayes, 1998, p.5). A productive method for assisting students in developing personal understandings of other peoples is through pen pal friendships.
　　The writing of pen pal letters has been a popular practice for generations. Pen pal relationships are most likely to develop during childhood and adolescence, and they serve the purpose of providing safe arrangements in which children can form close and open relationships with peers (Shulman, Seiffge Krenke, & Dimitrovsky, 1994).
　　1.3 The concept changing of teaching writing
　　Traditionally, the instructional focus for writing is primarily centered on the acquisition of prerequisite skills, often in isolation. Opportunities for students to develop competencies in writing are often contrived and artificial (work-books, worksheets), with little chance for the learner to engage in a natural process of writing. The advent of e-mail and popularity of computer interaction among children and youth provides a natural, “nonacademic” written communication medium.