View Content #18689

Adrienne Gonzales is the Foreign Language Technology and Pedagogy Specialist for the Center for World Languages and Cultures at the University of Denver. Her academic interests include second language acquisition, computer assisted language learning, and interlanguage pragmatic development.

Pursuing the studying of Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs), deepening the study of a language and culture through incorporation across the curriculum, or simply strengthening students’ connection with a classroom-taught foreign language: these are all scenarios that call for innovation and individualization. Many institutions and teachers are turning to independent learning models as a solution to provide students with the opportunity to enrich and personalize their study of languages and cultures. Telecollaboration can help make this not only possible, but successful.

Telecollaboration has long been considered a valuable tool for education, and for over two decades, researchers and teachers have explored its benefits for language learning contexts. Studies have shown that when planned and executed properly, telecollaborative activities can increase student motivation, promote greater target language (TL) output, and provide the opportunity for international encounters. The result for language learners is greater communicative, intercultural, and pragmatic competence and increased cultural awareness (e.g., Belz, 2003; Gonzalez-Lloret, 2011; Kelm, 1996; O’Dowd, 2003; Warschauer, 1999, among many others).  Now more than ever, the ability for learners to connect with the TL and culture is critical for comprehensive second language preparation, and the evolution of online culture has created a new generation of telecollaborative exchanges that leverage Web 2.0 tools and in turn require attention to online literacies, in addition to TL competence (Guth & Helm, 2010).

Telecollaboration is an invaluable resource for independent learning models, since it can provide students with personalized access to and involvement with the TL.  How can telecollaboration facilitate and enhance independent learning?  

For Directed Independent Language Study and Self-Instructed Language Programs

Learners communicate with language partners and tutors (who may not be locally available) and collaborate with peers from other institutions to share resources and create a community of learners, particularly for LCTLs.

For Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum Programs

Learners enrich and deepen their knowledge of the TL through study of their major concentration in the TL, connecting with other students and faculty of their content area to discuss material and conduct research.  

For Differentiation

Strict sequences and schedules dictate and can limit learning in traditional classroom settings.  Telecollaborative activities provide learners with agency (and in turn motivation) to individualize their study of the TL by emphasizing a particular skill or exploring a certain topic or regional dialect.  

In any context, successful language learning is a social endeavor, and independent learning models can be made very effective with the help of telecollaboration.  

References

Belz, J. A. (2003). Linguistic perspectives on the development of intercultural competence in telecollaboration. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 68-99.

González-Lloret, M. (2011). Conversation Analysis of Computer-Mediated Communication. CALICO Journal, 28(2), pp. 308-325.

Guth, S. & Helm, F. (Eds.) (2010). Telecollaboration 2.0: Language, literacies and intercultural learning in the 21st Century.  Bern: Peter Lang.

Kelm, O. (1996). The application of computer networking in foreign language education: Focusing on principles of second language acquisition. In M. Warschauer (Ed.), Telecollaboration in foreign language learning (pp. 19-28). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

O'Dowd, R. (2003). Understanding the "other side": Intercultural learning in a Spanish-English e-mail exchange. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 118-144.

O’Dowd, R. (2013). Telecollaboration and CALL. In Thomas, M., Reinders, H., & Warschauer, M. (Eds.), Contemporary computer-assisted language learning (pp. 123-139). London/New York: Bloomsbury.

Warschauer, M. (1999). Electronic Literacies: Language, Culture, and Power in Online Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.