Foreign Language Learning In-Tandem: Theoretical Principles and Research Perspectives

Authors

  • Maria Luisa Vassallo Liceo Classico Marco Foscarini, Venice, Italy
  • João A. Telles UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista

Keywords:

foreign language learning, Tandem, in-tandem, Teletandem, CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning)

Abstract

Foreign language learning in-tandem involves pairs of (native or competent) speakers whose aim is to learn each other’s language by means of bilingual conversation sessions. It is still not widespread in Brazil. Within this autonomous, reciprocal and collaborative learning context, each partner becomes both a learner of the foreign language and a tutor of his/her mother tongue (or language in which he/she feels proficient). In this article, we introduce the principles and characteristics of foreign language learning in-tandem, propose a deepening of these principles, and outline our alternative proposal – Teletandem, an online Tandem that uses the reading, writing, audio and video-conference tools of the Windows Live Messenger. Research about Teletandem is currently being developed within the context of the Brazilian project Teletandem Brasil: Foreign Languages for all, at São Paulo State University – Assis, S. J. do Rio Preto -, and its results will be presented in forthcoming publications.

Author Biographies

Maria Luisa Vassallo, Liceo Classico Marco Foscarini, Venice, Italy

Maria Luisa Vassallo has a BA in Letters from the University of Torino and in Oriental Languages from Ca’Foscari University of Venice. She has an MA in Italian as a Foreign Language and the Promotion of the Italian Language and Culture from Ca’Foscari University. Luisa has taught Latin and Greek for many years and worked as a lecturer of Italian language at UNESP - São Paulo State University in Brazil. Currently, she teaches Latin and Greek at the Liceo Classico Marco Foscarini, in Venice, Italy. The focus of her research in the Teletandem Brasil Project is on the power dynamics related to the use of the native/foreign language within the virtual context.

João A. Telles, UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista

João A. Telles has a Ph.D in Educational Linguistics from OISE – Ontario Institute for Studies in Education - University of Toronto, Canada, and an MA in Applied Linguistics from the Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil. He has developed post-doctorate research at Universitè Charles-de-Gaulle, Lille III, France and was a visiting professor at IDEC – Institute for International Development and Cooperation, University of Hiroshima, Japan. Currently, he is associate professor of Foreign Language Teaching Practicum at the undergraduate level from the Department of Education, UNESP- Universidade Estadual Paulista at Assis. He also teaches in the Graduate Program of Education at UNESP-Marília and the Graduate Program in Language Studies at UNESP-S.J. do Rio Preto. He is the coordinator of Project Teletandem Brasil with research focus on the roles of video images in the interactions between Teletandem pairs.

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Issue

Vol. 27 No. 1 (2006)

Section

Papers

License

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