Teletandem as a way of enhancing language learning between Brazilian and German students

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating the teletandem learning interactions between a group of Brazilian students from Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Goiás, Brazil, and a group of foreign students from two German universities. In this study, the Brazilian students helped their foreign partners with Portuguese learning and were helped by them in the English learning. The participants used a synchronous computer software called Openmeetings and also an electronic dictionary as a complementary tool. Adopting a qualitative perspective in the data collection and analysis, this case study was conducted in the second semester of 2010. The data were collected by means of conversation sessions through Openmeetings and were analyzed in the light of studies on sociocultural theory as well as on tandem/teletandem language learning researches. The data analyses showed that the participants used English as an anchoring language to work with Portuguese and English itself, and German was introduced in the teletandem sessions. The data also showed that the whiteboard and the electronic dictionary were used as complementary resources to the use of audio and video for the language learning process the participants engaged in.