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

• Main Authors: Maria Luisa Vassallo, João A. Telles
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo 2011-07-01
• Series: The ESPecialist: Research in Language for Specific Purposes
• Subjects: foreign language learning; Tandem; in-tandem; Teletandem; CALL (Computer-Assisted Language Learning)
• Online Access: https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/esp/article/view/6117

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.