Roles and scaffolding in teletandem interactions: a study of the relations between the sociocultural and the language learning dimensions in a French–Chinese teletandem

Abstract

International audienceOur paper aims to present students’ interactions in a teletandem – that is, tandem through desktop videoconference [Telles, J., ed. 2009. Teletandem. Um contexto virtual, autônomo, colaborativo para aprendizagem das linguas estrangeiras no século XXI. Campinas, SP: Pontes Editores] – telecollaborative project between third-year undergraduate students in a Chinese university and first-year graduate students in a French university. More precisely, we aim to find possible relations between the sociocultural roles co-constructed during interaction and the language learning possibilities in this teletandem environment. In our study, we adopt a socio-interactionist approach [Mondada, L., and S. Pekarek-Doehler. 2004. “Second Language Acquisition as Situated Practice: Task Accomplishment in the French Second Language Classroom.” The Modern Language Journal 88 (4): 501–518], assuming that learning is situated in social interactions. Our corpus of analysis is formed by 15 teletandem sessions of four partnerships, which result in about 20 hours of interaction. Our analytical approach consists of three steps. First, we analyse role-taking and role-giving in terms of interlocutors’ positioning as experts in relation to different topics of conversation [Reichert, T., and G. Liebscher. 2012. “Positioning the Expert: Word Searches Expertise and Learning Opportunities in Peer Interactions.” The Modern Language Journal 96 (4): 599–609]. Second, we analyse scaffolding [Bruner, J. 1983. Le développement de l'enfant. Savoir faire, savoir dire. Paris: PUF] as it appears in different types of conversational side sequences [Jefferson, G. 1972. “Side Sequences.” In Studies in Social Interaction, edited by D. Sudnow, 294–338. New York: The Free Press] identified in studies on exolingual conversation [Porquier, R. 1984. “Communication exolingue et apprentissage des langues.” In Acquisition d'une langue étrangère III, edited by B. Py, 17–47. Paris: Presses de l'Université Paris VIII Vincennes à Saint-Denis]. Third, we observe the relations between types of role-taking and role-giving and types of scaffolding side sequences. Statistical analysis shows that some conversational phenomena are more common than others. In our opinion, the knowledge of such configurations can enrich task designers’ perspectives on teletandem and possibly on telecollaboration

Alignment During Synchronous Video Versus Written Chat L2 Interactions: A Methodological Exploration

“…Data Sets and Participants Our data consist of 10 hours of online interactions of university students that are L2 users of a foreign language. The video-based data stem from the Teletandem Dalian-Lille project (Cappellini, 2016), where four French-Chinese pairs were engaged in free teletandem conversations. Two students from partner universities in France and China interacted through video chat to help each other learn their respective L1s.…”

Digitally-supported language exchanges in primary school: The AlpConnectar project

“…Some studies emphasize that direct contact with native speakers improves language competences in all areas, especially in communicative uses (Belz & Thorne, 2006;Chun, 2008). Cappellini (2016) has observed that some conversational actions occur online more often than offline, thus supporting the idea that this new format might offer new affordances for language learning (cf. Jianqi & Yuping, 2010).…”

Sequences of normative evaluation in two telecollaboration projects: A comparative study of multimodal feedback through desktop videoconference

“…In our study we analyse data from two pedagogical settings. The first one is the Teletandem Dalian-Lille project (Cappellini 2014a(Cappellini , 2016, a teletandem between third year undergraduate students learning French at the Dalian University of Foreign Languages in China and first year graduate students learning Chinese at the Lille3 University in France. Students had an intermediate proficiency level in their target language.…”

“…Within the socio-interactionist approach, many authors have identified different types of conversational side sequence (Jefferson 1972) in which the mediational work of joint attention driving the internalization of symbolic instruments at the microgenetic level (Wertsch 1985) can be observed. From among these types of side sequence (see Cappellini 2016), in this study we selected "sequences of normative evaluation" (séquences d'évaluation normative, hereafter SEN) identified and described by Py (2000). Py defines SENs as side sequences starting when a native speaker/expert interlocutor takes the unsolicited initiative to repair the utterance of a non-native speaker/learner.…”

“…On the learners' side, our hypothesis is that we will find a greater ratio between uptakes/SENs in the ISMAEL sub-corpus. In fact, many studies on e-and teletandem found that linguistic accuracy is usually neglected in favor of efficient communication (Bower and Kawaguchi 2011;Cappellini 2016;Darhower 2008; O'Rourke 2007 among others).…”