30 MINUTES OF SYNCHRONOUS CHAT WILL BEGIN AT 11:30 (MT) MONDAY OCT. 3 USING THE EMBEDDED TLK.IO APP ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN (LOOK FOR THE BLUE BAR TITLED L2DLAZCALL2016).
Brianna Janssen Sánchez, University of Iowa
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Abstract
The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the diverse strategies that participants used to position themselves in telecollaborative tandem exchanges. Students studying English in Mexico and students studying Spanish in the U.S. formed pairs to participate in a semester long telecollaborative tandem exchange project where they video chatted four times, communicating 20 minutes in Spanish and 20 minutes in English. The researcher adopted the lens of positioning, moving away from strict and reciprocal NS-as-expert versus NNS-as-learner roles and assumptions of interaction, to explore how tandem participants positioned themselves and their partner at different moments throughout the exchange. The analyses triangulated all three data sources of the study—a participant survey, the chat 2 discourse transcripts, and participant interviews. The positioning strategies adopted by the participants in two case study pairs did not reflect the canonical view of NS and NNS roles in telecollaborative tandem exchanges (Appel & Mullen, 2000; Brammerts, 1996; Little & Brammerts, 1996).
In most cases, the alternation of roles of NS as expert and NNS as learner were not evident. Instead participant-positioning strategies seemed to stem from the situation and the topic of conversation, rather than from the language in which they were communicating. Participants had a strong desire to communicate and build a relationship as peers or as equals and at times expressed a strong resistance to accepting a NS-as-expert and NNS-as-learner roles. The findings indicate that because pair interaction in telecollaborative tandem exchanges is complex, it is recommended that focus be taken away from assigning participants roles assumed of the tandem context. Rather, the instructions for participants should invite students to engage in exploration of self and other through co-construction of pair discourse.
Presenters
Brianna Janssen Sánchez
University of Iowa