Volume 7, Issue 1 - Special Issue: Synchronous communication technologies in language and intercultural learning and teaching in higher education, Guest Editors: Breffni O’Rourke and Ursula Stickler

We propose a definition of synchronous communication based on joint attention, noting that in certain mediated communication settings joint attention is a matter of perception rather than determinable fact. The most salient properties of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) are real-time pressure to communicate and a greater degree of social presence relative to asynchronous communication. These properties underlie the benefits and challenges of SCMC for language learning, which we discuss under three headings: (1) SCMC as learning tool; (2) SCMC as target competence; and (3) SCMC as setting for learner dialogue, intracultural and intercultural. We survey research themes in SCMC and preview the contributions of the Special Issue. Finally, we identify questions for future research.

This article attempts to shed some light on the possible learning benefits for language acquisition and intercultural development of authentic social interaction with expert peers through computer mediated communication (CMC) tools. The environments used in this study are video communication and the 3D virtual world Second Life . For this research study 41 students of Spanish were randomly allocated to three conditions: (1) face-to-face control group, (2) experimental interaction group with video communication, and (3) experimental interaction group with Second Life . All students were following the same language course at B1 level and carried out 5 communication tasks. Different data sources were gathered to measure the impact that integration of CMC has on the development of the intercultural and communicative competence of L2 learners: (1) pre- and post- oral tests to measure the communicative growth of L2 learners; (2) surveys to gather participants’ experiences; and (3) recordings of communication sessions for qualitative in- depth analysis of interaction. Significant differences in the development of communicative competence were found, with experimental groups scoring significantly higher than the face-to-face control group.

In our study we analyse how the same interactional dynamic is produced in two different pedagogical settings exploiting a desktop videoconference system. We propose to focus our attention on a specific type of conversational side sequence, known in the Francophone literature as sequences of normative evaluation. More particularly, we analyse data from two telecollaborative projects through desktop videoconference: a French-Chinese tandem, and a French-Irish telecollaboration between trainee teachers and learners of French as a foreign language. The comparison of two different pedagogical settings allows us to understand what types of interactional dynamics are co-constructed through the desktop videoconference environment and which characteristics are specific to each pedagogical setting. Within a socio-interactionist perspective, we analysed four hours of interactions, focusing particularly on the transmodal enactment of the sequences under scrutiny and its relation to learners’ uptake. Our results show on the one hand that there are some quantitative differences in the production of sequences of normative evaluation between the two pedagogical settings, and on the other hand that, contrary to our hypothesis, the co-construction of these sequences does not differ in multimodal density across the two contexts. We discuss these results and propose some tentative explanations for them.

Higher education institutions are increasingly interested in offering more flexible teaching and learning delivery methods that are often independent of place. Where foreign language learning is concerned, telecollaboration is gaining ground. This paper focuses on synchronous webconferencing-supported teaching and examines how different semiotic resources are used during lexical explanation sequences. The context is a telecollaborative exchange between Business students learning French and trainee teachers on a Master’s programme in Teaching French as a Foreign Language. Using multimodal transcriptions of interaction data from two sessions, the sequential analysis provides access to different combinations of semiotic resources. These include using the visual mode to project active listening strategies and the complementary role of the text chat to secure common ground concerning the target item. The analysis sheds light on a ‘thinking break’ strategy employed by the trainees. Descriptive examples demonstrate how verbal explanations were accompanied, firstly, by deictic and iconic gestures and, secondly, by metaphoric gestures used to help forefront different properties of the target item. Finally, changes in gaze and proximity were observed as playing a role in interaction management and in signalling which verbal modality was forefronted. The study illustrates emerging pedagogical and multimodal communication strategies for ‘doing vocabulary teaching’.

This paper discusses to what extent synchronous communication via Skype by Argentine university students of History and Danish university students of Spanish contributed to fostering intercultural competence in the two groups of participants. Intercultural gains are considered both as part of the planned tasks to be solved by the participants (intentional learning) and in the spontaneous communication that arose in the course of the Skype conversations (incidental learning). The overall objective of this telecollaboration project has been the promotion of intercultural competence, with particular focus on the learning and teaching of Argentine regional history. Several tools, synchronous and asynchronous, were used for this purpose. The focus of the present paper will be the analysis of instances of intercultural awareness observed in Skype conversations, and of the affordances and obstacles that this modality of communication seems to pose for the native and non-native participants.

The present paper examines negotiation of meaning and language-related episodes in Chinese-German eTandem interaction, focusing on Chinese as target language. Against the background of the interactionist approach to language learning and drawing upon Swain and Lapkin’s (1998, Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal 82. 320–337) concept of “language-related episodes” (LREs), the main focus of this paper is to investigate how negotiation of meaning is undertaken in this particular learning environment, to what extent LREs occur in Chinese-German eTandems, and what the characteristics of these episodes are. Furthermore, differences between novice CFL (Chinese as a Foreign Language) learners and intermediate CFL learners participating in eTandems are identified. The findings show that the participants only use the target languages (Chinese and German) to negotiate meaning. Novice CFL learners rely heavily on code-switching to German, while intermediate learners mainly use Chinese. Compared to negotiation of meaning, LREs occur sparingly and cover word searches and reflections on grammar, pronunciation, and style/expression. Text-chat usage during negotiation of meaning and LREs points to the fact that focus on linguistic form is supported by a switch from oral mode to text-chat.

Opportunities for language learners to access authentic input and engage in consequential interactions with native speakers of their target language abound in this era of computer mediated communication. Synchronous audio/video calling software represents one opportunity to access such input and address the challenges of developing pragmatic and interactional competence (Barron and Black 2015, Constructing small talk in learner-native speaker voice-based telecollaboration: A focus on topic management and backchanneling. System 48. 112–128). The synthesis of telecollaborative technology with the development of pragmatic and interactional competence is an area of burgeoning research (Taguchi 2011, Teaching pragmatics: Trends and issues. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31. 289–310). The present study represents a contribution to this growing area set in the particular context of an eTandem partnership. Data is drawn from Language LINC, a corpus of telecollaborative eTandem interactions between German-speaking learners of English and English-speaking learners of German. The eTandem meetings that comprise this corpus were centred around tasks to be completed for the students’ respective language classes. The study investigates how learners and native speakers manage a pre-specified discussion topic set for the English portion of an eTandem meeting. As the topic is prescribed, it imposes constraints on the students’ interactions and requires them to continue talk on this topic for an extended amount of time. Student participants delimit their talk by clearly initiating and later closing down the topic. Within these boundaries, questions are used as a resource to confront the interactional problem of extending talk on the prescribed topic.

Translanguaging, the movement between communicative modes and features of different languages, is becoming an established research tradition in content-focused second language learning contexts. Pedagogic translanguaging practices nevertheless remain under-applied and under-researched in foreign language instructional settings, whether face-to-face or online. Synchronous virtual foreign language classrooms represent particularly rich spaces in which to begin to explore such practices, due to their multimodal affordances on the one hand and their technical constraints on the other. This study examines the pedagogic translanguaging practices that occur in a corpus of beginner-level Spanish online group tutorial data. A macro-level analysis of the interactional patterns that occur within this context reveals that both teacher participants follow closely the pedagogic prescriptions provided by the course designers with regard to the activities they employ. The finding that these activities offer limited opportunities for students to move between communicative modes and languages may be attributed in part to the emphasis on spoken interaction in this particular setting. A complementary micro-level analysis nevertheless reveals a more autonomous and intuitive approach to the teachers’ choice of language when mediating such activities. Instances of student code-switching are relatively few, however. The study concludes with a call to course designers and practitioners to experiment with integrating a wide range of pedagogic translanguaging opportunities into online foreign language classroom activities, with a view to enhancing teaching, learning and communication in such environments.

The demand for online teaching is growing as is the recognition that online teachers require highly sophisticated skills to manage classrooms and create an environment conducive to learning. However, there is little rigorous empirical research investigating teachers’ thoughts and actions during online tutorials. Taking a sociocultural perspective, this study explores the interplay between the attention focus of language teachers during synchronous online tutorials and their reflections on their own teaching practices. Eyetracking data show that patterns of attention focus on different areas of the screen (representing technical facilities, social interaction and content) are related to practitioners’ experience in online teaching including familiarity with a particular platform. In particular, those with less online teaching experience display greater attention to technical areas than their more experienced colleagues. These findings are confirmed in the teachers’ reflective interviews, stimulated by watching gazeplot videos of their online tutorials. Their reflections also yield deeper insight into reasons for particular actions. Thematic analysis was used to relate the reflections on teaching strategies to the levels of online teaching skills (Hampel and Stickler 2005, New skills for new classrooms: Training tutors to teach languages online. Computer Assisted Language Learning 18(4). 311–326). Our research has extended Bax’s normalisation (2003, CALL – past, present and future. System 31(1). 13–28. doi: 10.1016/s0346-251x(02)00071-4) of the use of technology in face-to-face classroom learning into online learning environments. Mirroring the ontogenetic development of increasing digitalisation, teachers in online environments appropriate the skills necessary to free cognitive resources for attending to social and pedagogic aspects of their teaching.