Milli mála - 2019, Side 65

Milli mála 11/2019 65
PILAR CONCHEIRO
types of beneficial outcomes of telecollaboration have been reported.
For example, online exchanges have been found to be able to improve
grammatical competence,10 fostering lexical capacity11 and enhancing
oral communication skills.12 Moreover, tellecolaborative practices
could help to promote learner autonomy,13 develop digital literacies14
and motivate the building of learning communities.15
For the purpose of this study, it becomes relevant to introduce
different models of virtual exchange projects and for this study the
pre-service teachers interacted with students of a foreign language
(Spanish) and encouraged them to develop their language skills using
technologies in an innovative way. At the same time, pre-service teac-
hers were prompted to apply the necessary skills and competences to
teach in a culturally diverse context such as Iceland with a multi-
cultural and multilingual group.16 Between 2017–2018 the Evaluating
and Upscaling Telecollaborative Teacher Education (EVALUATE)
project organized virtual exchanges which involved over 1000 stud-
ents becoming the first large scale study in this field. The conclusions
and implications of the EVALUATE study17 maintain that class to
class virtual exchange is a potent tool for promoting innovation and
international learning in the university classroom. Engaging students
in structured online telecollaboration as part of their formal learning
10 Helmut Brammerts. (1996). “Language Learning in Tandem Using the Internet.” In Mark
Warschauer (Ed.). Telecollaboration in Foreign Language Learning, pp. 121–130. Lina Lee. (2002).
“Enhancing Learners’Communication Skills Through Synchronous Electronic Interaction and
Task-based Instruction.” Foreign Language Annals, 35(1), pp. 16–24.
11 Paola E. Dussias. (2006). “Morphological Development in Spanish-American Telecollaboration.”
In Julie A. Belz and Steven L. Thorne (Eds.). Internet-mediated Intercultural Foreign Language
Education, pp. 121–146. Boston: Thomson Heinle.
12 Zsuzsanna I. Abrams. (2003). “The Effects of Synchronous and Asynchronous CMC on Oral
Performance in German.” Modern Language Journal, 87(2), pp. 157–167. Robert Blake. (2000).
“Computer Mediated Communication: A Window on Spanish L2 Interlanguage.” Language
Learning & Technology, 4(1), pp. 120–136.
13 Klaus Schwienhorst. (2000). Virtual Reality and Learner Autonomy in Second Language
Acquisition (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Dublin, Ireland: Trinity College Dublin.
14 Francesca Helm. (2014). “Developing Digital Literacies Through Virtual Exchange.” Elearning
Papers, 38, pp. 1–10.
15 Lina Lee. (2006). “A Study of Native and Nonnative Speakers’ Feedback and Responses in
Spanish-American Networked Collaborative Interaction.” In Julie A. Belz and Steven L. Thorne
(Eds.), Internet- mediated Intercultural Foreign Language Education, pp. 147–176.
16 Students were not just from Iceland.
17 The EVALUATE group. (2019). Evaluating the Impact of Virtual Exchange on Initial Teacher
Education: A European Policy Experiment. Research-publishing.net https://www.evaluateproject.eu/
evlt-data/uploads/2019/03/EVALUATE_EPE_2019.pdf [accessed July 31st, 2019].