The foreign language classroom in the new media age: Videoconferencing and negotiated interaction among l2 learners

Abstract

This study aims to explore the capabilities of videoconferencing for providing L2 learners with input modification, feedback, and opportunities to produce output through negotiation. The potential of videoconferencing for language learning has already been discussed in literature. Its greatest advantage might lie in giving learners numerous opportunities to come into authentic contact and to interact in real time with native speakers and speakers of other languages. However, unlike most of the studies on videoconferencing and language learning that have focused on interactive contexts with native speakers or with expert speakers, in the present article I would like to discuss the potential of videoconferencing for negotiated interaction among foreign language learners. The students who participated in this investigation, which resulted from collaboration between the University of Bielsko-Biala (Poland) and the University of León (Spain), were from Poland and Spain, respectively (English majors in both cases). Beside the fact that videoconferenced spoken interactions between the students from two different countries were highly valued by the participants, the findings confirm claims made by Courtney (1996) and suggest that also in this particular context, the quantity of negotiation of meaning seems to depend on the particular type of task.