Language learning across campuses
Résumé
One of the purposes of a recent experiment in the creation and testing of a broadband network, connecting sites in several European countries, was to study novel ways in which computer environments could lead to fluency acquisition in foreign languages. Thanks to new telecommunications technology, three sites (Madrid, Evry, Cambridge) could be linked during trials lasting a few months. Student participants at the different establishments of higher education involved were requested to use specially developed interactive or multimedia tools, which permitted, for example, video-conferencing and shareable on-line document editing, to communicate among themselves during weekly group sessions lasting as long as two hours. Other elements often used in the learning environment, such as e-mailing, chat tools and web site creation, have since come within the technical grasp of many institutions via the Internet. Native speakers from Spain, France and Great Britain, all wishing to acquire fluency in another language, were instructed to collaborate on task-based projects. The significant number of networked users supplied evidence of how language acquisition would take place in the midst of a long-distance computer-based virtual environment. Some data collected could be said to reflect informal learning of new communication skills by users. The experiments in telelearning also allowed the teacher to play a new role in guiding learners toward the goal of a successful linguistic and cultural exchange with native speakers in the target languages.