Innovation in Language Learning

The paper will show how a tandem project carried out by means of the software Adobe Connect supported L2 acquisition in the respective groups of Italian and German university learners, who met online to attend virtual classes conceived for both of them together. In our evaluation of this experience, particular emphasis will be given to those aspects of oral language that are most neglected in traditional classes, such as turn-taking skills and argumentative abilities in various speaking contexts. To achieve these goals, metalinguistic reflection was fostered by the subdivision of each web session into well-defined work phases, which corresponded to as many types of audio-visual interactions mediated by computers (basically, one-to-one versus plenum discussions). The presentation of the teaching strategies will clarify how the communication medium influenced the process of learning, compelling the students to pay attention to specific features of oral discourse which usually occur in a different form. This made videoconferencing a more pervasive teaching and learning experience compared to other sorts of tandem which have been in use for some decades.