Congresos y Jornadas Didáctica de las lenguas y las literaturas. | Page 407

Computer-mediated communication enhancing english and portuguese language learning among brazilian and german students 29 Suelene Vaz da Silva Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Goiás - Brasil [email protected] Francisco José Quaresma de Figueiredo Universidade Federal de Goiás - Brasil Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - Brasil [email protected]  Abstract This paper aims at investigating the teletandem learning interactions between a group of Brazilian students from Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnolo- gia do Estado de Goiás, Brazil, and a group of foreign students from two German universities. In this study, the Brazilian students helped their foreign partners with Portuguese learning and were helped by them in the English learning. The partici- pants used a synchronous computer software called Openmeetings and also an elec- tronic dictionary as a complementary tool. Adopting a qualitative perspective in the data collection and analysis, this case study was conducted in the second semester of 2010. The data were collected by means of conversation sessions through Open- meetings and were analyzed in the light of studies on sociocultural theory as well as on tandem/teletandem language learning researches. The data analyses showed that the participants used English as an anchoring language to work with Portuguese and English itself, and German was introduced in the teletandem sessions. The data also showed that the whiteboard and the electronic dictionary were used as complemen- tary resources to the use of audio and video for the language learning process the participants engaged in. Keywords: Language learning. Openmeetings. Teletandem. Introduction For many years, people have used instrumental mediation by creating tools that en- able them to act upon nature and to transform it for their own benefit (REGO, 1995; 29 A similar version of this paper was published in Sino-US English Teaching. 1172