WERTSCH, 1998; WERTSCH, DEL RÍO, & ALVAREZ, 1998). This applies both in relation to how people get information about the world and how they act on it. For Cole( 1990), mediation already carries the basic idea that humans live in environments transformed by artifacts created by previous generations.
It is in this sense that we share with many scholars( LANTOLF, 2006; VAN LIER, 2000, among others) the transposition of the concept of instrumental mediation to the context of the language classroom. For these authors, technical tools enrich the teaching and learning process by providing learners and teachers with more resources to support students’ learning.
Donato and McCormick( 1994), Figueiredo( 2006), and Lantolf( 2006) stated that the educational context incorporates physical and symbolic artifacts( books, paper, computer, languages, diagrams, etc.) to help learners develop a coherent knowledge of the world. We add that, in the context of virtual learning, these features also include, in addition to computer itself, communication software and tools that provide teachers and students with opportunities to communicate with people all over the world through the Internet.
The use of the Internet in education trigged new perspectives on the teaching of foreign languages( PAIVA, 2001A, 2001B; TELLES, 2009; TELLES & VASSALLO, 2009; VASSALLO & TELLES, 2006, 2009; WARSCHAUER, 1996) due to the fact that the Internet is, in essence, an environment conducive to interactivity and, therefore, may foster communication in other languages.
In this regard, Warschauer and Healey( 1998) argued that
[ w ] ith the advent of the Internet, the computer— both in society and in the classroom— has been transformed from a tool for information processing and display to a tool for information processing and communication. For the first time, learners of a language can now communicate inexpensively and quickly with other learners or speakers of the target language all over the world. This communication can be either synchronous( with all users logged on and chatting at the same time) or asynchronous( with a delayed message system such as electronic mail). Finally, with the World Wide Web, learners of many languages have access to an unprecedented amount of authentic target-language information, as well as possibilities to publish and distribute their own multimedia information for an international audience.( p. 63)
Technological tools enrich the language teaching and learning process not only by the capabilities inherent in digital media, but also by allowing students to share knowledge and, therefore, to learn languages with each other, that is, in a collaborative way.
In the virtual environment, computer-mediated interaction is seen as an opportunity for socializing, for language production and learning( VASSALLO & TELLES, 2009).
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