Congresos y Jornadas Didáctica de las lenguas y las literaturas. | Page 409

Some advantages of electronic media are, for example, the disruption of spatial and tem-
poral constraints of lessons which are held in classrooms and access to a large number of
participants to interact, which means that learning is favored by interactional exchanges
and collaboration among participants.
Tandem Learning
Tandem learning is a collaborative, autonomous, and reciprocal method of foreign lan-
guage learning which consists of regular sessions of collaborative bilingual work for di-
dactic purposes (VASSALLO & TELLES, 2006). These sessions are voluntarily estab-
lished by two speakers of different languages who are interested in studying the language
in which the other is more proficient.
According to Brammerts (1996),
[l]earning in tandem can be defined as a form of open learning, whereby two peo-
ple with different native languages work together in pairs in order to learn more
about one another’s character and culture, to help one another improve their lan-
guage skills, and often also to exchange additional knowledge—for example,
about their professional life. (p. 10)
Teletandem is the tandem activity conducted in a virtual context, via synchronous
communication through the utilization of writing, reading, video conferencing and com-
munication softwares (Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Oovoo, Talk and Write, Open-
meetings, Adobe Connect, etc.).
According to Vassallo and Telles (2006), teletandem is an approach “that has its own
unique characteristics, that emerge from (and range within) the association of its principles
of autonomy and of reciprocity” (p. 91). The authors add that this approach is described as
a learning context that:
(a) offers opportunities for both sociability and individualization;
(b) is based on autonomy, that is understood here as a responsibility for one’s
own decision-making, not in isolation, but “with” or “in relation to” the other
(one’s Tandem partner);
(c) implies sharing and relaying the roles of who retains the power of knowl-
edge. (VASSALLO & TELLES, 2006, p. 91)
Therefore, in tandem learning, it is the participants that define how they will partici-
pate in the interaction sessions, managing, for example, the day and time the virtual meet-
ings will take place, as well as the way they conduct the interactions.
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