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Abstract
This paper reports on crossing borders virtually via an e-Tandem scheme and presents the findings of a study, in which students of English from an Austrian university were paired with students of German from the UK and the USA. Drawing on data from 19 in-depth interviews, the study aims to identify links between e-Tandem language learning and foreign language enjoyment (FLE) (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014, 2016). A category-based qualitative text analysis (Kuckartz, 2014) revealed that a majority of the interviewees felt e-Tandem language learning contributed to their FLE. Furthermore, a range of reasons underlying students’ perceived enjoyment of learning a language in Tandem emerged: having authentic conversations in the target language with L1 (first language) users (Dewaele, 2018), perceiving each other as cultural mediators and a difference from language classroom contexts on the level of power relations, which made students feel more at ease. Helping each other, receiving one-on-one feedback and perceiving improvement in their linguistic mastery were furthermore mentioned as factors they felt boosted their enjoyment and so was developing friendships with L1 users. According to the interviewees, these aspects specifically increased their interest and enjoyment in using and learning the language and their eudaimonic happiness. The findings demonstrate that e-Tandem language learning can be a resource to enhance perceived enjoyment in foreign language learners at tertiary level and they illustrate that social and private components of FLE seem to be interlinked.
Highlights
Emotions had been neglected in SLA research for a long time, partly due to the false assumption of cognition being uninfluenced by emotion and due to their complexity (Resnik, 2018) which makes researching them a challenging endeavor
Stated they felt their foreign language enjoyment (FLE) was very high, 6 students perceived it to be high, while 3 rated it to be medium. In their accounts of the impact of e-Tandem language learning, 16 students mentioned they felt that the Tandem scheme had a positive effect on their own FLE; Ying (32, TL German), for instance, explains it as follows: It’s a good experience, like every week, like sometimes I call my language partner because I have some questions and I ask her or just a normal chat to catch up with what’s going on in her life and sometimes she calls me ‘I need to talk to her in German!’
This study investigated tertiary students’ perceived FLE analyzing data gathered with 19 in-depth interviews
Summary
Emotions had been neglected in SLA (second language acquisition) research for a long time, partly due to the false assumption of cognition being uninfluenced by emotion and due to their complexity (Resnik, 2018) which makes researching them a challenging endeavor. With the introduction of positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) to SLA research (e.g., MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012a, 2012b; MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014), a new leaf was turned over in the field’s emotion research. SLA researchers mostly focused on the role of negative emotions in the learning process, with foreign language anxiety (FLA) being among the most widely studied concepts (e.g., Dewaele, 2007, 2010; Gkonou, Daubney, & Dewaele, 2017; Gregersen, MacIntyre, & Olsen, 2017; Horwitz, 1986, 2000; MacIntyre, 2002). Positive psychologists stress the need for investigating positive emotions too for their different powers and influences on the language learner (MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014; MacIntyre, Gregersen, & Mercer, 2016)
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