Joining Forces: Promoting Metalinguistic Awareness Through Computer-supported Collaborative Learning

Abstract

This paper describes a collaborative Internet-based project involving foreign language students and teacher trainees in three different countries. The project involved both online collaboration with international partners and face-to-face classroom activities and was designed not only to facilitate purposeful, authentic language use, but also to provide a platform for students and teachers to explore social and cultural aspects of the use of the target language. The project included network-based group work carried out via emails and chats, which were complemented by electronic discussion board assignments and individual reflection carried out in student online journals. Analysis of questionnaires, discussion board input, final project reports and student journals suggests that students increased their awareness of different aspects of the target language and paid increased attention to their own language learning process. This was evidenced by explicit comments about the target language (English) concerning both structure and function, as well as comments made about the language learning and teaching. In their self-evaluation at the end of the project, the students indicated that their confidence in using the language had increased and that they felt more motivated to learn and use the target language. Moreover, as soon-to-become foreign language teachers, they felt better prepared and more willing to incorporate online interaction in their own teaching in the future.