Learner Autonomy and Tandem Learning: Putting Principles Into Practice in Synchronous and Asynchronous Telecommunications Environments

Abstract

The main title of the recent UNTELE conference refers to the question whether CALL development is technology- or pedagogy-based. In this paper, I will argue, not surprisingly, that it is both. Our own research at the Centre for Language and Communication Studies at Trinity College Dublin over the past 4 years has provided us with valuable insights on the relationship between pedagogy and technology. On the one hand, our centre has for years been actively involved in shaping the concept of learner autonomy, not least through the writings of the centre’s founder, David Little. On the other hand, our involvement in the tandem network and tandem learning as an implementation of learner autonomy principles has given us first-hand experience in various computer-mediated forms of language learning, especially e-mail and object-oriented multi-user domains (MOOs). This paper will first look at three different approaches to learner autonomy: an individual-cognitive, a social-interactive, and an experimental-participatory perspective. I will then explore how these ideas translate into tandem learning, one implementation of learner autonomy in CALL. The third section will deal with asynchronous and synchronous communication tools and language learning frameworks, and I will describe how various combinations of technology and pedagogy can lead to more and also sometimes less successful implementations of learner autonomy principles. I finally look at the relationship of technology and pedagogy and present a three-part model that I consider useful for a discussion of learner autonomy in computer-mediated environments.