Promoting a look beyond stereotyped cultural representations in teletandem

Abstract

Cultural representations, which arise out of interaction between individuals from different cultures, “convey images or narratives of culture and society” (RISAGER, 2007, p. 180). Teletandem, according to Telles (2015a, p. 604), is “a mode of telecollaboration - a virtual, collaborative and autonomous context for learning foreign languages” in which two students swap their roles: at times as learners of a foreign language and at other times as tutors of their mother tongue or other languages. This study aimed at discussing how the overcoming of stereotyped cultural representations occurred in the teletandem context investigated. For the analysis, data from a teletandem session, a mediation session, experience reports and interviews were included. The results showed that the overcoming of stereotyped cultural representations, made possible by a decentering attitude (KRAMSCH, 2011; LIDDICOAT; SCARINO, 2013), was a process, that is, it occurred over time and through different instances.