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1.3.2.Implementationsofkeypalexchangesintheforeignlanguageclassroom
Therehasbeenanextensivebodyofresearchontheuseofemail,andmorespecifically
email-basedprojects,intheforeignlanguageclassroom.Duetothefactthatthismeans
ofComputer-MediatedCommunicationisanextremelyflexibletool,allowingfor
differentgroupingpatterns,modesofwork,andaddresseetypes(bothnativeandnon-
native),alargenumberofprojectshavebeenestablishedtodevelopdifferentelements
ofthetargetlanguagecompetence.
Whenclassifyingemailuseintheforeignlanguageinstruction,Gonglewskietal
(2001)enumeratethefollowingtypes:
groupemailexchanges;
interactionwithintheclass(pre-andpost-classactivities);
one-on-oneemailinteraction;
emailinteractionbetweenclasses(collaborativeprojects).
Itisthislastelementofclassroomemailusethatwearegoingtobemostconcerned
with,thoughitneedstoberememberedthatkeypalprojectswillinevitablyinvolve
variousgroupingsandmodesofcommunication.
Thus,asearlyasin1989,Levinetaldescribeoneofthefirstusesofkeypalexchanges
(thenreferredtoas"electronicpenpals"),advocatingtheuseofcollaborativeprojects
overone-to-oneemailexchangesduetothefactofmoreproductivecharacterofthe
formerowingtogreaterteachercontrol.
Keypalactivitiesareoftenconsideredintheperspectiveoflanguagelearningintandem
(Little,2001;Little,2003),orautonomouslearning,whicharisesfromtraditionalcourses
andoftencomplementsthemintheformofopenlearning,wheretwopeoplewithdifferent
nativelanguagesworktogetherinpairs.Theaimsofsuchlearningcanbediverse,but
mostimportantlytheseincludelearningmoreaboutoneanother'scharacterandculture,
helpingoneanotherimprovetheirlanguageskillsandexchangingadditionalknowledge
-forexample,abouttheirprofessionallife.Emailexchangesfacilitatethecommunication
enablinglanguagelearningintandem,withsuchspecifictopicstodealwithasgettingto
knoweachother,culturaldifferencesandsimilarities,studyingandworkinginthetwo
countries,orpointsofview,tonamejustafew(afterRobb,1996).
Itcanbeseenhowemailprojectsstartwithsingleclasscollaboration(Hopkins,
1999;Leh,1999)anddevelopthroughmulti-classprojects(Vilmi,1994)intostudent
discussionlistsandprojectsencompassinggreaternumbersoflearners(Robb,1994).
Atthesametime,thepossibilitiesofteachercontrolandcoordinationmightdiminish,
topracticallyunconstrainedandunmoderatedstudentdiscussionlists.Student
discussionlists(seeStudentListProject,http://sl-lists.netforanexample),arenotas
complexinvocabularyorjargonasordinarylists,thus,theyformtheplatformfor
studentstolearnhowtointeractinelectronicdiscourseontopicsoftheirinterest
(thematiclistsonchat,music,business,event,cinema,etc.).Eventhoughitisthecase
thatteachers(holdingstudents'emailaccounts)registertheirclasses,itislearnerswho
aretosubscribetothemainlist,introducethemselvesandrespondtointroductionof
others,thenproceedingtocorrespondingontheirown.