From transmission to negotiation: authenticity, ambivalence, and the transformation of learner beliefs through telecollaboration
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines the transformative impact of a teletandem programme, a reciprocal telecollaborative language exchange, on participants’ beliefs about language and interaction. Drawing on semistructured interviews with 18 participants over a three-year period, including 14 who completed follow-up interviews around one year after initial interviews, we explore how engagement in digitally-mediated, autonomous language exchanges reshapes participants’ conceptualisations of interaction, with particular attention to beliefs about authenticity, meaningful engagement, and linguistic correctness. Thematic analysis identified patterns in interview data that prompted a contextual approach to learner beliefs. This revealed a shift among participants from transmission-based views of interaction to more nuanced understandings of interaction as a co-constructed, negotiated process. We argue that teletandem participation catalyses this ontological shift, raising participants’ awareness of the inherent ambivalences of language use. These shifts can also evoke affective responses, including increased confidence and anxiety. By highlighting the dialectical relationship between learner beliefs and telecollaborative practices, this research contributes to discussions about the role of online exchanges in shaping how language and interaction is conceptualised.
Source: Language Awareness
Institutions: University of the Sunshine Coast, Otemon Gakuin University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7129624382