Computer mediated communication as a means to pursue educational objectives: The Napoli-Bochum e-Tandem

This paper describes the theoretical framework and the practical experience of an e-Tandem project that involved German and Italian foreign language students. The "Napoli-Bochum e-Tandem" was planned with the aim to face the problems related to linguistic production in formal learning environments and particularly: to give participants the chance to practice their target language in informal contexts; to enable the combination of formal and informal language learning environments; to satisfy the need of the students for authentic communication. It was designed as a tool to enable computer supported collaborative learning through computer mediated communication. A wiki workspace was created to implement the written collaboration, while the oral conversation took place via Skype. The project was highly structured and was intended to promote learning activities involving the four language skills by means of guided reading and writing tasks and face-to-face e-interaction. The paper outlines the theoretical framework of the the Napoli-Bochum eTandem designed activities and shows a selection of them.