Corrective Feedback and Multimodality: Rethinking Categories in Telecollaborative Learning

Abstract

Teletandem (Telles, 2009) is a model of telecollaboration in which pairs of foreign language students from different countries meet regularly and virtually to learn each other's languages. Within this context, participants are expected to help their partners learn by providing feedback. The multimodal nature of this type of environment, however, may offer different learning opportunities (Guichon & Cohen, 2016) and have an impact on feedback provision. This research aims at investigating peer corrective feedback in Teletandem in relation to the different modes. Using a case study approach, we describe how three Brazilians offered feedback to learners of Portuguese as a foreign language. Data used came from 20 Teletandem oral sessions that took place over a period of three years and were stored in MulTeC (Aranha & Lopes, 2019). Data analysis revealed that CF provision is characterized by reformulations, with a blurred distinction between recasts and explicit corrections due to a combination of multimodal strategies. Results also indicate that error correction may be more (or less) emphasized depending on how interlocutors combine multimodal resources. Pedagogical implications are discussed.