A telecollaborative theoretical-methodological proposal for the teaching of languages in Brazilian regular schools

Abstract

Too often regular school students do not seem to demonstrate necessary skills to communicate well enough in other languages, for instance, in English and Spanish. Telecollaboration, which is related to the use of digital tools in collaborative projects (Belz, 2002; O’Dowd, 2018), can make the development of these skills possible through interaction between students from Brazilian regular schools and schools from other countries. Drawing on scholars such as Belz (2002, 2007), O’Dowd (2006, 2012, 2013, 2018), Thorne (2006), Telles (2009, 2015), Schaefer (2019) and Schaefer and Heemann (2019), this study has the objective of presenting a theoretical-methodological proposal, which involves telecollaboration, for the teaching of languages in Brazilian regular schools. We suggest that projects that include telecollaboration as a model of online teaching and learning of languages in Brazilian regular schools can foster the reflection on different issues of contemporary societies such as manifestations of prejudice, inclusion and cultural diversity, ethnic-racial differences, and discrimination. Thus, we advocate the idea that language, in telecollaborative activities, cannot merely be conceived as a means of communication, but also as an instrument which aims at promoting the intercultural education of an individual since, according to Deardorff (2004), educational institutions have the task of preparing intellectually and culturally their students.