Finding Common Ground in LSP: A Computer-Mediated Communication Project

In this chapter, a collaborative tandem e-mail project in an LSP environment has been outlined. The central issue of finding common ground between two diverse teaching enviroments has been addressed. We have argued that an approach like task-based learning, both from a task design and a methodological point of view, stands out as a flexible framework for task implementation in an environment where communication is computer-mediated and the L2 is being learned for specific purposes. The chapter has presented the results of a quantitative study in which two tandem groups wrote to each other under different conditions, one group with set tasks to perform and the other without them. The results of comparing the two groups have been analyzed, and a series of pedagogical implications have been drawn.

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