Cmc-based Learning in Language Teacher Education: a German- American Collaborative Project

This paper presents findings from a research project that integrated computer-mediated communication (CMC) into teacher education to provide future language teachers the opportunity to experience CMC-based learning. Overall goals of the project included preparing pre-service language teachers to use computer technology in their future teaching, and fostering electronic and professional literacy as well as cross-cultural learning. The research context was a qualitative case study involving cooperation among teacher educators and pre-service foreign language teachers at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California, and Justus-Liebig Universität, Giessen, Germany. Six groups of pre-service teachers collaborated via email and chat with their transatlantic partner groups in designing a joint website for CMC-based language teaching (http://www.uni-giessen.de/anglistik/tefl/Projects/cmc/01Index.htm). The paper explores institutional, technical, socio-cultural, and linguistic challenges that participants encountered when collaborating over a distance. More specifically, the following research questions are addressed: What kind of pedagogical value do CMC-based projects have in teacher education? What kind of challenges do pre-service teachers encounter when negotiating via computer technology? Which approach characterizes the most successful groups? The article draws on data such as email and chat transcripts, questionnaires, learner logs, and interviews. Lastly, some strategies to support a cooperative CMC-based learning environment and issues for further research are outlined.