This paper presents the results of an activity theoretical study of the breakdowns that emerged during a videoconferencing exchange between teacher-trainees from a French university and undergraduate students of French from an Irish university. Systemic tensions and breakdowns that are characteristic of videoconferencing mediated tutor-tutee interactions are then discussed.
"Tutor-tutee interactions in language learning environments mediated by videoconferencing are often marked by technological or communication breakdowns, deviations from the scripted lesson plans, and dilemmas regarding the enactment of various action possibilities for the participants. This paper presents the results of a study, underpinned by Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), that looks into the disruptions and breakdowns that emerged during a virtual exchange between teacher trainees from a French university and undergraduate students of French from an Irish university. Moment-to-moment (micro level) interaction breakdowns and disruptions were analysed against the backdrop of over-arching pedagogical and technological constraints and mismatches within and between interacting activity systems. To this end, a multimodal corpus of six weekly tutor-tutee exchanges, their accompanying session plans, tutor debriefings, tutee oral reflections and post-project interviews of tutors, tutees and their lecturers were encoded and analysed with a view to identify action-based and discursive manifestations of systemic contradictions.
Following a concise presentation of the context of the study and CHAT as a theoretical framework, this paper briefly outlines the methodology that was adopted. Preliminary results are then presented in the form of a taxonomy of systemic challenges at the macro level, which are specific to asymmetrical virtual exchanges via videoconferencing. The paper concludes with a discussion of guiding principles aiming to help pedagogical designers, trainers and teacher trainees to address some of the challenges that are characteristic of tutor-tutee interactions mediated by videoconferencing."
