O n f e r e n c e

Kristi Jauregi*, Sabela Melchor-Couto **
*Utrecht & Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Tilburg, The Netherlands 
**University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom 
[e-mail], [e-mail] 
Researching Telecollaboration in Secondary Schools: Challenges 
and Opportunities 
Bio data 
Kristi Jauregi
is Professor of Language Pedagogy at Fontys University of Applied 
Sciences and Lecturer-Researcher at Utrecht University (The Netherlands). Her main area 
of research is on CALL, particularly on (S)CMC, intercultural pragmatics, 
telecollaboration, teacher training and motivation. She is project leader of the European 
TILA 
project: 
Telecollaboration 
for 
Intercultural 
language 
Acquisition 
(www.tilaproject.eu).
Sabela Melchor-Couto 
is a Lecturer in Spanish at University of Roehampton (London). 
Sabela is currently completing her Phd thesis on the use of virtual worlds for language 
learning and its impact on affective variables. She has conducted a number of pilot 
experiences using virtual worlds and other synchronous communication tools both at HE 
and secondary school level. She is part of TILA, a project funded by the European 
Commission. 
Abstract 
Telecollaboration has been said to contribute to intercultural communicative competence 
(
Belz & Thorne, 2006; Canto et al. 2013, in press; Guth & Helm, 2010; O’Dowd, 2007; 
Liauw, 2006; Ware & Kramsch, 2005, Jauregi et al. 2012). However, most research in 
this area has so far been carried out only in tertiary education (Pol, 2013). The European 
project TILA (Telecollaboration for Intercultural Language Acquisition) is one of the first 
attempts to integrate telecollaborative practices in the secondary education context and 
to research its impact in younger learners’ intercultural awareness, motivation and 
communicative competence.
The TILA network has been extended to 45 secondary schools across Europe, all of which 
are actively taking part in these exchanges. 
Drawing on the experience obtained so far with this project, the present paper will reflect 
on the challenges involved in conducting telecollaboration research in secondary schools, 
not least those related to the organisation of pilot experiments, the replication of 
previous studies with young learners and the use of tried and tested questionnaires with 
this audience.
The paper will also describe the research carried out during TILA’s initial stage, involving 
more than ten pilots in French, German, Spanish and English. The aim of these studies 
was to ascertain through repeated surveys the impact of telecollaboration activities on 
students’ perception of language learning, intercultural awareness and motivation as well 
as on their communicative competence. 
 

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-192- 
2014 CALL Conference 
LINGUAPOLIS
www.antwerpcall.be