Synchronous tandem language learning in a MOOC context: a study on task design and learner performance

In the context of a Language Massive Open Online Course (LMOOC), teacher interventions have to be designed into the course, since personalized teacher feedback actions are impossible due to the large number of participants. Learner autonomy, peer-feedback and task design are crucial in this course design. This paper presents a study on the task design effect on participants of a tandem MOOC (English-Spanish). The tandem MOOC takes advantage of the massive aspect of a MOOC to provide learners with ample opportunity for language use with native speakers of their target language, and access to peer-feedback. The tasks provide content and an objective for the conversations, turning them into episodes of meaningful language interaction. The study is conducted through observations of eight video recorded conversations by two learners of English carrying out four different tasks, eight tasks in total, with five different learners of Spanish, as it will be explained in more detail in the methodology section. The results show that task types had an effect on students’ performance, but variables such as proficiency also played a role in learner interaction.