“Ciao aqui é oi”: Language Learning and On-line Socialization during Pandemic

Abstract

Covid-19 pandemic has changed people’s life on a world scale and made everyone, at some point, rethink their social and labor practices. Teaching strategies linked to the use of digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) – which have been known for some time now, but little explored and effectively integrated with didactic practices - started to get attention and gain importance only when it was realized that remote teaching would become predominantly the only solution to continue both teaching and learning during pandemic. In this work, we present the constitution and development of two telecollaboration learning projects – in which two speakers of different languages ​​help each other in order to improve the language in which the other is proficient – between Università degli Studi di Perugia and Universidade Federal do Paraná. The pilot project was developed in the second half of 2019 and the project "Ciao aqui é oi: Teletandem interactions between Brazil and Italy” in March and April 2020. We start by presenting theoretical aspects as well as contextualizing Teletandem in Brazil. Then, we talk about the project as a possibility of training in the Italian context and of extracurricular activity in Brazil. We briefly analyze the psychological and socialization implications that the “Ciao aqui é oi” project provided to participating students during lockdown. Finally, we present our reflections on the most relevant moments pointed out by the students in the “interaction reports”, delivered after each session, and make our final considerations.