From transmission to negotiation: authenticity, ambivalence, and the transformation of learner beliefs through telecollaboration

This study examines the transformative impact of a teletandem programme, a reciprocal telecollaborative language exchange, on participants’ beliefs about language and interaction. Drawing on semi­structured interviews with 18 participants over a three-year period, including 14 who completed follow-up interviews around one year after initial interviews, we explore how engagement in digitally-mediated, autonomous language exchanges reshapes participants’ conceptualisations of interaction, with particular attention to beliefs about authenticity, meaningful engagement, and linguistic correctness. Thematic analysis identified patterns in interview data that prompted a contextual approach to learner beliefs. This revealed a shift among participants from transmission-based views of interaction to more nuanced understandings of interaction as a co-constructed, negotiated process. We argue that teletandem participation catalyses this ontological shift, raising participants’ awareness of the inherent ambivalences of language use. These shifts can also evoke affective responses, including increased confidence and anxiety. By highlighting the dialectical relationship between learner beliefs and telecollaborative practices, this research contributes to discussions about the role of online exchanges in shaping how language and interaction is conceptualised.