THE TECHNE PROJECT : A COLLABORATIVE COMPUTER MEDIATED LSP PROJECT

       The TECHNE project, which is based on the concept of a virtual, bilingual class, was designed as the first step towards a large-scale co-operation between a French Grande Ecole (Institut National des Telecommunications) and an Irish university (Dublin City University). The first phase of the project (Techne 1) took place from September to December 1998. During this time a group of 11 engineering and management students from the Institut National des Telecommunications (INT) and 8 students from the Electronic Engineering School of Dublin City University (DCU) followed a common Language for Specific Purposes module. Divided into 3 groups, with each group being a mix of students from both institutions, the students were assigned a common task which was the creation of a multimedia environment that would allow future students from DCU and the INT to work together on joint projects, be they cultural and/or technical.

        During the pilot module the students communicated thanks to a web-based distance learning software (TopClass) which offers the possibility of setting up virtual classrooms where language advice could be given, group discussion lists in which the team members could work on their project with their partners in the other institution, and an open forum space (a virtual café) where all 19 participants could “ chat ”. The different group exchanges could be monitored at all times by the lecturers involved in the project, who also had a teacher’s forum in which to exchange ideas etc. The computer-based discussions were complemented by video-conference sessions.

       At the end of the module the students were asked to produce, in the target language, a technical report on their research work coupled with a personal report on how they lived the experiment. The analyse of the exchange sessions and of the reports have provided us with a wide range of data on : 1) The process of intercultural co-operation “ at a distance ” 2) The role of IT in this process 3) The transformation of the respective roles of the teachers and students 4) The student’s perception of language and cultural acquisition

        . As a result of this pilot module a series of possible co-operation programmes, not only in the context of language training but also in the core curriculum of the two schools, are being investigated. In February 1999 the first long-term student exchange between the two institutions was initiated. Techne 2 will take place from September to December 1999. The course content of Techne 2 will be developed during the presentation.