A Framework for Successful Key-pal Programs in Language Learning

Abstract

This paper discusses foreign language students' interaction with native speakers in light of Lave and Wenger's (1991) concept of legitimate peripheral participation. Legitimate peripheral participation is a way of understanding learning as the process by which newcomers, with increasing participation in a community and engagement with masters, become part of a community of practice. This paper summarizes problems with models of key-pal programs presented in the current literature and proposes a model of online collaboration guided by principles of the proficiency approach to foreign language instruction and the tenets of collaborative learning.