The Adoption of International Communications Networks and Electronic Mail into Foreign Language Education

This article reports a study of the possibilities of communications networks and electronic mail (e‐mail) in foreign language (FL) teaching. The research model combined FL education and information technologies (communications networks and e‐mail). The study was a multisite ethnographic case study, with elements of exploratory, collaborative, change‐oriented field‐work‐based development research. The Finnish participants included six classes (Form 1 or 2) in three senior secondary schools, with four teachers of English. The foreign participants came mainly from schools in Britain and the USA. Data gathering techniques included a number of various qualitative methods. Introducing a technological innovation into FL classrooms was quite successful. The teachers realized that communications networks would soon be an integrated part of FL teaching, though incorporating them in the FL curriculum called for extra work. There was some change in methods of work, taking the authenticity of e‐mails into account, though the linguistic features of the e‐mails were occasionally over‐emphasized. The lesson format was learner‐centred but somewhat teacher‐monitored. Learners’ autonomous, dyadic and small group work increased, while teachers partly became co‐learners with students.