AbstractThe present study examines the linguistic consequences of computer-mediated communication between foreign language (L2) learners of Spanish and native Spanish speakers.In particular, it investigates whether the benefits attributed to
intercultural computer-mediated interactions are transferable to face-to-face communication by examining whether e-mail and chat-room interactions that took place over a period of three months resulted in increased linguistic gains. L2 learners of Spanish were assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Participants in the experimental group engaged in computermediated interactions with native speakers of Spanish residing in Almería, Spain. The learners in the control group interacted electronically with other learners of Spanish of similar proficiency. Linguistic gains were assessed by examining the transcriptions of OPI interviews that were conducted immediately before the learners began the computer-mediated communication sessions and after the last session ended three months later. The results reveal that learners in the experimental group showed increased linguistic control in the use of overt-null subjects in Spanish as well as greater communicative fluency, relative to learners in the control group. These findings suggest the beneficial role of
telecollaborative interactions between native speakers and nonnative speakers with respect to linguistic competence.
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