Reversal of Participation Roles in NS-NNS Synchronous Telecollaboration

In this article we investigate data from digital interactions between native speaker
(NS) and non-native speaker (NNS) dyads of English during synchronous computermediated communication. As opposed to most studies into the NS–NNS interface, we reversed the expert-learner participant roles: during the task performance, the NS was the (cultural) learner and the NNS the expert. Our aim was to observe the influence of these reversed participant categories on participant behavior and task performance, i.e., to see if NNS behavior as described in earlier studies also applies to the NSs in a similar apprentice position during a cross-cultural exchange, and vice versa. We found that, in both video calls and written chats, the NSs and NNSs behave in a similar manner when cast in both apprentice and learner roles. We conclude that, in task design and telecollaboration practice, the situated identities of the
participants should be taken into account.