Chat as a preferred tool in the foreign language classroom during a pandemic

In December 2020, after two semesters of distance or semi-distance learning, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many students were complaining to teachers. They felt isolated and tired of spending long hours "attending" lectures, trying to concentrate in front of a computer screen. In this context, collaborative learning activities took on a new importance. This article presents an experiment carried out with two classes of second year students, from two different courses, Applied Foreign Languages and Social and Cultural Communication, from the Portuguese Catholic University, Lisbon, Portugal. The aim of the study was to observe the extent to which chat can have an impact on language learning and, by promoting synchronous communication with other students, contribute to reducing the feeling of isolation, felt by many students at the time, thus constituting a motivational lever. The tool used was the CHAT of the university's Moodle platform, a tool that some studies, notably the work of Skyes (2005), have highlighted for its role in increasing the quantity and complexity of learners' language production. The qualitative approach was chosen and the data was collected through a questionnaire that the participants filled in at the end of the activity. We then analysed the responses using content analysis techniques (Bardin: 2007). In view of the results, the chat appears first of all as a privileged tool for creating a new dynamic in the language classroom. In addition, it helps to strengthen communication between students, an aspect that is of great importance during the period of isolation that they experienced. Finally, it reinforces learning in a learner-centred teaching and learning environment, in which technologies have a place and the teacher becomes a conductor (Michel: 2001). It should be noted that, according to cooperative learning theories, interactions contribute to collective progress. The individual learns by observation and imitation. This is "social modelling". Bandura (1990) had highlighted the influence of the social context on learning, which the chat encourages, all the more so in distance or semi-distance teaching.