Tandem language learning: Difference between revisions

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'''Tandem language learning''' is a method of [[language learning]] based on mutual [[language exchange]] between tandem partners, where ideally each learner is a native speaker in the language the other person wants to learn. Many [[language school]]s in the world, organised as TANDEM International,<ref name="tandem-schools1">{{cite web|url=http://www.tandem-schools.com|title=Tandem International e.V., the Tandem schools group|last=|first=|date=|website=tandem-schools.com|accessdateaccess-date=2016-01-20}}</ref> as well as many universities, implement this approach.

==Background==

In Tandem language learning both partners can meet in person (face-to-face tandem) or learn by e-mail, phone or other media (eTandem, also called Distance Tandem), placing emphasis on cultural integration as part of the language-learning process. Within tandem exchanges, language learning takes place in the context of a “reciprocated autonomous” exchange,{{sfn|Cappellini|2016}} meaning participants each take part in learning each others’ languages. Time is equally divided so that the exchange of language learning is fairly distributed.{{sfn|Cappellini|2016}} For example, a Portuguese speaker and a German speaker can talk for half an hour in German and then for half an hour in Portuguese. In this way, through language exchange partnerships with native speakers, and extra social and cultural experiences, participants become fully immersed in the target language culture. Learning is supported in different ways, for instance, via worksheets, textbooks or simply informal conversation. There are distinct uses of the Tandem method which promote independent learning e.g. Tandem partnerships (two people, supported by counsellors), and Binational Tandem Courses (for groups, organised by moderators). The only condition for participation in self-directed Tandem is to be at a lower intermediate level of language proficiency (lower B1 threshold). The Common European Framework of References for Languages' ( CEFR<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre1_en.asp |title=Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR) |website=Coe.int |date=2014-03-29 |accessdateaccess-date=2016-01-20}}</ref>) Can-Do statements provide a clear description of language ability at the threshold level (B1)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eur.nl/english/ltc/alumni/cefr/b1/ |title=CEFR level B1 (Intermediate) |website=Eur.nl |access-date= |accessdate=2016-01-20}}</ref> in several European languages.

==History==

"Language learning by exchange" or the "Tandem Approach" is based on various systems of teaching exchange students abroad, such as: partner learning, "peer teaching", tutoring models and "Zweierschaften" (Steinig) or 'one-on-one discipleship'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.linguee.com/german-english/translation/zweierschaft.html |title=zweierschaft - English translation – Linguee |website=Linguee.com |access-date= |accessdate=2016-01-20}}</ref>

The following are some of the most important highlights:<ref>{{cite web|title = TANDEM Fundazioa: history|url = http://tandemcity.info/general/en_history.htm|website = tandemcity.info|accessdateaccess-date = 2015-10-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/?id=1CpgcAZWT5UC&pg=PA136&dq=history+tandem+schmelter#v=onepage&q&f=true|title = Schmelter, Selbstgesteuertes oder potenziell expansives Fremdsprachenlernen im Tandem, Gunter Narr Verlag Tübingen|date=2004|pages=134–149|accessdateaccess-date =2016-01-20 |isbn = 9783823361039|last1 = Schmelter|first1 = Lars}}</ref>

* At the beginning of the 19th century in England, [[Joseph Lancaster]] and [[Andrew Bell (educationalist)|Andrew Bell]] instituted the "mutual system" which supplemented large parts of the teacher’s activity at school with pupils’ mutual help. Peter Petersen (German educationalist, 1884–1952) developed something similar in the "[[Jenaplan schools]]", and, from 1960 on, similar tutoring models began to appear in the USA.

* The "Tandem" concept for two people learning the same language appeared first in 1971 in connection with the "audio-visual method" of Wambach, and from there it was transferred to binational German-French youth meetings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dfjw.org/english-version |title=Service > The Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO) &#124; Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk |language=de |website=Dfjw.org |access-date= |accessdate=2016-01-20}}</ref>

* Klaus Lieb-Harkort and Nükhet Cimilli transferred the model to their work with immigrants in the German-Turkish area, in Munich. Courses followed in Bremen, Frankfurt and Zürich.

* In 1979, this inspired Jürgen Wolff to develop the Tandem learning partner mediation, initially for Spanish and German. In 1982 a similar course programme designed by Wolff and his colleagues in Madrid later became the basis for the TANDEM network, later established as the TANDEM schools network.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tandem-schools.com/network/ |title=TANDEM: Network |website=tandem-schools.com |access-date= |accessdate=2016-01-20}}</ref>

* Since 1983, the TANDEM model has been adopted as an alternative way of language learning, whose basic elements of language courses abroad, youth exchange, cultural tours, class correspondence and similar cross-border activities are replicated in selective schools throughout Europe.

* The network cooperates with various educational institutions including the E-Tandem Network,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/ |title=Tandem Server Bochum - language learning exchange partnerships - eTandem |website=Slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de |access-date= |accessdate=2016-01-20}}</ref> founded in 1992, and renamed the International E-Mail Tandem Network in 1993.

* 'TANDEM Fundazioa<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tandemcity.info/general/en_history.htm |title=TANDEM Fundazioa: history |website=Tandemcity.info |access-date= |accessdate=2016-01-20}}</ref> was founded in 1994 for the development of scientific cooperation and educational and advanced training with their head office in Donostia/San Sebastian, Spain.

* In 2016, Tripod Technology GmbH granted a license from TANDEM Fundazioa to create the [[Tandem (app)|Tandem app]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tandemcity.info/history-tandem/|title=History of Tandem|website=Tandem language exchange - Tandem Fundazioa|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref>

* The majority of the schools under the TANDEM Network established the association 'TANDEM International'<ref name="tandem-schools1"/> with headquarters in Bremen, Germany. Since March 2014, TANDEM International has been the owner of the brand 'TANDEM'.

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== Cormier Method ==

Devised by Helene Cormier, a language teacher at Club d'échange linguistique de Montréal language school (CELM), the Cormier method is based on instructions in which small groups of learners with different mother tongues interact for in-tandem learning to occur.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Learning culture and language through ICTs: methods for enhanced instruction|date=2009|publisher=Information Science Reference |editor-last1=Chang |editor-first1=Maiga |editor-last2=Kuo |editor-first2=Chen-Wo |isbn=9781605661667 |___location=Hershey PA |oclc=430984238 |ref=harv}}</ref> The participants develop conversations that are aimed to consolidate developed skills in the areas of listening, comprehension, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Participants of this language exchange can experience how native speakers interact through text, voice and video chat. The sessions take about roughly one hour, in which the participants speak in one language for thirty minutes and then switch to the other language for the following thirty minutes. Additionally, through this experience the learners have the chance to learn something from their peers’ culture by using the target language accordingly.

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# Insufficient knowledge: Native speakers may lack sufficient knowledge to teach their own language to others. It may also be very challenging and time consuming for students to be methodologically and pedagogically apt to design meaningful learning experiences.<ref name="Drummer" />

# Error correction: Novice learners speaking in a foreign language during tandem programmes may make mistakes which provoke interruptions from the language experts that aim to correct the error.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Py|first=B|date=2000|title=La construction interactive de la norm comme pratique et come representation|url=|journal=Aile|volume=12|pages=77–97|via= |ref=harv}} As cited in {{harvtxt|Cappellini|2016}}</ref> Such interruptions may hinder the flow of the conversation, disturb the fluency of the novice speaker and produce further foreign language anxieties<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.idyoma.com/blog/2018/7/17/best-way-to-learn-spanish|title=The Best Way to Learn Spanish: A Process That Works for You|work=Idyoma|access-date=2018-07-20|language=en-GB}}</ref>.

* '''Task design''': &nbsp;If the online language interaction lacks proper integration within the learning process and the course curriculum, displays no pedagogical leadership and has carelessly designed tasks, the value of tandem language learning can be downplayed by both students and teachers alike.{{sfn|O'Dowd|2013}}

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*{{Cite journal |last=Cappellini |first=M. |date=2016 |title=Roles and Scaffolding in Teletandem Interactions: A Study of the Relations between the Sociocultural and the Language Learning Dimensions in a French-Chinese Teletandem |doi=10.1080/17501229.2016.1134859 |journal=Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching |volume=10 |issue=1|pages=6–20|ref=harv}}

*{{Cite journal |last=Telles |first=João Antonio |date=March 2015 |title=Teletandem and performativity |journal=Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1590/1984-639820155536 |issn=1984-6398 |ref=harv|doi-access=free }}

*{{cite encyclopedia |title = Telecollaboration and CALL |editor-last1=Thomas |editor-first1=M. |editor-last2=Reinders |editor-first2=H. |editor-last3=Warshauer |editor-first3=M. |encyclopedia=Contemporary computer-assisted language learning |last = O'Dowd |first = R. |___location=London|publisher = Bloomsbury Academic|year = 2013|isbn = |url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uon/detail.action?docID=10632566|pages= 123–140 |via=ebrary |ref=harv}}

*{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=T. |date=2017|title=Introduction to system special issue on telecollaboration |journal=System|volume=64|pages=1–6|doi=10.1016/j.system.2017.01.007}}

{{Refend}}