ETandem Learning

This study aims to address the question of how Web 2.0 can be shaped along educational lines. Our analysis specifically focuses on what the educational potential of Web 2.0 can be as far as the improvement of L2 students’ communication skills are concerned, and on how education can be reimagined in the light of the new technologies.
The outcomes of a semester-long telecollaborative partnership between Italian university students studying Hungarian and Hungarian learners of Italian are considered. The operational protocol of the initiative called Danubadria was based on the reciprocal dependence and mutual support and was characterized by a task-based approach and a wiki counseling platform, in which the eTandem partners
and their foreign language teachers collaborated.
Web 2.0 tools appear to strengthen fundamental aspects of L2 acquisition and of intercultural communicative competence that may be difficult to stimulate in students in traditional classroom environments. They may offer scholars a more participatory practice of learning in which individuals have increased opportunities to interact.
While asserting the importance of learner autonomy, a major preoccupation in today’s educational climate, we claim that on-line collaboration allowed by the Internet cannot replace teachers’contribution. The complexity of Web 2.0 brings along significant challenges and teachers should be positioned to play a crucial role in managing this experience.

This study focuses on a strategic partnership with students from the University of Padua and international students coming to Padua mainly in the setting of Erasmus student mobility and exchange programs. The project is designed specifically for incoming international students to facilitate their integration into the Italian higher educational learning environment. They can practice their Italian, have practical information about Padua and its university, and get to know local students with whom they can possibly have face-to-face relationships after their arrival. The online exchange-based on the principles of tandem learning-is carried out in the setting of a one-to-one and a many-to-many interaction using different technological tools which include a dedicated institutional Moodle platform, a social Facebook area restricted to the eTandem community and other networking systems such as Skype, e-mail, chat and WhatsApp. We have found that the project helps both Italian and international students develop their digital, linguistic and intercultural competencies, boosts their critical thinking and cultivates their curiosity towards others. It facilitates international students' integration into their target country/ university/culture.

L’obiettivo del presente lavoro è di indagare le potenziali ricadute sul piano dell’autonomia e della consapevolezza sul proprio apprendimento e dell’agentività degli studenti partecipanti a una sperimentazione pilota eTandem, attraverso un’analisi quantitativa e qulitativa delle interazioni, dei dialoghi collaborativi e delle dinamiche sociali, culturali e psicologiche.

En français :
A partir d’un dispositif eTandem chinois-français initié et développé par l’Université de Genève (Suisse) et l’Université du Hubei (Chine) sur cinq années, cette thèse aborde deux problématiques : l’ingénierie pédagogique du dispositif et la co-construction des compétences via la réalisation des rôles d’expert et d’apprenant entre les locuteurs natifs et non natifs. D’une part, nous montrons que la conception du dispositif doit prendre en compte l’influence des exigences institutionnelles, des pédagogies et des cultures éducatives sur la motivation, les stratégies et les performances des apprenants. D’autre part, nous analysons de manière fine des interactions au sein de binômes dont les styles d’organisation peuvent varier. Le « projet didactique » sous-jacent à leurs échanges, grâce notamment à son caractère institutionnalisé, mobilise des ressources technologiques et interculturelles en lien avec le processus d’apprentissage. Nous montrons en particulier comment les stratégies de résolution de problèmes (négociation du sens et de la forme) sont prolongées et enrichies par les outils informatiques.

In English:

Integrating eTandem in foreign language-culture education : interaction between learners and institutional dynamic in a sino-french university online course

Based on a Chinese-French eTandem course initiated and developed by the University of Geneva (Switzerland) and the University of Hubei (China) over five years, this thesis tackles two issues: instructional design of the course and co-construction of competences through the realization of the roles of expert (native speaker) and learner (non-native speaker). On the one hand, our research shows that the course design should take into account the influence of the institutional requirements, teaching methods and the educational cultures on students’ motivation, strategies, and performance. On the other hand, we analyse interactions between learners, which present varying organisational styles. Thanks to the institutionalisation of the eTandem course, the « didactical characteristics » identified in their interaction mobilizes technological and intercultural resources related to the learning process. We show particularly how problem-solving strategies (negotiation of meaning and form) are extended and enriched by new technologies.