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.
Summary
The article presents a scientific analysis of a practical application of multilingual and multicultural education at higher education, more specifically, the description of the eTandem project developed and launched by the Language Center of the University of Padua, which won the European Language Label (ELL) in December 2016. The project was selected and nominated since it provides a methodological approach and study strategies which favour multilingualism, mobility for young people and inclusiveness. The project is based on an online exchange between Italian students enrolled at the University of Padua and international students who will be coming to the University. It differs from many other telecollaboration projects in that it involves different languages, levels of language competence as well as various ways of interaction. Indeed, it implies three different ways of communication among participants: (1) one-to-one partnership in the students’ target language; (2) many-to-many interaction in Italian and/or English/French/Spanish as linguae francae on a Moodle platform and/or in a social Facebook area; (3) one-to-many multilingual interaction carried out by e-tutors in Facebook. They provide students with useful links regarding cultural events and things to do in Padua and its surroundings, as well as recent news and interesting linguistic and cultural issues related to different countries. Mobility, informality, autonomy, reciprocity, friendship, fun and multilingual community are the key words of this initiative whose objectives are aimed at developing linguistic, cultural, personal, social and digital skills in different languages, even in the less used and less taught ones.
This case study refers to the eTandem pre-mobility project coordinated by the Padova University Language Centre running twice a year since 2015 for approximately eight weeks. The project matches up local university students with incoming international students, thus boosting integration between the two groups and increasing internationalisation at home. One-to-one and many-to-many interactions are organised, the latter with the support of trained facilitators, who launch asynchronous (in an online multilingual community) and synchronous, intercultural, theme-based learning activities to be discussed every week. Students’ linguistic, intercultural, and digital competences, as well as autonomy, are enhanced throughout the project, making them better prepared for their mobility.
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