ABSTRACT
The University of Padova Language Centre has developed a strategic pre-mobility eTandem programme with Italian students enrolled at Padova University and international students who are about to come to Padova in the framework of Erasmus mobility programmes for the semester following the virtual exchange. For Italian students, eTandem contributes to boosting students’ mobility even further, while for foreigners it is a preparatory activity for their stay in Italy, with the aim to facilitate their integration into their target university/culture and language.
This eTandem project implies not only a one-to-one partnership in students’ target language (using WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Skype etc.) but also a many-to-many interaction in a truly multilingual and multicultural e-community hosted both on a social Facebook group and on Moodle.
The project has been taking place twice a year since its launch in 2015 and was awarded the European Language Label Prize in 2016. A certificate of participation and a virtual badge are issued to all the students who participate in the online community discussions, write language and culture diaries, produce a short composition, as well as fill in a final questionnaire. Participant students of language courses earn three credits.
