〔英〕闞 茜 〔奧〕Ursula Stickler 徐

1．Introduction

One of the challenges in distance language learning is the lack of speaking opportunities(Hurd，2005)．Although we have designed various online speaking activities to help students practice speaking Chinese，they are all structured exercises which lack the spontaneity and natural flow when you talk to a native speaker in real communication．The relative absence of a Chinese-speaking environment in the UK has made it very difficult for our students to be engaging in authentic communication situations where they can practise what they have learnt and keep on learning after they finish the course．In an effort to support students who completed a beginners’Chinese course to continue with their learning，a small scale project was carried out to explore the benefits of eTandem learning，in what ways eTandem learning can motivate learners，and what makes a successful eTandem learning project．

Tandem learning is a form of telecollaboration，which refers to language learning over“global communication networks”(Belz，2002:60-81)．The two principles of tandem learning are autonomy and reciprocity(Brammerts，2001;Brammerts，2001b;Cziko，2004):two speakers of different languages are working together to learn each other’s language and gain information about the different cultures．eTandem has developed as a form of tandem where few native speakers are available for face-to-face collaboration(Brammerts ＆Kleppin，2001a;Brammerts ＆Tandem Network，2003);it utilises all forms of electronic communication，from email(St．John ＆Cash，1995;Stickler，2004;Stockwell ＆Levy，2001;Woodin，1997)to web-based communication(Appel ＆Mullen，2000)，chat(Lee，2004)and internet-telephony，e．g．Skype(Tian ＆Wang，2010)．The learning can be completely independent or supported by eTandem organisers，language advisors，or even integrated into a more formal course structure(Lewis，2001;Lewis，Woodin ＆St．John，1996;Wang et al，2012)．The study reported here was supported by eTandem project organisers．

It is well-established in the literature that such language exchange supports language learning and helps motivate students as the learners use the language for authentic communication．Previous research has identified a variety of factors that play a crucial role for the success of eTandem learning such as the matching of expectations on both sides，time structure and student commitment(O’Dowd ＆Ritter，2006)，the design of the tasks(O’Dowd ＆Ritter，2006;Müller-Hartmann，2000)，and the pairing of learning partners and the on-going support(Stickler，2001;Ushioda，2000)．Although there has recently been some research on learners of Chinese(Wang et al，2012;Tian ＆Wang，2010)，there is little research on using eTandem for beginners’learners of Chinese，especially distance learners．This project aims to find out if the previous findings apply to the distant learners of Chinese at the beginners’level，and if there are any other factors that contribute to the success of eTandem learning．These are our research questions and this paper focuses on the second question，i．e．a(chǎn)dditional factors that contribute to the success of eTandem learning．

2．Background

With approximately 200，000 students，The Open University is the largest university in the United Kingdom，specializing in distance education．The Department of Languages at The Open University(OU)UK introduced beginners’Chinese to its curriculum in November 2009 in response to the increasing demands in language learning through distance education．At the start of the course in November 2009，467 students were enrolled and a further 344 students were enrolled in November 2010．The study reported here was of the second cohort of students who studied the course in 2010/2011．

Beginners’Chinese was designed according to the blended learning model(Nicolson et al．，2011)with a mixture of self-study of print and online materials as well as online and face-to-face tutorials．The cohort is divided into learning groups of about 20 students．The course teaches Mandarin Chinese in its standardized spoken modern form and in simplified characters．Students can study this course as part of a degree or a standalone course．The intended learning outcomes are comparable to A2 as defined by the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages(CEFR)(2001)．The total duration of the course is 11 study months，which is about 300 study hours(based on an average figure of 7 hours per week)．Currently，there is no intermediate course in Chinese for them to continue．

Students on the beginners’Chinese course come from all parts of the UK and also from Continental Western Europe．An enrolment survey(Table 1)shows a profile which is very different from campus-based universities in terms of age and educational background，though it is representative of distance learning courses at the OU and elsewhere(Kan ＆McCormick，2012;Coleman ＆Furnborough，2010)．

Table 1 Demographic information of the beginners’Chinese course n= 344(Source:Students Statistics Service，IET，enrolment data 2010，The Open University，UK)

續(xù)表

3．The Project

Our Chinese-English eTandem was a 6-week project(9 weeks if we count the preparation and feedback weeks)starting at the end of October 2011 after OU students completed their final assessment．Two weeks’preparation(see below for details of preparation)，6 weeks’eTandem learning，plus one week reflection and feedback，which took place immediately after the completion of the project when participants were invited to complete a follow-up questionnaire．In each one of the 6 learning weeks，participants wrote one email to each other in both Chinese and English according to the worksheets(see below for detailed description of worksheets)and corrected each other’s written work．They were also encouraged to have one Skype conversation with each other for about 30 minutes，talking half of the time in Chinese and the other half in English．

The pedagogical design of our Chinese-English eTandem project was based on the research discussed in the Introduction section，paying particular attention to avoid potential causes of failure:matching of expectations on both sides，time structure and student commitment(O’Dowd ＆Ritter，2006)，the design of the tasks(Müller-Hartmann，2000;O’Dowd ＆Ritter，2006;Wang et al．，2012)，and the pairing of learning partners and the on-going support(Stickler，2001;Ushioda，2000)．We also put considerable work into the pre-project preparation．

3．1 Two institutions

The two institutions involved were:Department of Languages，The Open University(OU)，UK and School of Distance Learning and Continuing Education，Beijing Jiaotong University(BJU)．The project was led by the first two authors and jointly facilitated by the third author．

3．2 Participants

There were 10 students from OU paired with 10 participants from BJU．The OU students had completed a beginners’Chinese course．The 10 participants from BJU consisted of both postgraduate students and staff who had been learning English for some years(see Table 2 for participants’profile)．The third author of this paper was one of the 10 participants from BJU．

Table 2 Participants’profile

3．3 Preparation work

Two weeks prior to the start of the project，participants from both institutions received the following documents:i)detailed description of the project(English version for the OU participants and Chinese version for the BJU participants);ii)the Consent form(in both English and Chinese versions);iii)the timetable indicating the start date of each week，the feedback week as well as the topic of each week;iv)the instruction on installing an audio recording device‘CallBurner’(for Skype);and v)the pairing information with contact details of each pair．

OU participants were recruited via the Chinese student forum①This is a forum open to students who are registered on the beginners’Chinese course．．The project team announced the project and asked students who were interested to send an email to the project mailbox with their preferred email address，Skype name and age．The first 10 students who expressed interest were chosen．BJU participants were recruited by telephoning potentially interested students and staff．Once all the 20 participants were chosen，the project team carried out the preparation work in the following order:

1．Emailed all the participants detailed project description and the Consent form，asking them to return the signed Consent form if they still want to take part having read the project description．

，the project team(the three authors)carefully did the pairing of the learning partners via email exchanges and meetings on Skype．

3．Emailed all the participants the whole project timetable，the instruction on installing‘CallBurner’(for Skype)as well as the pairing information．

In addition，the third author of this paper at BJU held a pre-project briefing a week before the start of the project to make sure that all the participants understood what was expected of them and also to help with all the technical issues such as using Skype and installing CallBurner．No briefing was held at OU as students lived in different parts of the country，but the project team answered all the questions via email and on the forum．

3．4 Activity themes and worksheets

To avoid losing task design identified by previous research(Müller-Hartmann，2000)as potential failure of eTandem learning，and to add more support for low level learners，we decided to have a structured approach．Each week has a main theme to provide a focus for the conversation and writing．The six themes are:Getting to know each other，F(xiàn)amily and friends，F(xiàn)ood，The weekend，Comparisons and Travel(see Apppendix for a sample worksheet)．The detailed worksheet contains information about what to do，how to do it as well as useful expressions for the theme in both English and Chinese．The worksheet for each week was only emailed to all the participants 2-3 days before the start of each week so that they did not feel overwhelmed had all the 6 weeks’work been sent to them together．The purpose of the worksheets were:i)to highlight issues they should bear in mind about tandem learning such as avoiding direct translation，autonomy and reciprocity;ii)to provide useful phrases for a particular topic in both languages;and iii)to help participants to focus and to make necessary preparation before their Skype conversation and email writing．One participant said in the questionnaire:

It is a bit like a dating agency but being given topics to discuss means the conversation can be less forced and more natural at all levels．Beginners such as myself can stick to topic and more proficient students can go off topic as their skill levels allow，but using the topics to get started．

［OU Participant A］

4．Findings

Data were collected from:i)copies of emails participants sent to each other were co-pied to the project team and systematically filed;ii)Skype recordings of most sessions(some participants forgot to press the recording button for some sessions);iii)Postings from the OU participants on student forum and from the BJU students on QQ;iv)follow-up questionnaires in both English and Chinese;v)query or general emails from participants to the project team and emails/Skype recordings between the project team members;and vi)follow-up email(2 months after the completion of the project asking them if they were still in touch)．

For the purpose of this paper，we concentrated on the last 3 sources of data，especially 18 completed questionnaires．The questionnaires in Chinese were translated where appropriate．Using thematic analysis，the two leading researchers examined the texts and connected the data during the process of analysis to identify salient features of how pre-project preparation and the on-going collaboration between the two institutions facilitated the learning and enhanced the learning experience．In cross research discussion，focused themes emerged:a)perceived benefits of eTandem learning;b)impact of differences between partners;c)cultural information and content;d)reflection on learning and/or teaching;and e)role of pre-project preparation．We shall first briefly outline participants’overall evaluation of the project and their perceived benefits of eTandem learning，and then move on to the role of pre-project preparation．The impact of differences between partners and cultural information merit a separate paper．

4．1 Participants’evaluation of the project

Although the participants were very diverse in terms of age，educational background，the level of the target language，their overall evaluation of the project was extremely positive．When asked‘What is your overall general evaluation of the eTandem project?’，17 out of 18(94%)①1 respondent did not answer this question．who returned the questionnaires said the project was very well set out and executed，they benefited a lot and found the whole experience very enjoyable:

I think it was well set out and organised and I really enjoyed taking part．

［OU Participant B］

通過(guò)與英國(guó)人書(shū)信往來(lái)以及在線對(duì)話交流，讓我覺(jué)得學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)是件輕松快樂(lè)的事。

Through emails and online conversations，I felt learning English was pleasant and enjoyable．

［BJU Participant A］

4．2 Perceived benefits of eTandem learning

From the analysis of 18 completed questionnaires，the following broad categories of perceived benefits emerged:i)linguistic benefits such as practising colloquial expressions，learning subtle language points，etc．;ii)cultural benefits as they learnt about many cultu-ral aspects of each other’s culture，different attitudes to life，etc．;iii)personal and professional benefits as many of them felt more confident as a person，more confident to use information communication technology，and learnt how to design online learning activities，etc．;iv)interpersonal benefits as they felt happy to be of help to their partners，established friendship etc．;and v)other benefits include the feeling of authentic communication because for many of them，this was the first time they spoke with a native speaker of the language they were learning and they were speaking or writing not to pass the exam but to make themselves understood．

Two months after the completion of the project，six out of ten pairs confirmed that they were still exchanging emails and talking on Skype，which further supported the above perceived benefits．It also suggests that our initial aim of the project，i．e．supporting the learning of Chinese after the completion of the beginners’course，is achieved to a certain extent for 60% of participants．

4．3 The role of pre-project preparation and on-going collaboration

The analysis of the questionnaire clearly indicates that the pre-project preparation we carried out including all the briefing documents sent to all the participants(listed in 3．3)were crucial to the quality of the eTandem learning and the smooth running of the project．To the question‘What use did you make of the preparation documents．．．’，all 18 respon-dents(100%)found the documents very useful．The data also shows that the continuous support provided by the project team members in both institutions enhanced their eTandem learning．Below are the main benefits of preproject preparation and continuous facilitation．

4．3．1 Helping with time and expectation management

The detailed project description and timetable with topics for every week not only helped participants better manage their time but also helped them fully understand what was expected of them．They therefore felt more confident before the start of the project:

The project description helped outline and explain everything I wanted to know and the timetable helped me as I like to know what type of work would be required in the weeks to come．

［OU Participant C］

“項(xiàng)目描述讓我對(duì)項(xiàng)目有了大概的了解，而且我還知道了項(xiàng)目的具體要求，我應(yīng)該做什么，怎么做，這些都很清楚，心里比較有底。也讓我覺(jué)得這個(gè)項(xiàng)目不會(huì)很難，心里踏實(shí)了一些。”

The project description document gave me a rough understanding of the project as well as precise requirements such as what I should do，how to do it．So it is very clear and I felt at ease．Also I felt that it was not going to be too difficult so I felt more confident．

［BJU Participant B］

4．3．2 Feeling motivated and in control

Another point mentioned by many respondents is that they felt motivated and in control of the learning:

These were all quite clear and useful in setting one’s own goals．

［OU Participant D］

項(xiàng)目的描述讓我對(duì)在接下來(lái)的項(xiàng)目中需要做的工作，以及必須掌握的一些技能有所準(zhǔn)備。時(shí)間表上，每周一個(gè)主題，讓我感覺(jué)每周都有不同的任務(wù)，非常有吸引力。

The project description prepared me for the tasks ahead and the technical skills needed．The timetable with a different topic every week was very attractive．

［BJU Participant C］

4．3．3 Establishing rapport with project team members

Receiving all the documents well in advance，face-to-face briefing，weekly email from the project team and the three researchers answering questions from participants via email，QQ and the student forum helped establish a friendly rapport between the participants and the project team，making participants feel that they were not alone and well supported:

The Introduction was positive and friendly and gave appropriate guidance．．．

［OU Participant E］

“……感覺(jué)項(xiàng)目很貼心……”．．．feel the project has a personal warm touch．．．

［BJU Participant D］

準(zhǔn)備階段的培訓(xùn)非常必要，為后續(xù)的交流奠定了基礎(chǔ)。

The briefing in the preparation phase is essential，which paved way for later language exchanges．

［BJU Participant E］

5．Conclusion

It is evident from this study that the pre-project preparation and the continuous support provided by the project team through collaboration between the two institutions played a crucial role in the success of this Chinese-English eTandem learning project．The data also indicates that structured guidance in the form of detailed weekly worksheets contributed towards the success of eTandem learning between European learners of beginners’Chinese and Chinese learners of English．We received very many good suggestions about how to improve pre-project preparation such as giving a brief introduction to the participants about their partners and the project team member during the preparation phase．We will take these into consideration in our future eTandem projects．We hope that our findings will benefit language teachers of Chinese and designers of eTandem projects as well as attract more research in the application of eTandem in teaching Chinese as a foreign language．

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Appendix:Sample Worksheet

Week 2

eTandem Activity Worksheet

Topic:Friends and Family

? U．Stickler

1．What to do?

Have you sent your eTandem partner corrections to his/her last email?If not，do this before starting the next email exchange．

Then write an email to your eTandem partner in both Chinese and English as usual:do not directly translate the text but make sure that the language you use is simple enough for your partner to understand．

Alternatively:if you have decided to have a Skype conversation，prepare for this task by looking at the words and phrases below and noting down some words relevant for your own situation．Being prepared for a live speaking situation helps you to relax and enjoy the conversation．

Whether in speaking or in writing:remember to switch the language half way through．When emailing，remember to cc to:fels-Chinese-tandem@open．a(chǎn)c．uk;ycjfzx@bjtu．edu．cn．

When using Skype，remember that one of you will need to record the conversation．

2．Guidelines / Content

In this second eTandem exchange you will be talking or writing about your family and friends，describing people，describing relationships between people，talking/writing about activities you do with certain friends．

3．Useful phrases

Here are some words and phrases that can help you;use an online dictionary if you like to check the following terms(http://www．nciku．com/)．For OU students，you can go to Sessions 15 and 19 in Module Book 2 for some other useful expressions:

English Chinese husband / wife partner father / mother / parents sisters elder sister / younger sister brothers elder brother / younger brother siblings children / daughter / son先生，丈夫，老公/太太，妻子，老婆同伴父親，爸爸/母親，媽媽/父母姐妹姐姐/妹妹兄弟哥哥/弟弟兄弟姐妹孩子/女兒/兒子female friend / girlfriend male friend / boyfriend best friend work colleague(s)女性朋友/女朋友男性朋友/男朋友最好的朋友同事older than me younger than me taller than me shorter than me比我大比我小;比我年輕比我高比我矮on the right(of the picture)on the left in the middle behind in front of between在(照片的)右邊在左邊在中間在后面在前面在中間

You can also use a photograph of your family or a group of friends to help you structure your email or your talk．

? Windows Clipart