This section provides suggestions for utilizing the MOO for language learning in tandem. They are based on two projects the author supervised in 1998.

INITIAL STEPS:

• familiarize yourself with tandem learning
• get to know the MOO
• select a MOO and contact its administrators
• select a client that meets your and your learners' needs

FIND A PARTNER (CLASS):

• discuss your project with the teacher/moderator of that class
• agree on activities learners might want to undertake
• think about when and how often learners should meet and work out a joint schedule
• discuss which additional tools ( eg. E-Mail, Internet Browsers) learners should use
• arrange a common agenda about how and when should or may change languages

DISCUSS TANDEM LEARNING WITH YOUR LEARNERS:

• ensure they are reasonably proficient with all the tools they will use during the project (MOO, E-Mail, Internet Browsers, ...)
• make sure that they understand and intend to adhere to the principle of reciprocity
• verify that they have had enough experience both as a foreign language learner and in terms of strategy training to be able to take on responsibility for their own and their partners' learning
• discuss strategies for error correction and agree how many errors students should annotate and correct and over what period of time they should do this

DECIDE HOW LEARNERS SHOULD FORM THEIR TANDEMS:

• think about whether single tandems  (pairs of learners) will be sufficient or whether learners should form groups of four (double-dating) to make sure that there will always be someone available even if one learner has to miss a session
• ask learners to describe their MOO character, to set their gender, ... in short, to enter information others can call up when they are looking for a potential partner
• alternatively, set up a website with individual profiles of your learners. However, please bear in mind that some information, e.g., photographs, might influence learners' choices insofar as it reduces the unique potential of the MOO for role-playing and/or for experimenting with features adopted for this specific occasion which do not have to concur with someone's factual profile

REMEMBER THAT SMALL GROUP WORK IN THE  MOO DIFFERS FROM REAL-LIFE CLASSROOMS:

• you won't be able to follow all conversations while they are happening, so think about ways to make up for that
• think about how you want to assess learners' work
 
Some suggestions...
• you might want learners to log their discussions (if so, be sure to obtain all participants' permission to do so)
• set aside enough time to study log files in between sessions
• agree with learners how to provide them with feedback on their performance

DO YOU WANT LEARNERS TO MAKE A PRESENTATION AT THE END OF THE TANDEM EXPERIENCE?

• what format should this take?
• are there specific MOO tools might learners might want to use?
• what other tools, external to MOO, could be used?
• when and where will learners make their presentations?
• what weight should be attributed to either language during the presentation?

Two possible sources for Partners

1. A "Tandem Agency" available from tandem@slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

This is maintained by the Bochum tandem network which suggests that a message requesting a partnership could be worded something like:
 
My name is.... I'm a professional/college student/high school student. My native language is English. I'm learning French.
 
2. RIBO-L, a German/English discussion group which is also being used for finding tandem partners.

Subscribe by emailing a subjectless message whose body reads "subscribe first name last name RIBO-L" to listserv@uriacc.uri.edu (remembering to substitute your first and last names for "first name last name").

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Last updated 30th January 1999
Author: Markus Kötter