European Tandem Projects

LINGUA Project

International E-Mail Tandem Network

Length: 1.8.1994 - 31.12.1996
Programme SOKRATES of the European Union - LINGUA 
Project Nr.  94–03 / 1507 / D–VB and 95-03 / 1924 / D-VB Ext. 2

Co-ordinating institution: Ruhr-Universität Bochum (DE)
Co-ordinator: Helmut Brammerts, Sprachlehrforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum - E-Mail: Helmut.Brammerts@ruhr-uni-bochum.de - Tel.: +49 - 234 - 700 5748 - Fax: +49 - 234 - 7094 578

Project partners:

  1. Aalborg Universitet (DK) - Annette Lorentsen, Institut for sprog og internationale kulturstudier, Aalborg Universitet, Kroghstrćde 3, DK-9220 Aalborg Řst, Denmark - Tel. +45 96 35 80 80, Fax +45 98 15 78 58
    Colleagues involved: Annette Lorentsen, Jytte Lund Larsen and others.
  2. Aarhus Universitet (DK) - Harald Pors, Institut for germansk filologi, Aarhus Universitet, Bygning 326, Ndr. Ringgade, DK-8000 Ĺrhus, Denmark - Tel. +45 89 42 21 06, Fax +45 86 19 16 99
    Colleagues involved: Anette Christensen, Harald  Pors and others.
  3. Ruhr-Universität Bochum (DE) - Helmut Brammerts, Seminar für Sprachlehrforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany - Tel. +49 234 700 3815, Fax +49 234 7094 138
    Colleagues involved: Heike Berner, Helmut Brammerts, Dawn D'Atri, Beate Helbig, Kristine Kapogiannatos, Karin Kleppin, Waldemar Martyniuk, Jackie McPartland, Christian Röhl, Lidia Santiso Saco, Markus Stumm, Ursula Vences and others.
  4. Universidade de Coimbra (PT) - Karl Heinz Delille, Grupo de Estudos Germanisticos, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Coimbra, P-3049 Coimbra, Portugal - Tel. +351 39 25552/1, Fax +351-39-36733
    Colleagues involved: Antoinet Brink, Karl Heinz Delille, Adelaide Chichorro Ferreira, Leonardo Opitz
  5. Trinity College, University of Dublin (IE) - David G. Little, Center for Language and Communication Studies (CLCS), Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland - Tel. +353 1 608 1505, Fax +353 1 677 2694
    Colleagues involved: David Little, Klaus Schwienhorst and others.
  6. Mitthögskolan Sundsvall/Härnösand (SE) - Bengt Jonsson, Institutionen för kultur och humaniora, Tyska, S-871 88 Härnösand, Sweden - Tel. +46 611 86178, Fax +46-611 86170
    Colleagues involved: Bengt Jonsson and others.
  7. Universidad de Oviedo (ES) - Margarita Blanco Hölscher & Juan Antonio Alvarez González, Dpto. de Filología Anglogermánica y Francesa, Campus de Humanidades del Milán, Universidad de Oviedo, E-33011 Oviedo, Spain - Tel. +34 8 510 3289, Fax +34 8 510 3291 - Ana Ojanguren Sánchez, Dpto. de Filología Anglogermánica y Francesa, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales e Ingenieros Informáticos, Universidad de Oviedo, E-33204 Gijón (Asturias), Spain - Tel. +34 8 518 2137, Fax +34 8 518 2150
    Colleagues involved: Juan Antonio Alvarez González, Margarita Blanco Hölscher, Ana González Pozueta, Christina Jurcic, Antonio Niembro Prieto, Ana Ojanguren Sánchez, Rüdiger Punzet and others.
  8. Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications – ENST Paris (FR) - Veronika Bayer, Département des Langues Vivantes, Télecom Paris, 46 rue Barrault, F-75634 Paris Cédex 13, France - Tel. +33 1 45 81 77 11, Fax +33 1 45 81 73 88
    Colleagues involved: Veronika Bayer, James Benenson, Norman Gritz, Miguel Jiménez and others.
  9. University of Sheffield (GB) - Mike Calvert, Division of Education & Tim Lewis, Modern Languages Teaching Centre, Floor 2, Arts Tower, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, England - Tel. +44 114 282 4703, Fax +44 114 275 4674
    Colleagues involved: Mike Calvert, Tim Lewis, Henriette Louwerse, Richard Speight, Elke St.John, Lesley Walker, Liz White, Jane Woodin and others.
  10. Fontys Hogeschool Sittard (NL) - Annette Gaßdorf, Fontys Hoogeschool Sittard,  Oude Markt 5-7, NL-6131 EN Sittard - Tel. +31 46 599 540, Fax +31 46 519 691
    Colleagues involved: Annette Gaßdorf, Maaike van Ras,  Heidi van den Tillaar and others.
  11. Universität Trier (DE) - Reinhard Köhler, Fachbereich II, Fach Linguistische Datenverarbeitung, Universität Trier, Universitätsring 15, D-54286 Trier, Germany - Tel. +49 651 201 2270, Fax +49 651 201 3946
    Colleagues involved:  Oksana Alekseious, Ansgar Eilebrecht, Reinhard Köhler, Jan Wender and others.

Project goals and results:

The partner institutions established an international network for the promotion of foreign language learning in tandem via the Internet (asynchronous communication per e-mail, synchronous communication in virtual realities such as MOOs, etc.) and developed and published relevant didactic materials.

At the end of the project, over 20 bilingual subnets were in existence, through which ca. 2000 students from 20 countries learned co-operatively. The number of language combinations and participants is continually growing.
The services of each subnet include access to the central Tandem Agency in Bochum, to a bilingual e-mail discussion forum as well as didactic materials for learners and learning organisers in the eight partner languages. These materials have been published on the International E-Mail Tandem Network's WWW sever in Bochum and Trier

As part of this project, a number of academic publications were created (see Auswahlbibliographie).

At the conclusion of the project, all project partners published a final report in their country's language in the form of a Guide for language learning in tandem. This guide is presently available in nine languages. The English version is: Little, David & Brammerts, Helmut (eds.). 1996. A guide to language learning in tandem via the Internet (CLCS Occasional Paper No.46). Dublin: Trinity College, Centre for Language and Communication Studies. ISSN 0332 3889.

The International E-Mail Tandem Network continues to be expanded in connection with the ODL Project Telematics for Autonomous and Intercultural Tandem Learning.