Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning, 2nd Edition

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Tandem learning

Based on the potent image of the concerted effort of tandem cyclists, tandem learning is a way of organising foreign language learning which brings together native speakers of different languages who wish to learn each other’s language and to help their partner learn theirs. Tandem learning differs fundamentally from a traditional teacher-learner relationship through the peer-peer relationship and the interchangeability of the roles in the learning process.

Individual or group tandems constitute partly autonomous learning contexts which are organised as face-to-face, or virtual encounters that are usually binational.

The growing importance of tandem learning in Europe over the last thirty years is partly a result of the popularity ...