It is a great joy to announce this wonderful project: an Italian/English language exchange for children.
The concept is to partner up a native English speaking child with another child whose native language is Italian. The program applies the advantageous principles of reciprocal peer tutoring to a language exchange. The classes are held online on the Zoom platform. The interaction is facilitated by the teacher in a way that the two pupils can explore and develop the use of the respective foreign language through sharing and learning from one another.
The children are paired up according to a similar age as well as a comparable level of competence in the foreign language. The program is designed for children aged between 6 and 14. The teacher will be responsible for finding the pupils, and for matching them in order to create a balanced, safe and stimulating learning environment where the learners can get the best out of the experience.
This exploration allows the children to use a language exchange as an opportunity to improve their skills and get a first-hand insight on the life, daily habits and culture of their peers. The program can be integrated with regularity into their lives during the whole school year. Although in person interactions are usually to be preferred, not always children feel ready to spend an educational period abroad, or can even afford it. This wonderfully formative experience is therefore a great opportunity at hand to start them out on the journey!
The pedagogy behind this work is very refined and the design has taken time to be laid out and get attuned. As the children take on responsibility for each other’s learning process as well as their own, peer assisted learning will improve their self-efficacy, which in turn will also develop their self-confidence outside the context of the language class. There is a lot of potential for the children to develop complicity as well as a relation of friendship between each other: in the future, this can evolve beyond the class and lead to visits abroad, or pave the way for educational student travel. This work has tremendous value because it supports the growth of individuals who are, at the same time, grounded in their cultural roots and open to explore and embrace cultural diversity.
The classes are shaped according to the pupils’ curiosity, their needs and their feedback, together with that of their parents. Focus is given to being able to establish conversation, but also elements of grammar, pronunciation, culture and lifestyle are being integrated at all times. The educational material is tailored to each learner and created in order to spark their interest and lead them through the interaction. The teacher will assist the children by mitigating any emerging conflict, he will focus their attention on specific details, prompt repetition and highlight the discovery of new elements. This exchange is fun for everyone involved!
The length of each session is 45 minutes. It has proven to be the right duration for the children to keep their concentration, interest and responsiveness switched on.
For further information, for price inquiries and to show interest in the exchange, please contact me directly at: marco@llmorandimorandi.com