Language Buddy Project

Main idea

Lowering the threshold for students to ask for help with language skills by offering peer-support in which tutors and pupils are matched on the basis of language related needs and experience, study programme, interests and practical considerations.

Outline

The language buddy project links two students together for one semester. One asks for help regarding language and the other is willing to give it. Some study programs also offer students the chance to participate in this project as a kind of internship.

Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) provides a match on the basis of language related needs and experience, study programme, interests and practical considerations. By keeping shared interests and hobbies in mind while matching students, the students feel more comfortable and might even form a friendship. Most of the time, students are matched with students who are enrolled in the same study programme, but depending on the needs of the pupil, they are sometimes matched with a tutor from another study programme (e.g., foreign language speaking pupils can be matched with tutors studying to become teachers for people whose first language isn’t Dutch).

There’s a staff member offering guidance to the students offering guidance. They give the students tips on how to effectively tutor and informs them about AUAS’s existing tools for language skill development.

The project lasts one semester and has the following steps:

• The student registers via a digital form.
• The student is paired with another student.
• Ideally, both students will be put on their way during a starting moment.
• They meet each other informally and preferably face-to-face (e.g., grab a coffee together).
• They meet at least five times during the semester for language tutoring. These sessions can be online or offline. The students who don’t study at the same campus prefer online sessions. Those who do prefer physical sessions.
• They can participate in a follow-up moment.
• There’s a closing moment and students fill in an evaluation form.

Goals

• Students can find their way to the tools offered by AUAS to develop language skills.
• Students are aware of their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to language and of the possibilities for improvement.
• Students get the opportunity to practice and develop their language proficiency.
• Students are intrinsically motivated to continue working on their language proficiency.
• Students have more confidence in their language related skills.
• Students receive personal feedback.
• Students write more fluently, and their writing is structured better.

 

Target group

• Students experiencing obstacles based on ethnic-cultural differences
• Students with (mental) health problems
• Students experiencing educational difficulties

Obstacles targetted:

• Disability
• Educational difficulties
• Migrant background obstacle
• Social obstacles

Students involvement

The students are involved as both pupils and tutors. They plan and organize five sessions together.

Inspiration and evidence

Empirical evidence on the effectiveness of peer-support

Success criteria

• This evaluation has shown that it’s truly a win-win situation for both tutor and pupil.
  • The tutors mention being able to:
    • learn through meeting people with another cultural background;
    • develop their teaching skills;
    • learn how to communicate on a level that matches with the person sitting in front of them;
    • have a meaningful impact.
  • The pupils mention that they:
    • feel better about their language skills;
    • are more motivated to work with language;
    • are aware of the possibilities for improvement;
    • received personal feedback;
    • are better informed about tools.
• By organizing this project, the institution signals to the students that they are trusted.
• The matching process can lead to very efficient collaborations and/or good friendships.

Points of attention

• Encourage students to meet each other face-to-face more. Ideally, they meet each other at the starting moment, but oftentimes students don’t show up to this event and leave their pupil/tutor waiting.
• It would be nice to organize a follow-up moment for every duo, but this would require a lot of time and effort.
• The matching process doesn’t always result in a good match, so a lot of time and effort goes into matching and re-matching.
• The quality of the guidance depends on the level and skills of the tutor. This is something you can’t be sure of beforehand.

Effectiveness

The effectiveness is measured by asking the participants to fill in an evaluation form in which they are asked whether they feel like they’ve reached the concrete goals/objectives. For instance, they are asked if have more confidence in their language related skills after participating in the project.

The pupils mention that they:

• feel better about their language skills;
• are more motivated to work with language;
• are aware of the possibilities for improvement;
• received personal feedback;
• are better informed about tools.

Do you feel you can effectively provide the support that students require?

We do agree.

Would you recommend this to other institutions?

strongly agree

Evaluation

The project is evaluated after each semester by asking the participants to fill in a form.

What is being evaluated?

• What kinds of students take part in the project?
• How did these students find out about the project?
• Do these students discover the project at a time which made sense in their personal journey?
• Satisfaction with the project

Results

This evaluation has shown that it’s truly a win-win situation for both tutor and pupil. The pupils develop their skills and the tutors mention being able to:

• learn through meeting people with another cultural background;
• develop their teaching skills;
• learn how to communicate on a level that matches with the person sitting in front of them;
• have a meaningful impact;
• etc.

 

Communication

• newsletters
• announcements on the online platform of AUAS
• screens across campuses

 

• Language coaches and staff from other language related initiatives at AUAS refer students to the language buddy project.
• The project is known by the different offices offering student guidance at AUAS, so they also refer students to this project.
• Some study programs offer students the chance to take part as tutors in this project as a kind of internship.

Timing

The project is one semester long, during which the students get together at least five times. Students who wish to continue for another semester, are free to do so. The length of these sessions and when they take place mostly depend on the students themselves, but some study programmes offer students the chance to participate in this project as a kind of internship. This comes with additional rules about what the sessions should look like.

Resources

• The matching process doesn’t always result in a good match, so a lot of time and effort goes into matching and re-matching.
• Once all communication (advertising, information and tips for participants…) has been developed, you can reuse a lot of this material.
• During this project students should be able to contact the staff involved around two hours per week.

Transferability

We think it is easily transferable to other contexts or groups.

The buddy system and peer support are easily transferable to other contexts, but the degree of guidance needed would differ depending on the subject.

Universal design

The tools offered to students have been developed based on the principles of UD. Students don’t receive help based on their identity (e.g., migration background), but on their specific needs.