
The project “TANDEM – TAsk-based laNguage teaching anD collaborative lEarning for upskilling Migrants” aims to increase the employability and key competences of migrant and local adults, by offering them an innovative and non-formal learning opportunity in which migrants are encouraged to use their existing linguistic capabilities and turn them into an employment possibility as language teacher, while promoting intercultural exchanges and peer-learning with local adults.
The presence of migrants is a reality in Europe and has been increasing since 2015. A part of those newly-arrived migrants is low-skilled. In Europe, non-natives and especially non-EU have higher unemployment rates (Eurostat, 2017) compared to natives and this gap increases when being low-skilled. At the same time, migrants face problems of overqualification and/or difficulties with recognition of skills in the new country, (migrants are 12% more likely to be overqualified than natives, OECD, 2018).
At the same time, about 20% of the adults in Europe lack essential skills and competences in literacy, numeracy and about 25% lack ICT skills (PIAAC, 2016). Education and skills increase employability, but, adults with lower skill levels are less likely to participate in learning activities: this represents a challenge for the one in four unemployed who has low literacy and numeracy skills. Also, lower-skilled adults have more difficulty to find a job than educated ones (Eurostat, 2018).
Low skills and unemployment increase the risk of social and economic exclusion. There is therefore not just a need for new possibilities to increase skills and employability, but also for new ways to recognize skills and competences acquired through non-formal learning.
Therefore, TANDEM aims to improve the key competences and employability of migrants and adults by enabling migrants to capitalize their existing linguistic abilities and teaching their language to other local adults, using innovative and non-formal methodologies, promoting in this way cultural exchanges and peer-learning.
TANDEM shall hence develop an innovative upskilling pathway based on the Task-Based Language Teaching methodology, providing migrants with a set of tools enabling them to teach their languages, and by doing so, increase the competences of both themselves and local adults.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES More specifically, the TANDEM project aims: TO DESIGN AND DEPLOY AN INNOVATIVE UPSKILLING PATHWAYTo design and deploy an innovative upskilling pathway addressed to migrant adults based on the capitalisation of pre-existing language skills as well as the improvement of their local language skills, thus opening new employment opportunities;
TO FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF KEY COMPETENCES AMONG MIGRANTTo foster the development of key competences among migrant adults by proposing an innovative language teaching methodology based on the joint use of task-based language teaching (TBLT), non-formal approaches, creativity and digital skills;
TO RAISE MIGRANTS’ AWARENESS OF THE VALUE OF LANGUAGE SKILLSTo raise migrants’ awareness of the value of language skills they already possess, turning their competences into assets and motivating them to use their skills to create concrete employment opportunities;
TO IMPROVE LINGUISTIC ABILITIES BOTH AMONG MIGRANTS AND LOCAL PEOPLETo improve linguistic abilities both among migrants and local people, creating concrete opportunities for exchange and interaction among different communities, and triggering a cascade effect on local communities through the implementation of open language teaching initiatives;
TO PROMOTE SOCIAL INCLUSION OF MIGRANT ADULTSTo promote social inclusion of migrant adults, by encouraging intercultural dialogue between migrant and local people, enhancing a sense of belonging to a shared community
- Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo “Danilo Dolci” Italy
- Active Citizens Partnership Greece
- Compass (GmbH)
- CSI Center for Social Innovation LTD Cyprus
- Iberika Education Group GGMBH Germany

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project Number: 2019-1-IT02-KA204-38720149