Wikipedia:WikiProject Cross-language Editing and Learning Exchange/Guide

The Cross-language Editing Exchange is based on the idea of language exchanges. In short, it helps you find a partner who speaks the language you are learning, and is learning the language that you speak.

To participate, first write a draft of an article in the language you are learning. Of course, you should make sure that the article does not already exist, or, if it does exist, that you are improving it! Once you have written the draft to the best of your ability, post a link to it in the appropriate category on the Exchange page. For instance, if you speak Japanese and are learning English, post it under "Japanese"/"I am learning English". Then, an editor who speaks English and is learning Japanese volunteers to edit the draft. In return, the editor may ask you to edit an article they wrote in Japanese.

What this is not for

1. Copyrighted materials! Copyrighted text is still copyrighted in translation.

2. Machine translations. These are very confusing for readers.

3. Anything not intended for a Wikimedia project. Although designed for Wikipedia, anything for other Wikimedia projects is also fine. However, your homework, your advertisement, or anything else not intended for Wikimedia is not allowed.

4. People who have not edited Wikipedia before. If you are new to Wikipedia, welcome! We recommend that you practice editing in your primary language first to learn how to write for Wikipedia.

Why should I participate in the language exchange?

There are many reasons why people choose to edit Wikipedia. One reason is to practice writing in a foreign language. However, one problem with this is that it can be difficult to get timely, helpful feedback on your writing. This exchange is designed to help you find a writing partner who will work with you so that you both can improve your skills in each other's first language. This form of learning, called tandem language learning, has been found in studies to be very effective and enjoyable, since it emphasizes reciprocity and autonomy (Vinagre & Lera, 2008). Reciprocity refers to the need for both participants to benefit similarly (Thurston et al., 2009), while autonomy emphasizes that learners must actively participate and not only seek out learning opportunities of their own, but also provide them for their partners (Dekhinet, Duran, & Blanch, 2006).

There can be other benefits to participating in a language learning exchange. Thurston et al. (2009) found that, in an exchange between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking students, not only did students improve their second language, but in the process of tutoring their partner they even improved their own first language skills! Another potential side benefit of tandem language learning is the opportunity for intercultural connection and exchange (Conley & Gallego, 2012).

Tandem language learning fits within the applied linguistics concept called Long’s Interaction Hypothesis (Gass & Mackey, 2007) of second language learning, which states that communication with a more-fluent individual providing corrective feedback is crucial for language learning. Therefore, the rate and nature of error corrections strongly affects the amount of learning made. Students doing language learning in formal educational settings have been found to ignore many errors of their partners out of the fear of causing offense (Edasawa & Kabata, 2011), even though more explicit correction is often highly valued by students themselves (Vinagre & Muñoz, 2011; Ware & O’Dowd, 2008). On Wikipedia, it is normal for editors to improve writing as much as possible.

The medium of the tandem interaction can also affect error correction; asynchronous interactions, like those that take place in the language exchange, were found to promote more explicit correction than synchronous interactions in a study of interactions between Japanese and Australian students (Bower and Kawaguchi, 2011).

How does this differ from normal Wikipedia editing?

Wikipedia editors are used to correcting the writing of others. While these changes improve the article for the benefit of the reader, it is rare that editors provide feedback to other editors. If an editor were to post an article on Wikipedia, it could take months or years, if ever, for another editor to come along and correct it. By that time, it would probably be too late to benefit the writer in their learning. Even if the corrections were made rapidly, it can be difficult to improve one's writing skills by simply looking at the differences between an uncorrected and a corrected version of a page.

The language learning exchange is designed to overcome these obstacles. First, by working with a partner, you can have your writing corrected quickly. Further, you will have the opportunity to learn from your partner because, in addition to directly making corrections to your writing, your partner will answer any language questions you have and provide you with tips to help you learn. This is the most important part of the exchange, so please provide thoughtful feedback to your partner.