Clustering projects
and Language Projects
that we find interesting
We greatly appreciate
when fellow projects
offer to share their
ideas with the visitors
of the pools project
web.
If you want us to make
your project results available
to our users then please
e-mail Kent Andersen at
ka@ots.dkPlease include
a short text to go with
the link, a similar link
from your project to the
pools portal is of
course expected.
PICTURE offers - in 5
languages - guided
modules and video
material aiming to
increase insight into
intercultural
communication in Europe
among students from age
16 onwards.
The core item is a
personal interview with
foreigners carried out
by students after
in-class preparation.
This means that students
have to actually use the
language they are
studying in practice.
They are prepared for
these interviews with
material that can be
used in class but also
through interactive lab
units and video clips
such as How to
interview. By way of
example parts of some
interviews as carried
out by Dutch students
are shown here on video.
Please feel free to
download our
introductory unit to
read about our
‘mission’, then browse
through the website and
see how you can use the
materials!
One of PICTURE's
by-products is a
collection of
"intercultural
incidents", some of
which have been
published in this
booklet, a pdf-file, the
cover of which is shown
on the right.
The English Trust for
European Education is a
charitable organisation
set up to foster the
development of
multilingual European
Education in Britain.
What is multilingual
European Education?
In 1953, when a European
Union was not even
dreamed of a number of
parents set themselves
up to create educational
establishments where
children of different
European backgrounds
could be taught side by
side in their respective
mother tongues, learning
from each other while
broadening their
horizons, in order to
become truly Europeans.
The experiment was
subsequently taken up by
the Commission and its
institutions and there
are now several schools
across Europe based on
this concept. Uniquely,
European Schools offer a
European Baccalaureate,
which gives access to
all higher education
institutions across the
European Union.
The philosophy of
European Education is
best encapsulated in the
words of Jean Monnet,
regarded by many as the
architect of European
Union:
"Educated side by side,
untroubled from infancy
by divisive prejudices,
acquainted with all that
is great and good in
different cultures, it
will be borne upon in
upon them as they mature
that they belong
together. Without
ceasing to look to their
own lands with love and
pride, they will become
in mind Europeans,
schooled and ready to
complete and consolidate
the work of their
fathers...."
.......LATEST NEWS....
13 Feb '09
Commissioner Orban
endorses ETEE's
conference ".... The
aspirations of the
E.T.E.E. and of the
European Commission are
very much in tune with
each other...In 2009 we
celebrate the European
Year of Creativity and
Innovation – no better
time for the ETEE Summer
Conference and your
fresh ideas for Changing
Schools for a changing"
The English Trust for
European Education is a
member of the National
Council for Voluntary
Organisations (NCVO),
the voice of the
voluntary sector in
Britain and a charity
registered in England
and Wales no. 1123847
Grammar Explorer is
an online grammar of
Danish. It aims to make
grammar practice both
entertaining and
interesting. Grammar
Explorer offers material
which leads to an
in-depth understanding
of the major themes of
Danish grammar and
usage. It is ideally
suited to a self- study
environment as learners
are carefully guided in
their learning.
Grammar Explorer has
been designed
specifically for the
internet and for online
learning. It meets the
requirements of the
Council of Europe's
syllabus for level A2,
Waystage. It prepares
learners for a European
Language Certificate
(A2), recognised
throughout Europe.
This project was funded
by the European
Commission as part of
its Socrates / Lingua 2
project programme to
improve language
learning for everyone.
The project was
completed in October
2007.
The Stella Project
delivers comprehensive
online language learning
courses for less widely
taught and used
languages within the
European Union. At the
moment, Danish and
Hungarian are offered at
beginners level (A1).
There is also a
beginners course of
English for speakers of
Hungarian, Czech,
Italian and German. The
courses are based on the
Council of Europe's
requirements and linked
to the Common European
Framework of Reference.
Each course consists of
a series of interactive
units, which cover basic
topics like travelling
to a new country,
meeting people, ordering
a meal, visiting the
market, etc.
Each unit contains audio
dialogues, vocabulary
work, exercises and an
audio-visual
presentation of a
specific grammatical
topic The latest version
of Macromedia Flash
player is required
This project was
originally funded by the
European Commission as
part of its Socrates /
Minerva programme to
improve language
learning for everyone.
BeCult is an online
multimedia learning tool
for young people in
vocational training in
the hotel and gastronomy
sector. The tool is a
learning platform where
young people can prepare
themselves culturally
and lingually for a
placement in another
country. BeCult
reproduces in a virtual
world real work places
in selected countries
and companies with their
specific linguistic and
cultural settings.
BeCult uses relevant
methodologies for young
people being confronted
with unfamiliar
situations during a stay
abroad.
It is available free of
charge on the internet
and accessible from any
place before, during and
after a training
placement abroad. BeCult
allows for tutored
learning but does not
require language
teachers.
For information and
contacts please visit us
at
our website at
www.becult.org
Mikko Turunen
International
co-ordinator
Project manager, Finland
Pirkanmaa College
Tampere
e-tridem.net is a
project based on EU
educational Policy that
every citizen should
develop competence in at
least two European
languages. A further
project aim is to foster
'intercultural learning
through new media' and
thus contribute to
enriched cross-cultural
exchanges.
The project will follow
these concepts by
analysing best-practice
models in the partner
institutions. A model
for virtual language and
cultural exchanges will
be developed, tested and
evaluated.
Methodologically, it
will be based on the
theories of blended
learning and use tools
such as the webquests,
amongst others.
Project Description:
The project is trialling
an innovative new method
of practising language,
where three native
speakers of English,
Spanish and German work
together practising the
three languages in a
structured online
environment.
Each member of the
threesome wants to
practice the two other
languages, and also acts
as helper/informant on
his/her own language for
the other two members.
Thus it uses native
speakers of 3 languages,
each of whom wishes to
practise the other 2.
There is a context of
suggested
communicative joint
tasks, e.g.
WebQuests, that give
content to the
practice and
guided modes of
interaction between
the two participants
who are practising a
language and the
third who is their
guide, mentor and
informant regarding
his/her mother
tongue.
The system is based
on the solid experience
of the main partners in
fostering this kind of
independent activity
between pairs of
learners, where each
native speaker of the
pair wishes to practise
the other's language.
Two unique aspects of
this project are
to engage groups
of 3 native speakers
instead of 2
to use ICT as a
strong part of the
learner practice in
a blended teaching
situation where face
to face meetings are
also arranged.
We believe that the
benefit of this system
for genuine
multi-lingual
communication will be
that
a wider
cross-cultural
interchange and
understanding can be
achieved.
insights can be
developed about
which languages can
most fruitfully be
practised by one
learner. It should
be noted that this
is a totally
undeveloped area, in
which it is assumed
by many people,
without evidence,
that cognate
language can more
easily be learned.
But this is still
open to test,
especially because
there is anecdotal
evidence that using
cognate languages at
the same time may be
confusing [e.g.
false friends].
motivation is
increased by the use
of 3 members of a
learner group
instead of pairs,
and therefore more
interesting cultural
comparisons will be
made.
I wanted to make
another suggestion for a
website about tandem
learning. It is hoping
to do "language learning
2.0" -- becoming a
community site where
language learners and
teachers can bring their
combined experience
together. The initial
foundation is language
exchange -- getting
speakers of two
different native
languages to teach each
other. Language
resources are coming
next -- a way of
creating community
opinions on what are the
most useful tools for
learning a certain
language (best textbook,
dictionary, websites,
podcasts, etc.). There
are even more plans in
the making.
In 2005 and 2006
teachers of the Pallas
Athene College and the
Horizon College worked
together on the
development of a website
aimed at improving
pupils' motivation and
capacity to learn
foreign languages.
Our intention is not
only to add new foreign
language programmes to
the website by extending
our transnational
co-operative network,
but also broaden and
improve the existing
programmes of English,
French and German.
Virtual Experiences:
Preparing students for
foreign language use in
the hotel and catering
industry, A Leonardo da
Vinci project
What we do
The Virtual Experiences
project is developing a
series of video-based
language lessons, to
allow hotel and catering
students undertaking
work placements abroad
to gain advance
experience of using
English and German as a
foreign language. The
primary target audience
are VET centres for the
hospitality industry.
Why we do it
Language skills are an
important part of work
in the hospitality
industry and whilst
students acquire
language skills in the
course of practical
training, there is an
identified lack of
language training with
the target group. To
this end, the project
develops a series of
self-study lessons
centered around
realistic situations to
develop the language
skills of students prior
to commencing a work
placement.
When we do it
VIRTEX is a three-year
project running from
2004 to 2007.
Who we are
AT - Tourismusschulen
Bad Leonfelden
BE - EfVET (European
Forum of Technical and
Vocational Education and
Training)
BE - VTI Spijker
CZ - Hotelova Skola A
Vyssi Odborna Skola
Hotelnictivi A Turism
DE - Deutsch als
Fremdsprache,
Philipps-Universität
Marburg
EE - Kuressaare
Ametikool
LU - AEHT (the European
Association of Hotel and
Tourism Schools)
NL - Horizon College
(coordinator)
NL - Radnai Research bv
UK - LCD (Language
Consultancy Desk)
Project Promoter:
Interesource Group
(Ireland) Limited
Sign Awareness And
Learning The Language
SIGNALL is a
transnational language
competency and training
project which aims to
increase awareness of
Deaf culture and sign
languages amongst
organisations, employers
and hearing people. It
aims to cultivate a
behavioural change and
commitment from
organisations, employer
bodies,
educational
establishments, public
authorities and society
as a whole in the way
people who are deaf are
perceived and treated.
Participant countries
include the Czech
Republic, Finland,
Ireland, Spain and the
UK.
SIGNALL's awareness
information pack will
aim to provide a
mechanism that will
witness a change in the
way society in general
will behave towards Deaf
people - not by being
tolerant as in the past,
but through social
integration, access and
understanding.
Products include a book,
a DVD documentary, a
CD-ROM and a website.
The Web Project is a
Finnish project with a
multitude of materials,
tools, and resources for
language teachers. The
project has until now
been based on internal
funding.
LANCELOT School GmbH–
LANguage learning by
CERtified Live Online
Teachers - is a virtual
training centre for
language teachers and is
part of the EU-funded
project which bears its
name.
The school aims to both
professionalize and
revolutionize language
learning in virtual
classrooms by providing
the following main three
services:
Training Centre -
European Certificate for
live online language
teacher from 9/2007
Recruitment Centre
Provider of Virtual
Classroom Technology
In addition, LANCELOT
School GmbH will
facilitate the growth of
an online knowledge
pool, where educators
can share their
techniques, resources,
and expertise.
Free recordings of
native Spanish speakers
and plenty of activities
for language learners to
check their
comprehension of REAL
Spanish from all over
the Spanish speaking
world!
NEWAP is a project
within the EU-Socrates
programme Lingua 2, with
ESTA-Bildungswerk gGmbH
being the leading
partner. The project is
concerned with the
simultaneous teaching
and learning of Finnish,
Hungarian and Turkish
based on a new digital
language learning
method. So far these
languages have only
rarely found their way
into the range of
courses on offer in the
vocational and further
training sector. As far
as grammar is concerned,
the project method
focuses on the
structural similarities
between the three target
languages. Content-wise
it takes a situational
approach in which
cultural aspects of the
countries involved are
at the centre of
interest.
...stands for Visual
Interactive Analysis,
and is a web-based Java
application, ideal to
supplement language
teaching from high
school/gymnasium level
and up. VIA supports
grammar training in
several languages, at
the moment Danish,
Italian, French, German,
Spanish, Latin and
English. With VIA,
students can try their
hands on thousands of
exercises, primarily
within the fields of
morphology and
grammatical functions,
but also syntax and
slot-and-filler analysis
(Danish "feltskema").
Teachers are welcome to
create their own
exercises, using a user
friendly interface.
Identification exercises
(for identifying form
and function) contain
solutions provided by
the editor, on the basis
of which feedback can be
given to the student in
case of erroneous or
incomplete
identification. Similar
for the slot-and-filler
exercises. As yet, this
feedback function is not
implemented for tree
drawing exercises, which
are nevertheless
attractive as syntax
trees are build
graphically as the
student identifies the
syntactical elements.
To train productive
skills, a new kind of
exercise, namely
insertion, was added to
VIA in September 2004,
drawing directly on a
built-in morphological
dictionary. Errors in
spelling are caught and
analysed extensively,
giving the student
specific feedback on the
most likely mistake that
was made. Insertion
exercises, as mentioned
above, require the
morphological
dictionary, which at the
moment covers Italian
and Danish.
VIA supports multiple
kinds and levels of
feedback. These range
from yes/no responses,
through indications of
error location and
application-generated
responses, to online
grammar lookup, and
viewing of the
individual editor's
custom-made tip for the
particular exercise or
the proposed solution.
There are online
grammars for Italian and
Danish, indexed by
grammatical categories,
which allow VIA to
provide the student with
a direct link to the
appropriate section, on
basis of the error
analysis.
Learn more about VIA
from our site at
via.hum.ku.dk where you can find
introduction videos,
information and articles
on VIA, presentation of
the development team and
users, as well as
material associated with
the use of the program.
This project fully
supports the e-learning
initiative of the
European Commission,
encouraging language
teachers and trainers to
make full use of the new
media and information
and communication
technologies (ICT) and
the new media for
learning scenarios which
may be independent of
place and time.
There is a general and
specific need to
familiarize language
teachers and trainers
with the use of ICT and
to show them how to use
these to their best
advantage in different
vocational training
situations. Research
conducted by the
International
Certificate Conference
(ICC) for the European
Commission, the
experience of different
members of this
consortium in related
work have shown quite
clearly that there is an
urgent need to develop
the new literacies (scientific,
digital, practical,
linguistic and cultural)
if vocational language
teachers and trainers
are to take full
advantage of the
possibilities offered by
virtual learning
environments. A major
shift of paradigm in the
cultures of learning is
called for in current
publications and surveys
on this subject, (see "The
impact of new
information technologies
and internet on the
teaching of foreign
languages and on the
role of teachers of a
foreign language", a
report commissioned by
the Directorate General
of Education and Culture
in 2003).
Learn more about
EUROVOLT in their pools
webpage or Visit
the EUROVOLT website:
www.eurovolt.net
From the Comenius
Network DAF-SUEDOST we
have received the e-mail
below:
Dear Mr. Andersen,
I received your mail
from Gaby Frank Voutsas,
who met you at EUROCALL
2004 and who is a
partner in our Comenius
Network DAF-SUEDOST
www.daf-network.org , for which my
institution is the
coordinator. Our topic
is language education,
in particular we are
linking schools,
university departments
and other experts in the
field of German as a
Foreign Language (GFL).
On our site we present a
whole series of European
language learning
projects
http://www.daf-netzwerk.org/english/projekte
, but mostly, of course,
related in one way or
another to GFL and
presented in German. I
think, you may find "clusters"
for your new project
there. One project which
I know because we were
part of it, is the GEH
MIT project,
http://www.ellinogermaniki.gr/ep/geh-mit/.
I find your project
POOLS very interesting.
I also looked into the
site of www.languages.dk.
Because your work in the
BP-BLTM is of interest
to language educators in
general I was wondering
whether you would agree
to have BP-BLTM
presented on our
website. I could do this,
or you do it by signing
up as a network member
through our website
http://www.daf-netzwerk.org/english/mitglieder/anmeldung.php
in which case you will
receive a user name and
a pass word and can
enter your own project
data.
During the project we
looked at new,
innovative ways to
improve access to
language learning for
adults and created a set
of transferable modules,
which have been piloted
and tested in all
partner institutions.
-Models of flexible
learning environments
that address the
obstacles to learning
such as long distances,
ageing, institutional
and economic
requirements and
restrictions
A CD-ROM presenting all
the stages of the
project, inc. photos,
video clips and sound is
available on request.
Visit also our updated
and upgraded project web
site at
www.vapaaopisto.fi/projects/cafall
We hope that you will
find our experience
useful to enhance your
own teaching of
languages, including
-Models for
community-based
curriculum planning that
address the defects of
curriculum planning such
as the absence of needs
analysis and the lack of
cross-institutional
co-operation.
The project offers an
excellent free service (apparently
no payment is required),
which is also very
useful for those taking
the plunge into "Tandem
Learning". From
FriendsAbroad.com we
received the message
below:
FriendsAbroad.com has
been created to allow
people to learn and
practice another
language by connecting
with REAL people, all
over the world.
The idea behind
FriendsAbroad.com is
simple; We want to help
people from all
countries to connect
with each other; to send
messages, to chat, to
understand each other’s
lives and cultures and
of course, to practice
their language skills!
In just two months, we
have more than
ten thousand members
from over one hundred
countries. It’s easy to
join and we’d love to
know what you think!
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.
Unique visitors since
August 2002
combined
pools and BP-BLTM
Statistics since October
2005. Security settings
in some browsers prevent
registrations, but the
data is still of use
when fine tuning the
website.
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