CONTEXT
Although it is obviously of great
importance to increase intercultural understanding in a multilingual and
multicultural Europe, intercultural competence is still not incorporated
in the curriculum of most teacher training programs. Therefore, training
teacher trainers to promote intercultural communication training would
have a beneficial multiplying effect in this field.
In order to encourage teacher trainers, mentors and
language teachers in general to shift the focus from teaching only lexical
and grammatical competence to emphasizing, teaching and practicing intercultural
communicative competence (ICC) in their classrooms it is important to
familiarize them with the theory and practice of intercultural communication
training as well as with the materials available for the promotion of
ICC.
Our central workshop and the subsequent training events
will be designed so that our presentations will inform teacher educators
about the theoretical background of intercultural communicative competence
and will also give practical interactive training in developing ICC in
a profitable way for the participants. In addition, it will be possible
for participants to conduct research in the fields of materials development
and assessment.
This project builds on previous research and development
carried out within the framework of project
1.2.3 of the first medium-term program of the ECML. In fact, it is
a continuation of that work in that the training workshops will be based
on the research articles and the intercultural communication textbook
produced by the team and the participants of the previous project.
AIMS
AND OBJECTIVES ___________________ __________
General
aims
Intercultural communication training in teacher
education: training of multipliers to set off a cascading process on the
basis of the existing textbook (Mirrors and Windows) for the development
of intercultural communicative competence in teacher training.
Specific
objectives
- To promote
a cascading process by training teacher educators to incorporate the
theory and practice of intercultural communication training in their
teaching to enable them to hold similar training sessions or courses
for other teacher trainers or mentors in their home countries;
- To use
Mirrors and Windows and perhaps develop more teaching materials
that promote intercultural learning and to adapt Mirrors and Windows
to French for use by French-speaking trainers and teachers;
- To survey
and classify ICC assessment tasks and develop an assessment booklet/website
to supplement Mirrors and Windows for users of the textbook.
EXPECTED
OUTCOMES ___________________ __________
The expected outcomes include:
- processes: the training of about 25
teacher educators at the central workshop in the development of their
intercultural communicative competence (who will then be expected to
train at least one group of trainers or mentors each at their own teacher
training institution)
- products: an inventory of ICC assessment
tasks, an assessment booklet/website to supplement Mirrors and Windows,
a French version of the textbook, and possibly a booklet containing
the contributions of the participants on their experiences and findings
in connection with ICC training and materials development .
ACTION
PLAN ___________________ ______________ ___
2004
16-17 January
Meeting of the project team in order to
- discuss
preparations for the central workshop and the adaptation to French of
three chapters of Mirrors and Windows
- distribute
tasks and agree on deadlines and ways of communication.
January-June
Project team working on
- presentations for the workshop
- collection of ideas for the working copy of the
adaptation of three units of Mirrors and Windows to French
- preparations for an inventory of ICC assessment
tools.
18-19 June
Meeting of the project team in order to
- finalise input for the workshop (including preparations
for national training events, the content and form of the feedback from
central workshop and national training events, etc.)
- review the translation (and ideas for adaptation)
of the working copy of three units of Mirrors and Windows in
French,
- discuss development of inventory of ICC assessment
tasks
- finalise tasks and agree on deadlines.
June to October
Project team working on
- presentations for the workshop
- working copy of the adaptation of three units
of Mirrors and Windows to French
- further develop inventory of ICC assessment tasks.
12-16 October
5-day ECML workshop to
- introduce participants to the theory of ICC
- raise awareness of the need for ICC training in teacher
education
- give practical training based primarily on Mirrors & Windows
- set up 4 networks to work on:
-subsequent national training events in English or French
-adapting Mirrors and Windows to French and developing materials based on literature and film to supplement MW
-making an inventory of ICC assessment tasks to create an appropriate assessment tool to supplement the textbook
Participant profile:
Participants at the workshop should be language teacher educators or mentors
(meaning school-based supervisors/trainers of trainee teachers). We are
hoping to attract colleagues with a key multiplier role in methodology
training who are interested in ICC training, materials development or
assessment of ICC. Although workshop participants do not necessarily have
to have experience in intercultural communication training, they will
be expected to actively participate in the discussions and activities
during the workshop. This is of great importance, because after the central
workshop participants will be expected to either hold similar training
workshops in their own institutions within a year after the central workshop,
or participate in the proposed research on ICC assessment tasks or in
the adaptation of ICC teaching materials to French.
N.B. Applicants who are interested in training
trainers should be in the position to organize a national training event
or workshop as part of an existing in-service trainer training course
in their own country.
November to September (2005)
Project team and participants working in networks as follows:
Network 1: organisation of up to a maximum of 12 national
training events/workshops to be held at the participants' own teacher
training institutions (each co-facilitated by either Martina Huber-Kriegler,
Ildikó Lázár, Christiane Peck or Gabriela Matei).
Network 2a: adapting Mirrors and Windows to
French to provide French-speaking trainers/teachers with a French version
of the textbook. Network coordinator: Ildikó Lázár
Network 2b:
developing training materials based on literature and film to supplement MW
Network 3: making an inventory of and classifying
ICC assessment tasks and developing validated survey instruments and assessment
tools to cover the different functions of the process of evaluation on
the basis of a conceptual framework, producing a tool in the form of a
booklet and/or a website that would supplement the textbook Mirrors and Windows with guidelines and protocols to help administer the tool. Network
coordinator: Denise Lussier (November 2004 - September 2006).
2005
6- 7 May
Meeting of the project team (5 people) in Budapest in order to
- discuss national training events
- review adaptation and new materials
- analyze inventory of assessment tasks
- outline publication(s)
- discuss next steps and distribution of work
14 - 15 October
Network meeting in Graz (with ten participants and the team) in order to
- discuss and compile training materials and NTE reports for publication
- discuss and edit ICC materials and the adaptation of MW
- discuss and analyze preliminary results of Network 3 (ICC assessment tasks) ans set further tasks and deadlines
November
Publication of the French version of Mirrors and Windows.
2006
May
Meeting of the project team in order to
- proof read edited publication
- evaluate the project
- plan dissemination
November
Publication of the final results.
LANGUAGES
The working languages of the project are English and French. Simultaneous
interpretation will only be provided for central events (ECML workshops).
Participants are expected to have both receptive and productive skills
in either English or French. Knowledge of further languages would also
be useful.
All five team members speak either English and
French or English and German in addition to other languages.
|
