TEACUP: Teachers, Culture, Pluri – Fremdsprachendidaktik Englisch

TEACUP: Teachers, Culture, Pluri

The current dominant paradigm in language education in Europe is teaching languages (and cultures) in isolation, e.g. as separate subjects. Such a compartmentalized approach is far from optimal because it can lead to “limitations in terms both of learning capacity and space in the curriculum” (CARAP/FREPA, 2010: 8), especially when aiming at increasing the number of languages taught, i.e. realizing the Barcelona Summit (2002) “mother tongue + 2” objective. This limitation is clearly visible in the relatively low average number of foreign languages (FL) learned per pupil in EU secondary education reported by Eurostat, which in 2012 did not exceed 1.6. At the same time, the European labor market shows a growing demand for effective multi- and plurilingual communication skills and (pluri)cultural awareness (ET2020, Languages for Jobs).

The project will deliver educational resources that highlight synergies in the teaching of various languages and cultures, thereby integrating the notions of plurilingualism/pluriculturalism into European training programs for FL teachers. The plurilingual/pluricultural approach to FL learning steers away from the conviction that an individual’s languages and cultures are kept in strictly separated mental compartments. Instead, it encourages the build up of communicative competence to which “all knowledge and experience of language contributes and in which languages interrelate and interact” (CEFR, 2002: 4).

The educational resources developed in the project will be:

– modularized and available for use both as complete regular courses or intensive workshops (e.g. with 3 ECTS workload) and as individual smaller-scale units/topics, on various levels of teacher education (e.g. B.A., M.A. or M.Ed., theoretical and practical training, in-service teacher education) enhancing systematic and sustainable integration into teacher training structures

– developed in a co-collaborative way by researchers, teacher educators, applied linguists, linguists, pre-/in-service FL teachers and students from four European countries

– based on research findings and existing resources providing both theoretical insights into as well as practical solutions for FL learning

– empirically (re)tested, (re)evaluated in different transnational settings, (re)modified and improved accordingly, including the documentation of the underlying processes

– digitalized, documented and maintained on the project website, which grants open access to all interested parties.

In doing so the project answers the call for „measures aimed at promoting multilingualism and enhancing the quality and efficiency of language learning teaching“ (EC Communication on Multilingualism).