English for Hospitality Erasmus Project

Project Title

English for Hospitality

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment

Project Summary

Teaching and Learning English in the 21st century is redefined due to the changes that the needs of the new era have brought. Technology, collaborative learning, inquiry-based learning, content and language integration are only a few of the latest advancements. The European Commission has been identified CLIL as very important because: “It can provide effective opportunities for pupils to use their new language skills now, rather than learn them now for use later. It opens doors on languages for a broader range of learners, nurturing self-confidence in young learners and those who have not responded well to formal language instruction in general education”.
The partnership was carried out between 6 technological high schools, with the experience and knowledge required to implement and conduct an European project.
The objectives of the project were:
-promoting creativity and innovation in learning of contents in specialized disciplines in the fields of tourism and gastronomy and the English language
-evaluating the effectiveness of learning a subject in tourism and gastronomy in English in order to improve communication skills and thinking of students, inserting them on the international labour market and acquiring new knowledge in English, presented in an European context
-creating and investigating various CLIL implementation models, identifying problems in CLIL implementation at tourism and gastronomy classes and suggesting solutions for developing appropriate teaching materials
-improving teachers’ CLIL pedagogy by innovating, sharing, discussing and comparing the methodologies used to prepare the students for the project activities in order to give an European dimension to their curriculum content and everyday classroom practices.
25 teachers who teach English in secondary schools with tourism and gastronomy profile, 30 teachers who teach specialized subjects in these schools and 500 students studying in the fields of tourism and gastronomy, aged 15-19 years were directly involved in the planned activities during 2 years.
Throughout the school years and the mobility meetings, various CLIL implementation models were designed and investigated, problems in CLIL implementation at tourism and gastronomy classes were identified and solutions for developing appropriate teaching materials were suggested. Also, the students had the chance to prove their English language skills in specific situations at the workplace, in school time.
To promote creativity and innovation in learning of contents in specialized disciplines in the fields of tourism and gastronomy and the English language, EN4HOSTS project promoted the use in the learning process of the following web 2.0 tools:
– webquests, using modern pedagogical considerations and adapting them for tourism and gastronomy classes. Each partner created webquests monthly and made them available online as open resources.
– video editing and sharing/embedding: for the filmed lessons, the management of the project’s YouTube hosted channel, eTwinning activities, materials for the project dissemination (https://twinspace.etwinning.net/47646/home). EN4HOSTS Multimedia was created, as an YouTube hosted channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXkhVlrXJue9_tICqoM3C_g, where each school posted once a month CLIL video lessons for both tourism and gastronomy
– social networking – the project’s Facebook group and the project website http://english4hospitality.esy.es allowed participants the opportunity for just-in-time learning and higher levels of engagement.
Each school worked for the intellectual output: Training curriculum “English for tourism and gastronomy industry”, creating materials about the educational system in the countries involved and about the good practices of each institution in terms of English for gastronomy and tourism.
Activities improved teachers’ CLIL pedagogy by sharing, discussing and comparing the methodologies used to prepare the students for the project activities in order to give a European dimension to their curriculum content at tourism and gastronomy and everyday classroom practices. Also, students learned to work and to speak English in real-life situations, in multinational environments, valorized the knowledge gained in European context and improved career perspectives, due to the development of communication skills in English during tourism and gastronomy classes.
All the tools provided a space that allows engagement, sharing, mentoring, and an opportunity for social interaction. The project’s outcomes have a high potential of leaving a long-lasting legacy because represent valuable educational resources for gastronomy and tourism classes and for business classes in vocational schools (a considerable number of the dissemination channels, the International dissemination conference “Gateway to CLIL”, the project’s website, the project corner on eTwinning and the intelectual products) and will be available for the future.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 278376 Eur

Project Coordinator

COLEGIUL ECONOMIC DIMITRIE CANTEMIR & Country: RO

Project Partners

• Halide Nusret Zorlutuna Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi
• ISTITUTO ISTRUZIONE SUPERIORE RENATO GUTTUSO MILAZZO
• Esprominho
• Turisticko ugostiteljska skola Split
• EPAL NAFPAKTOY