Attending Diversity in Adult Language Learning Erasmus Project

Project Title

Attending Diversity in Adult Language Learning

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development)

Project Summary

This Project results from our need as teachers of adult language learners to satisfy the needs of a mixed-ability language class, helping students improve their achievement, thus reducing disparities in learning outcomes.
Our Team embodies the aim that permeates the Project, that is, diversity, because we are a diverse group (language schools, teacher training centres, and NGOs) which, at the same time, share the same necessities and a common goal: to help adult students develop their competence in foreign languages as a way to open doors to employment, training and mobility opportunities in a globalised and especially ever competitive world.
We want to work with diversity in a way that can serve any educator (and any student) anywhere in any context. How are we doing this? by standardizing student learning models, methodology approaches, and evaluation criteria. These learning models will be approached from an analytical perspective analyzing aspects like learning styles, learning paces and personality traits, but also from a holistic perspective taking into account aspects like age, socio-cultural and educational background and how their reality as a whole can affect their learning process.
We want to create a kind of standard and, at the same time, flexible approach from which we can personalize student profiles attending to their individual needs, making them conscious of what type of learner they are.
The activities of the Project have been organised into two different stages:
1. Analysis and Training
– Good practice exchange workshop, not only examples of good practice to attend diversity in the classroom, but also of any other aspect regarding the organisation and management of centres, considering the hetereogeneity of our association.
– A training activity that will provide the theoretical framework from which we can standardize learning models, tools for their identification and those of self-assessment and materials to be implemented in the classroom.
– Elaboration and asessment of those tools and materials that will be used in class during the implementation stage.
2. Implementation, Assessment and Dissemination:
– Case studies as a didactic technique: teachers will select a practice group and a control group, which will serve as a comparison group when results are assessed. Those results will also be included in a comparative research study.
– Progress analysis and methodology comparison: with the objective to learn how the work is adapted to the different realities and situations experienced in the different establishments.
– Assessment of results, which must be in line with the indicators of achievement applied to objectives and results of the project as a whole.
– Dissemination activities: a Manual for teachers, a comparative study research, and the creation of a website and mobile app containing information about the project, its objectives and results and from the Manual can be downloaded.
The methodology applied is characterized by a respect towards diversity, and values the aspects and experience of such an heterogeneous team as ours and the enrichment that it brings to the Project. In that sense, we also include the case study method to analyze diversity which, by nature, can present different variables and is subjected to change depending on the context it is found in.

The results, benefits and the impact expected is looked at from two different perspectives:
Teachers being the target group:
– Gain expertise to identify a wide range of profiles of adult language learners and develop skills to design effective pedagogical activities and methodology approaches responding to the diverse needs of students.
– Develop inter-disciplinary language training skills for all adult learning context and to encourage learners’ critical thinking and self-assessment.
-Develop transferable and generalizable pedagogical models that can be applied at transnational level.
Students, being the beneficiaries of our work:
– Experience the improvement of linguistic and communicative competence of students in a foreign language, according to the level they are in, and learn how to take responsibility of their own learning process, favouring independence, and also how they learn best based on an awareness of their abilities, strengths and weakenesses, thus fostering self-confidence.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 115075 Eur

Project Coordinator

Escuela Oficial de Idiomas Alcalá de Guadaíra & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Jafnréttishús
• MBM Training and Development Center
• Centro Europeu de Línguas
• “English Unlimited” Sp.z o.o
• Associazione INNOVAMENTIS