Cultural knowledge and language competences as a means to develop the 21st century skills 

Project Nr 2018-1-HR01-KA204-047430 (September 2018 – August 2020)

The Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project Cultural knowledge and language competences as a means to develop 21stcentury skills is carried out in the years 2018-2020 by the partners from countries such as Croatia, Latvia, Czechia, Slovenia, Romania or Poland. Among the main aims of the projects, there is a development of competences and skills which are essential in the 21st century (for example, teamwork, ICT skills, critical thinking, or information searching), a promotion of the idea of lifelong learning, or an improvement of language skills with simultaneous promotion of the cultural awareness.

The project is divided into three outputs. From October 2018 to August 2019, all project members were performing Output 1, whose aim was to design an English language course. The course is innovative in its application of the CLIL methodology (i.e. Content and Language Integrated Language), teaching the English languages almost “accidentally,” when the learners study other subjects. In the case of our course, the other subjects are derived from the concept of intangible cultural heritage, for instance practices, knowledge passed down from generation to generation, traditional craft and manufactures, linguistic traditions or cultural spaces. On Croatia’s UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage there are entries such as Mediterranean diet, traditional licitars baked on the north of Croatia, or Klapa singing. Unfortunately, Poland has only one entry on the UNESCO list, which is the nativity scene tradition in Kraków. However, it does not mean that Poland does not have any intangible cultural heritage! It just hasn’t been inscribed on the list yet.

So far each of the countries has created their own module on the Moodle platform. The modules are in English and they comprise three submodules. Each of the submodules presents a different cultural aspect of a given country, at the same time aiming at developing the 21st century skills and language competences of the learners. All tasks are also a part of a story, such as the story of a grandpa visiting his family abroad, the story of a puppet, or the adventures of two cousins. The tasks can be completed in groups or individually, in the classroom or online. Among the tasks, there are not only classic grammar exercises, reading with understanding or listening, but also case studies, group works, visualisations, discussions or numerous games.

The courses were piloted on a group of handpicked students and specialists. After all the courses are finished on the platformed, they will be available for free to any interested users.

Partners of the project:

Turisticka i ugostiteljska skola Dubrovnik (Croatia )- coordinator of the project

SIA BIZNESA AUGSTSKOLA TURIBA (Latvia)

Ekonomska sola Murska Sobota, Visja strokovna sola (Slovenia)

UNIVERSITATEA SAPIENTIA DIN CLUJ NAPOCA (Romania)

Fundacja Pro Scientia Publica (Poland)

VOŠ, SPŠ a OA Čáslav (Czech Republic)

First outcomes and more: PowerPoint Presentation on first results

Project website: http://culture-language.eu/

e-culture platform: http://e-culture.eu/hr/home-hr/

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