Info about the project

What is the project about?

The idea of the project "Developing an English, German, Italian and Spanish Language Course for NURSES” within the Leonardo da Vinci Programme is to create an elementary self-study multimedia course focusing especially on lexis and situational language necessary for this professional group in performing their daily duties. The course material is designed at the A1 to A2 levels (according to CEF). The core in-put materials in the course are all video-based or rely on visual presentations, with a special emphasis put on pracitising pronunciation and intonation. The course is of the self-study type and is available on four separate CDs, each one for one particular language. The course package also includes a Learner Companion containing information for learners how to participate in the course together with didactic advice on how to study on one’s own and Tutor Companion with instructions on how to run the on-line course. Both companions are available in paper versions in English, German, Italian and Spanish; additionally the Learner’s Companion is translated into all partners national languages. Another significant outcome of the project is the project website containing areas devoted to the particular destination countries (i.e. Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain) covering issues such as: national health systems, nurse associations and any other hands-on information. To provide wider accessibility, the course is available in the form of e-Learning with the use of Internet platform. The on-line course is supported by the facilitator/tutor of each language version.

Why is it significant?

Nowadays the labour market is extremely competitive and mobile due to open borders and closer cooperation between the old and new EU member countries. One of the professions that is especially subject to these trends are nurses. The project outcomes are aimed at nurses planning to pursue their professional career abroad. The choice of languages for the project courses is determined by the fact that these countries are typical destination for this professional group. In order to increase their employability they need to speak the language of the country they are going to. Although the specialized language courses are available on the market, they often offer too high level of competence and lack practical aspects of functioning in the profession in the particular country. In addition, they are conducted at particular time and place which decreases their accessibility.

The course the partnership is going to design addresses the specific needs of this target group since it leads learners to the A2 level at which communication abilities are enough to perform vocational duties. Moreover, the course uses the self-study approach and also covers important practical issues connected with the nursing environment in the particular country. The video input material facilitates the learning process at the lower levels since it immediately introduces the context and does not require a tutor role and also builds direct associations between the job-related activities and structures taught. The self-study approach makes it possible for learners to take advantage of the course at any time or place they wish to study. Furthermore, the national areas of the web site which is going to accompany the course will help them adapt to the new working environment and serve as a source of urgent information whenever work-related problems arise. Taking into account all the qualities of the course mentioned above we believe that it can make an original contribution to the vocational training offer for this particular professional group in the enlarged Europe.