E-LOCAL for all

E-LOCAL for all builds on the results of a previous project, E-LOCAL (Electronically Learning Other Cultures And Languages), awarded in 2012 with the European Language Label. The main outcome of that project was a set of online courses of the following languages and cultures: Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Polish and Portuguese. The courses are for beginners (A1 level) and English is the support language for metalinguistic and cultural contents. The objective of the present project was the full valorisation of these courses, in compliance with the EU’s policy promoting multilingualism and the acquisition of languages of lesser diffusion. The project consortium, composed of six universities (University of Bologna - coordinator of the project, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, University of Debrecen, University of Lapland, University of Coimbra’s CES, KU Leuven) and two secondary schools (ITCS Rosa Luxemburg in Bologna, ZSO2 Charles de Gaulle in Poznań), made the courses available on their learning platforms to internal users, incoming students and also stakeholders completely external to the consortium, with the effect that within a year over 3400 people registered on the platforms and took advantage of the opportunity of getting acquainted with new languages and cultures through the E-LOCAL materials. This achievement was obtained through intensive promotional work carried out throughout the project: over 240 dissemination events occurred at local, regional and international level, and 34 workshops were arranged in order to spread information about the project and about the chance of taking the E-LOCAL courses. The main target group consisted of university students and school pupils who were planning to undertake, or were just undertaking, a mobility experience in one of the countries where the six above-mentioned languages are spoken. In addition to offering the courses for autonomous study, the partners arranged a tutoring service for selected groups of students. The courses were taken under the assistance of tutors in an e-learning or blended learning mode by 389 people, 40% of which completed the learning path according to the intended schedule. The learning environment was highly appreciated both by independent users and by assisted ones: especially the connection between the language and its culture, which is the most original characteristic of the courses, was praised. The courses proved to be efficient as a stand-alone product to be taken independently, yet due to the substantial amount and varying nature of the learning materials, the assistance of a tutor turned out to be important for motivating especially social learners and helping them tackle the challenge of learning a new language. Replicability guarantees sustainability for E-LOCAL for all. Every year new groups of students will be offered the opportunity to benefit from the courses, with an outstanding contribution to the EU’s multilingualism policy. The project’s website (www.e-localproject.eu) is the main information source about E-LOCAL for all. A banner called “Explore E-LOCAL courses”, located on the homepage, leads to the online platforms of all partners, where the learning materials are hosted. Access policies differ from institution to institution: in some cases access is restricted, and in some others a simple registration on the platform is sufficient. This way, thanks to elocALL, the E-LOCAL courses have truly become available “for all”.