EUROPEAN LANGUAGE LABEL 2018
INTFL – Innovations New Technologies Foreign Languages in the context of the development strategy for the Turek District The main goals of the “INTFL” project implemented in the Turek District were contextual education, the learning by teaching method, and teaching more than one foreign language starting from the first year of primary school.
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he introduction of German as a second foreign language into educational institutions in Turek had a holistic character. The project implementers formulated the assumption that effective education could take place through cooperation between primary and secondary schools and through the exchange of teachers’ experiences. The activities were based on the CLIL and Lernen durch Lehren methods, with the view of creating a coherent system of education at all stages, enabling continuity in the teaching of foreign languages. Thanks to this solution, students included in the programme had a chance to acquire language competencies confirmed by the German Language Certificate DSD I PRO. This is undoubtedly very useful in both further education and the labour market. The project was based on contextual language teaching, which means that students learned German integrated with elements of technology, robotics or – at a later stage – programming. – The basis of this methodology was simple: children learned a language while exploring subjects such as technology, chemistry, or physics – says Mariusz Seńko, the project coordinator. – The second method we employed was learning by teaching. Upper secondary school students, under the supervision of their teachers, were visiting primary schools and leading small teams of children. They were passing on knowledge from different areas of life, using foreign languages. Pupils from primary schools, in turn, were visiting the Akademia Młodego Inżyniera [the Academy of the Young Engineer] created in upper secondary schools. Young people from secondary schools had an opportunity to develop soft competencies: the ability to cooperate, taking responsibility for the tasks entrusted
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to them. By conducting classes for the younger pupils in robotics, safety at work or programming, they also familiarised themselves with specialist vocabulary in foreign languages (German and English). In turn, pupils from primary schools had a chance to draw from positive behavioural patterns, that would hopefully enable them to follow in the footsteps of their older colleagues in the future. Working together led to specific educational outcomes, as the project coordinator mentions. – We were very positively surprised that the simultaneous learning of two foreign languages was not a burden for younger children, and the knowledge was obtained very quickly. They just soaked it up like a sponge! In addition, upper secondary school students were learning to take responsibility for their actions, which will come in useful in their professional future, especially in managerial positions.
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The project was based on contextual language teaching, which means that students learned German integrated with elements of technology, robotics or – at a later stage – programming.
As part of the project, many educational and cultural events (competitions, tournaments, meetings) were also prepared. The main aim of those was to motivate participants to learn German and arouse interest in the language. Amongst other examples, a great deal of popularity was enjoyed by the three-day picnic event entitled Spring with German in the Turek District, Keine Panik – Deutsch kann man lernen, filled with competitions, educational games, and meetings with interesting people.