Page 28 - LanGuide Project: Research and Professional Insights
P. 28
a Čebron and Emma Beatriz Villegas Cunja
The registered users of the LanGuide Mobile App can easily move be-
tween languages, modules and levels of learning materials. The English
language module offers a large number of exercises at three levels: basic,
intermediate and advanced. The modules for Croatian, Italian, Romanian,
Slovenian and Spanish also provide a compelling range of exercises at the
basic and/or intermediate levels.
The LanGuide App is designed with the goal of promoting international-
isation of higher education through multilingualism and development of
multifaceted language skills, thus encouraging users to take advantage of
their ubiquitous hand-held devices in order to explore and practice ways of
communicating in the academic environments and beyond.
Approaches to Language Learning Materials Development
In terms of materials development, the initial idea was to design a range
of exercises accessible on the mobile app in order to provide convenient
foreign language practice enhancing the four language skills: listening,
reading, speaking and writing. Since the LanGuide project’s main objec-
tive was to promote internationalisation of higher education, the foreign
language needs of students and staff engaging in mobility activities were
mainly focused on. Thus, the four specialism domains were identified as
critical for smooth communication in a new linguistic and cultural envi-
ronment, namely, the language of international mobility, the language of
academic exchanges, the language for administrative needs of sojourners
and the language needed to access and use i t resources during sojourn
abroad. These considerations dictated also the vocabulary and grammar
structures incorporated in the modules, namely, those that are used fre-
quently in communication within the four above domains, since each va-
riety of language for specific purposes (henceforth lsp) entails a particu-
lar set of learner communication needs and usage demands (Basturkmen,
2006; Hyland, 2013). The core methodological approaches proposed by the
cli l (Content and Language Integrated Learning) pedagogy (Coyle, 2005)
were also taken into consideration, because they are often applied within
the lsp field. In terms of the modules’ educational objectives Bloom’s tax-
onomy (Anderson, 2001) was consulted.
In order to gauge the learning materials to the suitable language pro-
ficiency level according to the Common European Framework of Refer-
ence for Languages (henceforth c e f r),¹¹ the Language Profile for each
¹¹ https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages.
28
The registered users of the LanGuide Mobile App can easily move be-
tween languages, modules and levels of learning materials. The English
language module offers a large number of exercises at three levels: basic,
intermediate and advanced. The modules for Croatian, Italian, Romanian,
Slovenian and Spanish also provide a compelling range of exercises at the
basic and/or intermediate levels.
The LanGuide App is designed with the goal of promoting international-
isation of higher education through multilingualism and development of
multifaceted language skills, thus encouraging users to take advantage of
their ubiquitous hand-held devices in order to explore and practice ways of
communicating in the academic environments and beyond.
Approaches to Language Learning Materials Development
In terms of materials development, the initial idea was to design a range
of exercises accessible on the mobile app in order to provide convenient
foreign language practice enhancing the four language skills: listening,
reading, speaking and writing. Since the LanGuide project’s main objec-
tive was to promote internationalisation of higher education, the foreign
language needs of students and staff engaging in mobility activities were
mainly focused on. Thus, the four specialism domains were identified as
critical for smooth communication in a new linguistic and cultural envi-
ronment, namely, the language of international mobility, the language of
academic exchanges, the language for administrative needs of sojourners
and the language needed to access and use i t resources during sojourn
abroad. These considerations dictated also the vocabulary and grammar
structures incorporated in the modules, namely, those that are used fre-
quently in communication within the four above domains, since each va-
riety of language for specific purposes (henceforth lsp) entails a particu-
lar set of learner communication needs and usage demands (Basturkmen,
2006; Hyland, 2013). The core methodological approaches proposed by the
cli l (Content and Language Integrated Learning) pedagogy (Coyle, 2005)
were also taken into consideration, because they are often applied within
the lsp field. In terms of the modules’ educational objectives Bloom’s tax-
onomy (Anderson, 2001) was consulted.
In order to gauge the learning materials to the suitable language pro-
ficiency level according to the Common European Framework of Refer-
ence for Languages (henceforth c e f r),¹¹ the Language Profile for each
¹¹ https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages.
28
