Page 51 - LanGuide Project: Research and Professional Insights
P. 51
What Kind of l s p Does LanGuide Propose?
mobility, academic and i t, languages i.e., Romanian, Italian, Slovenian,
Croatian and Spanish, and language levels i.e., beginner, intermediate and
advanced, makes it a valuable tool for acquiring language for specific pur-
poses (Kompara Lukančič & Fabijanić, 2020, p. 42).
In terms of personal benefits that c all users can enjoy, one must men-
tion increased learner autonomy and agency. The instant feedback that ap-
plications provide helps learners become aware of their own performance
and adjust their learning accordingly (Chapelle, 2008, p. 586). Further-
more, c a l l materials usually react to learners’ answers and adapt the
learning input to their specific needs and difficulties (Bush, 2008, p. 465),
levelling the tasks up or down in order to make sure that every learner can
benefit from the tasks, irrespective of their current language level.
A well-designed c all material, which acknowledges the importance of
cultural elements and incorporates them into the lessons, can also improve
learners’ ‘intercultural competence through communication with mem-
bers of the target culture’ (Chapelle, 2010, p. 70). Teaching cultural literacy
makes learners more tolerant and empathetic, it contributes to their cog-
nitive and emotional development, it provides learning motivation, and
it also prepares students for tackling the various contexts that they may
encounter in the country where their target language is spoken (Nechifor
& Dimulescu, 2021, p. 98). The LanGuide application can be considered a
good example in this respect, since its multilingual, multicultural design
makes it possible for users to improve their intercultural understanding
(Kompara Lukančič & Fabijanić, 2020, p. 44).
Speaking about online c a l l materials, Parmaxi and Zaphiris (2016, p.
176) make a statement that can be applied to c a l l in general, and sum-
marizes the essential prerequisite for such applications to reach their full
potential: ‘a synergy between technology, culture, and learning is needed
and is expected to inform the design of online environments.’ This is the
principle that underpins the learning activities in the LanGuide applica-
tion, which aims at balancing language instruction for specific purposes,
the conveyance of cultural elements, and the opportunities and challenges
inherent to technology.
The Languide Project: The Melting Pot of e s p, call and m all
and Cultural Awareness
Good Practices of c al l and m al l
The LanGuide project started as a multicultural Erasmus+ project, gath-
ering two teams from two different fields: linguistic and i t, each of them
51
mobility, academic and i t, languages i.e., Romanian, Italian, Slovenian,
Croatian and Spanish, and language levels i.e., beginner, intermediate and
advanced, makes it a valuable tool for acquiring language for specific pur-
poses (Kompara Lukančič & Fabijanić, 2020, p. 42).
In terms of personal benefits that c all users can enjoy, one must men-
tion increased learner autonomy and agency. The instant feedback that ap-
plications provide helps learners become aware of their own performance
and adjust their learning accordingly (Chapelle, 2008, p. 586). Further-
more, c a l l materials usually react to learners’ answers and adapt the
learning input to their specific needs and difficulties (Bush, 2008, p. 465),
levelling the tasks up or down in order to make sure that every learner can
benefit from the tasks, irrespective of their current language level.
A well-designed c all material, which acknowledges the importance of
cultural elements and incorporates them into the lessons, can also improve
learners’ ‘intercultural competence through communication with mem-
bers of the target culture’ (Chapelle, 2010, p. 70). Teaching cultural literacy
makes learners more tolerant and empathetic, it contributes to their cog-
nitive and emotional development, it provides learning motivation, and
it also prepares students for tackling the various contexts that they may
encounter in the country where their target language is spoken (Nechifor
& Dimulescu, 2021, p. 98). The LanGuide application can be considered a
good example in this respect, since its multilingual, multicultural design
makes it possible for users to improve their intercultural understanding
(Kompara Lukančič & Fabijanić, 2020, p. 44).
Speaking about online c a l l materials, Parmaxi and Zaphiris (2016, p.
176) make a statement that can be applied to c a l l in general, and sum-
marizes the essential prerequisite for such applications to reach their full
potential: ‘a synergy between technology, culture, and learning is needed
and is expected to inform the design of online environments.’ This is the
principle that underpins the learning activities in the LanGuide applica-
tion, which aims at balancing language instruction for specific purposes,
the conveyance of cultural elements, and the opportunities and challenges
inherent to technology.
The Languide Project: The Melting Pot of e s p, call and m all
and Cultural Awareness
Good Practices of c al l and m al l
The LanGuide project started as a multicultural Erasmus+ project, gath-
ering two teams from two different fields: linguistic and i t, each of them
51
