[65] Congrés internacional de CercleS (5)

Pel que fa a l'eix de metodologia i innovació en avaluació del Congrés Internacional de CercleS, destaquem les ponències següents: “Assessing an institution-wide language programme using the european language portfolio and the common european framework of reference” (Irlanda); “Checklists for learner autonomy: practices of self-assessment” (Alemanya); “Self-assessment: good practice guidelines for foreign language teachers” (Espanya); “Alternative assessment methods for the multicultural classroom” (Espanya). Finalment, pel que fa a aspectes actuals en l'aprenentatge i l'ensenyament de llengua, volem destacar les participacions següents: “Distributed language learning: the web, the elp and the learner” (Bèlgica); “Learning to learn: strategy teaching in the university second language classroom” (Espanya); “The language café” (Suècia i Lituània): “The linguistic snapshot: key for the reflection on learning processes (Espanya)” i “Why, what and how to integrate in academic language studies? (Finlàndia) [“One way of promoting awareness and increasing the social relevance of language and communication studies among both staff and students is adoption of an integrative pedagogical approach. This refers to an instructional design, where the principle of integration is extended beyond what is generally understood by LSP or LAP, although some features are naturally the same. In this design integration refers to a holistic system of incorporating in academic language studies e.g. transferrable skills (e.g. learning skills, critical information management, use of new learning environments), discipline-specific discourse conventions and cultures, strategic skills for team-working and intercultural collaboration, presentation skills, networking and employment skills, etc. Achieving food learning outcomes in these skills benefits both the subject department and the students in their pursuit of good employability.”]

[64] Congrés internacional de CercleS (4)

També els eixos de llenguatges d'especialitat i de la qualitat als centres d'idiomes presenten ponències d'interès al Congrés internacional de Cercles. En destaco: 1) “Specific italian course for future erasmus students” (Espanya); 2) “The european language portfolio in esp courses: the case of business english listening modules” (Itàlia) i, pel que fa al segon tema: 1) “Evaluating the management of education at the language centre” (Finlàndia) i 2) “The language resource centre as a mechanism of change towards autonomous language learning” (França). Interès especial, d'altra banda, presenta l'eix de la interculturalitat en l'aprenentatge de llengües, amb ponències com les següents: 1) “A portfolio approach to assessing intercultural communicative competence (Itàlia) [“However, while the authors of the Common European Framework were successful in identifying and establishing levels and descriptors for linguistic competence, they failed to provide adequate parameters to assess intercultural competence even though in the description of competences, the CEF recognises the importance of knowledge of the world and intercultural skills (Byram, 2000)”; els autors elaboren un “supplementary material designed to make portfolio holders reflect on their intercultural experiences and report behavioural progress in intercultural situations.”]; 2) “A cultura-based exchange with room videoconferencing” (Alemanya) [Videoconferencing is a solution for my course because students could see and hear each other at the same time instead of having to journey to a foreign country, which is not always easy to organize.]; 3) “Interculture wiki: promoting language learning and intercultural communication using web 2.0 (itàlia); 4) “Designing a multicultural language programme” (Txèquia); “Tools for developing cross-cultural competence” (Txèquia); “How can elp enhance intercultural competence?” (Eslovàquia, Espanya).

[63] Congrés internacional de CercleS (3)

El Congrés Internacional de CercleS, del qual hem donat notícia a les entrades 58 i 59, promet, en els seus diversos eixos de treball, aportacions interessants. Llegeixo alguns abstracts. A priori crec que es poden destacar les intervencions següents. De l'eix d'e-learning, 1) “Teachers’ and learners’ roles in web-based learning (Finlàndia)”; 2) “Dvds for language learning: reflections on a multilingual project” (Itàlia) [que anuncia la “creation of worksheets based on films, for students of 7 European languages”]; 3) “Challenges and opportunities in using internet-based case studies and simulation projects” (Alemanya, Espanya) [“Language case studies and global simulations are efficient means of using task-based approaches in university language teaching & learning. They are particularly useful in improving productive language skills, while at the same time they can be used to develop reading skills in an authentic situation.”]; 4) Approaching the ELP biography through online surveys” (Itàlia); 5) “How to stimulate writing education for the i-generation (Bèlgica) [“In our presentation, after having outlined the traditional and actual frameworks of writing education, we will present a trajectory of 10 stages the teacher can use to guide students of a language career in order to improve their writing level, taking into account the characteristics of the new education era and its electronic possibilities. We will also present its impact on the quality of the student’s writing exercises.”]; 6) “Wiki and wikipedia for esl” (França); 7) “Implementation of a blackboard-based course to promote learner’s autonomy: conditions and effects” (Alemanya); 8) “The role of e-guidance in blended and online environments for language learners” (Finlàndia) [“The purpose of my paper is to present practical examples of how to raise language learners´ awareness of their responsibility for their own learning, in other words, learner autonomy. Based both on theory and longtime practical experience of my colleagues and myself, my presentation will focus on four crucially important principles, which are the following: 1) the language learner’s awareness of his/her new role as an e-student; 2) the importance of online study skills; 3) the role of collaboration and interaction in blended/ online environments; 4) the language learner’s ability to receive, utilize and give feedback”.]