PROJECT
Background and Need
Student mobility today is supported by numerous EU funded programmes and bilateral contracts between educational institutions. The success of a study course abroad strongly depends on the language skills of the students and their knowledge of the culture and social conventions of their host country and host university. In order to offer exchange students the opportunity to prepare themselves efficiently for their stay abroad and to raise awareness for intercultural contacts, EUROMOBIL, a Multimedia Language Learning and Information Programme has been designed with the support of the European Commission (Socrates/ Lingua2).
The Material
EUROMOBIL, an interactive multimedia language learning and information programme on CD-ROM with links to the web, can be used for self study as well as for tutor based language teaching sessions. The target groups are students who would like to study in Germany, Great Britain, Hungary or Finland. The target languages are German, English, Hungarian and Finnish. More programmes to include French, Portuguese, Czech, Polish and Rumanian are being planned. The programme can be adapted for further languages.
EUROMOBIL has been designed to prepare students for studying abroad and for coping with everyday situations in the host country. The programme consists of two main complementary components:
Tasks relating to different communicative situations in the target language (on CD-ROM and in the web)
The programme has been developed on the basis of a needs analysis survey and in close collaboration with students. As in Germany and Great Britain exchange students have to follow the university courses in the language of the country, the German and English programmes have been designed for advanced levels. In Finland and Hungary, knowledge of the local language is not expected but experience has shown that the majority of foreign exchange students (over 90%) are very much interested in the language of the country and join a language class at beginners’ level. The Finnish and Hungarian language programmes were aimed at this target group.
The contents too were chosen on the basis of the needs
analysis. The German and English programmes are based on situations the
students will encounter at university whereas in the Finnish and Hungarian
programmes everyday situations were also included.
The exercises are based on authentic and semi-authentic video recordings
(Study Advice, Lecture, Seminar, Exam, Services, Leisure etc., see Contents
and DEMO).
The programmes contain tasks and exercises related to the following skills:
Additionally, the CD- ROM contains the following sections:
For more detailed information on the didactic approach please refer to publications and presentations.
On the project website > LINKS (6. EUROMOBIL programme) the video transcripts and further information on the EUROMOBIL CD-ROM are provided. In addition, a comprehensive list of links on universities, countries and culture specific factors is available there. The FORUM provides a platform for students to send in their responses to discussion tasks from the EUROMOBIL programme or make comments and provide information on their experiences as exchange students themselves.
The EUROMOBIL project was supported by the European Commission within the Socrates/Lingua 2 scheme (72139-CP-2-2000-1-FI-L2). The project ran for 3 ½ years (1 Dec 1999 – 1 June 2003). The website will be updated also after the completion of the project. Please send your comments and suggestions to the FORUM or send us an E-Mail.
ORDER | PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS