Millions of people desire to learn a foreign language or feel that they need to in order to find work or integrate into a new society; in fact, the Council of the EU lists multilingualism as one of its key competencies. However, it is often the case that even learners who have been studying a language for years still have trouble understanding and being understood by native speakers of the target language due to a lack of strong communication skills in their second language (L2). A lack of communicative ability in a foreign language can also cause the learner to be perceived negatively by the community, which would then hinder that person’s level of integration. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the number of adults seeking to boost their employability to skyrocket; thousands of individuals are now looking to hone their language skills through freely-accessible, online means. Though it is difficult to learn communication skills in a time like this with such limited human interaction, it is not impossible by any means. The concept of “formulaic language” in linguistics is a familiar but underused concept in L2 teaching that can increase communication skills, yet research shows a distinct lack of teaching materials that focus on this aspect of language. Formulaic language is, simply put, co-occurring strings of words used in recurring situations; idioms, collocations, multi-word verbs, and more fall into this category. The teaching of formulaic language has been proven to increase learners' acquisition of grammar, fluency, and even cultural awareness. Our project aims to compensate for this lack of formulaic language-based teaching materials by creating a handbook for teachers, an app for learners that uses all authentic sources from target languages, and an OER for teachers which provides practical teaching materials for formulaic language. The objectives of the projects are as follows:-To create a set of easily accessible teaching and learning materials that support communication skills in a foreign language-To promote the uptake of an effective teaching methodology across Europe in a digitally innovative way-To upskill foreign language teachers in providing formulaic language-based lessons for their studentsThese will be accomplished through the production of three outputs:1. Guide on teaching communication through formulaic language 2. Language learning app that uses authentic sources to teach formulaic language3. OER for teachers where they can find practical lessons and materials on teaching formulaic languageAll Intellectual Outputs will be created in 6 languages: English, Spanish, Latvian, Italian, Russian, and German. The outputs will go through pilot testing/feedback sessions to ensure top quality results. The direct target group of the project is foreign language teachers of VET providers, with the indirect group being adult foreign language learners. Associated partners will be VET/language teaching organisations at local, regional, national, and European levels. The expected impact of the project on all participants in a general sense is increased awareness of the usefulness of teaching and learning formulaic language to improve communicative competence amongst target groups and stakeholders. More specifically, the direct target group (foreign language teachers)'s expected impact will also be heightened awareness of the role formulaic language plays in second language acquisition, practical knowledge of how to teach formulaic language to improve students’ overall communicative competence, and greater access to teaching materials that focus on specific types of formulaic language through the OER (IO3). The indirect target group (foreign language learners)'s expected impact can be summarised as: improved communicative competence, increased awareness of formulaic language and its usefulness in language acquisition, both in and outside of the classroom, increased cultural awareness associated with learning the target language through authentic materials, and greater access to high-quality language learning opportunities.

The European Year of Cultural Heritage have introduce the willing to put the spotlight on Europe's wealth of cultural heritage, showcasing its role in fostering a shared sense of identity and building the future of Europe. According to a new Eurobarometer survey released today, most of the Europeans think cultural heritage is not only important to them personally, but also to their community, region, country and the European Union as a whole. All the participating countries – Croatia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Spain – are coastal European countries. The sea and the coast present natural borders that can divide or unite, depending on our approach. This is why project partners decided to plan a project with the purpose to use culture as a tool for language teaching. Communication in English will be developed not by talking only about English culture (as we are used to), but talking and discovering cultural heritage of project partners' countries. This aim matches with the general aim of improvement of the adult education offers and adult teachers’ competences. The aim will be achieved by two IO that will involve two target groups: adult learners and adult teachers/educators: - Foreign Language Teaching through European Cultural Heritage Discovery Curriculum for Adult Learners - Learnpress Learners Management System – Digital platform for learning materials Both the IO will be used in providing a 60 – 80 hour English language course targeted at improving communicative competences in English language and intercultural understanding based on discovering the local cultural heritage of the partners’ countries. At the very beginning of the project, partners will establish a Project Management Team (four persons) to ensure efficient project management. Three transnational meeting and one Skype meeting will ensure continuous monitoring of the work in progress and achievement of the results. The Participatory Approach and the P.C.M. Methodology will be used for communication and cooperation between partners. 60 adult learners and 12 teachers will be involved in piloting the English language course level A2 – B1 based and carried out from the Foreign Language Teaching through European Cultural Heritage Discovery Curriculum for Adult Learners and will use the learning materials upload on the Learnpress Learning Management System – digital platform. 18 teachers and staff members will be involved in the sort-term joint staff training event in the 1st year of the project. 79 participants (around 61 learners and 18 teachers) will take part to the blended mobility of learners in the 2nd year of the project. Aroung 215 participants will take part in the multiplier events planned in the middle of the project going on in order to promote the English language course based and the project results. Around 50 participants will take part to the project final conference. The target groups of the dissemination activities will be (indicatively) • Adult learners • Training Providers • Foreign Language Providers • Teachers • Disadvantaged adult groups • Local community Leaders • Cultural Organisations at regional/national level • Linguistic experts • NGOs • Public Authorities The dissemination activity will ensure sustainability of project results, by analysing the evidence of the past and developing strategies for the future. The main expected impacts will be to have: - improved communication and presentation skills for teachers and learners in the home language and in English language , - developed critical thinking, reflexivity, and self-assessment, - identified different learning styles and strategies of adult learners and applied appropriate methods and techniques for teaching adults, - applied motivational strategies, develop communication and presentation skills, - evaluated the process of learning and teaching, develop consultation skills with the aim of helping adult learners select a learning programme, - improved the capacity of piloting, monitoring and evaluating a new curriculum for language competence development, - improved the use of a digital platform for learning materials, - developed the capacity of intercultural communication and cooperation, - developed the self assessment skills and planning the own lifelong learning process.

Necessity to understand languages and culture has risen in accordance with possibility to change work place and to move from country to country. The political situation in the world has become more unstable and therefore amount of people arriving to EU countries has risen dramatically. To improve the person's development and employability in the labour market and integrate in the society, it is necessary for applicants for job and asylum to understand culture of the target country. Without knowing a language and interaction with local people it is impossible.To assure opportunities for those people our objectives in this project were to create a new student book with less l grammar structures, with vocabulary tailored to their needs but in the same time it should be a high quality. The material is with more visuals and symbols, similar in Estonian, Finnish, German Latvian and Spanish languages and with a mix of methods for teachers.All the material can be found on the project webpage www.mafle.eu. It can be uploaded and printed for teachers and students use.Meanwhile we have reached other goals of this project: increased qualification of managing and teaching staff, cultural experience and exchange, research about applicants for job and asylum in participating countries, improved IT skills for teachers.We are proud that by September this year, all partner organisations can offer their students new language learning materials the staff with improved qualification. We hope that results of our project will help make language learning for adult people coming from different cultural and social backgrounds more attractive and easier to understand and it allows to continue the project with adding other EU languages to the created matrix and create additional online exercises for already existing units.PROJECT PARTNERSLATVIJA - VALODU MAPE SIASIA VALODU MAPE is a language school with 15 years experience in language teaching for youth and adults including unemployed people, migrants and foreigners who have business in Latvia.ESTONIA- Pärnumaa Vocational Education CentrePärnumaa Vocational Education Centre School provides professional competence, knowledge and skills on the basis of a basic and on the basis of a secondary school education.CROATIA– Dante The Adult Education Institution Dante offers a variety of regional and international adult education workshops, courses, and programmes for foreign language learning, teacher training, transferable skills training, entrepreneurship and management training, as well as language and vocational courses for migrants.SPAIN - CENTRO SUPERIOR HOSTELERIA MEDITARRANEOEThe main activities undertaken in the centre are training and acquisition of skilled students in cooking matters. The centre offers a wide range of educational programs concerning intermediate and higher vocational training in gastronomy such as catering and pastry,FINLAND- LEARNING FOR INTEGRATION RYThe mission of Learning for Integration ry is to promote the learning of languages and cultural sensitivity of migrant, immigrant and refugee children and youth in Finland and other Nordic countries in order to facilitate their integration into the new culture and the development of a multicultural society. In addition, its purpose is to support Swedish learning in Finland.AUSTRIA – Institut für Interdisziplinäre BildungThe IIB, Institute for interdisciplinary education, sees itself as a pool of ideas and concept developers in education and training, in order to increase opportunities in the education and labour market.PROJECT ACCTIVITIES13.02.2018. - the first transnational project meeting in Riga, Latvia.23. - 25.07.2018. - teacher training in Rijeka, Croatia.25. - 27.10.2018. - teacher training in Linz, Austria.16. - 17.04.2019. - second transnational project meeting in Valencia, Spain.28.08.2019. - third transnational project meeting in Valmiera, Latvia.29.08.2019. - Multiplier Event in Valmiera, Latvia01.04.2018-30.09.2019 - Work on intelectual ouput/learning materials

The purpose of this project is to facilitate an ‘exchange of good practice’ which will aim to develop a Bootcamp programme for students where they will be able to learn entrepreneurship and critical thinking skills in conjunction with English language learning. Learning entrepreneurial and critical thinking skills is not only an additional incentive when taking an English language course, but it is also a necessity. Necessity to the extent that people who learn another language, usually learn it in order to develop their competencies professionally. An advanced vocabulary and competency skill expansion are particularly important and can increase employment as well as increase career opportunities nationally and internationally. The rhythm of modern life has become so fast and saturated, that language educators must think of new, exciting and advanced language learning incentives, in order to encourage students to learn languages, hence increasing the number of new customers. This project is born as a response to the current reality across all partner organisations. Firstly, to the need of encouraging and educating teaching possibilities for English language learners. And secondly, to the need of reaching new groups of potential students to increase the number of new clients for the organisations. All partners involved see this project as an opportunity to address these needs internationally by sharing and confronting practices and methods. Valodu Mape Sia (Latvia) is the leading organisation in this project with 15 years of expereince in language teaching for youth and adults, including unemployed people, migrants and foreigners which have business in Latvia. Valodu Mape will look after the coordination process between all partner institutions and project management activities for this project. Eurospeak (UK) is predominantly active in the field of youth and adult education in language learning, vocational and educational training (VET), intercultural understanding, community development and e-learning. As native English language speakers they will be responsible for quality management and evaluation in terms of proofreading all materials used in the project. Akademie für Politische Bildung und demokratiefördernde Maßnahmen (Austria) is a NGO that pursues further education in the sense of political education. They have already implemented numerous projects in the entrepreneurship area and have experience in the design of innovative teaching methods. Their main responsibilities will be related to implementation of the dissemination plan. Edu Compass Foundation (Bulgaria) is a NGO which focuses on developing employability skills, including foreing language learning and literacy skills as well as cultural studies. Their main responsibilities will involve creation and management of evaluation plan and evaluation reports. Libera Università Europea Terza età Campania (LUETEC) (Italy) has established itself as a LLE center for young and adult people offering different training paths for young, adult and elderly students. Their experience in short staff training courses design and implementation both at local and international level is an added value in this new project. Their responsibilities will involve preparation of projects’ sustainability plan. As part of this project five transnational meetings (TPM) which will include 2-3 participants from each organisation, one teacher training with the same amount of participants as well as one learning mobility/Bootcamp for students with around 15-20 participants will be held. In total we plan to involve at least 300 participants.TPM’s are the key instruments for project coordination and management. The mobilities play a fundamental role in the achievement of the project goals and objectives. The teaching training will enhance staff competencies and skills in each organisation. Methodologies we will apply are research, piloting, dissemination, questionnaires.As a result of this project, we expect to find an accurate layout of the Bootcamp Programme which can then be implemented across all partner institutions. We hope to be able to encourage and facilitate the ‘exchange of best practices’ in English language teaching, expand the number of students we are able to reach, and increase awareness amongst English language teachers and students of skill-based learning. This Strategic Partnership project will also enable us to establish long-term, fruitful partnerships with the participating organisations, which will benefit us mutually in the future. In respect to long term benefits, we hope this project will prove the necessity to develop other skill based programmes in conjunction with language learning accross adult education institutions. It will open an opportunity to develop further projects with an intellectual output giving greater possibilities for adult organisations to provide courses with approvededucational programmes.

"<< Background >>According to a recent Eurostat report on consumer habits: ""In the 12 months prior to the 2020 survey, 89% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU had used the internet, 72% of whom had bought or ordered goods or services for private use.An article on Emarketer reads: ""commerce sales in Western Europe leaped 26.3% in 2020, driven by digital buying during the pandemic. By contrast, total retail sales fell. More than ever, consumers want retailers and brands to act transparently, and responsibly, and provide practical solutions—whether that means maintaining affordable prices, offering new delivery options, supporting local stores, or making their own operations more eco-friendly.""For any business to survive in the retail industry, international and online sales are vital. A high quality product is not enough. Effective international communication, being it either face-to-face, on the phone or online, is an obligation to survive.According to a recent article by commence.com, one of the top 3 factors that influence both online and offline customer satisfaction is customer understanding. Other important factors are transparency and problem solving. All have to do with communication with the client. Survival in the retail industry is, thus, not only dependent on going online, but also on communicating effectively with your international customers, either online or offline.In preparation of this project, the partners surveyed over 110 workers in the Retail Industry. One of the questions we asked was about their current level of English. The majority (76%) have either an intermediate level of English or less. Another question we asked was if, during the pandemic, they had tried to open their business to online sales. Results were:Yes: 34,9%Partly: 20,5%No: 44,5%When asked if they would like to improve online and international sales for their business, 76% of participants either completely agreed or somewhat agreed. A staggering 96% also agreed with the fact that effective communication in English is important for international sales.We clearly see that the majority of small retail business owners and workers understand the importance of international and online sales for their business survival and growth, and some have even started in that direction. Nevertheless, we also see that, if effective communication is a key factor to success in online and international sales, and English is the dominant language for international and online sales, less than 25% of respondents have sufficient English knowledge to offer that level of communication. With this project we want to address the following needs for workers in the retail industry:- need to improve their English communication skills- need to improve their international communication skills + soft skills- need for life long learning opportunities that adapt to their needs and their pace/time of study- need for social media strategies for international networking- need for opportunities to build a network with other SME's in the retail industry around Europe<< Objectives >>By implementing this project we want to achieve the following:1. create awareness amongst retail workers of the importance of soft skills and communication skills in international sales2. provide a self evaluation tool on levels of competence in soft skills and communication skills3. provide a set of online courses that can be taken at the user's own pace and time and that adapt to the specific needs in English competence and international communication skills 4. active participation of retail workers in non formal and online learning pathways that motivate to keep learning5. create opportunities for retail workers and SME owners to connect and collaborate with other retailers around the EU6. rapport building amongst retails workers and SME owners from different EU countries7. greater sense of EU citizenship and EU awareness as well as shared values amongst retail workers and SME owners around Europe8. explicit know how of social media strategies for the retail industry to build international networks<< Implementation >>During the project we will implement the following activities:1. Collaboration between the partnersFor this project, we have established a strong and balanced partnership of 6 partners from 5 different EU countries. All partners will have an active role throughout the project and will participate in all project results and activities alike.To guarantee quality results of this collaboration we will establish clear guidelines as well as provide the sufficient project management tools to the partnership.The role of each partner within the partnership will be clear from the beginning. Everyone know what is requested from them and deadlines will be set where necessary.Apart from a project leader (P1), each project result will have it's own leading partner. There will also be leading partners for Quality Control and Dissemination Activities.2. Meetings (OPM and TPM)Communication is key in any project or collaboration. We will establish clear communication lines as well as the tools for that communication and guidelines / policies for the users.Apart from an online kick off meeting at the start of the project, 3 Transnational Project Meeting will be organized at various stages of the project where we need that time to analyze, coordinate and plan project activities.To encourage the flow of communication in the project, monthly Online Partner Meetings will be organized. During these meetings, we will discuss work in progress, make any minor adjustments where necessary and analyze any possible risks & opportunities. 3. Quality controlWe have established a series of quantitative and qualitative indicators throughout the project.Quality control will be done in view of these indicators as well as via internal and external quality evaluations (IQE and EQE).Quality control will be done at various pre-set stages of the project and will enable us to make adjustments if necessary. This will guarantee the highest possible results of the project. 4. Risk & Opportunity ManagementThe risk management system will be established in the project handbook as a means for risk awareness and comprehensive monitoring. It will identify risks and assign risk managers according to their field of experience and role within the project and develop solution scenarios for all eventualities. Active risk management is for us the earliest possible response to deviations in project meetings. During both the transnational partner meetings as well as the online partner meetings, time will be allocated to risk management. A risk management register will be kept to keep track of both the risks as well as the solutions that were implemented.Apart from risk, we will also analyze opportunities of improvement in any field that could arise during the project. This could be improved results, extra results, new dissemination contacts or opportunities, new use of results, synergy with other projects, etc. Time for analyzing opportunities will be allocated in both OPM and TPM.5. DisseminationDissemination will be done throughout the whole project and will be divided in 3 phases: Aware, Inform & Adopt. For this purpose we will:- create a project website- create a networking platform- create and manage project social media accounts- make a presentation leaflet- develop a blog- send out newsletters- attend and organize webinars / conferences and seminars- organise multiplier events<< Results >>Our project will have the following project results:PR 1 - RETAIL TALK SKILLSAn international report and a comprehensive guide on the most important soft and international communication skills in the retail industry, with tips and activities to develop those skills. PR 2 - RT SELF EVALUATIONA self evaluation test for workers in the retail industry to assess their own levels of competence in soft and international communication skills in the retail industry and suggestions to further develop those skillsPR 3 - RETAIL TALK TRAININGA collection of 8 online courses that combine English communication needs with developing competences in soft skills and international communication skills. These courses focus on different and very specific aspects of international sales in the retail industry and can be taken as a complete program or as individual modules. The courses will be presented in a non-formal way and users can take it at their own pace and time.The courses will be accompanied by retail specific conversational activities. PR 4 - EU RETAIL NETWORKThis project result has 2 aspects:- An online networking platform for retail SME's around Europe. SME's can present their enterprise and their products and can contact other SME's around Europe.- A guide on social media strategies for international networking for the retail industry."