<< Background >>The project “An Emotionally-intelligent Approach to teaching Speaking in a forEign language,” or EASE for short, aims to improve the effectiveness of adult education in a foreign language by applying an emotionally-intelligent approach to teaching speaking skills. Six partners from five countries (France, Ireland, Spain, Romania, and Poland) will come together to develop resources for foreign language teachers in 6 languages: French, English, Spanish, Romanian, German, and Polish. There is much evidence to support the fact that there is in fact a link between speaking skills in a foreign language and emotional intelligence (EI). Over the past ten years, dozens of studies have confirmed a positive correlation between high EI and oral communication in a foreign language, and it has been recommended by linguistic researchers that foreign language educators utilise the benefits of social and emotional learning to enhance their students’ speaking skills, especially for those with low EI (Afshar & Rahimi, 2016 ; Sajad & Saeed, 2017; Mendez Lopez & Tun, 2017; Shabani, 2018; Esmaeeli et al., 2018). Regardless of the body of research that exists on the topic, the available teaching materials which adopt an EI approach available are either from scientific journals and quite difficult to digest, or not substantial in nature and merely touch on the topic. In fact, preliminary research carried out by the partners prior to writing the proposal revealed a serious lack of practical teaching materials in each of the project’s languages aside from English, with English still only producing limited results. EASE will thus attempt to create materials that are practical, digestible, and substantial to fill the gap in EI-related language teaching tools with a focus on oral communications.<< Objectives >>The overall aim of the EASE project is to improve the effectiveness of adult education in a foreign language by applying an emotionally-intelligent approach to teaching speaking skills. With this broad aim in mind, the specific project objectives are: - To improve the quality and availability of foreign language teaching resources for adults, particularly in oral communications, by creating original and innovative educational materials - To improve the capacity of foreign language teachers to break down emotional barriers to learning speaking skills through blended CPD sessions, thereby improving their quality of teaching, - To promote and implement an innovative approach in teaching speaking skills in a foreign language by using research-backed techniques to simultaneously improve emotional intelligence and the acquisition of a foreign language - To improve the resilience potential for adult language teaching institutions by creating materials adapted to face-to-face and online environments, thereby easing the transition between face-to-face and online learning environments - To increase adult learners’ communicative competence in a foreign language by encouraging self-directed learning and reflective thinking using an innovative digital platform<< Implementation >>In order to meet the objectives stated above, the partnership will carry out the following activities: Development of Project Results: Three innovative results will be produced as part of the EASE project. Each Result lead has the required expertise to direct the production of each result. The intended outcome of these results is to create freely-accessible materials to support foreign language teachers in their application of the Emotional Intelligence approach while teaching speaking in the classroom, as well as to support learners to become more self-directed and improve their skills outside of class as well. Publicity: A publicity plan will be developed by the lead partner which will focus on the promotion of the project’s aims, objectives, and results. Adult education institutions and other relevant stakeholders will be targeted through a wide outreach effort by the partnership via online and in-person communications. Transnational Project Meetings: Five TPMs have been planned, one in each country represented by the partnership. Multiplier Events: Toward the end of the project’s life and after the Results have been developed, each partner will hold a national Multiplier Event which will showcase what we have created with the expectation that invited organisations will use the products. Evaluation: The partners will follow an Evaluation plan created by the lead partner which will evaluate the extent to which the project is meeting its objectives and intended outcomes, plus the effectiveness of the partnership. 4 evaluation reports will be produced during the course of the project. Sustainability: The partnership will create and conform to a sustainability plan which will ensure that the project’s results will be used long beyond the duration of the project.<< Results >>The primary target group of the project is foreign language teachers in adult education, and the secondary target group will be adult learners of a foreign language. The EASE project will centre around the development of three innovative Results which are based in linguistic research and supported by the European framework DigiCompEdu: Result 1: Booklet on incorporating EI in foreign language teaching Result 2: Blended face-to-face and online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions for language teachers on using EI approach Result 3: EASE Self-Directed Learning Platform Aside from the production of these results, we will also produce: - Project results in 6 languages (English, French, Spanish, Romanian, German, and Polish) - Management plan - Publicity plan - Evaluation plan - Sustainability plan - 5 Transnational Meeting agendas and minutes - 5 online meeting agendas and minutes - Multilingual project website - Project social media pages - Editions of digital newsletters - Editions of physical leaflets - Evaluation questionnaires for internal and external stakeholders - 4 publicity reports - 4 evaluation reports The project is expected to produce a number of intangible outcomes as well, including: - Improved quality and availability of foreign language teaching resources for adults - Increased capacity to successfully teach speaking skills - Stronger interpersonal relationships within the language classroom - Exchange of knowledge and best practices among partners on the topics of EI and language teaching - Increase resilience to changing circumstances (switching from face-to-face to online teaching) for adult education institutions - Increased emotional intelligence among the target groups - Heightened theoretical knowledge about EI’s application in the classroom - Improved ability among teachers to recognise and break down emotional barriers to learning - Increased communicative competence and confidence in a foreign language among students - Heightened ability among learners to engage in self-reflective thinking regarding their own language acquisition - The creation of an open and accepting foreign language classroom atmosphere for the institutions involved