Bazaar: Learn and exchange at the market place
Objectives: In the BAZAAR Project, we aimed at raising the awareness of our immigrant learners’ present state of the knowledge pertaining to the target language and culture they live by. Second language learning and other key competences are informally encouraged in a community-oriented and peer education perspective. Adult learners, market buyers and sellers, language coaches and community learning champions (community leaders) are the key actor of this process. Bazaar Methodology: BAZAAR Project embraces a common methodological base stemming from the local conditions, needs and praxis of the partner countries. In doing so, the project adopts a comprehensive, up-to-the need and unique approach. By identifying the target learners’ particular needs and taking them as a starting point, BAZAAR implements a finely-tuned and self-paced learning program allowing learners setting feasible and attainable individual goals. Considering the social and psychological barriers of the prospective immigrant participants, BAZAAR proposes creating a non-threatening and supportive learning environment to facilitate the learning and to encourage a social ambiance to embrace them. For this very reason, BAZAAR involves peer trainers from the target immigrant groups to support the socialization process and to avoid communication break downs. Bazaar Learning Program: In order to fulfil the project ambitious objectives, the Bazaar Learning Program has been designed to be realistic, comprehensive, authentic, transparent and coherent. In this line of reasoning, the comprehensive means that we specify a pre-set range of language knowledge, skills and use as much as possible. By realistic, we mean a down-to-earth approach adapting the slice of real life situations in its teaching, activities and materials. By authentic, we mean utilizing real life materials that the learners might encounter in their daily life. By transparent, we mean that the information to be presented is clearly designed and explicit in order to achieve co-constructed and foreseeable outcomes. Bazaar Learn and Exchange Activities: The Bazaar Learning program offers 40 to 60 hours of training in a non-formal learning environment. Receptive, productive and interactive language skills at A1 and A2 levels according to CEFR are emphasized in the exploitation of the program. The teaching materials and activities chosen essentially reflect real life use, and communicative in nature to the extent that they require learners to comprehend, negotiate and express meaning in order to achieve a communicative goal such as ordering, bargaining, marketing, labelling, asking for appointment, obtaining health services etc. By the same token, the tasks utilized involve engaging in routine transactions, performing a role in a communicative act, planning a course of action, reading and replying to a message, taking part in a discussion, carrying out banking transaction, functioning in government offices. Key Products: • Best Practices Show Case - In line with the EU strategic vision for 2020, the project “Bazaar” aims to respond to the learning needs of the specific groups of migrant men/women living in the EU countries participating to the project. It thus addresses the aims of the Grundtvig Programme trying to increase adult participation to lifelong learning. Within this scope, ‘Best Practice Report’ presents the results of the analysis of the best practices collected from the project partners and summarizes these models in a structured way as a reference material for interested parties. • Methodological Guidelines – These guidelines offer a framework on how to build a program for teaching languages for a specific purpose. The guide also suggests ways to structure language learning activities in general and of Bazaar, in specific, in order to enhance the communication skills and the language skills, using CEFR as the starting point. Furthermore, the guidelines contain hints from transversal methodological approach like quick learning, accelerated learning, autonomous learning as these are all approaches from which Bazaar drives from. • Map of the skills of the Bazaar Trainers – The project developed a framework to be used as a checklist or as a reference document providing guidance for the partners in recruiting Bazaar peer trainers and coaches. This framework presents 27 items which describe the necessary skills and knowledge, as well as other social competencies that the Bazaar trainers should have to enhance the language learning experience of the Bazaar learners. It is important to note that the framework is not designed as an obligatory set of qualifications for the trainers, but as a frame of reference that anyone could easily adapt to their existing language program, learning context and needs. • Bazaar learning materials – The project partnership developed materials adopting a consistent and real life-based approach to equip the learners with the skills required to function in linguistic, social and cultural context. Within this line of reasoning, the competencies related with receptive, productive and interactive skills at A1 and A2 levels have been considered in the development of materials. The topics referred to in these materials and the related learning activities cover the ones encountered frequently in their daily life. In the Bazaar learning program, we also used learner generated materials reflecting individual learners’ background experiences. • Book of the Wor(l)d – This book is a reference material where the key terms and the expressions used in the documentation of the project are collected and glossed in the native languages of the project partners. These conceptual definitions presented in the ‘Book of the Wor(l)d’ not only give the meaning of the concept, but also demonstrate/describe how the Bazaar project employed that element within its specific scope. Thus, this document functions as a supporting material for those who intends to implement a similar program. Partnership: Borgorete Societa Cooperativa Sociale (Italy) - coordinator Comune di Perugia (Italy) MRS Consultancy (UK) Palco de Sombras (Portugal) NTL (Germany) University of Çukurova (Turkey) DIA Sport Association (Bulgaria) www.bazaarproject.eu
Keywords
Intercultural Communicative Competence
Countries
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, United Kingdom