The Future of Education

Nowadays communicating effectively is very important in a multilingual world to be competitive in the professional environments. Individuals are called to communicate in foreign languages  in the context of professional or academic activities on a regular basis. This is not only happen when individuals travel to another country to meet peers face-to-face, e.g. in meetings, conferences, but also when they are involved in on-line services, such as social and professional networks. Now in this networked world, the virtual mobility for know-how exchange and enrichment of informational resources has become a common-place as the physical mobility.

Professionals typically resort to a lingua franca, such as English, French, or German, for an efficient communication in the business  world. However, most of the current approaches for foreign language learning, including the learning of vehicular languages, focus on developing knowledge of the use of the language in the country of origin without considering the widely varying pronunciations that come out from the native language as well as the so called “transfer effects”, such as influences on the syntax of the language, the choice of words and expressions, and more. So even if the vehicular languages are used to achieve communication objectives is often not easy to understand each other, since pronunciation, syntax, and choice of expressions from the speaker’s mother tongue are naturally introduced into communication. Currently the language learning methods are shifting from forcing all individuals to speak with one particular accent and one particular way, to emphasising the richness of EU cultures emerging in the diverting uses of vehicular languages.

In this framework, situated language learning can be advantageous by enabling the design of learning activities that makes an individual more familiar with specific work-related situations in varying cultures. This can be enhanced through "serious-games" where an individual is situated into an actual environment in a foreign country and is driven to communicate on business matters simulating real-life. “Serious games” are a method often used to learn a language, mostly off-line, e.g. game involving learners in role-playing and in verbal communication exercises.

In this context, the siLang project, co-funded by European Commission under Lifelong Learning Programme, intends to produce “serious games” taking into account cultural aspects and transfer effects from the mother tongues. The aim is to develop language and cultural skills among professionals, students and vocational workers, paying attention to vehicular language used by non-native speakers in varying cultural and business environments. This methodology, that simulates the real multicultural and multilingual world, promotes integration empowering users to focus on achieving their objectives, whether at work or in other contexts. It will be validated in Greece, Norway, Italy, Portugal and Estonia.