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Healthcare English Language Programme
Healthcare English Language Programme
Start date: Sep 1, 2014,
End date: Aug 31, 2017
PROJECT
FINISHED
The consortium brings together language training departments of higher education centres dedicated to the training of medical and care staff. As common challenge the partners have identified the lack of a modular, adequate, homogeneous, media supported training programme, based on CEFR standards to satisfy demands of learner-centred formal and informal learning approaches for the English levels B1/B2 and development of intercultural competences for training centres and learning at the workplace.
These competences are required for students and staff in health and care for research, learning exchange and mobility in Europe.. New requirements for quality (medical) tourism and services require adequate language and intercultural skills Target group is also the pedagogical staff itself. Analyses of partners when preparing this project have shown that no one could identify adequate material on the market that meets the requirements for the specific needs to develop professional foreign language and intercultural skills at the level B1/B2 of CEFR. The practitioners have also analysed results of EU-projects (most are not accessible any more) and have come to the unanimous statement that those neither meet current needs.
The partners have chosen English as target language because it is lingua franca and training is common with all European healthcare training centres . The IR partner assures linguistic correctness, as well as provides the consortium with specific information from hospitals and care centres. All partners bring in relevant intercultural aspects. The inspirations for audio-visual teaching materials will be mainly gathered in professional real-life situations and from feedback of practitioners, composed for scripts, cases and scenarios and professionally recorded in ES.
To overcome the inadequate situation to use self-made materials composed of different sources, partners apply for this project in order to produce a free and high quality reference material for the English education for healthcare students and professionals in European countries, based on the experience and needs from institutions that really work on the subject and know the gaps. Secondly, it is commonly recognized that foreign languages contribute to better recognition on the European labour market, especially among healthcare professionals. The project’s aim is to overcome linguistic barriers and improve chances for students, medical and care professionals for active efficient use of the potentials that the European community offers for learning and working. We will offer innovative linguistic support in the area of English for Medical Purposes by providing an easily accessible, flexible and media assisted learning programme to those who wish to volunteer, carry out specialist trainings, study or work professionally in English speaking healthcare environment.
The consortium brings together the necessary expertise to meet the challenge:pedagogical staff directly and daily(PL, CZ, LT, SK) working in healthcare education, professional enterprise experienced in media supported learning (ES), an institute of applied research for innovative learning approaches with expertise in foreign language and intercultural training (DE) and a provider of a wide range of specialist English trainings (IE)will cooperate. Key actors and stakeholders from education will be involved to assure practical focus, reach wide dissemination, sustainable use and acceptance within English training in healthcare in Europe.
The project will make its contribution to innovativeness in vocational training with respect to development of foreign language and intercultural competences for the work place. In order to meet the needs, it will offer computer assisted pedagogical material available for learners and trainers and a learning platform for media based cooperative learning in formal learning settings based on CEFR.The free platform will also link to social networks of professionals and contain learning support for informal learning. The consortium wishes to preserve national qualities and at the same time create a unified value and generally recognized course on English for Medical Purposes, thus the challenge to create a completely new learning approach for the English training of healthcare professionals in five East European countries will be met within this European perspective.
The project’s long-term aim is to improve employability, competitiveness and entrepreneurship in the view of new European employment possibilities for healthcare professionals by giving them a tool to more successful integration into foreign and national labour markets. Other envisaged short and long-term benefits are connected with development of intercultural competence, professional and long-lasting synergy of organizations active in the field of education, training and work and cross-sectorial cooperation to attract non-traditional learners, mostly adult healthcare workers.