Project: Intercultural Learning Topic: Malta versus Austria – Two countries in the European Union which couldn’t be more diverse Subjects: English and Geography (interdisciplinary) Participants: 7th form ( app. 24 students aged 13) Profile of participants: it’s their seventh year of studying at school and their 3rd year of studying English; cultural as well as language interest presumed Methodology: group work,presentations, using social media, working with statistics, doing research Aim/Background of project: The aim of this project is to learn about the differences between Austria and Malta. Since the teachers have been applied for the language course in Malta and hopefully get the chance to attend this course, they can help their students with newly gained information and their experiences about Malta. In advance and before the project even starts, they can collect information about the topics (see below) in preparation for this project with their students next school year. Both countries are part of the European Union and have the Euro as official currency. But what else do they have in common and where do the countries differ? This project is divided into follwoing parts/steps: • Students get divided into groups of four and each one can choose between following topics: - Geographical and historical background of Malta - School and university education ( + high amount of young people leaving the country for a better education and living) - Economical situation in Malta (e.g. unemployment, low wages) - Culture and tradition (e.g. prohibition against abortion) - Malta – the importance of the European Union membership - Migration and integration of refugees and foreigners in Malta (e.g. illegal immigrants, social benefits from the state,..) • Students start doing research on the internet/library and try to find some basic information about the topics chosen ( work during lessons but also at home) In the meanwhile the teachers try to find a partner school in Malta in order to arrange some students/penfriends at the same age for their project. The aim of this project is not only to find out about the difference of the countries, but also to get in touch with Maltese students of their age and communicate with them. If interested, the Maltese teachers could to the same project vice versa. • At this stage of the project, students might have found some first information about their topics. In addition to their research, they should now come up with questions about their topics. Each group/students now gets/get in touch with a Maltese student in order to ask questions they are interested to know. The aim of this contact between students from both countries is to communicate in a foreign language over a few weeks and maybe, to stay in touch for a longer time and get to know more about the person. A friendship between a Maltese and an Austrian student would be the highlight of this project. • After the reasearch about Malta, they should now concentrate on the differences/similarities between those two countries. They are supposed to outline the most important facts and the results get presented in their own class and classes of the same level. Also, there is the possibility to invite the principal, other teachers and parents to the presentations. • Finally, all the work gets collected and finally sent to the Maltese partner school to show them what the Austrian students found out with the help of their students. The results of the project and the project itself gets published on the school website and also in the school’s yearbook.