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TESOL in Practice
Start date: Jun 1, 2015, End date: May 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

TESOL in Practice (TiP) provided mobilities for VET Learners in the vocational field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Learners were placed in two-month long mobilities, hosted in three language academies in Seville in Andalucia, Spain, where they worked with a students of a variety of ages, backgrounds, socio-economic status and abilities. Our project lasted one year with each mobility period lasting for 60 days. TiP supported a total of 21 participants. Placement periods were from October 2015 when the first group of seven participants travelled to Spain, with the second group of seven leaving the UK in January 2016 and the final group leaving in late March. The original objectives as stated in the application were to: -Provide high quality vocational training placements to TESOL learners and recent (within 1 year) qualified individuals -For participants to leave TiP better able to secure employment as a language teacher whilst improving their ability to work internationally and with different groups in the UK -Contribute to addressing the needs of immigrant communities in the UK and those who do not have good English -Use language training to increase skills, cultural interaction and multilingualism in the EU -Promote language learning and linguistic diversity through the programme and in disseminating results. It is fair to say that all our original objectives were met and in some cases exceeded. In the UK, the need for teachers with high quality, internationally-recognised English language teaching qualifications has never been greater. 7.7% of the population do not speak English as a first language, with 4.2 million people reporting another main language (Language in England and Wales, 2011, ONS, March 2013). These people face significant barriers in participating fully in local, national and European life. There is also a need for high quality, trained teachers who can think creatively in order to work as teachers in a TESOL class or company, but also with the ability to innovate and be entrepreneurial in how they teach, where and when. The EU has set the goal that every citizen should have the opportunity to acquire at least two foreign languages, from an early age. This project addresses that need in the Learners themselves as well as those they will teach in Seville and the UK afterwards. The need for innovative ways to reach and teach isolated people meant that the placement provided training for participants to practice and experience a variety of ways of practising their vocation that they could not get in the UK, as Andalusian English academies have developed innovative ways of teaching not available in the UK. Placements enabled participants to gain vocational and professional skills, broaden their knowledge of the TESOL sector and developed enhanced intercultural awareness which, along with improved teaching and personal skills, will support them in accessing teaching English employment opportunities in the UK and other EU countries. 100% of the participants stated that they gained knowledge, skills or competencies or professional experience that they would not have gained in the UK.
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