About the project

The EU supported project MIG-KOMM-EU – Multilingual Intercultural Business Language for Europe started in November 2009 under the management of the IIK Institute for Intercultural Communication inc. (Ansbach, Berlin, Jena) within the framework of the transversal LLP Programme (Lifelong Learning Programme) of European Commission with eight partners from Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

The most important goals of the project are the development and dissemination/valorization of tailor-made, motivating, innovative, easily accessible, inclusive language learning materials, test and certification techniques for business communication, which consider the European diversity of languages and the less disseminated and taught European languages (LWULT) and are oriented towards the Common European Framework of Reference.

They will be improving the intercultural dialogue in Europe and are strengthening Europe’s position in the global competition.

The course participants will be empowered to use the given possibilities of European Communication, work and studies in the EU member states.

Two successful former EU projects offer relevant starting points: a LINGUA project “Development and testing multimedia foreign language programs for business German, French, Danish, and Spanish” for self-governed learning and distance learning (D/95/A/188/P/III/FPC), duration: 1995 – 1997; and the ERASMUS LINGUA D project ECL. The needs analysis based, worldwide disseminated (inter alia by former Inter Nationes) materials of the first project for business German will be upgraded and applied for additional small European languages (Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Lithuanian, Estonian, Latvian). They will be integrated and transformed into a new, innovative, tailor-made, easily accessible learning environment (blended-learning course with task based learning, which combines all advantages of self instruction with interactive live teaching, individual online tutor on the one hand and phases of actual presence learning in regional centers on the other hand). The course can be used as well for both: adult education as for vocational education.

The development of the learning material is connected with the further development of the ECL instruments for the Europe-wide testing of language competence and their usage for more European languages. Until now ECL certifications are offered and intensely used in the following 12 languages: English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Spanish, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian. With this project Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian will be added.

During the valorization and dissemination of the materials the considerable existing national and international networks of the partners will be used and enlarged in various specific ways. Within this process the project website and other multimedia/electronic media will play a relevant role, and the experiences with these media will cultivate the development and usage of innovative media and the fuse of inclusion. Therewith will be performed a contribution to the raise of quality and attractiveness of vocational education and advanced training on the one hand and the non vocational adult education on the other hand. This includes the certification of the acquired language and intercultural competences.

•  Publications concerning linguistics and didactics of foreign language teaching.
• Project information in a variety of media: journals, internet, newsletters, newspapers, radio, TV.
• Project website for partners with both an internal and an external part (activity of valorization), which is providing information about the goals of the project and the justification of the project and its reason, and successively offers materials for the usage and support of business language in the partners’ countries.
• At the end of the project:  an interactive, tutorial website with a manual for the blended-learning course, materials, exercises, videos, and audios, instructions, multilingual glossary, audio book of business communication; a manual on DVD/CD-ROM with materials, exercises, videos, and audios, instructions, multilingual glossary, audio book of business communication and connection link to the web for self instruction tutoring and the actual presence in the learning centers.
• New ECL test materials.