In bilingual or multilingual countries where several languages coexist, it is usual to use (one of) the local language in some labor sectors. In such cases, people who do not speak the local language can encounter a barrier to enter the labor market: they either remain outside the regulated labor market, or, even though they are integrated into the labor market, they have difficulty to maintain a long term and sustainable career. This is especially true for the healthcare sector. Immigrants are a case in point. Due to the fact that their priority is usually exclusively learning the main language spoken in the state rather than the local language of a region. To highlight the importance of being able to use the regonal language in a healthcare setting and especially elderly care: By 2025, more than 20% of Europeans will be 65 or over, with a particularly rapid increase in numbers of over-80s (http://ec.europa.eu/health/ageing/policy/index_en.htm). Hence, the number of bilingual elderly people with cognitive disabilities will increase dramatically as well. An extra complexity in this matter is the role of the use of dialects or minority languages with clients in healthcare settings for their well being during treatment. Language is of vital importance for an individual’s well being as well as ensuring trust in healthcare settings. This plays a vital role in power dynamics between clients and staff such as nurses. A minority language or dialect also shares a stronger ‘emotional attachment’ (Dewaele 2004; Heinz 2011). (II) Rationale of the Project and Innovative CharacterIn the last decade, there has been a wide range of experiences in language training at the workplace. However, they mainly focus on the major European languages (English, French, Spanish, German) and do not take into account the specific language needs of some European regions and working environments with a strong presence of a regional/minority language. Even with increasing multilingual societies, language training is mostly standardized and homogeneous and does not take into account the role that each of these languages plays in society or even in the workplace. Workplace communication needs are very often not teachable and neither measurable by standard language reference guidelines, but have to be planned and evaluated in relation to determined working fields. The project would therefore combine both communication and psychological skills, which is unique to the focus of previous European projects.The rationale of this project is hence to develop innovative methods, focused on acquiring communication competences in the (local) languages required in a multilingual workplace.(III) Project DescriptionOverall objective: To offer a versatile training material toolkit for its use in the language teaching area of any regional language of Europe.Project Objectives•Improving the language skills of people currently applying for work or working part-time in the elderly care and health care sector and where knowledge of the local language is of high importance and improving the quality of work•To train trainers to be able to teach regional languages to migrants disadvantaged learners focusing in the communication needs at their workplaces •To train trainers to be able to teach communication skills for a bilingual work environments (e.g. continuous switching of the language, oral communication and written communication in different languages)•Improve the wellbeing of clients in healthcare settings•Taking steps towards integration: addresses the multilingual needs of immigrants in diverse communities as well as the multi-sited nature of integration.•Increasing opportunities of migrant workers due to the improvement of their professional communication skills.Main Target Group•language teachers (teachers in public and concerted schools for adults)•adult education trainers•language and vocational training teachers•stakeholders in the field of adult vocational training and support for disadvantaged learning).(IV) Expected Results1. To develop language competence skills and improved levels of skills for employability, increasing opportunities for professional development.2. To design a communicative competence acquiring methodology for the health care/elderly care sector.3. Also, we will design tools for evaluating the impact of method in the language skills of the workers. 3. To disseminate the information on how to use the methodology which can be implemented during the multiplier events.4. Guidelines and good practices (local authorities, institutions for adult learning and designers of educational contents, stakeholders in the health care and elderly care sector in particular), building consciousness of needs and viability of special language needs, such as regional languages or regional bilingualism.5. To offer a versatile training material toolkit for its use in the language teachi
Context and background In bilingual or multilingual countries where several languages coexist, it is not uncommon to use a regional language in some labor sectors. In such cases, people who do not speak the local language can experience difficulties in entering or remaining in this sector. A case in point are immigrants wishing to work or working in the care sector: their priority often lies with developing skills in the majority language (and not the regional languages). However, regional language skills amongst staff in the care sector (especially elderly care) have been shown to be of the utmost importance. No set of guidelines exist to teach this group workplace specific communication needs. The main goal of this project has therefore been to raise awareness concerning the importance of teaching workplace specific communication skills to migrants and to develop innovative methods to help language teachers and vocational trainers teach these skills. Longer-term benefits By achieving these goals, the COMBI project wishes to effect in the long-term: • Improved communication and regional language skills of migrants wishing to work or working in the (elderly) care sector, • An improved situation for trainers wishing to teach their (migrant) students regional language skills and to focus on workplace specific communication needs. • improved wellbeing of clients in in the care sector, • improved integration: addressing the multilingual needs of immigrants in diverse communities as well as the complex nature of integration. • Increased opportunities for migrant workers on the labor market by improving their professional communication skills. About the project partners The COMBI-team is made up of six partners coming from five European countries. Each partner has its own area of expertise varying from academic research, vocational training to digital communication. The Fryske Akademy is the main scientific centre in the province of Fryslân, the Netherlands, and researches fields such as multilingualism, language learning, and regional economic development. Elhuyar Zubize (ZUBIZE) in Spain designs, develops and evaluates tools and methods for enterprises and public institutions to improve Basque language use. The group works towards improving equality and participation and the emancipation of the Basque language. Since it was founded in 2010, the Banaiz Bagara Cultural Association in San Sebastian (Spain) has had a quickly expanding and rich experience in the fields of teaching Basque Language and Culture. Besides teaching, the association organizes different social events like sports, festivals or local cultural activities. Creative Development Centre “Danilo Dolci”, in Sicily, Italy, is a non-profit association involving young people and adults. Together with schools, universities, institutions, associations, and social groups it carries out national and international projects focused on education. Axxell provides integration courses for adult migrants in Finland. Its team of approximately 50 language and guidance teachers offers Finnish language training and career guidance to migrants, helping to integrate newcomers to Finnish society. Swansea University (UK) is an ambitious and innovative university with a strategic vision. The Welsh Department at Swansea University is a dynamic and successful department and has been highly commended for the academic care it gives to its students. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework showed that the Department is 2nd in the UK, and the best in Wales, for the quality of its research. Project activities The main activities that were undertaken during this project included: research in the form of a needs analysis to determine the focus of the projects’ products; development of teaching materials, both printed and digital; a pilot among teachers and migrant care students to determine the effectiveness of the materials developed; dissemination of the research findings and the developed products via four multiplier events, one for each developed product, held in four of the countries of the project’s partners, via presentations on conferences and events, via websites and social media; translations of all materials in the state language of all partners, and, additionally into several minority languages. All activities were discussed and agreed on during the project’s monthly Skype/Zoom which all partners attended. Results and impact - Increased awareness among policy makers concerning the lack of current policies aimed at improving minority language skills among migrants and care personnel. - Increased awareness of the importance of minority language skills among health care staff, policy makers, language teachers, and migrant students. - Availability of free open-source tools for teachers and health care staff to acquaint (migrant) personnel in a positive way with the minority language. - Knowledge among teachers, health care personnel, policy makers at the regional,