The YouALLS-project will design job-related language-sensitive learning scenarios for job entrants in the fields of catering, construction, nursing, metal work, and motor mechanics. These scenarios for the vocational classroom will be based on materials carefully designed following the didactical principles of language sensitivity. The materials and scenarios will refer to and integrate a picture dictionary app with augmented reality, developed in the project. The app will cover, among others, the following languages: Polish, Romanian, Arabic, and Dari. Context: Far too many young learners across Europe have problems learning a job and finishing a professional training course or an apprenticeship. Statistics show that dropout numbers are high, and young learners quit their training without a proper certificate and without the qualifications and skills needed to successfully enter the labour market. Youth unemployment in some European countries remains on an unacceptably high level. When analysing the reasons, relevant stakeholders like chambers of trade and commerce, employees, teachers and learners report that these learners lack, among other things, the necessary job-related language skills. The YouALLS-project assumes that there is not enough awareness for the difference between everyday language, professional and job-related language, language in the classroom vs. language at the workplace, and general language usage in vocational subjects. Objectives: 1. Raise language-awareness among those involved with creating materials, training courses and exams for young learners in occupational areas that attract young learners who seem to have severe language problems, e.g. jobs that attract youngsters with a migration background: The five occupational fields identified in a needs analysis in all participating countries are: catering, construction, nursing, metal motor mechanics. 2.Develop an app that works as a dictionary which combines pictures of basic job-related materials and situations with the corresponding technical term in the languages available among the project partners, i.e. Turkish, German, Swedish, English, French, Spanish and available among their institutional networks established when schooling learners with a migration background, e.g. Polish, Romanian, Arabic and Dari. The app will have a dictionary mode (with approx. 200 basic terms for each occupational field) and an augmented-reality mode where a camera can scan single words, text and pictures of job-related materials leading to the relevant term in the user's pre-selected language. 3. Develop job-related basic (not advanced) training situations and lesson plans for the vocational classroom, both developed according to the didactical principles of language awareness. One central tool in these learning environments will be the project's dictionary app. Each project partner will develop one training situation for each occupational field in their mother tongue. Project partners: Partners from Turkey (Istanbul University-Cerraphasa), Sweden (Falun Borlänge Regionen), and Germany (Seminar für Ausbildung und Fortbildung der Lehrkräfte Karlsruhe (Berufliche Schulen), i.e. Institute for initial and in-service teacher training for vocational schools) have worked together before in an Erasmus-project on refugee teaching (www.yourni.eu). The idea for the new YouALLS-project goes back to a common needs analysis and was jointly developed. Partners' strengths and needs led to the various roles that partners will fill within the project. A steering group, representing each country, will monitor all project steps and guarantee the flow of the project according to the application. Two associate partners from Turkey and Germany will give additional support and input. Activities: An initial expert meeting will lay down the didactical and technical requirements of the dicionary app and initiate a process of selecting job-related terminology to be contained in the app. A group of technicians will program the app, and all project partners will provide relevant testing situations. Vocational and language experts in each partner country fill the app's database with relevant terminology. Teaching experts from all partner countries will come together in order to develop authentic training situations for learners in initial vocational situations, referring to the project's app. On a national level, multiplier events will be offered to disseminate and discuss the project's outputs and integrate relevant feedback. Expected results and long-term benefit: The free dictionary app will be made available through various channels, and it will be open source in order to allow further development and adaptation according to the users' needs, e.g. further languages and extended vocabulary. Training situations will serve as best practice examples in training institutions and teacher training courses.
The following aspects determined the work in the project: 1. The focus was on the development of a dictionary app called "VODAR", which combines images of job-related basic materials and situations with the corresponding technical term in the languages relevant for the project partners. Pedagogical strategies for the development of an AR app were to be formulated. The language spectrum was adapted and expanded in the course of the project: Romanian was replaced by Italian as the need changed due to changes in migration flows. After the start of the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian was added as another language. 2. The project aimed to increase the language sensitivity of those working with young learners in vocational contexts where technical language is a hurdle (vocational fields of catering, construction, care, car mechanics and metal construction technology). A handout on language sensitivity in vocational contexts should be produced to support this. 3. 3. Teaching materials have been created for use in vocational school lessons. A central tool here is the dictionary app VoDAR. The materials serve as a suggestion for use in own learning environments.
Young learners across Europe are finding it difficult to enter a profession and complete vocational training. Statistics show that dropout rates are high and young learners abandon their education without a proper qualification and without the necessary qualifications and skills to successfully enter the labor market. As a result, youth unemployment remains at unacceptably high levels in some European countries. When analyzing the reasons, relevant stakeholders such as chambers of commerce, workers, teachers and learners report that these learners lack, among other things, the necessary job-related language skills. The YouALLS project aims to support teachers and learners with regard to language problems and thus enable the successful completion of vocational training. The YouALLS project assumes that there is not enough awareness of the difference between everyday language, technical and professional language, language in the classroom vs. language in the workplace and general language use in vocational subjects.