The main objective of the project was to enhance HE teacher competences by raising their awareness and understanding of the importance of plurilingual approaches, both in language classrooms and in multilingual classrooms. We aimed to equip teachers with the tools necessary to introduce these approaches in HE institutions across Europe. To achieve this goal, we addressed the current lack of empirical knowledge regarding HE teacher plurilingual competences by creating 1) a science- and evidence-based Descriptive scale of competences specifically tailored for HE, also used as learning outcomes, for 2) an open online course, designed to answer three key questions: ‘What is plurilingual competence?’ (providing conceptual knowledge about multilingualism in HE, language policy, plurilingual competence and strategies); ‘Why is it needed?’ (raising awareness of the need for, and advantages of plurilingual approaches), and ‘How to do it?’ (offering guidelines, materials and scenarios for HE teachers to familiarize themselves with plurilingual approaches and competences needed to implement these effectively in the classroom.
Higher education (HE) has undergone significant transformations in recent years, involving societal demands and facing the emergence of increasingly international student populations that call for the necessity to cultivate a multilingual, multicultural ethos. Such a shift is fundamental to the EU’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, and it cannot be done without languages nor in a single language. Utilizing students’ plurilingual repertoires is essential to adopt an integrated approach to knowledge and create inclusive learning classrooms that address societal needs. Currently, there is a clear need across Europe for training to equip HE staff with the skills to use a plurilingual approach across all aspects of HE (teaching/learning, research, governance). Therefore, we addressed the needs of (language) teachers in HE who still use monolingual approaches, although they are confronted with linguistic diversity in the multilingual classroom. Finally, we believe that HE students, having experienced the benefits of plurilingual approaches during their training, will incorporate them in their own future careers. This way, the project tackles tomorrow’s need for teacher training at its source.