Interactive classrooms 2.0: An e-learning platform for teaching languages for professional purposes

The recognition of professional competence over the last decades has become a key issue for the member governments of the European Union. As a result of this demand, the purpose of the project presented in this document is twofold. On the one hand, the official recognition and certification of foreign language levels, both for general and specific purposes, based on national and European guidelines, content framework and the development of the first of the main objectives we pursue. On a professional level, the users of this proposal consist of people with more specific language learning needs, be it the beginner levels established in the project, the levels of content update previously learned or, simply, those related to lifelong learning for all life.

On the other hand, the second cornerstone on which this project is based is the use of information technologies as a means of support through which education for linguistic certification is carried out. In this sense, technology becomes the second important aspect of the project, specifically with the creation of multimedia courses on CD and the Moodle platform. However, and although Moodle offers the right environment for the development of language learning programs on the Web, the characteristics of the courses and the levels contemplated in our proposal for the call force the design and integration of new tools that allow the acquisition communication skills (oral and written expression), in addition to the management course on behalf of teachers and administrators. Directly related to the two basic objectives mentioned above there are a total of six goals that are summarized as follows:

OBJETIVE 1

Development of online and multimedia courses in foreign languages for work purposes for official recognition and European certification based on language training needs in professional settings:

• O.1.1 creation and design of English courses (levels B1 and B2) for language learning in the business sectors of trade and hospitality tourism.
• O.1.2 creation and design of Spanish courses for the integration of foreigners / immigrants into the world of work (levels A1 / A2).
• O.1.3 creation of an aptitude test for the English Language certification at the A1, A2, B1 and B2 proficiency levels, and aptitude tests for the certification of linguistic competences in Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese (levels A1 and A2), in professional sectors.

OBJETIVE 2

Development of an interactive platform and development of tools for language teaching and certification for certain professional sectors:

• O.2.1. Creation of a management platform for learning centers in which to teach language learning through Moodle.
• O.2.2. The creation of learning tools and objects for online language teaching according to the denominations and guidelines at European level.
• O.2.3 Design of virtual spaces and social networks for collaborative learning (communication, community and cooperation).