IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eur/ejedjr/101.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Developing Multilingual Competence and Cultural Awareness through Forms of Non-Formal Learning: A Contribution to Sustainable Employability, Active Citizenship and Social Inclusion

Author

Listed:
  • Anabela Valente Simões

    (ESTGA | CLLC, University of Aveiro, Portugal)

Abstract

We live in a fast-changing world, where breakthrough technological advances have not just disrupted industries but also changed the way we live, work and learn to a degree humankind has never experienced before. As the modern workplace becomes ever more global and interconnected, proficiency in foreign languages (FL) assumes a fundamental role in international business relations. Simultaneously, being able to navigate culturally diverse environments, i.e., understanding how international stakeholders think, work, and express themselves through their attitudes and behaviours is of paramount importance as well. These challenges also raise pressing questions: How can we prepare learners for a global world in constant evaluation? How can we help them develop 21st-century skills as important as critical thinking, creativity, communication, adaptability, digital literacy and cross-cultural understanding? In May 2018, the Council of the European Union (CEU) adopted a Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, a framework that attempts to establish a common understanding of competences needed in the present moment and the future, by emphasising the inter-relatedness of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. An important reference tool for education and training stakeholders, this recommendation identifies the following key competences: 1) Literacy competence; 2) Multilingual competence; 3) Mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering; 4) Digital competence; 5) Personal, social and learning to learn competence; 6) Civic competence; 7) Entrepreneurship competence; and 8) Cultural awareness and expression competence. The EU Member States are, thus, encouraged to prepare their citizens for changing labour markets and active citizenship in more diverse, mobile, digital, and global societies, and to develop learning at all stages of life. While teacher-guided approaches will remain an important pedagogical practice, the main approach to teaching key competences is through providing learning environments that facilitate active learning, i.e., student-centred settings where open-ended problems and challenges can be solved through debate, experimentation, exploration, and creativity. This paper aims to narrate a non-formal activity carried out within a Business English Communication course taught at the Higher School of Technology and Management of the University of Aveiro (Portugal), in collaboration with an international group of volunteers from the European Solidarity Corps. This initiative sought to contribute to the development of some of the key competences for lifelong learning, especially multilingual skills and cultural sensitivity and expression, but also digital skills and personal and social skills of the participants.

Suggested Citation

  • Anabela Valente Simões, 2021. "Developing Multilingual Competence and Cultural Awareness through Forms of Non-Formal Learning: A Contribution to Sustainable Employability, Active Citizenship and Social Inclusion," European Journal of Education Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 4, ejed_v4_i.
  • Handle: RePEc:eur:ejedjr:101
    DOI: 10.26417/670hst77c
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://brucol.be/index.php/ejed/article/view/7791
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://brucol.be/files/articles/ejed_v4_i2_21/Simoes.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.26417/670hst77c?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stanley, Nicky & Ellis, Jane & Farrelly, Nicola & Hollinghurst, Sandra & Downe, Soo, 2015. "Preventing domestic abuse for children and young people: A review of school-based interventions," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 120-131.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wood, Marsha & Barter, Christine & Stanley, Nicky & Aghtaie, Nadia & Larkins, Cath, 2015. "Images across Europe: The sending and receiving of sexual images and associations with interpersonal violence in young people's relationships," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 149-160.
    2. Esther Roca & Patricia Melgar & Regina Gairal-Casadó & Miguel A. Pulido-Rodríguez, 2020. "Schools That ‘Open Doors’ to Prevent Child Abuse in Confinement by COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-17, June.
    3. Mathiyazhagan, Siva & Wang, Ziming, 2021. "N’KaNa-my dream: Community action towards the holistic child development in India," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    4. Xiaomin SHENG, 2023. "Using Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time Model to Conceptualize a School-Based Intervention to Help Prevent Adolescent Intimate Partner Violence," RAIS Journal for Social Sciences, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, vol. 7(1), pages 34-44, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eur:ejedjr:101. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Revistia Research and Publishing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://revistia.org/index.php/ejed .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.