MULTICOM - MULTILINGUAL COMMUNICATION

Outline

Multicom is a joint cooperation project between five European universities. Building on work undertaken in three successive Thematic Network Projects devoted to enhancing the relevance of Higher Education language programmes, the Multicom project aims to develop and implement new curricula in the area of multilingual communication for first cycle language students.

The new programmes will be designed to help graduates in the arts and humanities sector across Europe broaden their career prospects and access a wider range of Master’s Degree programmes. The aim is to produce the next generation of highly-skilled multilingual experts needed to operate effectively at the European and international level as both mediators and organisers in industry, local and regional government, NGOs and other international organisations.

Learning outcomes

Professionally-oriented multilingual communication competences and intercultural competence involve the ability to produce, organise and disseminate information in three or more languages, using different media and to adapt content to readers and audiences from different backgrounds in different countries. It also involves mediation skills, i.e. the ability to organise multilingual meetings and effectively and rapidly produce minutes and conclusions in one or several languages, to draft summaries and synopses of multilingual documents, to assess translation or localisation needs for multilingual documentation and to interface with external language service industries on behalf of organisations.

Major stages

On the basis of updated needs analyses and constant dialogue and feedback from practising professionals in the areas concerned, learning outcomes for multilingual professional communication competences will be defined and a curriculum framework developed for the implementation of new first cycle language programmes. Learning materials will be developed in English and in the five other languages of the consortium (French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian), and will be made available via an online resource platform.

The partner institutions will implement new courses based on the curriculum framework according to their own timeline and within their specific insitutional and regulatory context. A joint European degree may be developed by the partner universities and by other interested other partners as a follow-on to the Multicom project.

Timeline

Beneficiaries

The main beneficiaries of the project will be undergraduate entrants to Higher Education in coming years who are already proficient in at least one foreign language and who wish to acquire additional competence in another European or non-European language and in advanced professional communication skills. Mature students with multilingual skills who wish to enhance and validate their professional experience within an academic context will also benefit from the new programmes and resources available.

Partners

 UNIVERSITÉ RENNES 2 - Rennes, France
 FREIE UNIVERSITÄT - Berlin, Germany
 UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE MADRID - Madrid, Spain
 UNIVERSIDADE DO ALGARVE - Faro, Portugal
 BABEŞ-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY, Cluj-Napoca, Rumania