The CATAPULT Consortium would like to wish all readers of the Newsletter a very Happy New Year! 2020 is going to be another busy year for the CATAPULT project as it will mark the beginning of the LSP MOOC (see below for details) as well as the pilot version of the Community of Practice Platform for LSP Teachers (more about this in our next Newsletter).

The CATAPULT Consortium had a busy 2019 and Output 2 (Common Competence Framework) is now complete.

The first step towards drafting a common competence framework (CCF) for LSP teachers consisted in identifying and analysing existing LSP teacher education programmes as well as existing national teacher competence frameworks within the partner countries. The second step then consisted in a meta-study of previously published research papers on LSP teaching. This was carried out with a view to identifying the specific skills necessary for effective LSP teaching. The information provided by this meta-study, along with that of the survey, served as the basis for the designing of the Common Competence Framework. This framework provides an example of convergence in teacher education programmes, a key objective of European cooperation in this field.

The CCF comprises 17 competences organised in 5 competence areas and indicators are provided for each competence.

The Consortium is currently hard at work finalising Output 3 (LSP MOOC). This project output involves the creation of a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) to upskill general language teachers who want to specialise in LSP pedagogies, as well as LSP teachers interested in updating and expanding their pedagogical repertoire, and in integrating the use of technology in their practice.

The LSP MOOC is based on the Common Competence Framework (CCF) as it aims to help LSP teachers develop key competences identified in output 2. The First Season of the LSP MOOC will start on 27 january 2020. Take a sneak peek at what participants can expect from the course in this short teaser.