Language In Motion – School Cooperation For Better Communication Skills

The project Language in Motion was carried out by the Škofijska gimnazija Vipava, Slovenia and the Lycee Pierre Termier of Grenoble, France. We decided to cooperate with Pierre Termier because we already had cooperated on different projects. Students of both schools had a strong desire to encourage transversal key competence of communication both in the mother tongue and in a foreign language. The project was a response to the lack of communication skills in our students as many students experience difficulties in the active use of the language. Students with learning difficulties were also included in the project. The project lasted two years and about 200 students of both participating schools took part in the activities held in its course. The project aimed to improve the communication skills of students and language-related extra-curricular activities and to increase the number of students participating in these activities. It also aimed to boost the publishing activity of both schools; in the course of the project we published 12 publications dealing with current social issues (in the form of school newspapers-magazines). We organised some events to promote reflection on the use of language. The young also had the opportunity to get in touch with the local, regional and even national media. We also tried to improve the following existing extracurricular activities: journalism, rhetoric, theatre, literature and a group discussing current issues. The project also included two multiplier events dedicated to presenting project results. During four exchanges visits students attended lessons, visited the media, worked on various current topics and shared examples of good practice. Students' literary contributions produced in the course of the project were published in our regular school publications or online. Project results were presented in an e-book in three languages (English, Slovene and French).