The number of students participating in language learning for adults is declining in most EU countries. We believe that one of the reasons why adults decide not to engage in language learning is that it is still characterised by industrial society’s view on learning and the use of an audio-lingual method (presentation - controlled practice - use). However, the individual in the knowledge society is demanding more communicative and individualised teaching.The latest research in adult education and second language learning is clear regarding how second language learning for adults can meet these challenges. The latest neurodidactic research shows that modern second language learning must be communicative, based on the individual student’s learning style, qualifications, needs and wants. If the practical implementation of the communicative method involves teaching methods such as cooperative learning, task-based teaching and similar tools, students will find it relevant and motivating, and learning outcomes will improve. Alongside classroom teaching, well-functioning digital tools are making it possible to combine students’ individual needs with the advantages of student-centred classroom teaching.Therefore, the aim of the project is to build a bridge between the latest research in second language learning and daily teaching practices. We want to determine how we in the best possible way can translate these research results into daily teaching practices and thereby attract more adults back to language learning. In the project, we will combine the best from communicative classroom based teaching with an individual coaching process that meets the individual participant’s needs and wants.In the individual courses, we will combine the following:• The good experiences German universities have had with coaching and self-learning courses.• Individual supervision and guidance in second language learning, which has been tested in Denmark and Spain.• An analysis of each student’s individual learning style and learning biography.• The inclusion of digital media in a database that delivers both didactic and authentic material. The database will enable the student to experience the selected language in a virtual environment, which will simulate immersion learning and allow each student to choose the subjects they consider relevant to them. The database will be developed as part of the project.• The students’ individual progress will be measured on a platform that also allows group activities.Alongside these individual courses, the students will meet regularly in groups and a teacher will facilitate classroom based activities to practice the language. The teacher will act as an initiator and facilitator and it is the students who are active. It vital to the project that the teachers are able to transfer the theory into practical learning courses. Therefore, the project will also include targeted professional training for the participating teachers, which will include a foundation introduction to coaching and supervision, an introduction to modern teaching methods and digital media within second language learning. The teacher training programme consist of different flexible courses with an initial online phase, a classroom based phase and a final online phase for reflection and quality assurance of the practical implementation.The complete learning programme will be developed for English, German and Spanish and will be regularly evaluated and optimised with regards to the content and effect, compared with the latest research. After the project has been completed, an innovative and modern second language learning programme will have been produced and thus we can offer a relevant and appropriate language learning course to the post-modern individual. In this way, we expect to win the students back who have decided not to choose traditional language learning. All tools and experiences from the project will be readily available on an open platform, and we expect to be able to provide language learning across Europe with an important and innovative resource bank.A strong consortium will guarantee the high quality and relevance of our product: Folkeuniversiteterne in Norway and Sweden, Studieskolen in Denmark and Volkshochschule Wiesbaden represent the largest providers of second language learning to adults in their countries and will be responsible for the production of the complete learning programme. The Danish Defence Academy and the teacher training center in Sibiu, Romania, will contribute their expertise from a more formal learning environment, while a team of researchers from Roskilde University, Copenhagen University and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona will provide scientific sparring and quality assurance. The International Association of Language Schools, ICC, and the Danish national umbrella organisation, DFS, will guarantee the relevance and dissemination of our product outside the consortium.

The changes in working life and development of communication technology have led to a need to teach new kinds of digital communication and language skills, cultural awareness and new media attitude. Studies (Varhelahti 2017) show that literacy skills of staff do not meet the requirements of mobile/virtual work and there is a gap between the skills of the graduates and the expectations of the employers. CoMoViWo responded to this by developing methods and learning modules for teaching skills needed in intercultural working contexts when using either English or Spanish as a lingua franca in mobile or virtual communication.CoMoViWo aimed to improve the employability of students by developing relevant communication literacy thus providing skilled staff for virtual work and to improve the competitiveness of companies with skilled staff and enhance sustainability through virtual work as well as to support HEI’s adaptation of required changes. A review and research was conducted to describe the communication literacy needed in virtual/mobile work in a multilingual and –cultural environment, to define the communication literacy the teachers need and to suggest forms of collaboration between working life and HEIs. The learning materials produced are published on Canvas and are freely available for self-study purposes or for teachers to use and adapt in their teaching. The results have been published in several articles.The consortium consisted of organisations from 5 European countries: Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS, Finland), Universitat Politécnica de Valencia (UPV, Spain), Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU, UK), Gdansk University of Technology (GUT, Poland) and the International Language Association ICC based in Germany. TUAS was the coordinating organisation, UPV was the lead partner in the Output 1 (Review and Research), MMU was responsible for the Output 2 (Module development), GUT for Output 3 (Teacher’s handbook) and practical arrangements for the piloting. ICC was responsible for the internal quality assurance of the project and coordinating the dissemination activitiesThe project started with a review and research to obtain information about the real needs detected in virtual communication in the workplace. The analysis of the survey results provided the necessary feedback for the design of the prototype of intensive modules to improve the use of a foreign language in a virtual/mobile context in the workplace.The definition of the level of communication literacy needed in virtual communication situations in a multicultural environment was published in an article, the materials are planned for learners at B2 or higher CERF level.The focus was also on exploring what kind of literacy training the enterprises and students need and on the skills the teachers need to be able to prepare the students for virtual/mobile communication in working life.Based on the review of current practices in the partner countries, the new communication literacy was defined and the definition was published in an article by Pérez-Sabater & al. The consortium produced virtual training modules in English and Spanish for teaching virtual and mobile working life communication. The modules were piloted and a Teacher’s Handbook was published. The content and methods of the modules were decided based on the research overview, survey and piloting feedback and collaboration with working life experts. All materials produced during the project are Open source educational resources and freely available on the Canvas platform or the project website, the modules were planned in a way that they are suitable for self-study, for degree students in teacher-led studies and for staff training.The project results have benefited the teachers and students by increasing their competence in digital literacy, networking and collaboration. The students benefited by practicing communication skills needed in a virtual multicultural working environment. Teachers enhanced their professional skills by updating their knowledge of the skills needed today. Output 1 provided a good background for this work and helped to ensure that the skills the course materials focus on are relevant.The project benefit enterprises by providing training materials that are created for improving the skills needed in multicultural communication in virtual/mobile working life. We wanted to provide the materials also for those who want to improve their skills independently and decided to create materials suitable also for self-study. We realized that studying communication without having a group to communicate with is challenging and limits the kinds of tasks that you can use and, therefore, the course also offers alternative implementation ways in the sections called teacher-led activities. The themes provoked vivid discussion in the events organized thus contributing to raising awareness of the issue among the academic staff and people working in business.

European trends towards inscreasing academic and professional mobility and expanding markets have led to the need for European citizens and workers with specialised language skills, i.e. languages for academic or occupational purposes, as opposed to general purpose language skills. Concomittantly to the multiplication of language for specific purpose (LSP) courses, both in tertiary and adult education, the increasing need for LSP teachers should have fostered an increased need for LSP teacher education but the lack of specific training offered to both trainee and practising language teachers is consistently pointed out in published research, with LSP teachers having to learn « on the job ». It therefore seems that policymakers’ assumption is that general language teacher education is enough to equip language teachers with the skills necessary to teach LSP classes in spite of researchers noting, amo,g other things, that the approaches and methodologies are quite different. Still, with the notable exception of Howard & Brown’s 1997 collective volume, LSP teacher education has so far received very little attention in published research in Europe and beyond as well as in previous European projects.In addition, as noted by several researchers (Delcloque 1997, Belcher 2017, Sarré 2021), LSP teaching can greatly benefit from the integration of digital technologies, even more so than general language teaching. This obviously supposes that LSP teachers have been trained in integrating these tools and approaches into their own teaching.The CATAPULT project aims to use innovative methods (in the forms of a MOOC and a Community of Practice Platform) to address this dual need, that is to offer training on both the specific approaches to LSP teaching and the integration of digital technologies in the teaching of LSPs to both practising LSP teachers and language teacher educators. The CATAPULT project targets European language teachers involved in LSP teaching. The project’s target groups are therefore primarily (1) LSP adult educators (freelance language teachers offering training to professionals in the industry) (2) LSP teachers in Higher Education Institutions (as this is also a context where LSPs are commonly taught) (3) language teacher trainers. The outcomes of the project also aim to contribute to the modernizing of language teacher education programmes across Europe, which explains why teacher educators involved in initial language teacher education and continuing professional development (CPD) are one of the project’s target groups.The project has enabled more than 600 European language teachers to develop professionally through the MOOC developed by the consortium, and nearly 250 LSP teachers to join the community of practice gathered on a specifically designed platform in order to pursue their professional development throughout their career. Coordinated by Sorbonne University, the CATAPULT project involved the expertise of five partners in Finland, Germany, Poland, Greece and the Netherlands.The partnership started with analysing both (1) the needs of potential employers of LSP teachers and (2) the training needs of European LSP teachers. On the basis of this inventory, a complementary study of the existing training courses in the partner countries as well as of national competence frameworks, and a meta-study of scientific publications on the teaching and learning of LSPs, the consortium then drew up a common competence framework for the European LSP teacher. In order to help teachers develop some of the identified competences, online training modules were then developed and delivered on a dedicated MOOC. By developing an online environment for a community of practice of European LSP teachers, the consortium wanted to give LSP teachers the opportunity to continue their lifelong learning once they had completed the MOOC. Finally, the quality approach was a concern of the consortium throughout the project by the development of evaluation grids and specific procedures, by the implementation of accreditation procedures for the trained teachers and by a quality audit of all the project outputs.Thanks to an impact study of the tools and materials developed, the consortium was able to produce a number of recommendations for political decision-makers for better recognition of the specificities of LSP teaching and the integration of relevant training. Some of these recommendations have already been put into effect locally, in particular through the integration of LSP training modules in initial teacher education based on the content of the CATAPULT MOOC.In the longer term, it will be LSP learners (adults and students in Higher education in particular) who will benefit from the pedagogical expertise of their LSP teachers who will make the most of a number of digital technologies.