Targeting the need to establish a body of teachers competent in delivering languages to primary school children, the Department of Modern Languages at Nottingham Trent University has four strands to this project beginning in September 2003.
- To support and develop the linguistic, cultural and teaching skills in Spanish for teachers in inner-city Nottingham primary schools. Participants will attend a two-hour weekly seminar, supported by the Spanish Embassy's Consejería de Educación. The project is expected to end with a short immersion course in Spanish language, culture and language teaching methods in Spain. The project team will also be acting as mentors for the PGCE Spanish students doing their teaching placements in Nottingham schools.
- To create a range of teacher training and teacher development materials.
- To create primary Spanish teaching materials and activities.
- To provide an international dimension alongside the teaching of Spanish in those primary schools. Online international networks will be developed so that language teachers can share their experiences, and existing links between Nottingham City primary schools and the Avila School of Education (University of Salamanca) will be strengthened.
The project is building on past success – in 2001 Nottingham Trent, in partnership with the University of Salamanca, won a
European Award for Languages for its project 'Spanish language and culture training', organised by Nottingham City LEA.
See also
¡Olé! Spanish in the Primary Classroom, University of the West of England, and
Models, Methodologies and Materials: Portals for Foreign Languages in the Primary School, University of Nottingham.
