Ownership and Leadership (OWL+):

Pathways for (Endangered) Languages’ Use in School

CIDLeS is pleased to announce our participation in the Erasmus+ Programme funded research project OWL+ (Ownership and Leadership: Pathways for (Endangered) Languages’ Use in Schools. The project will be delivered in collaboration with: Coordinating partner Mercator European Research Centre / Fryske Akademy (NL),  Nord University (NO), Rēzekne Academy of Technologies (LV), and Tallinn University (EE).

The objective of OWL+ is to innovate in curriculum building for and about endangered languages by contextualising them within the big picture of language diversity in Europe and by providing stakeholders with practical tools to help them foster the transmission of the language. The project will develop tools and resources to innovate school curricula and offer materials that enable teachers and educators to accommodate endangered languages in their classrooms and other learning settings. 

Materials produced by CIDLeS will focus on the Mirandese language speaking community in northeastern Portugal, in an effort to forge links between existing programs and initiatives, and highlight possible avenues for future development. This work will be undertaken in close consultation with the Associaçon de la Lhéngua i Cultura Mirandesa . 

The project’s audience is primarily schools (teachers, trainees, school staff) from areas where  threatened languages are spoken, as well as the community leaders (associations, councils, cultural initiative leaders) that are investing themselves in maintaining the use of endangered languages. Our commitment is to provide them with tools to become more independent in their endeavours and to empower them to take ownership of their cultural heritage.

Products

OWL+ tools will aid educators to innovate school curricula and offer materials that enable them to accommodate endangered languages in their classrooms and other learning settings. The tools will contextualise endangered languages within the greater picture of language diversity in Europe and their development will be supported by different language communities to ensure transferability to different language contexts. The tools and resources will equip educators with skills to take ownership and leadership of their cultural heritage.

Our first project result will be an e-learning platform that will run on desktops, tablet computers and mobile phones. It will host a learning module (project result 2) and a handbook (project result 3). The module focuses on educators’ professionalisation and to raise their awareness of under-resourced languages in the context of multilingual Europe. The units of the module will present educators with interesting facts and expand their knowledge by showcasing different ways of integrating under-resourced language through examples from different language communities.

The documentation-based handbook (project result 3) can be used as a guide, reference tool or compendium for under-resourced languages, and aims to encourage creativity and innovation in the teaching of under-resourced languages in any given language context. It is therefore not focused on particular language groups. It will also comprise information on external resources that can be used to integrate under-resourced languages into teaching activities.

CIDLeS would like to thank our co-investigators, and our partners at the Associaçon de la Lhéngua i Cultura Mirandesa including Alfredo Cameirão, Alcides Meirinhos and José Pedro Ferreira for their help in delivering this project.

You can find all the information and the latest news and developments in the OWL+ project on the website: https://owlplus.eu