12 TheLinguistFEBRUARY/MARCH www.iol.org.ukFEATURESFabio Boccio on the award-winning work of Italianin Italy, including projects to develop interculturalteaching strategies and social media marketing toolsThe expansion of the European Union (EU) hascreated numerous challenges, among themthe impact of increased immigration on thenew member states. Often for the first time,these countries have to deal with a highnumber of people coming from differentcultures, searching for jobs and trying tointegrate themselves into the newenvironment, while at the same timeimpacting on the local cultures. These challenges have been a centralconcern for Italian in Italy since its inception in1997. The Rome-based association of 26language and cultural schools aims to fosterItalian language and culture among foreignstudents, and to assure high standards offoreign language teachers and schools in Italy.We organise training sessions and workshops,and our study programmes have alwaysfocused on students' social integration needs.Now, under the leadership of its President,Giuseppina Foti, Italian in Italy is leading aEuropean educational project to explore newmethods of integration and innovativetechniques for the teaching of foreignlanguages, with partners in Lisbon (CIFOTIE)and Bucharest (Asociatia pentru calificare,recalifica si formare profesionalacontinua). Funded by the adult education programmeGrundtvig, part of the European Commission'sLifelong Learning Programme, 'From aMulticultural to a Pluricultural Europe' aims todevelop the use of intercultural topics andapproaches to languages teaching in order tostimulate learner motivation. Intercultural awarenessOver the years, Italian in Italy has taught Italianto thousands of foreign learners andpromoted Italian culture around the world. We are acutely aware that language skills arenot the only competences required to makecommunication effective. Both verbal and non-verbal interactions can fail because ofignorance about cultural conventions. Yetintegration into both local communities andthe European labour market is dependent onmutual understanding between people fromdifferent linguistic and cultural realities. Through the Grundtvig project, Italian inItaly and our partners will share ourexperiences of how our countries deal withchanges linked to migration in our societies,and identify similarities and differences inpractices, especially when it comes to settingup teaching strategies. We will also analysehow stereotypes and prejudices causeinteractions to fail and what happens, forexample, if intercultural competence is notpractised in a foreign language classroom. One of the products that will arise from theproject is a book of recommendations onintercultural communication, which will beavailable to all professionals involved in foreignlanguage teaching, as well as organisationsdealing with intercultural communication andlearning processes. Italian in Italy will interviewlearners and staff in order to put together acomprehensive repository of thecommunication conventions that apply to theirprofessional lives. We will focus on situationssuch as meeting and greeting, receivingpresents and making appointments, and lookat both formal and non-formal language use.Identifying conventions in body language andsocial codes of behaviour, for example, is vital. The Grundtvig project includes manyobjectives that have always been important toItalian in Italy: promoting understanding,tolerance and more effective communication;Innovating Italian Prizewinners 2011. Follick Cup and Wordbank CPD Prizefor best Certificate in Bilingual Skills(CBS) candidate: David Bonnano. Susan Tolman Award for best Diplomain Public Service Interpreting (DPSI)candidate (law) and Susan Tolman CPDPrize for best DPSI candidate (overall):Patrycja Westgate. Corsellis Cup for best DPSI candidate(health): Marcin Walkowski. Jaffar Hamid Cup for best DPSIcandidate (local govt): Anna Pachocka. Nuffield Trophy for best group entry,DPSI: Everyday Language Solutions. Fred Brandeis Trophy for best Englishto German Diploma in Translation(DipTrans) candidate: Inke Raupach. Schlapps Oliver Shield for best DipTransgroup entry: Dom-Schule Fremdsprachen. Richard Lewis Trophy for best overallDipTrans candidate: Carla McMillan. Threlford Memorial Cup: Italian in Italy. David Crystal Award: Erik Hertog© OLYDENJOHNSON

Vol/51 No/1 2012FEBRUARY/MARCHTheLinguist13FEATURESimportance of knowing other languages. Inorder to reach as wide a range of adultlearners as possible, it is necessary to lookbeyond traditional approaches and to adaptcontinuously to changes in society. Social media in their many forms (internetforums, weblogs, micro-blogs, wikis, podcasts,social bookmarking, Facebook, Twitter etc)have turbocharged the way we communicate.Italian in Italy schools are aware that socialmedia are one of the main means ofcommunication for many people, includingyoung mothers, teenagers, the unemployedand many active professionals. They aretherefore an extremely valuable tool forreaching these target groups, and anunderstanding of the marketing tools thatsocial media offer is now imperative.The 'Get Strategic Through Social Media'project, funded by Grundtvig, was approvedlast year by the European Commission.Analysing the use of social media as a tool formarketing language learning, it will help Italianin Italy and its partners in Belgium, Croatia,Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain andthe UK to implement the best media for themarketing needs of our organisations. Working with management and teachingstaff in language instruction, users of foreignlanguage teaching services (individuals andemployers) and expertsin marketing, we hopeto develop strategies to make efficient use ofsocial media to attract adult learners, reachdifferent target groups, and foster awarenessof the need to know foreign languages. Wewill begin by analysing the marketing needsof the participating organisations.Raising standardsItalian in Italy has its own Quality AssuranceCertification System, in accordance with Uniterand accredited by Sincert. In order to assurehigh standards of teaching competenceamong our trainers, we have participated invarious European educational projects. Ourmembers have taken structured trainingcourses all over the EU, and developed skillsin areas such as ICT, creative teaching,leadership, counselling and coaching. Now, through preparatory visits, we aresetting up a consortium of partners for aproject to analyse coaching strategies to helptrainers experiencing difficulties in theirprofessional lives. Funded again byGrundtvig, the project aims to enhancecoaching expertise by investigating existingapproaches to coaching, sharing experiencesand devising techniques appropriate to adulteducation. These techniques will be practisedin focus sessions, which will help to build theconfidence of participants and will be used asa basis for developing new coaching skills inthe future.Italian in Italy was awarded the ThrelfordMemorial Cup 2011 for fostering the study of languages.Social media are oneof the main means of communication.They are therefore anextremely valuable tool RECOGNITIONA 'Get Strategic through Social Media' eventheld in Belgium, in October 2011 (left).Baroness Coussins (r) presents Fabio Boccioand his colleague, Patrizia Pelliccioni, with the Threlford Memorial Cup at the prizegiving event in November (far left)raising awareness of what happens when thereare different perceptions of an interactionbetween migrants and local people; learningto appreciate differences as enrichingexperiences; promoting the capacity to copewith cultural differences; and eliminatingprejudices and stereotypes by introducing amore differentiated, global and effectiveapproach to teaching. At the end of the project, migrant and locallearners and staff will produce an inventory ofthe formalities of verbal and non-verballanguage, prejudices and stereotypes thatexist in our host and partner countries, and thesimilarities and differences in the languagescovered. Learners will check how this guidesupports communication during real andvirtual meetings. Staff and learners will alsoparticipate in role-plays designed to show howcultural misunderstandings can occur ininteractions between different communities.Exploiting social mediaItalian in Italy represents trainers and teacherswho are highly qualified in second languageacquisition and our member schools areauthorised examination centres for theCertificato di Italiano TELC (a member ofALTE, the Association of Language Testers inEurope). We cooperate with the ItalianEducation Ministry as an accredited teachertraining centre and are listed on the database of the Italian Ministry of ForeignAffairs as a centre for teacher training abroad,working with Italian Cultural Institutes inCaracas, Cordoba, Frankfurt, London, NewYork and Toronto.A permanent question adult languageschools are confronted with is how to attractadult learners and raise awareness of the