A Pilot Experience in the Development of Materials for Greek LSP: Dissemination through the Odysseus Project

1. A Pilot Experience in the Development of Materials for Greek LSP: Dissemination through the Odysseus Project Alicia Morales Ortiz, Cristóbal Pagán Cánovas, Trinidad Sánchez Sánchez, Virginia Martínez Cárceles University of Murcia, Spain Vasiliké Kavagia School of Modern Greek “Megas Alexandros”, British Hellenic College, Athens, Greece The Odysseus Project has been funded with support from the European Commission (135779-LLP-2007-ES-KA4MP). This communication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

2. The Greek speaking world (15-16 million): 3% of EU’s population: • 11.250.000 people in Greece • 700.000 in Cyprus (89% of the population) • Italy, Hungary and Czech Rep. (minority lang.) The Greek Diaspora (estimated in 3 million): • Mainly in the US, Australia and Germany The Cypriot Diaspora (about half a million): • Mostly in the UK

3. The state of Greek SP • In the last decades, FLSP materials have found a place in the market → great increase in variety and quality. • This does not apply to many lesser spoken languages, including Greek. • The ones we present are some of the first Greek LSP materials, unique in their topics so far. Lack of Greek references.

4. A brief history of modern Greek T&L: • Greek Diaspora and Turkish minorities in NE Greece → first Greek SL programs (Greek Ministry of Education and EU) • First courses at Greek universities (1950s) • Stable institutional network (1990s) • Standardized tests to access Greek higher education →Centre of the Greek Language in Thessaloniki (1994) • First congresses on didactics, first postgraduate courses (PhD in Modern Greek FL at Athens University, since 1994)

5. The European multilingual space • European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) • European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1992) • 2001 European Year for Languages, September 26th Official Day for Languages • European Commission’s Action Plan for Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity (2004-2006): increase in the funding of materials for the less widely used & less taught (LWULT) languages • 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Report of the Group of Intellectuals for Intercultural Dialogue: minority languages as “personal adopted languages”

6. Our project Two phases • 2004-7: Elaboration of Business Greek and Scientific Greek. Leonardo da Vinci • 2008-10: Dissemination of results (Odysseus project). Lifelong Learning Programme 2007.

7. Business Greek (Επιχειρηματικά Ελληνικά) Financied by European Comission, Programme Leonardo (2004-2006) Partner Institutions: Coordinator: British Hellenic Educational and Development Association (Athens, Greece) Partners: University of Murcia (Spain), University Alexander Ioan Cuza of Iasi (Rumany), ELBEA Ltd (Bulgary), EKEA Ltd (Bulgary), ELEA Computer Systems Ltd (Athens, Greece). Description: CD Multimedia and Printed Handbook. Intermediate Level (Επίπεδο Β). Greek for specific purposes

8. Greekfor Science (Επιστημονικά Ελληνικά) Financied by European Comission, Programme Leonardo (2005-2007) Partner Institutions: Coordinator: British Hellenic Educational and Development Association (Athens, Greece) Partners: University of Murcia (Spain), University of Lecce (Italy), ELBEA Ltd (Bulgary), ELEA Computer Systems Ltd (Athens, Greece). Description: CD Multimedia and Printed Handbook. Intermediate Level (Επίπεδο Β). Greek for specific purposes

9. Odysseus: Our consortium • University of Murcia (Coordinator, Spain) • British Hellenic College. School of Greek “Mégas Aléxandros” (Athens, Greece) • Elea Computer Systems Ltd (Athens, Greece) • European Centre of Education and Development Ltd (Plovdiv, Bulgary) • Agenzia per il Patrimonio Culturale Euromediterraneo (Lecce, Italy)

10. Our target groups: • Higher education students, both in the participating countries (Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, Romania) and in others, planning to complete part of their studies in Greece. • Vocational Training students, especially in Bulgaria and Romania. • Immigrants in Greece, which, by means of Greek LSP, can access the Greek job market, and be promoted within it.

11. Professionals (especially in countries within Greece’s area of economic influence, such as Bulgaria and Romania), working with Greek companies or wishing to develop a professional career in Greece. • Modern Greek language teachers in the participating countries as well as in others, which may require specific and updated materials for teaching Greek LSP.

12. BUSINESS GREEK. 24 didactic units: • A prepared text on the unit’s main topic, with all new vocabulary highlighted, whether general or specific. • Definitions of specific vocabulary items. Morphological information of general vocabulary items. • Vocabulary, grammar and reading comprehension activities: fill-in the blanks, match elements from two lists, true-false, multiple choice.

13. Grammar points explained by means of charts, paradigms, etc., all in Greek. Accompanying grammar activities mainly deal with inflection, word-composition, derivation, and sentence transformation for syntax practice. • A second text on the main topic, with the same format of the first. A dramatized version of the texts is available for listening. It has been recorded by native speakers in quite a realistic fashion; there are no specific listening activities. • Games: crosswords, puzzles, etc.

18. Innovations in SCIENTIFIC GREEK: • New types of activities: finding synonyms and antonyms in the text, matching terms with definitions, filling in the blanks of relevant texts, instead of decontextualized sentences. • Texts are much more complete and elaborate. • Abundant pictures illustrating the vocabulary, as a relevant and necessary aid to comprehension, given the aetiology of scientific terms.

19. More elaborate comprehension tasks. • A final section including problems and questions to test the student on the scientific contents of the unit. These activities do not deal with linguistic competence, but with physics, chemistry, geography, etc. The student is invited to use his recently acquired knowledge of scientific Greek in order to tackle matters directly related to her studies.

24. Thank you! Σας ευχαριστώ!