Enhancing multilingual and intercultural competences through language eTwinning

Developing multilingual and intercultural competence as part of curricular foreign language learning can foster a better understanding of other cultures among students and raise awareness of plurilingual European society, thus contributing to the development of common identity. One of the objectives of the European policy is to promote linguistic education that enhances multilingualism and interculturality, recognising at the same time the necessity for new ways of language learning for a mobile and digital society. Hence initiatives like eTwinning aim to support the integrated development of multilingual, intercultural and digital skills in school education. The article presents experimental evaluation of a nine-month eTwinning project “Hand in Hand for Centuries” realised by Stefan Żeromski High School in Kielce, Poland in collaboration with Severo Savioli High School in Riccione, Italy and Jesuit High School at Miskolc, Hungary. 70 students were involved in the project cooperative activities (game-based activities, digital storytelling) designed to increase the participants’ multilingual, intercultural and digital competences through international peer collaboration. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for collecting and analysing data, following a mixed-method approach. The TwinSpace platform provided a quantitative collection tool, allowing to monitor in real-time students’ progress (access to the platform, participation in forum discussions). As for qualitative data collection tools, intermediate and final questionnaire was administered among the project participants. The results from the evaluation have confirmed students’ perceived satisfaction with the activities as well as their raised awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity.