The Project PALM
The Erasmus+ project PALM aimed to encourage young speakers of English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Ladin and Spanish to produce authentic texts (written, audio- and video recorded) in their coursework and free-time with the goal to create interesting reading and listening material for learners of the same age who want to study these languages. About 4,000 texts from eight content areas ranging from CEFR level A1 to B2 were produced by approximately 500 pupils from 4 participating and 12 associated schools in five countries (Austria, Cyprus, Italy, Hungary and the UK) and in eight languages. More than 1,500 texts, selected by teachers and pupils based on selection criteria developed in “PALM Board Meetings”, were uploaded to a Google Drive course. 750 texts selected by teacher trainees and their trainers in six HEIs were word processed and teaching and learning materials to accompany these texts were produced based on a corpus designed from the authentic samples. The selected texts were supplemented by assessment tools for immediate feedback and self- or peer assessment. Texts and materials were published on the project platform (www.palm-edu.eu), where participants of the project and the public can make use of texts and tasks. Together with the project products, this process has created a virtual space for authentic multilingual communication and exchange. Face to face meetings of small groups of learners (“language ambassadors”) provided additional opportunities to engage in real-life communicative exchanges and to collect authentic language from multilingual communication. The project PALM closed with two symposia for teachers and experts as well as one for children and teenagers. These events provided opportunities for multilingual and intercultural exchange.
The platform PALM has been available since August 2018.
It provides a multilingual resource for learners and teachers in eight content areas that comply with curricula across Europe.