1: The document describes a situational survey and hackathon for LSP (languages for specific purposes) teachers in Europe. 2: The survey analyzed EU policies, job listings, and teacher surveys to identify key skills for LSP teachers, including language skills, ICT skills, and content creation skills. It found that teachers receive little pre-service training. 3: A hackathon was held for LSP teachers to collaboratively create online learning materials. While there were some technical difficulties, participants felt it enabled skills sharing and reflected on teaching applications. The hackathon aimed to address identified needs around LSP material creation and networking.

1. Situational survey: LSP teachers in Europe
and a hackathon as a training opportunity
CATAPULT workshop, 2021 EUROCALL pre-conference symposium.
Katerina Zourou, Ph.D., with the support of Giulia
Torresin and Ania Skowron, Web2Learn, Greece, and
CATAPULT partners
1
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein

2. Part I- situational survey
for LSP teachers
European wide survey on
training needs and skills
of LSP teachers
outline
2
Part II –hackathon for LSP
Design, implementation
and assessment of a
hackathon for language
teachers in November
2020

3. Questions addressed:
• What are the competencies and skills
prioritised in EU documentation and what
kind of evidence is supported?
• What are the skills most sought after by
recruiters of (LSP) language teachers?
• Which skills are most valued by language
teachers themselves, especially LSP teachers
• What do they say about training (and lack of)
both in terms of pre- and in-service
opportunities?
3
Situational survey: LSP teachers’ qualifications and skills

4. Supporting data
4
Type of analysis Research questions Type of data collected
Literature
review of
EU policies
and studies
What are the competencies
and skills (including
emerging ones) prioritised in
EU documentation and what
kind of evidence is
supported?
Review of European
Union policies and
EU-wide evidence-
based studies
Around 15 EU studies and
reports analyzed
Job market
analysis
What are the skills most
sought after by recruiters of
language teachers,
especially LSP teachers?
Job announcements
posted on job
boards and screened
against a common
analytical matrix
93 job announcements,
collected from various job
boards (websites
containing job posts or
employment portals),
between September and
October 2018.
User survey
available in
7 languages
Which skills are most valued
by language teachers
themselves, especially LSP
teachers? What do they say
about training (and lack of)
both in terms of pre- and in-
service opportunities?
Replies of LSP
teachers to open
and closed-ended
items of the survey
560replies gathered,
analyzed from a
qualitative and
quantitative point of view

5. Profile of respondents
5

6. 6
LSP teachers active in all ed sectors
(Adult Ed & Higher Ed most repr.)
Most LSP teachers without specific
training in LSP teaching
Variety of mother tongues and
languages taught
Most of LSP teachers highly qualified

7. Pedagogical approach
7

8. Pedagogical approach
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Creativity, customization: LSP
teachers as active content producers
Online delivery of LSP courses still
lagging behind; only small
percentage of LSP teachers uses a
variety of tools and platforms for
digital education

9. Results: a study and infographics in 8
languages
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Available at http://catapult-project.eu/output-1
Available in EN, FR, DE, NL, GR, FI, PL

10. 1: Language and ICT skills are paramount in all education sectors
2: ICT skills on demand: technology not fully integrated by LSP
teachers
3: LSP teachers very occasionally receive pre-service training; in
general they sort out their personal development “on their own”
4: Scarce content-specific LSP materials and high demand from
recruiters: content creation skills needed + more open content
(Open Educational Resources-OER)
5: pedagogical isolation of LSP teachers in specialized
institutions: more face-to-face & online LSP networking needed
Conclusions in a snapshot:
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11. Part II: a hackathon for LSP teachers
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12. Hypothesis:
Participation to a Challenge would enable cross-fertilization of points of
view and skills co-development between LSP teachers located in
different locations in Europe
Due to the informal learning context of a hackathon, a possibility to
reflect on processes of learning and teaching a language for specific
purposes
The hypothesis

13. 13
“Co-create language resources for languages for specific
purposes!”: topic of hackathon challenge
November 9-10, 2021

14. Organisation- before the Challenge:
call for participation for LSP teachers (via the Catapult MOOC and an open call)
• A week before the start of the Challenge: checking availabilities, grouping
participants => 4 groups created
• a Zoom meeting with participants + the 2 tutors: presentation of the setting,
roles, timing, communication tools (Slack, Zoom, Google Drive);
During the challenge:
– Regular feedback from the tutors on Slack and skype;

15. Final result
One group submitted its result on time:
Result fully available online:
https://digieduhack.com/en/solutions/the
-architecture-through-historical-
monuments-3
Team members: Margarita Chatzoudi ,
Elizabetta Cazzolla , Danai Koutsoumpeli

16. 16

17. Preliminary results
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• Enthusiasm with new forms of peer learning
• Reluctance on variety of technologies used in short time (Slack for
intra-group communication, Whatsapp (optional), Google Drive and
Zoom for inter-group interaction
• Ability to connect this experience to teaching LSP
• Public access to group solutions largely considered very positive
Improvements
• More investment in the call for participation- almost 55% of
registered users did not participate
• More time to familiarize participants with logistics and technology:
15% quitted before submission

18. Indicative readings:
• The Reader-to-Leader Framework: Motivating Technology-Mediated
Social Participation.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=thci
• Language learning as the agency for a social purpose: examples from
the coronavirus pandemic https://journals.openedition.org/alsic/4880
• Make It So: Leveraging Maker Culture in CALL.
https://journals.equinoxpub.com/CALICO/article/view/42531
Indicative EU projects:
• HEIDI https://heidiproject.eu/
• INOS https://inos-project.eu/
Further readings on learning potential of open
knowledge activities (such as hackathons)
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19. • Co-creation of learning materials by language
teachers: what forms exist? Are hackathon challenges
relevant?
• Open educational materials: change in attitudes and
sharing possibilities among LSP teachers?
Discussion time:-)
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@ProjectCatapult @web2learn_eu
http://catapult-project.eu/
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein