International Online Course: English for Internationalization Purposes (EIP)

Abstract

The EIP program was created through a EU project, In2It, in 2016, with the aim of promoting multicultural awareness and international collaboration skills among students of different countries, through hands-on work, done independently or in groups. The collaboration includes partners from Italy and Poland, as well as Israel, Brazil, and Japan. Thanks to its modular format, the course can be easily embedded into organic courses in the various institutions and departments. For instance, it constitutes 65% of a required English language course grade for one of the Israeli partners; 50% of an elective course for the Japanese partner; for the Brazilian participants it has not a percentage in the grade, but students receive extra points in their final marks and some of them participate even without this extra point (when they are not enrolled in the class ministered by the teacher responsible for the course), and so forth. Teaching staff meet regularly to decide on group numbers, starting and ending dates, and any other adjustments needed. Partner institutions select the students according to their institutions’ specific criteria, making sure the students are suitable to the program and likely to benefit from taking part in it. Student numbers range between 15 - 30 students per institution, with students working together in small international groups of 3-4 students each. The course spans over eight working weeks, contents cover the skills needed to succeed in a global, multicultural job market, including roleplaying a job interview, discussing a Ted Talk, reading comprehension assignments, a group project and more. Students are evaluated on a weekly basis, at the end of every unit, and receive one global grade for the whole course and a certificate of completion at the end of the module, which can be included in their resumes as an international certificate.