Instructional problem

1. Learning situation

The Valencian Community is one of the 17 Spanish regions with devolved government. Extending over most of Spain's Eastern seafront, it has been a popular tourist destination for decades. A thriving tourism industry has attracted a sizeable foreign-born population which today makes up around 13% of its overall population (a proportion similar to that of the US).

Regional authorities have received a mandate to facilitate the participation of this foreign-born population in the social and economic development of the region. As such, an open online program is devised to allow this population to learn Valencian, which is, alongside Spanish, an official language in this region.

In order to maximise accessibility, the course will use the following tools for an asynchronous and remote delivery:

• EdApp (learning management platform)

• Microsoft Office

• Pixabay (CC image database)

2. Potential learners

Foreign-born residents in the Valencia region usually fall within one of the following three categories:

• Long-term residents from the EU: This segment is made up of older professionals who enjoy their retirement in or around one of the tourist hotspots along the coast, sometimes in segregated residential areas (gated communities, long-term resorts, etc.) Besides their mother tongue, they show a good command of English (if it is not their mother tongue), and perhaps some Spanish, but they ignore Valencian altogether. They enjoy a medium-high socioeconomic status.

• Students from the EU and overseas who participate in academic exchange programs like Erasmus+: They have a working knowledge of English (if it is not their mother tongue) and some Spanish. They are more diverse in terms of socioeconomic background. They discover before arrival, or shortly thereafter, that the education system in Valencia is bilingual (to different extents depending on the level).

• Migrant workers: The development of the tourism industry has also boosted the demand for both skilled and unskilled labor in the local service sector. This has attracted workers from North Africa, the Americas and Eastern Europe who often have a good command of Spanish but not of Valencian.

3. Learning approach

One important thing to note regarding this project is that, when considering the profiles of potential learners, native Spaniards are excluded. This is due to the fact that the learning of Valencian was incorporated to the local education system in 1983. Therefore, the focus is put on allophones who have not pursued formal education in the Valencia region.

This intended focus has a number of implications regarding the learning approach:

• Although Valencian is recognised alongside Spanish as an official language by the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, knowledge of the language is not mandatory to hold a job, run for office or any other form of participation in social and civic life (though it is often considered as a merit). Furthermore, native speakers of Valencian (around 1/3 of the population of the region) are fully competent in Spanish. Therefore, intrinsic motivation (such as the desire to learn more about a local language and culture, to foster one's own integration in the local community) will be the driving factor for learning this language, rather than extrinsic motivation.

• Out of the three potential learner profiles identified above, two have primary occupations like a full-time job or studying for a university degree. This limits the amount of time and effort that they are able and willing to invest. Furthermore, the typical daily schedule for each one of these three categories of learners may vary greatly. Therefore, the course needs to be on demand, asynchronous and remote.

• Generally speaking, adults become ready to learn things they need to know and do in order to cope effectively with real-life situations (Knowles et al., 2005). Adults want to learn what they can apply in the present, so the language training needs to focus on informal, real-life situations like asking for directions or buying groceries, which does not preclude from including some additional, optional resources that delve into local history and culture.

For the reasons stated above, the learning approach we will use in this project will be grounded in Andragogy.

4. Syllabus

Since it concerns a language from the European Union, the learning goals will be consistent with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The course syllabus is available here:

5. Course

To access the course, click on the button below. Upon signing up to the LMS platform, be sure to use the invitation code Aitana2021: