SPICES Guidelines. Método de formación para la comunicación intercultural en ámbitos institucionales, translation and adaptation by David Lasagabaster & Begoña Blanco

This publication is the main result of the project SPICES, co-funded by the European Commission (224945-CP-1-2005-1-IT-GRUNDTVIG-G11). SPICES is the acronym of Social Promotion of Intercultural Expertise and Skills. It has been carried out between 2005-2007. It has received various international acknowledgments: the LABEL EUROPEO 2006 by the Ministero del Lavoro e della Previdenza Sociale (Italian Ministry of Employment and Social Security), Rome, 18.-19.12.2006 (www.labeleuropeo.it); in 2008 SPICES was nominated for a European Lifelong Learning Award for “Quality in Mobility” and was honoured with a SILVER AWARD, Ljubljana, 12-13/06/2008 (www.qim.si); SPICES featured at the EC during the CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION "Creativity and Innovation - Best practices from EU Programmes" among the first 20 projects which have been chosen to participate in the exhibition, Brussels 2.-3.03.2009. Events occurring in daily life show that we do not possess enough communication tools in order to interact adequately and constructively in European contexts which are becoming increasingly multicultural. These events also show that the tools that we do possess may not necessarily be adequate. This is particularly evident – sometimes in dramatic fashion – in bureaucratic-institutional situations in which foreigners – or more generally ‘adults-in-mobility’ – interact with service providers – which one may define, more generally, as ‘adults-professionally-in-contact-with-mobility’.The starting point of the project is based on two initial scientific observations: 1) that foreign people mainly encounter communication problems in bureaucratic-institutional settings, 2) that textbooks do not consider those real-life communicative and linguistic necessities related to these settings. Consequently, the main objective of the project is to elaborate guidelines – the SPICES Guidelines – which describe a methodology which may be used in order to create training modules in ICC and context language/second language (Lc/L2) use, through teaching and learning packs. The objective of this instrument is to overcome these difficulties through specific training activities directed to adults-in-mobility (AM) and adults-professionally-in-contact-with-mobility by promoting knowledge, experience and skills in ICC, which includes both the Lc and the L2, which in our case refers to the bureaucratic-institutional context. During the Project the partnership aimed to elaborate a training methodology which is transferable and applicable within various learning situations. In other words, the SPICES methodology does not intend substituting training courses which are already being implemented but, on the contrary, it is conceived as an ingredient – just like spices – which can be added to courses which are already being held in the field of ICC or L2 teaching. This publication, produced together with the main partners of the project (from Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Malta, Spain and Slovenia), contains not only the methodology by means of which to design tailor-made and learner-centered learning paths and training material for AMs (migrants) and ACMs (service providers, civil servants), but also two prototypes of training packs: one for AMs and one for ACMs. The SPICES training methodology facilitates trainers, L2 educators, teachers to design their own training material by using sociolinguistic methods and analytical tools: the Sociolinguistic Interview and the participating observation for a needs analysis for communication training; Critical Text Analysis and re-editing of bureaucratic texts; Conversational Transcription, Critical Discourse Analysis and Conversation Analysis.