Routes into Languages
Community and Lesser-Taught Languages Project (COLT)
The COLT project is a Consortium of five universities (Manchester Metropolitan University (lead institution), University of Manchester, University of Salford, University of Bolton, and the University of Central Lancashire) working together with organisations such as Aim Higher, Manchester City Council and the Specialist Schools Trust, as well as supplementary and mainstream schools in the region. The project received funding through the Routes into Languages initiative and.
The languages to be promoted in the first stage of this project include Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Urdu and Italian, a decision based partly on the regional context and partly on the particular interests of the universities involved in the Consortium.
COLT will focus on the rich array of language learning taking place in supplementary schools.
Key aspects of the project include:
- The provision of training to teachers of community languages
- Building relationships with learners in supplementary schools
- Language enrichment events. (The University of Manchester hosted one on 17 June 2008.)
- The collection, collation and evaluation of data
For more information please visit the COLT website.
Launch Event
On Thursday 8 May 2008 the Community and Lesser Taught Languages (COLT) project was successfully launched. The launch event was opened with a speech from the Vice Chancellor of MMU, John Brooks, and the previous Lord Mayor of Manchester and Manchester City councillor Afzal Khan. Attendees included representatives from the partner institutions, who were treated to a range of performances from pupils who attend local supplementary schools. These included a traditional Chinese fan dance, a fashion parade of traditional Arabic clothing and an excerpt from 'The Monkey King' (Journey to the West), which was performed by pupils of the Huaxia Chinese School.