TOWARDS A MULTICULTURAL AND PLURILINGUISTIC VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

Abstract

The goal of this work is to present a series of reflections about the creation of a multilingual virtual classroom to promote student exchanges through the Internet among European universities, not just as an alternative to the traditional exchange but as a new modality of exchange. The Multilingual Virtual Classroom (AVP) means a real possibility to offer a subject in different languages at the same time with the help of automatic translators. We base our proposal on three theoretical aspects: 1. Multilingualism as a key element in European educational policies. 2. Research advances in communicative skills and, specifically, in multilingual competence. 3. Improvement of machine translation systems. The ultimate goal of the multilingual virtual classroom would be that students developed an intercultural communicative competence so they were initiated into the art of understanding, in a foreign language, those students who come from other cultures.