By Peggy Garza
and
Greta Keremidchieva
Introduction
 PfP Consortium’s Advanced Distributed Learning
(ADL) WG
 Projects for NATO-oriented language learning
 E-learning


English Skills for Staff Officers (ESSO)
English Language Training Enhancement Course (ELTEC)
 M-learning


MoLe
Mobler cards
Needs Analysis for
English Language Training Enhancement Course (ELTEC)
• Purpose
– To identify the critical language tasks and language
shortfalls of NATO staff officers
• Participants
– NATO School, ACT, Bulgarian staff officers
• Methodology
– Questionnaires and interviews
• Findings
– Listening, speaking, writing most critical skills
– NATO abbreviations and acronyms
– NATO jargon spoken by native and non-native speakers
Communication Task/ Language Analysis
NATO Staff Officer Work
Task
Language
Skills
STANAG
6001
Level
Functions
Acronyms/
Abbreviations
Time
Constraints
Professional
e-mail
communication
Reading
Writing
Levels 2,
2+
–Respond to inquiries
–Request assistance
–Organize meetings
–Communicate
information and updates to
a group
–Assign work tasks
V/R,
SA,ASAP,
LTC, CPT,
CAN F,
OPLAN,
IAW,AAP-6,
JP 3.09.3,
COL HUN A,
Bi-SC D 75-7,
JCAS MOA,
OR 5
Self-paced
–NATO formats and
protocols
–Errors in spelling,
grammar, and
punctuation are visible
Professional
telephone
communication
Listening
Speaking
Levels 2,
2+
–Request information or
assistance
–Follow up on tasks,
request status report
–Communicate specific
information or give
instructions
SHAPE, PfP,
SOP,
HQ SACT,
JFTC, NRF,
KFOR,
MC, MP,
ADL, NATO
PE or CE,
ISAF,
SACEUR
Timesensitive
–NS and NNS (variety
of accents)
–Non-face to face
communication
Participation in
meetings
Listening
Speaking
Levels 2,
2+, 3
–Understand briefings,
situations reports, etc
–Present arguments in
support of decisions
–Make comments/ask
questions
WG, AAR,
COA, SITREP,
CONOPS,
ROE, IED,
HUMINT,FOB
,UXO,
DACOS
OPR, PTC
Timesensitive
–NS and NNS (variety
of accents)
Additional Factors
Recent NATO Research
• “Cultural barriers for the adaptability of the military in multinational
operations”
– Conducted by CAPT (N) Prof Yanakiev, Rakovski National Defense
Academy, Bulgaria
• Communication and cultural difficulties lead to isolation and a
perception by native speakers that partners are not mission-ready
• Specifics:
– Insufficient knowledge of specialized English, abbreviations and
acronyms (referred to as the third NATO language)
– Native speakers do not adjust their language to the multinational
environment
– Differences in the national military cultures and military decisionmaking processes
– Differences in leadership styles: direct (task-oriented) vs. indirect
(social, consensus-building) approaches
Needs Analysis for
Medical Terminology for Multinational Missions
• Purpose
– To determine if there is a need for non-specialists to know
medical terminology when dealing with medical emergencies
– To investigate the feasibility of using a mobile device to
provide linguistic assistance in the field
• Methodology
– Focus groups with military personnel who had deployed
– Questionnaires and interviews
• Findings
– Mobile devices would be very helpful, especially in describing
injuries/medical conditions in English
– Medical emergencies are stressful, language fails under stress
– Pre-deployment training does not cover medical terminology
More About the Projects
E-learning
M-learning
An Online Course for Enhancing Interoperability
in NATO Staff Work
E
L
T
E
C
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
TRAINING
ENHANCEMENT
COURSE
E-learning
ELTEC Rationale
 Enhance communication skills for
E
L
T
E
C
professional activities
 Build competence and confidence to
participate in meetings
 Provide learning content based on authentic
communication situations
 Incorporate authentic activities and learning
by doing
ELTEC Course Structure
Module
• Oral Communication
• (phone calls)
1
Module
• Written Communication
• (memo, notes, email)
2
E
L
T
E
C
Module
• Participation in Meetings
3
Module
4
• Military Briefings
Course Design Considerations

NATO STANAG 6001 language
proficiency scale
Authentic NATO materials
Activities and feedback


‒
E
L
T
E
C
Self-paced activities and immediate
feedback
ELTEC Usability Data
 PfP Learning Management System (LMS):
117 + 985 = 1102 users
 ELTEC is available at the NATO School LMS, at the
BiH Peace Support Operations Training Center
(PSOTC), and PfP wide
 NATO, JADL LMS: 818 users
 Total: 1920 users
 Available at: pfp.ethz.ch
M-learning
Research Findings on M-Learning
 M- learning is perceived as flexible, personalized, and




engaging.
It is multimedia-based, interactive, granular, ubiquitous, and
may be context-specific.
M-learning is appropriate for informal, self-organized
learning, both individual and collaborative.
It could be combined with other forms of learning and
training.
Other types of assistance may be delivered by mobile devices,
such as on-line access to dictionaries and services,
performance support in filling in the forms, multimedia
information transfer.
MObile LEarning (MoLe)
Research Project on
Medical Terminology Assistance
for Multinational Partners
in Coalition Operations
Scenarios with pictures
Bites chemicals etc
ADL WG Project: Mobler Cards
 Developed by Swiss ISN
 Piloting Mobler cards for use with ADL courses
‒ Introduction to NATO
‒ Building Defence Institutions
 Research Question: Can Mobler cards be used
effectively for NATO-oriented language learning?
Mobler Cards Features
 Always within reach, always ready to use
 Task-centered design
 Can immediately use existing question pools
 Support thinking, not guessing
 Allow progress not quick wins
 Designed to work with any LMS as long as it supports
question pools
Mobler Cards Features
 Multilingual
 Free and open source
 Continuity of learning
 Question types:
‒ Multiple choice (single answer)
‒ Multiple choice (multiple answer)
‒ Ordering questions (vertical)
‒ Numeric question