One of the most significant priority areas of the EU is language learning. The European Commission and its officials have set their sights on enabling EU citizens to communicate in at least two foreign languages, to provide migrants with opportunities to learn the language of their host country, and to promote language teaching. Contributing to the success of this effort is LINGUASIGN, a new animated resource that supports the teaching of foreign languages in primary schools.

Experts say the majority of primary school teachers have little or no specialist language training. LINGUASIGN will change this by providing them with the support they need. The project is backed under the EU's Socrates Lingua 2 Programme.

Launched by the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK, LINGUASIGN is unique in that it uses talking and signing avatars to help educators foster primary school students' speaking and listening skills using a combination of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning. The UEA team developed LINGUASIGN for use with children aged from 7 to 11.

LINGUASIGN emerged following a three-year collaboration between French, Dutch and British schools. Native speakers provide voices for the three-dimensional (3D) animations and avatars in a series of interlinked stories. Gestures are used to reinforce language learning. One of the biggest advantages of this is that teachers need not have prior knowledge of the instructed language.

The UEA team says the language is linked to the core language curriculum/metalinguistic framework being followed in European primary schools for foreign language teaching.

The DVDs (digital versatile discs) are currently available in English and French, and additional languages will be added - demand permitting. The DVDs support the speaking and listening strands of current language teaching, according to the researchers.

They have also developed 'taster' discs, enabling classes to try Dutch, English, French and Portuguese stories. The team says LINGUASIGN can be used to offer an introduction to a new minority language.

Both teachers and students have enough time to repeat words and gestures that materialise in the animations; this in turn helps strengthen their learning. The users watch and listen to each animation several times during the week over half a term, for about five minutes each time. They repeat the words and actions - copying what the avatar says and does - until they are able to speak alongside the animated characters. A complete set of teacher's notes, extra classroom activities and scripts accompany each story.