Teacher Training in Intercomprehension between Related (Minority) Languages: English, German, and Cimbrian

In recent decades, European language policy guidelines have been recommending plurilingual approaches in foreign language (FL) teaching, which share the common intent of enhancing and engaging the learners’ entire linguistic repertoire. By using previously learned languages, students can benefit from positive interlingual transfer and cross-language inferencing, thus improving FL learning outcomes, language learning awareness, motivation, and identity development. One such approach is Intercomprehension between Related Languages, which has inspired the development of digital teaching materials in English, German, and Cimbrian – a critically endangered minority Germanic language nowadays spoken in the linguistic enclave of Luserna, in the province of Trento (Italy). This article outlines the methodology underpinning the developed teaching materials, focusing on teacher training, which required the involvement of both curricular FL teachers and staff of local institutions dedicated to safeguarding the minority language.