Course description
Completion requirements
This course introduces mediation as a key soft skill for effective communication. Based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), it explores how mediation supports understanding, reduces miscommunication, and fosters collaboration in multilingual, intercultural, academic, professional, and community contexts.
Through a practice-oriented approach, learners will discover how mediation contributes to inclusive communication, collaborative dialogue, and active participation. The course also encourages reflection on personal communication practices and the development of practical strategies that can be applied in a variety of real-life situations.
The course covers the following topics:
- Introduction to mediation within the CEFR framework.
- Mediation in multilingual, intercultural, and community-based contexts.
- Strategies for facilitating understanding, including summarising, paraphrasing, simplifying, and reformulating information.
- Mediating concepts to support collaborative learning and shared understanding.
- Mediating communication to manage interaction, reduce misunderstandings, and negotiate meaning.
- Practical applications of mediation in academic, social, professional, and community settings.
Learning Outcomes
- By the end of the course, learners will be able to:
- Knowledge & Understanding
- Define mediation within the CEFR framework and clearly explain how it differs from translation, interpretation, and basic communication.
- Recognize the role of mediation in intercultural interaction, collaborative tasks, and communication in conflict-sensitive or high-stakes contexts, including community-based and participatory settings.
- Applied Skills
- Apply CEFR mediation descriptors to analyse, evaluate, and select appropriate communicative strategies in diverse scenarios, with particular attention to inclusive and community-oriented communication.
- Use mediation techniques effectively, including summarising, paraphrasing, simplifying complex texts, and reformulating messages to enhance clarity and mutual understanding, and collaborative engagement within groups and communities.
- Personal & Reflective Competence
- Reflect on personal communication styles, assess one’s own mediation strengths and weaknesses, and identify areas for growth in mediation competence, recognising the role of mediation in fostering active participation, social cohesion, and community engagement.
- Teaching methodology
- The course adopts an interactive and practice-oriented approach grounded in the CEFR mediation framework and teaching activities include:
- Interactive lecture introducing mediation concepts and CEFR descriptors
- Demonstration and guided analysis of mediation strategies (summarising, paraphrasing, simplifying, reformulating)
- Case-based activities using real communication breakdown examples
- Stakeholder-inspired examples, drawing on intercultural and multilingual communication contexts