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Council of Europe ‘Reference Document’ for Languages in/of Education

Council of Europe ‘Reference Document’ for Languages in/of Education. Michael Byram Programme Adviser, Language Policy Division, Council of Europe, Strasbourg and Professor of Education, University of Durham, England. Work in progress!.

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Council of Europe ‘Reference Document’ for Languages in/of Education

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  1. Council of Europe ‘Reference Document’ for Languages in/of Education Michael Byram Programme Adviser, Language Policy Division, Council of Europe, Strasbourg and Professor of Education, University of Durham, England

  2. Work in progress! • Presentation based on / borrowed from work by whole team • Papers from Krakow – April 2006 • Papers from Strasbourg – Oct 2006 • Papers from Prague – Nov 2007 • AND my interpretation!

  3. Languages in / of education

  4. Languages in /of education Not all languages in school are languages of school education Languages in school: different categories, different status, but change is possible Language(s) of schooling: keystone of all languages of school: achieving school’s objectives and pupils’ successes. Concern: The relationship between main language (s) of school and languages of pupils

  5. What is a ‘reference document’ (framework) • The Common European Framework (for modern languages) provides a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe. (….) The Common European Framework is intended to overcome the barriers to communication among professionals working in the field of modern languages arising from the different educational systems in Europe. (….)

  6. No prescription – questions to guide thinking – example from CEFR for Foreign Languages • 6.4.3 What part should be played by texts in language learning and teaching? • 6.4.3.1 How may learners be expected or required to learn from spoken and written texts? a) by simple exposure; b) by simple exposure, but ensuring that new material is intelligible by inferencing from verbal context, visual support, etc.; (….) • 6.4.4 How far should learners be expected or required to learn from tasks and activities: a) by simple participation in spontaneous activities? b) by simple participation in tasks and activities planned as to type, goals, input, outcomes, participant roles and activities, etc.? (….)

  7. Why a European reference document for Languages in/of Education? • Learner perspective: ALL languages are part of a ‘language capacity’ for learning (and other kinds of living) – need for a holistic approach • Teacher perspective:provides a common basis to overcome the barriers to communication among professionals • National perspective: • permit transparency in the development of didactics of Language as a Subject (LS) (e.g. English in England; Portuguese in Portugal); • articulate the didactics of LS and foreign language(s); • Create transparency (for all teachers – e.g. of science, history etc) concerning Language Across the Curriculum (LAC); • define intervention measures for ‘vulnerable students’

  8. The needs of ‘vulnerable learners’ Cognitive-Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) Basic interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) • The language of school and of science (CALP) demands the performance of other speech acts and discourse functions than in communicating about common topics (BICS). Transition from everyday language use to academic language use requires precision, explicitness, rationality and argumentative structures • (For immigrant children) Conversational fluency is often acquired to a functional level within about two years of initial exposure to the second language whereas at least five years is usually required to catch up to native speakers in academic aspects of the second language (Cummins)

  9. Questions • What measures should be taken in order to assure that vulnerable groups achieve a minimum proficiency level? REF DOC – suggestions… • What measures are previewed by the Council of Europe to reduce the disadvantages of immigrant, second-generation immigrants and children with a low socioeconomic level in achieving a proficiency level which allows them to successfully integrate in society? REF DOC – none (!) ‘only’ suggestions…

  10. Elements for Language Across the Curriculum • Acquiring + using subject-specific concepts and terminology • Understanding + using a rational, formal, explicit academic or pre-scientific style of expression • Comprehending and constructing cohesive and coherent pieces of information (subject-specific texts)

  11. Example from Chemistry: Developing the notion of Reaction • Starting with everyday concepts/ understandings • Setting up experimental conditions for own observations and recordings • Summarising + interpreting the data, • Formulating possible rules or regularities • Developing and testing own hypotheses • Defining REACTION in subject-specific terms

  12. Possible themes - LAC - Language as an activity (and an instrument for learning – in school and throughout life) - Defining competences in language for activity, and the domains in which the language is used - Discussing possible methodologies of teaching and learning - Describing ‘expectations’ of levels of proficiency in language at specific points in schooling - Discussing assessment procedures and criteria for good assessment

  13. Questions • Is the creation of benchmarks to different school levels is previewed in the Common European Framework? • How can students’ level of proficiency be rigorously determined? • What levels of proficiency are previewed for the languages of education? BY - Describing ‘expectations’ of levels of proficiency in language at specific points in schooling • How will students be assessed with a Common European Instrument for LE? BY – those responsible in each Member state

  14. Possible themes - LS • Teaching ‘the canon’ of literature • Teaching language (grammatical system, genres …?) • Bildung - to develop and bring out the full potential of a human being, based on his/her nature, but stimulated and structured by education (nurture) (.....) the process of becoming educated/becoming one’s own self AND the state reached by a human being.

  15. Questions • What relation will be established between the languages of education (Language of schooling? – Portuguese?) and the foreign languages, on the one hand, considering the introduction of English in the 1st cycle in Portugal and, on the other hand, the development of intercultural skills? • How can mother tongue (Portuguese? Immigrant L1?) and second language (immigrant L1? FL?) be articulated and adjusted to different second language contexts?

  16. Possible answer: use of a Reference Document at school level – A Whole School Language Policy • relating language education in LS to subject-specific language learning (LAC) and competences across all subjects • integrating content and language learning (CLIL) by using foreign language(s) for subject-matter teaching • relating education in LS to foreign or second language learning • relating foreign language education to heritage language education. AND (future) ‘Guide for Planning and Implementing Plurilingual Curricula’

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