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Slide 1 Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening, dear colleagues and friends. A thousand thanks to Marianne Hansen and her team for my having been invited. Slide 2 My presentation consists of three parts. I will start with a overture, come to the main part, and end with a brief finale. Slide 3 Last Summer I had the opportunity to attend the Annual Convention of the International Reading Association in Atlanta, Georgia being invited as a featured speaker. I became aware of a rhetoric trick very popular with US presenters. A lot of them, speaking to a mixed audience of reading scientists, teachers, librarians, administrators, publishers, introduced themselves by presenting pictures of their wives, their children, their dogs, cats, and so on. After a certain time I became tired of that strange fashion and restarted to appreciate the British custom of the introductory joke. Preparing this talk, I made up my mind to honour you with my first trial in that noble academic discipline. First Joke I was with my wife on holidays in Madeira. The Luxembourgish tourist guide was a former student of mine. I taught her German, decades ago. She made apologies to me for the bad German she, in her mind, uses to her German speaking patrons. I was embarrassed
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by the young woman’s apologies and told her the following joke: A Luxembourger at Trier Main Railway Station asks a German bystander: Wann geht der Zug nach Trier? The German answering: Der geht nicht, der fährt? The Luxembourger: Es ist das (P)ferd. Second joke: When we hat to return home, Christiane, the guide, made a fax with the departure time of the shuttle. She included the following joke: At the main Railway Station in Luxembourg a German Traveller asks a bystander being their with his son: Wann fährt der Zug nach Trier? The Luxembourger answering: Der ist eben weggefahren. The German: Ist das ihr Ernst. The Luxembourger: Nein, das ist unserer Mischi, er hat dem Ernst seine Kappe an. I do not know if the Luxembourger had read Oscar Wilde’s Being Earnest, but I can in the very beginning draw a few conclusions: • … of course there is a link between railway stations and language. • Even in a monolingual interaction a second language can play an important role. • Sometimes it might be preferable to tell two jokes instead of one. • It might be relevant to contextualise even jokes. Slide 4 The Approach:
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My approach is not a linguistic or teacher training approach, but I try to give an consider educationalist’s view of CLIL. I am indeed working in an interdisciplinary research unit headed by Dieter Ferring and gathering psychologists, social work specialists, sociologists, and educationalists concerned with integrated research on individual and social development. My main research interest consists in exploring contexts and structures of growing up, their evolutions as well as their sustainable change. So I am neither a producer nor a transmitter of linguistic or language teaching knowledge, but I have to be an intelligently informed and critical user of linguistic knowledge, my reference to linguistic literature is to be viewed under this angle. The Subject reads: CLIL in the Luxembourgish Contexts CLIL means ontent and Language Integrated Learning (in French EMILE : Enseignement de matières par intégration d’une langue étrangère) You may have noted a slight difference in emphasis between the English and the French wording, probably a price to pay to the brilliant French acronym. The starting point of CLIL is the rather old discovery that linguistic immersion is a powerful means of language acquisition and language learning. CLIL tries to use this important insight by developing a corresponding instructional device. So foreign language acquisition is not
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only nurtured by explicit foreign language teaching, but by education in general. Foreign language competences, though acquired through school education, will become a stable element of an individual’s identity. Context As I have said, I regard upopn CLIL as a pedagiogical device. A pedagogical device, its principles and methods, are considered as a complex whole, as a system interrelated in diverse ways with its environment. Understanding its meaning consists in seeing it against different backgrounds and looking for possible interactions. So the main method, the main cognitive operation, I am going to use is contextualising. I prefer the verbal form, because of its emphasis on the process. In the same line, I want to point out to you two grammatical features: the plural of contexts and my hesitation between the definite article and the indefinite zero article. Indeed contextualising is an iterative operation, it can be started over and over again. The selection of contexts on one hand depends on your standpoint and your previous knowledge, the process on the other hand will lead you not to establishing a gospel truth, but to a good enough relative and tentative model of knowledge. I want to enquire into the following points leading me up to understand the meaning and the prospects of CLIL in our country The Language Situation in Luxembourg
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The Political Context, which means in our case the Language Education Policy Profile Process The Context of Curricular Tradition and Innovation The Context of a Changing Teacher Education The Sociological Signification of CLIL Slide 5 The Language Situation in Luxembourg Descriptive Approach • Oral Communication: – Dominant Language: Luxembourgish – Co-dominant Languages: French, German • Written Communication: – Concurrent Dominant Languages: German, French – Strong Evolution of Luxembourgish (New Media) • Strong Presence of Migrant and International Languages: – Portuguese, Italian, English etc. These descriptive elements do not give us very much for solving our problem of understanding the meaning of CLIL in the Luxembourg environment. So we have to move to a more interpretive view. Slide 6 [The Language Situation in Luxembourg Interpretive Approach] The Central Category which I would try out in a Grounded Theory of our language situation would be : A Complex Language Ecology. The concept of language ecology was coined by Einar Ingvald Haugen, a Harvard Linguist and Scandinavist in 1972. Haugen used the concept as a biological metaphor. He defined language ecology as the study of interactions between a given language and its environment (mainly the
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speakers and the speaker communities). Haugen did not have any success, indeed he became another victim the Viking syndrom: having discovered America to early. Linguists went on with their usual business and dedicated their efforts to what was seen as the nobler tasks: syntax, phonology. Correspondingly, at the end of the last century, the Linguistics of Luxembourgish (cf. Schmitt 1984, Berg, G. 1993, Gilles 1999) do not even quote the work of Haugen. In the 21st century language ecology as a re-emerged, notably through a important course at the University of Berkeley, where they consider California as a particularly suitable microcosm for language ecology studies as well as through the publishing of the 9th volume of the Encyclopedia of Language and education. What does not/does make the Complexity of the Luxembourgish Linguistic Microcosm? Slide 7 Elements which do not make the complexity of Luxembourg’s language ecology • three languages in a country • more than 30 nationalities in a school (e.g. lycée technique du centre) • more than 80 mother tongues in dudelange Aspects of Luxembourgs Languge ecology: • practically no monolingual speakers (plurilingualism as a mother tongue) • status paradoxes for most languages • psychologically: a high interaction of different languages in the minds of speakers • diverse multilingual subjects
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• a social landscape with concurrent codes, a high degree of regulated and unregulated code switching, intermediate systems and variable competence • increased structural instability • y of all languages compensated by tendencies to hypercorrectness • generational discontinuity (Shlomo Allon an arabist, a school inspector and a curriculum coordinator from israel: people having mother tongues which their mothers did not speak) • social knowledge stored in more than language Conclusion: Such a background is a tremendous playground for CLIL. As a Mady Delvaux-Stehres has put it: Whatever subject matter your teach in Luxembourg, you do language teaching. So there is a long tradition of natural or wild CLIL practice, doing CLIL à la façon de Monsieur Jourdain (faire de la prose sans le savoir) or driving without a licence. Major needs appear which hopeful your CLIL project will meet: -becoming aware of the difference of using Clil in such a specific language context as ours -transforming implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge for better exploitation -moving to a reflected and professional application of CLIL strategies Slide 8 The policy context is given by the Language Education Policy Profile
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• Coalition Agreement & Governmental Declaration: “Readjustment of Language Teaching” (2005) – Maintaining the Luxembourgish Plurilingualism – Tempering the Negative Effects of an Excessive Selection, Threatening the Qualifying of the Upcoming Generation • The government had recourse to the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe and their expertise to assist Luxembourg in reflecting upon its language education policy. • Stages of the Process: – National Report (Berg & Weis 2005), Experts’ Visit, Experts’ Report, Joint Text: Language Education Policy Profile (Goullier et al. 2007), large Consultation, development of an Action Plan (Berg, Weis & al. 2007), identification of priorities and change management in the Ministry, assessment of process by experts (Goullier 2009) Slide 9 I will briefly describe the nature and the function of the important steps to change: The NATIONAL REPORT: Critically Describes an Existing Situation The PROFILE: Delivers Pointers for Change in Language Education Policy: Change in Curricular Methodology, Acknowledgement of Diverse Trajectories and Individual Profiles, Emphasising Transversal Aspects of Language Competences and the Plurilingual Dimension of Using Languages, Mobilising Institutions and Actors in a Coherent Change Managing Process The ACTION PLAN: Translates the Profile in an Operational Scheme comprising 66 Actions, Grouped in Four Sections: Communication, Curriculum,
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Language Teaching Practice, Research and Reflection Work The ASSESSMENT (“Bilan”): Identifies what has been asked, what has been achieved, and what still has to be done Now CLIL reoccurs in these documents as kind of a leitmotiv: for instance, two large paragraphs in the profile are dedicated to CLIL, CLIL is explicitly presented has a high priority. The Action plan discussies the role of language in math teaching. Your project is mentioned as action 52 of the Action Plan etc. Slide 10 There are people who will try to make you believe that Eugène Delacroix’s painting shows “Liberty Leading the People”. This is actually a lie, and today you will learn the truth. The painting shows what happens in Luxembourg, when a decision maker tries to reduce the time allocated to French in the schedule, and there are two other paintings showing people defending their claims, one with the union jack and the other with red, black, gold. Indeed the traditional curricular landscape shows the following features: – A Rigidly Compartmentalised Curricular Architecture – A Huge Amount of Time Dedicateded to Language Teaching – Disadvantages for Content Subjects, e.g. History, Biology, etc, for Luxembourgish, Sports, Art and Crafts – A Claim Defending Attitude of Teachers – Important Role of language Correctness in the Selection Process
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In the curricular landscape a change has occurred for the last four years: not a cataclysm, but a slow move obtained through rational and well informed policy making which raises hopes and innovations • Innovations: – From a Trilingual Equilingualism to a Realistic and Diverse Plurilingualism – Farewell to the Triple Duplicates of Native Speakers and Emerging Acceptance of Diverse Identities of Multilingual Subjects Coined by Their Biographical Trajectories and Life Choices – Standards Defined as Competences by Referring to Functional-Communicative Acts – Standards Linked to the the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) • Hopes: – a Tremendous Opportunity for Explicit and Reflected CLIL Teaching Activities – A more Flexible Curriculum Architecture – A reinforced confidence of students in their language competences Slide 11 The Next Point is: The Context of a Changing Teacher Education I try to be brief, by mentioning two main chances and three main pitfalls • Main Chances: – Integration into the University and the Bologna Process – Deep Renewal of Contents –
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• Main Pitfalls: – Reproduction of a Traditional Compartmentalising of Educational Courses, instead of an Integrative Differencing – Insufficient Availability of Object/Situation Adequate Teacher Knowledge and Awareness of Corresponding Professional Skills – Insufficient Interaction with Practitioners and Decision Makers (Gaining Confidence, Exchanging Knowledge Slide 12 Wondering about The Sociological Signification of CLIL, I will use two starting points: the two faces of multilingualism and the two attitudes towards school underachievers, and an important key the relevance of the access to academic language for school success. Two Faces of Plurilingualism: – For the Ones a Source of Enrichment – For the Others a Source of Failure and Social Exclusion Two Attitudes towards School Underachievement: – A Resigned Relativism – A Moralistic Appeal to Pedagogical Commitment Slide 13 A rational foundation of an informed professional action and responsibility taking is given by the important insight that an essential transition is the access to academic language (Bildungssprache). For migrant children the picture becomes a tick more complicated. Slide 14
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On this background one can understand what Constant Leung means with including ESL learners in the mainstream. But it also clairifies that this does not match the Luxembourg situation. Slide 15 Slide 16 Situations can even be more complex. Imagine a Portuguese child confronted with the Luxembourgish set of school languages and a set of everyday codes. Different paths can be imagined and found in case studies. Whatever the path is and whatever the outcome will be: success or failure, there will be a lack of systematic scaffolding by school institutions and professionals. Slide 17 Weak points - linguistic research, too divided, not enough interaction with other disciplines, no practicability of solutions - teacher education: this remains an important challenge for our faculty Strong points - demonstrating the vital need of CLIL research in particular and intervention research in general
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- CLIL in international contexts, with diverse voices - Taking into account practices in a reflective approach - Being in mood with the dynamics of the National Educational System - Besides other elements (e.g. teaching understanding strategies) CLIL as a pedagogical device is a relevant piece of the jigsaw puzzle, - Especially if we want to suffice to Allan Luke’s and Peter Freebody’s four resources model of literacy, developping four different roles for skilled text users: students have to become code breakers, meaning makers, text users and t text critics. ⨪
CLIL in [the] Luxembourgish Contexts
Charles Berg
April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
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1
General Outline • Overture • Main Part • Finale
April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
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2
Overture Introductory Jokes
Tentative Conclusions • … of course there is a link between railway stations and languages. • Even in a monolingual interaction a second language can play an important role. • Sometimes it might be preferable to tell two jokes instead of one. • It might be relevant to contextualise even jokes.
April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
[email protected]
3
Setting the Stage Outline of Main Part
Subject CLIL in [the] Luxembourgish Contexts
Luxembourg The Political Context of the Language Education Policy Profile The Context of Curricular Innovation
Approach Not a linguistic or teacher training standpoint, but an educationalist’s view April 23rd, 2009
The Language Situation in
The Context of a Changing Teacher Education The Sociological Signification of CLIL
CLIL,
[email protected]
4
The Language Situation in Luxembourg Descriptive Approach
• Oral communication: – Dominant language: Luxembourgish – Co-dominant languages: French, German
• Written communication: – Concurrent dominant languages: German, French – Strong evolution of Luxembourgish (new media)
• Strong presence of migrant and international languages: – Portuguese, Italian, English etc. April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
[email protected]
5
The Language Situation in Luxembourg Interpretive Approach
• A complex language ecology • Language ecology as linguistic theory – Einar Haugen and after – Non-ecological approach in the linguistics of Luxembourgish (cf. Schmitt 1984, Berg, G. 1993, Gilles 1999) – A Re-emerging of language ecology today, especially in the enquiry on bilingual and multilingual situations (Garner 1995, Creese & Hornberger 2008)
• What makes/does not make the complexity of the Luxembourgish linguistic microcosm? April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
[email protected]
6
• Three languages in a country • More than 30 nationalities in a school (e.g. Lycée technique du Centre) • More than 80 mother tongues in Dudelange
Specific complexity of language ecology in Luxembourg
April 23rd, 2009
• Practically no monolingual speakers • Status paradoxes for most languages • Psychologically: a high interaction of different languages in the minds of speakers • Diverse multilingual subjects • A social landscape with concurrent codes, a high degree of regulated and unregulated code switching, intermediate systems and variable competence • Increased structural instability of all languages compensated by tendencies to hypercorrectness • Generational discontinuity • Social knowledge stored in more than one language
CLIL,
[email protected]
7
The Political Context of the Language Education Policy Profile • Coalition Agreement & Governmental Declaration: “Readjustment of Language Teaching” (2005) – Maintaining the Luxembourgish plurilingualism – Tempering the negative effects of an excessive selection, threatening the qualifying of the upcoming generation
• The government had recourse to the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe and their expertise to assist Luxembourg in reflecting upon its language education policy. • Stages of the process: – National Report (Berg & Weis 2005), experts’ visit, experts’ report, joint text: Language Education Policy Profile (Goullier et al. 2007), large consultation, development of an action plan (Berg, Weis & al. 2007), identification of priorities and change management in the Ministry, assessment of process by experts (Delvaux-Stehres et al. 2009, Kafai 2009, Weydert 2009, Goullier 2009) April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
[email protected]
8
• The NATIONAL REPORT: Critically describes an existing situation (Berg & Weis 2005) • The PROFILE: Delivers pointers for change in language education policy: Change in curricular methodology, increased acknowledgement of diverse trajectories and individual profiles, emphasising transversal aspects of language competences and the plurilingual dimension of using languages, mobilising institutions and actors in a coherent change managing process (Goullier & al. 2006) • The ACTION PLAN: Translates the Profile in an operational scheme comprising 66 actions, grouped in four sections: communication, curriculum, language teaching practice, research and reflection work (Berg & Weis 2007) • The ASSESSMENT (“Bilan”): Identifies what has been asked, what has been achieved, and what still has to be done (Delvaux-Stehres & al. 2009, Kaffai 2009, Goullier et al. 2009) April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
[email protected]
9
The Context of Curricular Tradition & Innovation • • Innovations: The truth about Delacroix’s painting •
•
–Curricular From a trilingual equilingualism realities in Luxembourg:to a realistic and diverse plurilingualism – – Farewell the triple duplicates of native speakers and emerging acceptance A rigidlytocompartmentalised ofcurricular diverse identities of multilingual subjects, coined by their biographical architecture and life – trajectories A huge amount of choices time dedicateddefined to language teaching by referring to functional-communicative – Standards as competences – acts Disadvantages for content subjects (e.g. history, – Standards linked to the biology, Common European Framework of Reference for etc), for Luxembourgish, sports,Assessment (CEFR) Languages: Learning, Teaching, arts and crafts Hopes: – A claim defending attitude of – a teachers tremendous opportunity for explicit and reflected CLIL teaching activities – – a Important more flexible architecture rolecurriculum of language – a correctness reinforced confidence of students in their language competences in the selection process
April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
[email protected]
10
The Context of a Changing Teacher Education • Main chances: – Integration into the University and the Bologna Process – Deep renewal of contents
• Main pitfalls: – Reproduction of a traditional compartmentalising of educational courses, instead of an integrative differenciation – Insufficient availability of object/situation adequate teacher knowledge and awareness of corresponding professional skills – Insufficient interaction with practitioners and decision makers (gaining mutual trust, exchanging knowledge) April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
[email protected]
11
The Sociological Signification of CLIL • Two attitudes towards school underachievement: – A resigned relativism – A moralistic appeal to pedagogical commitment
April 23rd, 2009
• Two faces of plurilingualism: – For some a source of enrichment – For some a source of failure and social exclusion
CLIL,
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12
The Discovery of an Important Key Schooling Teaching
Family Academic Language Access Language April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
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Cf, Leung & Tossi 2005, Leung 2007
Family Language
Second Language
Academic Language
What Teacher Knowledge? What Teacher Skills? April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
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14
Academic German Family Lëtzebuergesch
Academic French Foreign Language French
Foreign Language English April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
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Academic English
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Academic German Pidgin French
Family Portuguese
Academic French
Peers Lëtzeb.
Academic Portuguese April 23rd, 2009
Foreign Language French
Foreign Language English
CLIL,
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Academic English
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Finale • Weak Points • Strong Points
April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
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Thanks for your attention
April 23rd, 2009
CLIL,
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