Teaching L1 and L2 in Future Europe. Making Connections in Bilingual Education

1. Teaching L1 and L2 in Future Europe. Making Connections in Bilingual Education Gert Rijlaarsdam Conference Advancing Mother Tongue Education, Hong Kong April 27th 2002 University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Teaching and Learning

2. Europe

3. The European Perspective • Variation • Many regions • Various and multiple relations between regions • Historically, culturally, economically • Many languages • Many cultures • What unifies European countries? Their differences except the extremes ….being it right or left

4. Europe’s Language Education: two issues • Issue of variation • Definition of L1-education varies • L2-teaching • large differences between countries in educational culture and history, ranging from no experience to longstanding experience • Issue of unity • European policy: two foreign languages compulsory • Natural development: English as Lingua Franca in Europe

5. Status Report: the Netherlands • Lower secondary education • 12-15 • Higher secondary education • 16-18

6. Compulsory 12-15 Three foreign languages: French, German, English • Traditional choice… • In vocational streams: schools are allowed to choose two out of three.

7. Lessons 12-15 Years

8. Options for Schools • Offer • ‘New’ foreign languages: • Spanish (favorite children’s choice) • Italian • Russian • Newly ‘imported’ languages: • Arabic • Turkish • NB: all languages can be examined at the end of secondary schooling, except Italian • New options: Greek, Portuguese…

9. Sounds good, but • Does it really work? • We doubt: we can do a better job

10. Quality of L2-teaching in Lower Secondary (Part1) Observational Studies University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Teaching and Learning

11. Figure 1: Target Language-classroom Language

12. Figure 2: Functional Use of Target Language

13. Quality of L1-L2 Language Teaching in Lower Secondary (Part 2) Text Book Analysis: Three Qualities of Teaching Methodology University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Teaching and Learning

14. Aspect 1: Knowledge Components in Text Books

15. Aspect 2: Strategy Exercises

16. Aspect 3: Transfer (1) Exercises in Modalities

17. Aspect 3: Transfer / Transfer Support

18. Conclusion: Lower Secondary Education • L1-curriculum > L2-curricula • Primary Education > Secondary Education • Causes? • Language structure > Language use

19. Future L1-L2 Education

20. Quality of L1-L2 Language Teaching Upper Secondary Education Text Book Analysis Panels for L1 and L2 Need Assessment Quality Assessment University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Teaching and Learning

21. Quality of Methodology • Methodology adequate for the teaching of skills • Methodology facilitates strategic language teaching and learning • Methodology facilitates transfer • Methodology facilitates learning to learn, growing towards autonomous learning

22. Skill-oriented Methodology: Textbook …. • Provides real (at least: simulated) communicative tasks • Stimulates reflection on • Communication and learning process • Result of communication and learning • Stimulates activation of pre-existing knowledge

23. Methodological Perspective: Skill-oriented

24. Strategic Oriented Methodology: Text Book… • Supports how to execute communication tasks • Supports how to read, listen • Provide communication and compensation strategies

25. Strategic Language Learning in Textbooks

26. Transfer Oriented Methodology: Text Books Contain… • Texts or tasks that support transfer • Internal, external • Tasks to abstract, generalize and specify • Reduction of situational parameters • Generalization to other situations

27. Autonomy oriented methodology: Concept • Independent work • Independent learning • Autonomous learning

28. Autonomous Learning: Text Books

29. Lower secondary L2: Little language use L1 & L2: Grammar oriented Primary > Secondary Methodologically: L1 > L2 Upper secondary Text books: potential high level of modern methodology Common framework for L1 and L2 methodology is applicable Methodologically: L1 =L2 The Netherlands: Conclusion

30. Netherlands: Future Trends • Development of L1-L2 methodology • School subject Dutch & English: more co-operation • Definition of skills, situations, textual and pragmatic knowledge • Keywords: transfer, learning, autonomy • At the same time, English will develop towards English as Lingua Franca • Communication with non-English speakers • Focus on socio-cultural aspects of communication • Medium of instruction • Increasing number of schools start English streams • Debate: should we start with English ad medium of instruction? And when?

31. Advances of being Bilingual? • Bialystock 2001 Bilinguals > monolinguals • metalinguistic tasks • logical reasoning (complex tasks) • selective attention • Arrecco & Ransdell (2002) • Better writers in L1 and L2 when bilingual before year 10 • Larger working memory capacity

32. Is an Early Start the Only Solution for Becoming Bilingual? Rymenans (review 1998): • All immersion models have advantages: net results are the same • Early or late immersion, other variations • Effect on L2 • Native like in receptive skills (after 6-7 years) • Productive skills: near native in everyday communication, but not in academic oral and written productive skills

33. Luxemburg: Three Media of Instruction

34. HK: Media of Instruction?