Talen Leren in Europa

2001 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 97-109
Author(s):  
Peter Broeder

From 1989 until 1997 the project Language Learning/or European Citizenship was carried out under the auspices of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. In this project two instruments were developed. The first instrument is the European Framework of Reference. This is a kind of language scale through which knowledge and qualifications in different languages can be compared. The second instrument is the European Language Portfolio. This is a kind of language passport through which languages users can report and document their proficiency in, and use of different languages. This contribution gives a description of these instruments. In addition, there is a summary of the results of a pilot project in the Netherlands which focused on the multilingual classroom at the end of primary school.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-182
Author(s):  
Marije Michel ◽  
Christine Vidon ◽  
Rick de Graaff ◽  
Wander Lowie

Abstract The Netherlands have had a long tradition of modern foreign language (MFL) education: French, German and English have been standard subjects at secondary school since the 19th century. After the introduction of the Mammoetwet in 1968, several major educational reforms have shaped the current practice of Dutch MFL teaching. On the one hand, a greater diversity of languages is on offer in secondary schools (e. g., Arabic, Spanish), and following the implementation of the CEFR (Council of Europe 2001) MFL teaching has become more communicative. Additionally, more and more schools at all levels of education have adopted English as a medium of instruction. On the other hand, with the growing dominance of English in Dutch society, the time dedicated to languages other than English has declined substantially so that secondary school sections and university departments for other MFLs are closing down. In this article, we provide an overview of Dutch MFL teaching since 1945. We will sketch how the choices made by different parties involved, including learners and their parents, teachers, teacher educators, publishers and policy makers, have been shaping the teaching of MFLs at all levels of education with a special interest in MFL teacher education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
JAROSLAV KLÁTIK ◽  
◽  
LIBOR KLIMEK

The work deals with implementation of electronic monitoring of sentenced persons in the Slovak Republic. It is divided into eight sections. The first section introduces restorative justice as a prerequisite of electronic monitoring in criminal proceedings. While the second section points out at the absence of legal regulation of electronic monitoring of sentenced persons at European level, the third section points out at recommendations of the Council of Europe addressed to European States. The fourth section analyses relevant alternative punishments in Slovak criminal justice. The fifth section introduces early beginnings of implementation of concerned system - the pilot project “Electronic Personnel Monitoring System” of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic. While the sixth section is focused on Slovak national law regulating electronic monitoring of sentenced persons - the Act No. 78/2015 Coll. on Control of the Enforcement of Certain Decisions by Technical Instruments, the seventh section is focused on further amendments of Slovak national law - namely the Act No. 321/2018 Coll. and the Act No. 214/2019 Coll. The last eight section introduces costs of system implementation and its operation.


Author(s):  
Jafar Asgari Arani

Digital media has been used to enhance language learning for decades. Since the aim of language learning is to develop communicative proficiency, using communication devices and channels that already exist in the classroom is a sensible way of exploiting opportunities for language practice. The ‘anywhere, anytime’ accessibility to educational contents that mobile SMSs, sometimes freely, offer users, means that mobile learning can extend the opportunities for study outside of the classroom. Given the importance of writing, especially for academic purposes in university, the study set a dual goal: firstly, to analyze the outcome of applying supplementary SMS activity to teach English syntax necessary to paraphrase sentences and secondly, to clarify the medical students' ideas about it. A quasi-experimental, pre-test and post-test, research design was utilized to investigate the hypotheses of this study. Two groups (each 40-second year students of medicine) were randomly assigned to be the experimental and the conventional group. Both groups were taught the same syllabus materials designed for English for Medical Purposes (EMP) II course in a 17-week semester in Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The former received the SMS –based supplementary contents in a scheduled pattern of delivery two times a week to strengthen their learning while the latter only was taught in a face to face setting. An open questionnaire was used to examine students feedback towards their attitudes. The validity of the questionnaire was examined by giving to a number of professors of English language. The data were also collected and analyzed through an Attitude/ Motivation questionnaire consisting of 12 Likert-scale items, pretest& posttest, paired-samples t-tests, and one way ANOWA. The pretest and posttest data paired t-test likert-scale items analyzed results showed that differences between the experimental and control groups were statistically significant. It was found that the effect of practicing SMS on the students' English syntax learning was positive. According to the findings, students receiving the supplementary English syntax SMSs noticeably improved their sentence paraphrasing performance and acquired higher grades during the post-test than those in conventional group. Qualitative data from interviews and questionnaires indicate that students hold positive attitudes towards receiving paraphrase syntactic points via SMS. Majority of students in this pilot project considered the educational program offered to be efficient, useful and beneficial. The data gathered revealed mobile syntactic supplementary SMSs can be integrated into EMP II course to enable students to develop better English sentence paraphrasing skills. Mobile SMS; Sentence Paraphrasing; Educational Tool; English for Medical Purposes


Author(s):  
Alessia Plutino ◽  
Tiziana Cervi-Wilson ◽  
Billy Brick

This paper reports on the rationale for the implementation of a pilot project using a scenario-based Virtual Reality (VR) resource, originally developed by Health Sciences at Coventry University and now being repurposed for Italian language learning as a collaborative project with Modern Languages and Linguistics at the University of Southampton. The original aim of the resource was to prepare health care students for home visits by allowing them to experience a semi-linear conversation with a virtual Non-player Character (NPC). The authors will discuss how they are planning to repurpose the resource for Italian language learning and teaching and will analyse the potential pedagogical uses within the modern language curriculum, including emotional language, employability skills, and the year abroad.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-442
Author(s):  
Anja K. Steinlen

Both for the first language (L1) and for all additional languages (L2 or L3), grammatical knowledge plays a vital role in understanding texts (e.g., Grabe, 2005). However, little is known about the development and interaction of grammar and reading comprehension in beginning foreign language learning, especially with respect to children with a minority language background. This longitudinal study, therefore, examined minority and majority language children’s English grammar and reading comprehension skills. The children attended a German-English partial immersion primary school and were tested at the end of Grades 3 and 4. As expected, we found grammar to affect reading comprehension but also reverse effects. Most importantly, the results did not reveal any differences between the two language groups, irrespective of the test. Therefore, immersion primary school programs seem to be suitable for minority language children, and these children do not automatically represent an at-risk group for foreign language learning.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-106
Author(s):  
Alicia Chabert

Summary This paper aims to demonstrate that using a plurilingual and ecological approach to English language teaching can achieve better results in primary school independently of the mother tongue of the student. This article is based on the initial results of our international research carried out in three very different countries (Norway, China and Spain). While the author´s research project involves 328 participants, we will present the results of the first phase of the experiment, including 133 students. In this paper, we propose a plurilingual communicative approach to English teaching as a foreign language, making a distinction between languages for communication and languages for identification. This research examines the current teaching policies in the participating countries, and analyses cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perspectives in English language teaching while promoting the positive use of the mother tongue as a connecting tool in the students’ communication system. The subjects of this study were divided in control and experimental groups, in which they received traditional and plurilingual approach respectively. After the classes they completed a test and were then supplied with a Likert scale questionnaire focused on understanding their attitude and motivation towards mother tongue and English language learning. Based on observation and results obtained, we can conclude that a plurilingual approach that uses L1 as a tool in English teaching improves English learning, as well as develops an ecological understanding of languages.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lee Pui Weng ◽  
Melor Md Yunus ◽  
Mohamed Amin Bin Embi

Research on language learning strategies in Malaysia has been carried out extensively since mid 1990s. However, these studies have not covered the language learning strategies among native pupils in suburban primary school in Mukah, Sarawak. The main objective of the study was to identify the language learning strategies used by English as Second Language (ESL) learners. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire with 20 outstanding Year 5 ESL Iban learners in one of the suburban schools in Mukah, Sarawak. The instrument used in this study include a Language Strategy Use Questionnaire adapted from Language Strategy Use Inventory by Cohen, Oxford and Chi (2002). The adapted version of Language Strategy Use Questionnaire consists of 60 statements concerning the four major English language skills, namely listening, speaking and reading as well as acquisition of vocabulary and grammar. Data was analyzed through mean, frequency, percentage and standard deviation. The findings revealed that these learners were moderate users of listening, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary strategies and low users of speaking strategies. There were variations in responses with regard to the use of language learning strategies among primary school learners. The pedagogical implications of the findings are also discussed. 


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