Arion Study Visit 2006 - Visit No: 05004,17
Title: Good practice in foreign language learning
GROUP REPORT
Members:
Constantin Popescu, Romania,
Harald Niden, Germany,
Etienne Micha, Belgium
Reka Vadasz, Romania,
Brigitte Gruson, France,
Ursula Christ, Germany,
Jolanta Smigiel,Poland
Martine Silhol,France
Louisa Cillero, Spain
The Report will cover the following items:
o Arrangement and organisation
o Learning foreign languages by using ICT
o Learning languages by working in a foreign country
o Learning languages in nursery schools
o Learning languages in primary schools
o Using multimedia to learn a foreign language
o General impressions about the places we visited
Arrangement and organisation
The theme of the Arion-visit 04, 17, GB was 'Good Practice in Modern Language Learning'.
It mainly referred to the teaching of French in East Ayrshire, but also comprised-to a lesser
degree- Spanish, German, Gaelic and Italian.
The Arion-group, consisting of six different nationalities quickly developped a harmonious way of dealing with the upcoming themes. Not only were e-mail and internet addresses and phone numbers exchanged but personal views on the different pedagogical topics in question were also subject to critical analysis and solutions found.
The organizers of the visit had put great emphasis on showing their international colleagues that ICT plays an essential role in fostering language teaching particularly on secondary school level in East Ayrshire.
These schools are well equipped with interactive whiteboards, computers and other media.
Their teachers use the material and the corresponding methods to motivate an increasing number of language learners.
Learning foreign languages by using ICT
A visit to CUMNOCK ACADEMY (22nd May 2006)
Presentation of the Activboard made by a very dynamic, enthusiastic young head of French department, Andrew McLelland:
- there are 20 Activboards in the school; they are connected to a desktop computer which can be found in every classroom; all the desktops are, in their turn, connected to the school network.
- The advantages of the device are many :
> A large pool of exercises comes along with the software when the board is installed, thus providing the teacher ready-made material, which can be adapted and transformed during the lessons , according to students´needs. The transformations or new documents used during the lessons can be saved and recorded for further uses. Thus, the teacher gains time and energy on preparing the lessons and be more attentive to students ´questions.
A visit to AUCHINLECK ACADEMY (23rd May 2006)
Presentation of the “Classroom of the future” by Christine White, a very devoted Head of French department :
- In Scotland, schools are overwhelmed with new laws and guidelines. Teachers feel they are crushed and overworked. Besides, enterprise and education are the key priorities. Consequently the school's motto is : BELIEVE AND YOU CAN ACHIEVE; French is easy you can manage it.
To encourage the students in this idea :
* vocabulary tests are given so that students can succeed
* when you succeed, your name is written on panels in the corridors
* the CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE is a major element of motivation :
- it is used once a fortnight
- there is competition between the various departments in the school to promote efficiency, achievement and raising students'confidence.
- students work on various exercises bought from an internet site; the exercises are mainly about grammar and vocabulary, concentration, listening; there are few oral exercises .
Our general impressions about the devices described above are the following ones:
- We must acknowledge the tremendous efforts of the authorities, schools and teachers who are willing to encourage the students to be motivated in learning a foreign language.
- The authorities have made a priority of language learning and practice, therefore they don't hesitate to invest a great amount of money in equipment and teacher's training.
- These devices are the best way to give every student an opportunity to be in contact with and practise a foreign language.
- However, we would have liked to attend a lesson implemented with the interactive board and the Classroom of the future, to see how the students' motivation is actually activated;
Moreover ,the question of the assessment of students' progress remains unanswered as no record of it seems to be kept.
Learning languages by working in a foreign country
Two sixteen-year-old students came to talk about their week work experience in JOUE-LES-TOURS (France)
The placement was found by their French partners ; the students worked in Primary schools and were very impressed by the following items :
- The fact they were actually able to work in a foreign country, and use the language;
- They also liked the contact with their French friends, their culture and way of living.
Our impression about this experience is extremely positive:
- It's the best way for youngsters to be confronted to another culture and to adapt to it, even though shortly.
- It's the only way to practice a language and benefit from it in the long term.
- Finally, “being mobile” is one of Europe's key words to suppress unemployment and it's one way of preparing youngsters to it.
- However, this type of experience is reserved to a limited number of students.
Learning languages in nursery schools
Flowerbank nursery school is located in an old house full of interesting, attractive play material and all the facilities needed. There are 32 children whose age ranges from 1-5 years. The nurses are helped by young girls trained on the job and a student teacher.
Crosshouse nursery is in a modern building with a lot of space and a playground outside. About 40 children attend this nursery. An assistant teacher from Spain supports the teaching programme.
The program of the nursery starts about 8 clock and finish around 18 clocks.
The pupils of both schools are organised in small groups. They use lots of visual and audio material and practical techniques to make music, play games and learn new words.
At Flowerbank the pupils have reached a relatively high level of French. They perform a sketch by heart enjoying themselves and the interaction, which has been made possible by the enthusiastic and very committed staff that invest a lot of time, energy and patience to make the children advance.
Flowerbank nursery in particular shows in an impressive way that it is not only possible but also a good idea to make children start learning a foreign language at a very early age.
At both primary and secondary schools there is time in the evening and at weekend to perform extracurricular activities.
Learning languages in primary schools
Primary education is divided into seven years, P1 to P7. Children start at the age of five and end when they are 11 or 12. Foreign languages are compulsory from the age of 10 when pupils are in P6. French and German are mostly taught in Primary. Only one school offers Gaelic to keep the language alive. Woodstock Centre, the local authority, provides resources and a ready-made curriculum and offers training sessions. The approach used to teach is mainly based on playing games, singing and acting. The key word is certainly motivation and having fun.
o Motivating the children to speak foreign languages is an important issue because most children don't feel they have to learn a foreign language because English is spoken all over the word.
o Teaching a foreign language is a way of raising the awareness of the students that they are members of the European Community and of showing them the opportunities the Community offers.
o Teaching Gaelic is one way of showing them their cultural heritage.
Our visits to two primary schools showed us that these objectives are met. Nevertheless we noticed some problems:
o The lack of trained teachers
o Too long teaching sessions
o The late start of foreign language teaching
Reviving ancient languages
Because Scotland is such a rich melting pot of peoples who invaded it, settled on its territory and influenced its history, preventing ancient languages from dying appears as a priority. Scot and Gaelic are revived in some nursery and primary schools and Ayrshire is the only county to do it. Jean Nisbet and Stuart Wilson gave us a smattering of these two languages , stressing how important their practice can be to broaden the children's minds, thus preparing them to learn foreign tongues.
Thanks to Stuart Wilson who copied and read for us a poem by Robert Burns (To a mouse), we now can better understand that poet's immense role in the forming of a national spirit that enhances Scotland's place in Europe.
Using multimedia to learn foreign languages
Project : Partners in Excellence, “PiE”, website: www.pie.org.uk
Partners in Excellence is a virtual centre of excellence for languages coming from collaboration between three educational authorities.
Partners in Learning - is a Microsoft education investment initiative, delivered in Scotland as a partnership between the Qualifications Authority and Microsoft, and guided by an Advisory Council with representative from Learning and Teaching Scotland, HM Inspectorate of Education, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and others.
Their aims are:
- to raise the level of all modern language students
- to increase the number of students who learn foreign languages
- to develop an appropriate learning environment using ICT
- to build a community of language learners and teachers
Activities:
1. Film making weekends
- PiE has pioneered the use of film-making as an activity to motivate language learners . Students do everything in groups : on Friday they start with the planning and write the script, then on Saturday they learn the technique how to use the cameras and on Sunday they make the films, edit and watch them.
- This gives them the opportunity to practise their skills in innovative and engaging contexts.
- The activities allow them to develop their confidence and proficiency in a foreign language, their social skills and creativity.
- The culmination of this activity is the annual Film Festival which brings together the PiE community with its partners abroad to celebrate language learning and creativity.
2. Language Zone “www.languagezone.org”
- an online learning environment specially created for both students and staff.
- password protected
- offers formal and informal learning
- opened 24 hours a day
- among others the website offers: new audio technology through podcast (downloadable radio programme), which provides information, news and learning on a regular basis; and verbcast, which makes grammar easier for foreign language learners.
We were positively impressed by:
- the enthusiasm of the students involved in the project (they are very proud to wear the purple bracelets of PiE “What is learnt with fun is never forgotten.”)
- the enthusiasm of the whole leadership team
- the full support of the authorities on regional level (e.g. East and North Ayrshire)
- the professional manner in which the Film Festival is organized (“Oscar” statuettes, formal dress, red carpet, special guests from abroad, Scottish TV coverage, etc.)
- the “professional” quality of the films (musical background, animation, etc.)
We wonder if it is possible to set up such a project in our countries. The obstacles we could meet are: cost, teachers' knowledge of using ICT, collaboration between different authorities, support of the community (parents, teachers, students), convince the volunteers to work in their free time.
General impressions and social events
On the very first day of this Arion study visit, we realised ,whilst listening to our colleagues from six different countries presenting their educational system, that there weren't so many discrepancies :
- same grades from Nursery to Primary and Secondary schools, same cycles too;
- more or less the same types of exams and certificates at the end of each cycle.
We also seem to meet the same difficulties :
- recruiting new teachers and training them;
- teaching too large groups (over 25 pupils in most cases) with uneven levels of skills and achievement in foreign language learning;
- dealing with children who haven't had the same opportunities of learning a foreign language in Primary schools.
We felt that , through goodwill and cooperation , things could and will change in Europe in terms of education.
As regards social events, during our stay, we visited several places such as Glasgow and Culzean castle. On Tuesday we attended the 11th Showcase at the Palace theatre in Kilmanock. We watched four primary schools and one secondary school delivering various performances. Among those, we enjoyed watching children wearing Scottish traditional dress, reciting poetry of the national poet Robert Burns and performing a small “ceilidh”, a Scottish evening of dance. We greatly appreciated this true flavour of Scotland.
On Wednesday, we were invited by the team in charge of the visit to an informal Scottish-Themed dinner. For us, it was an opportunity to taste typical Scottish food ; it was delicious. Besides, we saw our hosts, Brian and Stuart, wearing the kilt and the whole regalia. But, unfortunately, we were not allowed to look under the kilts.
The cultural programme as a whole was wonderfully organized. It really gave us the feeling that we were mostly welcome and the opportunity of discovering the Scottish way of life. We are very grateful to the whole team, it has been an unforgettable experience for all of us.
We would like to thank Jean Nisbet and her team ( Stuart Wilson, Kay Mcmeekin, Pam Kavanagh, Geoff Miles, Brian Green and Chrissie) for their help, their warmth, their kindness and their availability to us during our stay. They all made of this visit a very special occasion. So our thanks to them again.
