A Plurilingual Portfolio Project for secondary school and research in Luxembourg

Marie-Anne Hansen-PaulyUniversity of Luxembourg

“Researching Multilingually”Durham University 28th-29th March 2012

“How can we tell the dancer from the dance?”

Claire Kramsch / W.B. Yeats, “Among Schoolchildren”

Researching multilingually about multilingual and plurilingual practices in school contexts

Multilingual refers to Several languages involved: plurilingual learners and researchers Situations in which they are used People who use several languages (plurilingual learners/ teachers) Works of reference for the research

Multilingually Involving several languages in the research process/ development

project with its outcomes

Outline

Situating the project - Luxembourg Multilingual curricula for plurilingual learners/ teachers Project motivation

Getting started : project development Comparing perspectives Choosing a tool for learning AND research Driving questions

Implementing the project Negotiating and clarifying the concepts: Developing a “third space” for multilingual approach

Final report and outcomes Analysing the data Disseminating results Questions for future research

MULTILINGUAL COUNTRY:

History and statisticsLanguages and education

Multilingual curricula/ plurilingual learners

Situating the project

Some historical facts about languages in Luxembourg

For many centuries a trilingual country: Luxembourgish – Lëtzebuergesch, the spoken idiom of

all French, the language of legislation, administration,

and more recently the lingua franca of immigrants from southern Europe as well as the language of commuters

German, langue d’alphabétisationSince the 19th century, both German and French

have been school languages for all pupils1984 – this trilingualism was formally recognised

in a law

“A Language Friendly School ?”

All students learn languages French, German, English – as compulsory languages/ languages as

subjects Italian, Spanish, … as optional languages

All students use second/ foreign languages to learn other subjects

All teachers teach through a second/ foreign language

Students bring in a multitude of first languages – not taught/ used at school

Année 1981 1991 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Population

Population totale (x1000) 364,6 384,4 439,5 444,1 448,3 455,0 461,2 469,1 476,2 483,8 493,5 502,1 511,8

dont: Femmes 186,7 196,1 223,0 225,2 227,3 230,3 233,1 237,0 240,4 244,2 248,7 252,7 257,2

Luxembourgeois 268,8 271,4 277,2 277,3 277,6 277,2 277,5 277,8 277,9 277,9 278,0 285,7 290,5

Étrangers (x1000) 95,8 113,0 162,3 166,7 170,7 177,8 183,7 191,3 198,3 205,9 215,5 216,4 221,3

dont: - Portugais 29,3 39,1 58,7 59,8 61,4 64,9 67,8 70,8 73,7 76,6 80,0 79,8 81,3

- I taliens 22,3 19,5 19,0 19,1 19,0 19,0 19,0 19,1 19,1 19,1 19,4 18,2 17,7

- Français 11,9 13,0 20,0 20,9 21,6 22,2 23,1 24,1 25,2 26,6 28,5 29,7 31,0

- Belges 7,9 10,1 14,8 15,4 15,9 16,2 16,3 16,5 16,5 16,5 16,7 16,7 17,0

- Allemands 8,9 8,8 10,1 10,1 10,2 10,5 10,8 10,9 11,3 11,6 12,0 12,0 12,1

- Britanniques 2,0 3,2 4,3 4,5 4,7 4,7 4,7 4,8 4,9 5,0 5,3 5,5 5,6

- Néerlandais 2,9 3,5 3,7 3,6 3,6 3,6 3,7 3,7 3,8 3,8 3,9 3,9 3,8

- Autres UE 10,6 6,6 9,2 9,7 9,7 10,3 12,4 14,5 16,5 17,9 19,5 20,5 21,7

- Autres … 9,2 22,5 23,5 24,6 26,4 25,9 26,9 27,3 28,8 30,2 30,1 31,1

Étrangers en % 26,3 29,4 36,9 37,5 38,1 39,1 39,8 40,8 41,6 42,6 43,7 43,1 43,2

Demographic details

Examples of secondary students’ syllabus/ language of

instructionValérie, aged 14speaks L and some

F at home 3rd year of SE

Maths French

History German

Biology German

Geography German

PE Lëtzebuergesch

Arts German French

Religious Ed. German French

Latin French

French French

German German

English English

Valérie’s weekly schedule 9th grade – Secondary 5 è

Time of exposure to various languages

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1 French English History Biology French2 Latin PE Latin French Geography

3 Maths Maths German PE Latin4 Geography Art & Design English Ethics English5 Ethics Maths6 German French Maths7 German History French Latin German

Tom’s weekly schedule 10th grade – Secondary 4e

Time of exposure to various languages

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1 Maths German French PE French

2 Moral Ed. Chemistry Maths German Biology

3 PE Art&Design English Chemistry English

4 History Biology English French Geography

5 English Maths Geography French Art&Design

6 German French History Maths German

A word about language and non-language teachers

Graduates from various countries

Good language competences

Curricula developed in Luxembourg/ resources from abroad

Learner and teacher

perspectives

CLIL

Learning, using and acquiring several languages

Development of inter- and transcultural competences through experiences of texts/ literature

Research interests in learning and teaching processes

Events triggering the idea for the project

2001 : Eu Year of languages: CEFR ...ELP national versions in many countriesNational educational language policies in Lux

2005-EU presidency: Multilingual Classroom Growing awareness of CEFR CoE Profile of educational language policies: more

cooperation recommended

University of Luxembourg (2003): multilingual Research unit: LCMI (Language, Culture, Media,

Identity)

Driving questions for our research

Focus on language learners Compare teaching traditions and methodology Explore teachers’ cultural identities

Do teachers follow an L1 or an L2 / foreign language approach?

How can awareness of common concerns be raised?

What cooperation between language teachers could help learners?

COMPARING PERSPECTIVES

University teamCooperation with language teachers (Lycée Classique

Diekirch)CHOOSING A TOOL FOR LEARNING AND RESEARCH

Getting started : project negotiation

University Team

4 common languages/ different levels or areas of academic expertise

Luxembourgish as first language plus German, French, English at varying levels of competence

All involved in teacher educationAlso coordinated a European project : CLIL

across Contexts: A scaffolding framework for teacher education (2006-2009)

The team as matrix for the work

• Dany• M-A

• Vic• Guy

FRENCH GERMAN

GERMAN

ENGLISH

Lëtzebuergesch

Preliminary work

Negotiating our understanding of key concepts through common background reading in 3 languages

Community of practice, Activity theory, ... Language use rather than knowledge about the language

Documents of the Council of Europe and theoretical underpinnings Social constructivism :

Kersten Reich; Philippe Jonnnaert; Mary Larochelle , Socio-cultural theory:

J.P. Lantolf ... Language biographies “third culture” Claire Kramsch, ...

Examples of “problem” terminology requiring some negotiation

German words: Didaktik HOU – handlungsorientierter Unterricht

English words : Skill Assessment TBL

French words: Compétence Évaluation autonomie

Decision

Initiate a research/ development project that would focus on all learners’ (school) languages

2 possibilities: Separate studies, with each a focus on ONE language; diachronic

appraoch

Common project with a focus on new, integrated perspectives, as suggested by CEFR and ELP ; synchronic approach

Work with a common tool : a language portfolio

find a school where some language teachers are ready to work together and cooperate with the university

Whole team

University team

Student teacher

s

Learners

Teachers

Home languages

Several functions for the portfolio

For teachers: Allows implementing recommendations of CoE and Ministry of

Education: development and evaluation of language skills and of cultural competences

Fosters innovative practices with a focus on skills Can be a tool for differentiation, constructive feedback

For learners: Is an instrument for growing autonomy and self-reflection Strengthens learning strategies in all languages

For researchers: Provides data on learning and teaching processes in 3-4

languages An artifact for mediation between communities A mirror of plurilingual learning

Plurilingual portfolio

Dialogic and interdisciplinary approachResearchers and project participants are

interacting communities of practiceProjects and changes can be monitored

according to principles of activity theoryA person’s languages should be conceived as

one dynamic and integrated system (multilingual mind)

The learners’ environment is crucial for language development (ecological perspective)

• NEGOTIATING AND CLARIFYING CONCEPTS

• DEVELOPING A “THIRD SPACE” FOR MULTILINGUAL APPROACH

Implementing the project

Project organisation

3 years at different levelsRegular meetings with language teachers of the

same class: to listen and ask questions about current practices to observe lessons

Provide some input on skills/ competence-based language learning

Foster exchanges and cooperation between teachers

Propose activities around the common portfolio

Concepts of Portfolio

Starting with the EU model : ELP/ PEL/ ESP: reluctance and scepticism, as too much focus on can-do statements, and functional L2 language

German models of portfolios, eg Themenportfolio More complex, content-based approach , more appropriate for L1 approach focus on creativity

Ilse Brunner, Felix Winter French/ Canadian models of portfolios: du concept de

compétence à l’évaluation des apprentissages (process-oriented); practical details Georgette Goupil et Guy Lusignan

English/ American models of portfolios: standard-based; Multiple -Intelligences Carol Rolheiser et al.

= Preference for models in one’s “own” language , with a concern for cultural issues and cultures of learning; some

cross consultaion

Agreement on key principles

Focus on use of language, situated learning, task based learning

Accept a common negotiated framework of reference for the 3 languages: 4/5 basic language skills

Include cultural elements or work on more literary texts

Allow for some learner autonomyEncourage goal setting and self-evaluationFocus on process to provide formative feedback

On other points no complete agreement could be found, in particular in relation to formal, summative assessment practices.

Points of discussion

Creativity and product oriented?Tool for remediation?Portfolio structure?Choice of documents: ... ?Inclusion of Luxembourgish?Integration in regular lessons or separate times for

pf?Common portfolio/ folder for all languages?Language biography? In what language?Project duration?

“Third space”

Conceive the classroom and the portfolio as spaces integrating different cultural and language components

E.g.:Learners who are familiar with texts in German, French ..., and who have their own cultural experiences will integrate these elements into their construction of meaning when reading a text in English or ...

• Analysing the data• Disseminating results• Questions for future research

Final report and outcomes

Analysing the data

Learners’ productions as inserted in the portfolio

Oral presentations of portfolios with comments of self-evaluation

Interviews with learnersPosters on portfolio experience

Teacher questionnairesStudent teachers’ reports of their portfolio

experiences

What do the portfolios developed by teachers/ students tell us about the processes of

language acquisition and multilingualism?

What we looked at to assess multilingual learning The use of a language biography References to learners’ L1 Common structure of portfolio presentations for all

languages Shared grids of (self-)evaluation Assessment practices Language learning strategies / awareness of similarities Examples of mediation

Visibility of (common) teaching methodology

Conclusions

A portfolio of plurilingual learners must be more than the addition of separate monolingual language portfolios

Space for integrated , intedisciplinary/ multilingual products

Space for common reflections on shared checklists

Space for separate culturally determined products and personal comments from a plurilingual perspective

Space for learners’ creativity and personal interests Shared responsibility of language teachers – provide slots

in the curriculum (timetable)

Questions of multilingually researching team

Separate, expert reports or global appreciation? E.g.: Can an expert of German analyse the English

components of a portfolio?

What language(s) for dissemination? Bilingual presentations? Slides in one language and oral

comments in another? Publication? –Multilingual publishers? Translations?!

Role of a common language – but which one?