The implications of the Shape Paper for languages, teaching and learning

Association of French Teachers of Victoria Melbourne, 23 July 2011

Angela Scarino Research Centre for Languages and Cultures University of South Australia Email: [email protected]

Outline

Reprise Examples Example 1 Example 2 Discussion Implications for teaching, learning and assessment – French Implications for curriculum development – French 2

Reprise - 1

View of language

Language as word; structural, grammatical system; code  language as social practice  elaborate, social practice to highlight not just the act or the practice itself, but people and their interpretation and meaning making participants in a practice  reciprocal process of interpretation of the language and the person

View of culture

culture as facts; artefacts; information  culture as social practices; ways of doing things in diverse cultures  elaborate to highlight not just diverse practices; but culture as the lens through which people mutually interpret and communicate meaning

View of learning

acquisition of new knowledge  participation in use of knowledge  elaborate to highlight how learning, as making sense or coming to understand involves becoming aware of how learners themselves interpret knowledge through their language and culture * Reciprocal exchange of meanings across languages and cultures in communicating and learning to communicate, better and better; return to self as language user and language learner.

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Reprise - 2

Aims : communicating in the target language understanding language, culture and their relationship and developing an intercultural capability self-awareness: understanding self as a communicator The strands : communicating:using language for communicative purposes understanding: analysing language as a resource for making meaning reciprocating: interpreting self in relation to others as language users (a return to self) and as language learners 4

Example 1 – Year 5 French: La cantine

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Discussion

Themes:

• • • • expanding goals expanding interaction/experience     understanding concepts recognition of diverse perspectives processes: noticing, comparing, deciding, questioning, connecting, etc.

reflecting expanding ‘evidence’ of learning meaningful resources 10

Expanding language learning

Multicultural unit (Year 10/11 French) • • • • • Joe Van Dalen, 2008 The students Interactions Texts/data as ‘inputs’ for exploration Issues: explosion des banlieues

le port du foulard

• The journal reflection (See Handout) 11

An example

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Discussion

Themes: • • • • • • • honour the learners the nature of interactions/discussion questioning exploring assumptions (own and others) exploring variability abstracting and making connections return to self as language users and language learners 13

Discussion: Joe’s reflection – the next bit….

“For me personally, the responses that I got from the variety of students who I have in the class, you know, from the African boy saying… to this Nigerian girl in France: “You must obey your father. You must follow your traditions, that’s just the way it is’. You know, without them also saying: well, perhaps that’s the sort of way I was brought up… Couldn’t get it out of them. So I really found overall, that the next bit, was the hardest for students to get to. Even though the students were very articulate … but no-one said: You know, I think this way because culturally that is how I was brought up”.

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Interactions and experience

In interactions, students explore their own ideas, interpretations and reactions as they encounter the ideas, interpretations and reactions of others. Learning involves: • • • • • • • using language as a starting point for interaction to generate ideas, interpretation and responses seeking opinions and the reasoning behind them probing responses to elaborate deeper and more complex understandings drawing out, analysing and building on personal experiences eliciting variability in contributions, and engaging with the diversity found as a resource for further investigation engaging in open dialogues between participants in which all have opportunities to explore their own perceptions and understandings developing language abilities to meet interactional needs rather than limiting, interactional opportunities to current language capabilities.

(Scarino & Liddicoat 2009) 15

Expanding: tasks

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interactions and experience

Learners: • • • interpret and create meaning in vivo in interaction with others interpret another linguistic and cultural system that is not their own, while referencing it to their own interpret the experience of communication and learning, through processes of reflection Consider: • • • • the nature of interaction and experience the nature of “moving between” languages and cultures the nature of ideas and practices students consider, relative to the perspectives of others the nature of reflections 16

Implications for teaching, learning and assessment - French

• • • • • learner engagement as self, relative to others; attend to interpretations of others teacher invites noticing, comparing, inter-textual/inter experiential connections; problematising; reflection teacher draws on learners’ emotions, not just their cognition (Kramsch 2009) need to re-think processes of eliciting learning and evidence of learning teachers/learners need to “resource” themselves   teaching, learning, assessing for meaning using language for communication is understanding and self understanding  learning itself as interpretive 17

Implications for curriculum development - French

• • What is it that is ‘specific’ in teaching and learning specific languages?

Consider:

Language communities

: languages are practised by communities of speakers whose identity is defined by their language – which communities, which identities for French? (see Garcia 2005)

Learners

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Learning

: the profile of learners learning the specific language (i.e. French) in Australia here and now linguistic and cultural ‘distance’ of the specific language for Australian learners: the concept of

Schwerpunkte History

: the history of the specific language in Australian education: how has it been framed? What is the impact of this framing?

Language

: distinctiveness of concepts, grammar, etc.

 Considering the learning of a particular language from the learners’ point of view

Implications for teachers of French:

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need to conceptualise what it is that is specific

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consider the learning of French from the students’ points of view imagine ways of bridging: the individual, Australian, French in the world

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The specificity of French

• • • • • Some aspects: • culture embedded in language • language and culture in use in interaction (register, politeness) language and culture in diverse contexts of use: choices language and culture in history and memory la francophonie range: from high culture to popular culture etc, etc.

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Questions / discussion

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Never just about language

For many, perhaps most, people who undertaken to learn an additional language, what is at stake is not only the odds that they succeed in acquiring the second language or even that they succeed in acquiring the literacy and professional competencies that they desire for themselves or that they may need to function in society. For many, perhaps most additional language learners, it is about succeeding in attaining material, symbolic and affective returns that they desire for themselves. It is also about being considered by others as worthy social beings. If this is so, then we must conclude that people who undertake to learn an additional language are engaged in changing their worlds. We can say, in this sense, that L2 learning is always transformative (Ortega, 2009:250).

 for L2 learners from minority groups to empower themselves and contest marginalisation through and in L2 learning  for L2 learners from majority groups to empower themselves and critically interrogate normative discourses also through and in L2 learning 21

References

Halliday, M.A.K. (1993). Towards a language-based theory of learning. Linguistics and Education. 4, 93-116.

Gadamer, H-G. (1976) Philosophical hermeneutics. D. E. Linge (editor and translator). Berkeley: University of California Press. Kramsch, C. (2003). (Ed) Language acquisition and language socialization: Ecological perspectives. New York. Continuum.

Ortega, L. (2009). Understanding second language acquisition. London. Hodder Education.

Scarino, A. & Liddicoat, A.J. (2009) Language Teaching and Learning: A Guide. Melbourne. Curriculum Corporation.

Shohamy, E. (2006). Language policy. Hidden agendas and new approaches. London & New York. Routledge.

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