1 - Council of Europe

THE LANGUAGE DIMENSION IN ALL SUBJECTS

A Handbook for curriculum development and teacher training
Language Policy Unit
DGII - Directorate General of Democracy
Council of Europe, 2015 www.coe.int/lang
THE LANGUAGE DIMENSION IN ALL SUBJECTS

A Handbook for Curriculum development and teacher training Jean-Claude Beacco Mike Fleming Francis Goullier Eike Thürmann Helmut Vollmer with contributions by Joseph Sheils
Language Policy Unit
Education Policy Division
Education Department
Directorate of Democratic Citizenship and Participation
DGII - Directorate General of Democracy
Council of Europe, 2015 www.coe.int/lang |French edition: |
|Les dimensions linguistiques de toutes les |
|matières scolaires. |
|Un Guide pour le développement de |
|curriculums et la formation |
|des enseignants |
| |
|© Council of Europe, 2015 |
| |
|This text was initially published for the |
|Conference on |
|The language dimension in all subjects: |
|equity and quality in education, held in |
|Strasbourg on 14-15 October 2015. |
| |
|An ISBN edition will be published in 2016. |
Preface
Mastery of the language of schooling is essential for developing in
learners those skills that are necessary for school success and for
critical thinking. It is fundamental for participation in democratic
societies, for social inclusion and cohesion. This Handbook is a valuable resource for education authorities and
practitioners in Council of Europe member states. It will help them to
reflect on their policy and practice in language education, and support
them in developing responses to the current challenges of education
systems. It has a strong practical orientation but it also embodies key principles
and values of the Council of Europe. It emerges directly from two recent
Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers. The Recommendation on
'ensuring quality education' emphasises the importance of preventing
underachievement and draws attention to the key role of language in
ensuring fairness in access to knowledge. The Recommendation on 'the
importance of competences in the language(s) of schooling for equity and
quality in education and for educational success' highlights the importance
of language not just as a separate subject in school but in all subjects
across the curriculum. The recommendations and proposed measures in the Handbook will support
education policy makers and professionals in their efforts to support
migrant children as well as native speakers who may be at a disadvantage,
and will contribute to raise the quality of education for all learners. I invite education policy deciders in our member states to raise the
awareness concerning the language dimension in all school subjects and to
support all professionals in charge of education in making this dimension
explicit and transparent in curricula and in the whole teaching process.
This will contribute to ensuring equity and quality in our education
systems. [pic]
Sne?ana Samard?i?-Markovi?
Director General of Democracy Contents Preface v Introduction 9 1. The language dimension in all subjects: an important issue for
quality and equity
in education 13 2. The role of language in the construction and application of knowledge
21 3. Forms of classroom communication and the acquisition of subject-
specific knowledge 33 4. Acquiring a command of academic expression 39 5. Language diversity, subject literacy and academic achievement 47 6. Building up a command of the language of schooling during primary
education 59 7. Language as Subject 67 8. Subject-specific language requirements in secondary education 77 9. Teaching Approaches 91 10. Curriculum development 101 11. The language dimension in initial teacher training and continuous
professional development 115 12. The quality of training regarding the linguistic dimensions of
subject-specific
teaching 123 Conclusion 129 APPENDICES 131 Table of Contents 159 Introduction
In April 2014 a Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council
of Europe drew attention to 'The importance of competences on the
language(s) of schooling for equity and quality in education and for
educational success' (Recommendation CM/Rec(2014)5[1]. One of the key
principles in the Recommendation highlights the importance of language not
just as a separate subject in school but in all subjects across the
curriculum. This is an aspect of language education that presents a
particular challenge for policy-makers and practitioners, since it requires
new insights and a whole-school, cross-curricular perspective. This
Handbook has been written, therefore, in order to support the
implementation of the principles and measures set out in the
Recommendation. It aims to show why language in all subjects is important,
and what the implications are for policy and practice. The Handbook builds on and enriches the work of the Language Unit's project
on 'language(s) of schooling' carried out under the aegis of the Steering
Committee for Educational Policy and Practice of the Council of Europe. The
Committee has recognized that the acquisition of competences in language is
an essential foundation both for success in school and for participation in
modern democratic and diverse knowledge societies. The languages(s) of
schooling project have sought to underpin that principle and explore its
practical implications with a series of seminars, conferences and
publications. A rich variety of studies and conference papers arising from
this work are available on the Platform of Resources and References for
Plurilingual and Intercultural Education[2]. However it was thought that a
Handbook that could stand as a publication in its own right would be a
useful addition. Each chapter contains a number of selected references
(with links in the electronic version) to those sections of the Platform
where particular issues are treated in greater depth. The Handbook is primarily addressed to those with responsibilities for
curriculum development, for the development of pedagogical material and for
teacher education, whether working at national or school level. It will
also be relevant for teachers who have a particular interest in deepening
their understanding of the importance of language. The Handbook has a
practical orientation but it is not a 'manual', in that it is not intended
as a 'how to do it' book with a recipe list of prescribed activities. It
does, however, seek to clarify the basic insights and principles underlying
the need for support for language education in all subjects. The
implementation of policy and practice related to language education
requires not just a mechanical application of rules but understanding and
awareness of what is appropriate in particular situations as determined by
the context. The intention, therefore, is to raise awareness and develop
understanding of the issues that have implications for practice and above
all to influence practice at national and school level. In order to enhance
the practical value of the Handbook, each chapter contains illustrative
material to exemplify the issues, and appendices have been included to
provide further material to aid reflection. The Handbook is not intended as
an academic text but it does offer some theoretical perspectives and an
underlying rationale. These are essential because the importance of
language in all subjects can easily be misinterpreted and met with
opposition if not fully understood. This is one of the challenges faced by
policy-makers. For example, the idea that language is important in all
subjects can easily be reduced to a focus on surface features of spelling
and grammar. While these are important, they represent only one aspect of
what language education entails. Subject teachers may argue that if they
focus on language this will be a distraction from their main responsibility
for teaching their subject. This line of argument tends to arise if the
implications of the relationship between language and cognition are not
fully recognised; attention to language in the subject classroom will not
only improve the pupils' competence in subject-based as well as general
language use, but will help deepen their understanding of the subject
matter and their wider learning in the subject. It is sometimes argued that
a focus on language in all subjects is important for higher attaining
pupils but less significant for those who are pursuing less academic goals.
This view underestimates both the role of language in all learning and the
importance of competence in language for full participation in a
democratic, knowledge society. By acquiring the language of a subject and
re