APPENDIX 1: Report: Minorities in Lithuanian ... - Conseil de l'Europe

|[pic] |[pic] | Language Education Policy Profile
2004-2006
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A Language Education Profile consists of a Profile and a National Report.
This Profile is the final stage of a three phase analysis of language
education policy in Lithuania: the production of a National Report by the
Lithuanian authorities, the production of an Experts' Report by an
international team from the Council of Europe, and the production of a
Profile jointly by the Council of Europe and the Lithuanian authorities. The Profile explains Council of Europe and Lithuania's policies on language
education, analyses the current situation, and discusses some directions
for future developments. It is supplemented by a study on Minorities in
Lithuanian Society and Schools. The Council of Europe perspective The value of a review informed by the Experts' Report is to bring to
existing planning and innovation a Council of Europe perspective. This can
be summarised as follows: . that all language education needs to be analysed and planned
holistically, to include mother tongue/first language(s)/(the
language(s) of education (used as media of instruction), minority
languages (both well established and recent) and foreign languages;
and that the aims of education include the promotion of the
plurilingualism of the individual; . that language education policy contributes to the inclusion of all
linguistic and cultural groups in a society, and that language
education policy is thus an aspect of social policy; from a national
perspective it promotes social inclusion and from an international
perspective it promotes interaction with other societies and their
members. The current situation in Lithuania . According to the last census, over 83% of inhabitants declared
themselves to be of Lithuanian nationality, about 6.6% Russian, 6.7%
Polish. The other significant minorities are Belarussians and
Ukrainians. With the exception of the Poles, the percentage of
minorities is tending to decrease. . The Lithuanian language has long been dominated by other languages
(Polish, Russian). Its recently regained full status as state
language, "basis of national and cultural identity", implies for the
Lithuanian authorities that it should be carefully protected,
developed, learned and taught as such. . In relation to the entry of Lithuania to the European Union, the
social demand for foreign languages, most of all English, has become
stronger. . In general the multilingual situation in Lithuania is not without
dynamic tensions, due to demographic and historical factors and to the
search for a just balance between the legitimate assertion of the
state language, the full recognition of minority languages, and the
growing demand for foreign languages. State language and the languages of national minorities . The State language is given special attention in different respects: o preservation of the language forms and recording of their
variations; o protection of the standard (a Language Commission has a role in
official language standardisation and regarding the correct use
of the standard); o development of the state language (for example: replacement of
loan words by Lithuanian words) . Some official voices express a concern that the state language might
be at risk if the rules regarding its use and correction are not
enforced and if the contact with other languages is a cause of
contamination. . At the same time there is an awareness that joining the European Union
and the focus on a knowledge society require an opening to foreign
languages as well as the development of the state language. . Multilingualism is thus perceived as a reality, a necessity and an
opportunity, but also as a potential threat to the Lithuanian
language, foundation of the national identity. . Lithuanian as a second language can be a sensitive issue in the
minority schools and there is a debate about o the level of proficiency of students in Lithuanian, o the possible use of Lithuanian to teach some subjects in the
last years of upper secondary minority schools, when "profiling"
takes place, o the kind of final examination for the Lithuanian language: same
as or different from the examination for majority schools'
students. . The number of students in Russian national minority schools has
decreased in the last few years, while increasing in Polish national
minority schools Foreign languages . In recent years modern foreign languages have seen important changes
in their defined contents and methods. Initial and in-service training
of teachers has not always followed the same fast pace and
implementation in the classrooms can of course be somewhat slower. . Taking a second foreign language is compulsory in general education
(from grades 6 to 10), while the first foreign language is compulsory
from grade 4 on. . Russian has up to now kept a strong position and the dominant pattern
is English as a first foreign language and Russian as a second foreign
language. This limits the diversification of language choices. . School textbooks have to be approved by official commissions. This
procedure can be used to speed up content and curricular reforms. . Since 2000 and 2002, the Ministry of Education and Science allows very
limited experiments in early foreign language learning (as of 2nd
grade) and in CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). The
State Language Commission is not very favourable to the extension of
such experiments, but an evolution is taking place. Main issues Although issues regarding the state language and the national minorities'
languages are more easily formulated, general questions affect directly or
indirectly all languages: . Initial and in-service training of language teachers: lack of fully
qualified teachers of English; difficult "requalification" of teachers
of Russian that are no longer needed; different forms of teacher
education within higher education itself. . Range of foreign languages taught and need for diversification: the
sharp increase in the demand for English has had effects on other
languages, notably romance languages; Polish is not taught outside the
national minority schools and languages from the other Baltic States
have no place in the school system. . The management of school exams and state exams: it is very
professionally organised but could be geared to ensure more
effectiveness concerning the implementation of change in the
educational sector. . Continuity and coherence in the curriculum: while state language,
minority languages and foreign languages are presented as separate
issues, they are clearly interrelated when it comes to the general
aims of language education as well as within the detailed organisation
of the school curriculum and with the approaches chosen. . Valorisation of the second foreign language: the main concern is that
the second foreign language is no longer compulsory beyond grade 10 in
nearly all branches of the general education schools and there is no
final assessment of the level attained. Possible future directions As a general comment, there is a need for a more systematic, data-informed
if not always data-driven approach to language planning. In all of the
areas concerned, there are some deficiencies in goal quantification and
assessment of policy outcomes. This of course is not specific to Lithuania. With regard to the national/official language . One can wonder if, since Lithuanian is now, by far, the dominant
language in Lithuania, it still has to be presented as endangered in
its position and very nature by other languages, be they minority,
neighbouring, international or foreign languages. . It might be important to review carefully the different types of
examinations for Lithuanian (national, State or second language) with
the purpose of perhaps bringing them closer together or making them
more harmonised, with regard to general structure, kinds of tasks and
description of levels. With regard to minority languages . It might be appropriate to review the recent laws and regulations
directly or indirectly relating to languages; so as to ensure that a
full harmonisation exists among them and that there is no gap or
diverging interpretation as far as minority languages are concerned. . The demand expressed by some important minorities that an examination
in the mother tongue be compulsory and not optional seems legitimate,
but a balanced solution has to be found since, as of now, not all
students choose to take this optional subject for their school or
State examination. . Just as bilingual teaching could have a more significant place in the
majority Lithuanian