Key Findings: Languages in Primary Education | Language Rich ...

Language Rich Europe research provides a rich source of cross-national insights into multilingualism across the education sectors. You can browse all the national/regional profiles or simply focus on primary education by reading on:

ORGANISATION

• According?to both the EU and CoE, all young European?children should learn two languages in addition to the?national language(s) of the country in which they reside.
• In primary education,?apart from Italy and Ukraine, all?countries/regions offer extra support for newcomers?in learning the national language.
• Apart from Wales, all countries/regions report foreign?language provision in primary education. Denmark and?Greece make two foreign languages compulsory, while?18 countries/regions have one compulsory foreign?language. In England, Northern Ireland and Scotland,?foreign languages are optional.
• Foreign languages are taught from the first year of primary?in 12 of the countries surveyed, from the mid-phase in?seven, and from the final phase only in the Netherlands,?Scotland and Switzerland.
• English, French and German emerge as the most commonly?taught foreign languages. In many cases, one of these?languages is the compulsory subject to be studied by all?pupils. Italian, Russian and Spanish are other languages?offered either as compulsory or optional foreign languages.
• Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is?widespread for foreign languages only in Spain, while this?approach is being used in 13 other countries/regions,?although not systematically.
• Seven countries/regions report using the Common?European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)?explicitly in foreign language learning, although more?may base their national/regional standards on its principles?and approaches. A1/A2 is the CEFR target for this age group?of foreign language learning.
• Apart from Denmark and Estonia, Regional/Minority languages are offered?in 22 countries/regions. R/M language classes and lessons?in other subjects taught through R/M languages are open?to all pupils irrespective of language background in 20?countries/regions, although Bulgaria and Greece only target?native speakers of these languages. The offer is rich in a?number of countries/regions, with Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary,?Italy, Lithuania, Romania and Ukraine offering four or more?R/M languages either as subjects or, in the majority of cases,?as a medium of instruction. Twelve countries/regions report?widespread CLIL, with another six reporting it in some areas.
• Only five countries/regions report offering immigrant?languages at primary level. These are Austria, Denmark,?France, Spain and Switzerland (in the canton of Zurich).?In France and Switzerland, immigrant language classes?are open to all pupils, while in Austria, Denmark and?Spain they are reserved for native speakers of immigrant?languages. Spain and Switzerland offer lessons partly?in school hours, whereas in the other countries they?are offered as extra-curricular activities. Achievement?in immigrant languages is not linked to any national, regional?or school-based standards, although the development?of language skills is monitored in all countries. Lessons in?immigrant languages are fully funded by the state in Austria?and Denmark, whereas in France, Spain and Switzerland?they are mainly supported by the country of origin.

TEACHING

• In primary education qualified language teachers are?employed to teach languages as follows in the countries/?regions surveyed: 16 out of 24 in the national language,?17 out of 22 in R/M languages, 14 out of 23 in foreign?languages, and two out of five in immigrant languages.?In Austria, England, France, Italy, Netherlands, Northern?Ireland, Scotland and Switzerland, foreign languages are?taught by generally qualified classroom teachers. Pre-service?and in-service training is widespread in most?countries/regions except for immigrant languages.
• A clear area for development in foreign language teaching?is teacher mobility: nine countries/regions out of 24 report?having no support at all in this area, and only Catalonia and?Switzerland report structured teacher mobility programmes.?More should be done to stimulate language teachers to?spend more time in the country of the language they?are teaching to acquire higher level linguistic and?cultural competencies.
• A number of countries/regions are taking active measures?to increase the supply of language teachers. Basque?Country, Denmark, Estonia and Switzerland are recruiting?national language teachers. Bulgaria, Denmark, England,?Friesland, Hungary, Lithuania and Ukraine are recruiting extra?foreign language teachers. Basque Country, Bosnia and?Herzegovina, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain and?Ukraine are recruiting R/M language teachers. None of the?countries/regions surveyed are actively recruiting immigrant?language teachers.

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Source: http://languagerichblog.eu/2012/12/19/key-findings-languages-in-primary-education/

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