Intergovernmental conference Strasbourg, 14 – 15 October 2015
Language Policy Unit - DG II
Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France www.coe.int/lang
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PRESENTATION OF
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
DGII – Directorate General of Democracy
Council of Europe, 2015
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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
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Council of Europe Project: „Language(s) in Education - Language(s) for Education“
The learner and the languages present in school
LANGUAGE(S) OF
SCHOOLING
Regional, minority and migration languages
Foreign languages – modern and classical
Language as a subject
Language(s) in other subjects
See: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/langeduc/BoxD2-OtherSub_en.asp#s6
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• Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers concerning modern languages (R 98-6): it defines intercultural communication and plurilingualism as essential policy goals
• Language Education Policy Profiles
• Guide for the development of language education policies in
Europe; “From linguistic diversity to plurilingual education…”;
Beacco & Byram 2007).
• Focus: Question of equity and quality in education(e.g. equality in access to education/the right to education for all/the role of education for social inclusion and cohesion)
• Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for
a plurilingual and intercultural education (2010; 2 nd 2015)
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HELMUT VOLLMER
Language Policy Unit - DG II
Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France

GOALS OF THE HANDBOOK: TO DEMONSTRATE
1) that school can be deeply enjoyable and effective and a powerful place to learn if certain conditions are met,
2) that each and every learner can reach a deep level of understanding and of maneuvering of concepts and their relationship within each subject in school,
3) that subject learning involves thinking, communicating and collaboration
(collaborative problem solving), based on appropriate language competences;
SO WE HAD and HAVE TO
FIND OUT how language works within each subject community and their discourses
DESCRIBE subject-specific learning in more detail and especially the role of language as an inherent part of it
DISCOVER what the major challenges and obstacles in language use and language learning are for different groups in the different subjects
IDENTIFY in a positive sense what the different components of school success are in building up a sustainable knowledge base for life + participation as democratic citizens.
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• Thinking and language use are deeply connected!
• Thinking about content expresses itself in language: e.g. naming, linking, questioning, contradicting etc.
• Language always serves a cognitive or communicative function in acquiring content /subject-specific knowledge
• Thinking and verbalizing what one thinks are two sides of the same coin
• Learning about content means learning to think and manipulate the language to go with it: each cognitive process+ results express themselves in language (only)
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S UBJECT LITERACIES AND ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION , S TRASBOURG
1.
LANGUAGE
What do we have to consider when talking about language in the content classroom?
Language use in content classrooms=blend of different varieties
• 1. Basic Everyday/ Colloquial language
• 2. Curriculum Content Language
• 3. Essential Academic Language
• + School Navigational Language
Cf. Schleppegrell (2004), Bailey & Heritage (2008) - (Scarcella (2008)
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Which language do subject learners need – and how much of it?
1. Basic every-day /colloquial use
2. (Subject-specific) Curriculum content use
EXAMPLE 1: Continental Drift
Scientists of the early 20th century believed that oceans and continents were geographically fixed. They regarded the surface of the planet as a static skin spread over a molten , gradually cooling interior . Wegener.
3. Academic language use (dt.Bildungssprache): generative, transferable
Maths Geography
History Science Phys. Ed. Art L.a.S.
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2. Sample analysis passage: LANGUAGE DEMANDS
One of the prevailing scientific opinions is that there is simply not enough evidence to warrant a conclusion on the issue of global warming ; however, the scientific community is somewhat divided since one prominent scientist is convinced that the world is in a human-induced warming phase
(taken from article on April 17, 2008)
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„Academic“ language features found in the passage
1. Content-Specific Vocabulary
Example : “global warming” in science
2. General/Essential Academic Vocabulary
Example : „prevailing or “warrant” in language arts, science, social studies, other content areas
+
3. Grammatical Structures
Example: long and complex noun/prepositional phrases such as
“a conclusion on the issue of global warming”
+
4. Academic Language Functions/Discourse Functions
Example: describe, compare/contrast („however“), persuade (will follow)
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Table 1 : “ Academic” language use: Features and Functions
Some characteristic features of academic language
Some major functions of academic language use
In contrast to colloquial informal language: higher frequency of longer complex sentences, impersonal statements and passive voice, abstract terms, nominalisations, complex compound words, particular figurative expressions and lexical or set phrases
(e.g. 'crux of the matter', 'point of view'), clarity of expression and low redundancy, condensed texts and complex messages… communicate complex facts, contexts and arguments, support higher-order thinking, abstraction and concept formation, establish coherence of ideas, avoid personal involvement, facilitate comprehension for distant 'audiences', support arguments with evidence, conveys nuances of meaning, modalizing statements through 'boosting' or
'hedging' etc.…
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Examples of Subject-Specific vs. General Academic Language Use in
Different Content Areas
Content-/Subject-specific language General academic words and phrases
Language as Subject Imagery, alliteration, theme, metaphor, plot
Stylistic devices
This expression is ambiguous
That is, implied, contains, leads us to believe, teaches a message
Therefore, as a result, consequently, consist of, on the assumption that…
History Revolution, emancipation, right, oligarchy
To stand up for one’s own right, usurp power
Rights and obligations
If …then, end up with, derive, take care of, thus, suppose, prove, confirm
Math
Hypothesis, variable, infer, results, dependent (on) Reciprocal, balance, proof, hypotenuse, obtuse, matrix
The curve is (sharply) rising
/falling
To increase , to decrease, to stay even or to even out
Science Mitosis, gravity, force, sublimation
Global warming
Table 2: Distinction between Content Language and General Academic Language Use
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1. + FUNCTIONS LIKE DESCRIBING OR EXPLAINING (cf. Table 3, Slide 17):
- observations related to an object (e.g. swimming wood: features, behaviours, interactions with water
- Checking materials + tools for an experiment
- Listing/naming different steps of an experiment
- Formulating an assumption, a speculation, a hypothesis
2. + GENRES/TYPES OF TEXT/LARGER INFORMATION UNITS, cf.Slide 18-20
Presentation of knowledge depends on its textual embedding+purpose
The „language“ of science includes to handle other semiotic means of expression/meaning making / representation (like diagrams, graphs)
We want students to be able to link what they learn in school to life
(personal, public, professional)
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Table 3: List of basic Cognitive-Linguistic Functions underlying cogn./comm. intentions
Dalton-Puffer 2013, simplified/Vollmer 2015)
Function Type
CLF 1 – Naming/Labelling
Cognitive /Communicative Intention
I tell you what we (could) call a certain object/thing (if we agree/according to convention)
CLF 1a – C LASSIFYING
CLF 2 - D ESCRIBING
I tell you how we can cut up the world according to certain ideas
I tell you details of what can be seen (also metaphorically)
CLF 3 – D EFIN ING
CLF 4 - E XPLAINING
I tell you about the extension of this object of specialist knowledge
I give you reasons for and tell you cause/s of X
CLF 5 - R EPORTING /N ARRATING
CLF 6 - A RGUING
I tell you what I saw or think or what someone else said
I tell you about something external to our immediate context on which I have a legitimate knowledge claim
I represent a certain (point of) view or position as opposed to another one
CLF 7 - E VALUATING
CLF 8 –Simulating/Modelling
CLF 9 - E XPLORING
CLF 10 – Negotiating
CLF 10a - Reflecting
I tell you what my judgement is vis a vis X
I will consider or handle things as if they were (in) a certain way
I will link certain elements or ideas so to make sense of them
I tell you something that is potential
I have a certain observation or perception and suggest a certain perspective – hoping YOU will respond and bring in your own
I relate what we did so far to higher order considerations
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3. Analysis of Sample Tasks: Describing/Explaining
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Example 4. T HE ECOSYSTEM IN THE TROPICAL RAIN FOREST
Characterise the living conditions in the three layers of the tropical rain forest with the help of Figure 3. Start with the giant trees.
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BASIC LANGUAGE DIMENSIONS in SUBJECT EDUCATION
1. Topic-Specific vocabulary and expressions
2. Text types / Genres / Semiotics systems of meaning e.g. Description, Report, Stylistic Analysis, Summary ,Graph, Statistics, Experiment
Historical Account, Literary Appreciation, Aesthetic Evaluation (like in Arts)
3. Cognitive-linguistic functions / strategies
Naming , defining
Describing, portraying
Reporting, narrating
Explaining, clarifying
Assessing, judging Arguing, taking (up) a stance
Modelling, simulating
4. Academic Language Repertoires: Textual, Sentential, Lexical e.g. Linking Sentences=Cohesion, Compounding, Conjuctions etc.
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•
•
•
•
•
•
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1. Comprehending/Understanding in-depth (the meaning of an utterance, a text, a problem)
2. Producing,communicating and negotiating knowledge
3. Reflecting on the acquisitional process, the learning outcomes and their personal as well as social uses
4. Applying old/new knowledge to/within other contexts
5. Participating in subject-related social issues,in society
6. Transfering generalisable knowledge, skills, attitudes
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Source.:
Thürmann

• Language is NOT an addition to content
• Language constitutes knowledge, it is part of the content and thus of the knowledge itself
• Language is inscribed into the concepts, their relationship, into their learning and their use
• SO THE GOALS ARE
"Making language a part of every subject” or
„Building academic language abilities in and through different subjects “ (->Beacco )
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Subject Literacies, Knowledge Building and Participation:
TO QUALITY EDUCATION
FOR ALL
MERCI – THANKS
DANKE!
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