Gudrun Ziegler

Multilingualism and the language education landscape: challenges for teacher training in Europe

Europe is at the forefront of the development of policies that promote multilingualism in its member states, both on the social and the institutional level, as well as plurilingualism on the individual level. As Europe faces the challenge of multilingual education and diversity on various and exceedingly heterogeneous levels with regard to plurilinguals’ realities, stakeholders and key decision-makers have developed visions of the situation of language teacher education and its structures. This paper presents these visions and provides insights from a recent critical evaluation of the policy instrument “European profile for language teacher education” (first published in 2004). Based on the study results obtained from a hundred decision-makers and language teacher trainers who participated in a European study on language teacher education, we discuss their perspectives relative to the current training infrastructure available in Europe. This study highlights key problematic issues, especially in light of the increasingly diverse student bodies, and highlights potential solutions for the European language context.AbstractL’Europe est connue pour sa politique qui promeut le multilinguisme sur différents plans, éducatif et professionnel. Cette étude présente les résultats d’une enquête critique récente qui interroge l’apport d’un instrument politico-éducatif intitulé “Profil européen pour la formation des enseignants de langues étrangères”, publié en 2004. Partant des résultats obtenus auprès d’une centaine de décideurs et de formateurs d’enseignants de langue, l’étude discute de leurs perspectives et visions face à la situation actuelle et des structures de formation d’enseignants de langue en Europe en place. Les objectifs d’une éducation face à la diversité et l’hétérogénéité croissante parmi les élèves se trouvent au centre des questionnements. Les résultats de l’étude indiquent les domaines à fort potentiel de risque pour l’éducation plurilingue. Les conséquences des résultats de l’enquête ainsi que les solutions possibles sont présentées en prenant l’Europe multilingue comme exemple.

Student-initiated use of multilingual resources in English-language classroom interaction: next-turn management

This paper investigates the use of multilingual resources by plurilingual participants in two English language classrooms in Luxembourg. Using Conversation Analysis and drawing on transcriptions of video-recordings, we present three examples of student use of multilingual resources and their respective teacher next turn management (through modified repetition, monolingual reformulation and meta-talk about language). We show that the students’ use of multilingual resources aligns with the ongoing interaction (pedagogical focus and classroom micro contexts), is significantly discourse-related and allows for doing emphasis and topic placement. We argue that our multimodal analysis brings critical insights into the study of multilingual resources in language classrooms, which has implications for the investigation of teaching and language learner/language user participation in instructed learning environments.

Analysing ELT in the European Arena: Multilingual Practices

This chapter investigates how students of different nationalities manage language and multimodal resources in an English Language Teaching (ELT) classroom. The students are 13–14 years of age, and attend the European School of Luxembourg, an international place of education. The European School of Luxembourg primarily enrols children of parents working in European institutions, but also accepts other European and non-European children whose parents work in Luxembourg. European schools’ principles are based on the European Union’s perspective on education, which values the home country, the home language, and the languages of the European region (Ziegler et al. 2013) – this is in line with the European Union motto: ‘United in diversity’. According to these principles, the European School is a multilingual place of education in a unique social-geographical space that empowers individual plurilingual practices (Ziegler 2011). It is worth nothing that Luxembourg has three official languages (Luxembourgish, German, and French), and 44.5 per cent of the population is of other nationalities besides Luxembourgish (Statec 2013). The findings of this chapter reveal how multiple languages can coexist in an ELT classroom situated in a European international space.

Analysing critical interaction instances in collaborative concurrent engineering: satellite development

Previous studies have addressed people, process, tools and technology as relevant dimensions of concurrent engineering (CE) processes. This study analyses the dynamic interrelation between these dimensions in the process of developing a satellite (-mission), with a focus on collaborative working interactions. The participants in a CE facility work sequentially as well as in parallel, exchanging their knowledge and information, using the tools of the facility, acting according to the requirements of their disciplinary specialities and to the tasks at hand in the CE process. We analyse the collaborative working context in the CE facility, where compelling moments emerge. These specific moments require the participants from different disciplinary positions in the CE facility to engage in negotiations by moving into shared spaces in order to solve the issues at stake. In line with interactional design studies, we identify particular moments in the interaction as Critical Interaction Instances (CIIs).

Determination und Referenz im frühen L2 Erwerb Französisch

SummaryTo date, processes of early foreign/second language acquisition (eL2) throughout primary education (age 6–10) are not addressed in their own right within the field of SLA research (1). However, recent findings stemming from newer eL2 corpora raise questions about the specific nature of eL2 development as compared to (well documented) adult L2 and (unbalanced) 2L1 acquisition (2). Exploratory studies of the eL2 determiner system (3) as displayed in referential processes in eL2 interaction by the young learners (4) reveal features of the specific quality of eL2 development (referring expressions, determiners) and also point out the need for further studies in the field of situated eL2 learning, in particular as regards questions of methodology as well as on the general level of SLA theory building (5).

»C’est canard« — »C’est un vert«. Der Artikelgebrauch im frühen gesteuerten Erwerb des Französischen

SummaryAt an early stage of instructed foreign language learning (French), young learners develop a simplest language which reflects similarities with adult learner varieties, Creole systems and strategies of (first) language acquisition. Due to the fact that their L1 (German) has still to be extended, especially in terms of the written variety, learners interact in an environment with specific language use. Considering young learners language production, examples of article use in instructed interaction were investigated.

Tracing Science in the Early Childhood Classroom: The Historicity of Multi-resourced Discourse Practices in Multilingual Interaction

This chapter presents research conducted in early childhood classrooms in Luxembourg, a European country with a complex multilingual situation. A multi-layered corpus of classroom interactions, consisting of photos, video and audio recordings, was collected over a period of 12 months and then partially transcribed and annotated. Drawing from this corpus, this study sheds light on discourse practices of 4–8-year-old children and examines the co-construction of the children’s growing understandings of science in open collaborative inquiries. Arguing from a context-sensitive perspective, our research shows the learning of science as an interactional achievement in situ.