Ingrid de Saint-Georges

Situated trajectories of learning in vocational training interactions

This paper investigates smaller-scale transitions that are part of the longer-term processes of subjective transformation and adaptation to new professional competencies for learners in the field of vocational education. On the conceptual level, it proposes to view transitions as intermediate states in situated trajectories of learning. The notion of trajectory aims to capture that (a) learning occurs through situated and highly contextualized micro activities and (b) that these activities occur within historical sequences of events, which come to form over time dynamic trajectories. The ingredients constitutive of a trajectory of learning are first defined. The notions presented are next applied to the empirical analysis of one sequence of learning, in which we show the transitions undergone by one object of knowledge as it is being taught to different apprentices in a workshop. On the theoretical plane, the paper thus proposes to view transitions as microdynamics of change. On the methodological plane, it contributes to identifying possible empirical sources and methodological frames to study micro-transitional phenomena.RésuméCet article porte sur les micro-phénomènes transitionnels à l’oeuvre dans les processus d’aprentissage des métiers en formation professionnelle initiale. Sur le plan conceptuel, il propose d’envisager les transitions comme des états intermédiaires de trajectoires situées d’apprentissage plus larges. La notion de trajectoire située vise à rendre compte d’une double dimension des processus d’apprentissage: (a) leur caractère situé et hautement contextualisé, et (b) leur inscription dans des trajectoires temporelles. L’article commence par développer la notion de trajectoire située d’apprentissage comme unité d’analyse avant d’en tester la pertinence au travers de l’analyse d’une séquence d’enseignement/apprentissage documentant des transitions et des transformations d’un objet de savoir enseigné dans le cadre d’un atelier de mécanique. Au plan théorique, cette contribution propose de considérer les transitions commes des micro-dynamiques inductrices de changement. Au plan méthodologique, il contribue à indentifier des concepts et outils méthodologiques pouvant servir de ressources pour tracer des transitions dans des données empiriquement attestées.

Multilingualism, multimodality and the future of education research

The labels ‘post-modern condition’, ‘late modernity’, and ‘superdiversity’ (Vertovec 2007) are some of the terms used in the discourse of researchers in the social sciences and humanities to capture aspects of the transformations and new conditions evident in today’s developed societies. These transformations can be seen in a great many areas of social life but two examples suffice to give a glimpse of their extent.

iTEO as a Tool-and-Result in dialogical multilingual language learning

In this paper I will document and analyse the use of the iTEO app (henceforth iTEO) for the iPad in the learning of French in a second grade class in Luxembourg. The analysis of the data will result in the characterising of iTEO as a tool-and-result promoting and propelling dialogue and meta-linguistic awareness in multilingual language learning through the recording of utterances for creating stories, a process I refer to as ‘storying’. In contrast to still prevailing monological and teacher centred visions of language learning in many classrooms in Luxembourg, the app we developed privileges interactions and dialogue among peers as propellers of the learning of French. This dialogic interaction based on Bakhtin’s view that language lives only in dialogic interactions (Bakhtin 1984, 139) draws on manifold resources from the context of the pupils’ private and official language use. I will describe the tool and suggest how it could be used in the national and local Luxembourgish educational and institutional settings where language learning is of foremost importance and relevance. These suggestions rest on a thorough analysis of dialogues and interactions between two pupils in a process of joint story building.

Nationality and the European Union : competing identities in the visual design of four European cities.

In this study, we integrate visual and linguistic research to analyze the relationship between a citys regional, national, transnational, and European identities as the face of four cities depicts it. We explore the cultural identity of Brussels, Luxembourg, Munich, and Dortmund through the study of public signs found in these cities. We examine how the choice of language, layout, typography, accompanying images, and positioning of city signs reflect the tensions involving the change from a national or regional identity to a Pan‐European identity. Our methodology combines an ethnographic approach and neutral observations with interviews of city inhabitants. By combining interpretive analysis with a meta‐discursive approach to how signs are read and perceived, we consider both the production and reception ends of the signs.In this study, we integrate visual and linguistic research to analyze the relationship between a citys regional, national, transnational, and European identities as the face of four cities depicts it. We explore the cultural identity of Brussels, Luxembourg, Munich, and Dortmund through the study of public signs found in these cities. We examine how the choice of language, layout, typography, accompanying images, and positioning of city signs reflect the tensions involving the change from a national or regional identity to a Pan‐European identity. Our methodology combines an ethnographic approach and neutral observations with interviews of city inhabitants. By combining interpretive analysis with a meta‐discursive approach to how signs are read and perceived, we consider both the production and reception ends of the signs.

Förderung von Sprach(lern)bewusstheit und Sprach(lern)kompetenz durch germanische Interkomprehensionsansätze

Ausgehend von dem Ansatz der germanischen Interkomprehension testet die in diesem Beitrag vorgestellte quantitative Studie das metalinguistische Wissen sowie die Transferfähigkeiten einund mehrsprachiger Lernender. Sie geht der Frage nach, ob die Mehrsprachigkeit der Teilnehmer tatsächlich eine Ressource oder eher eine Barriere bei interkomprehensiven Aufgaben, die metalinguistisches Wissen verlangen, darstellt. Getestet wurden 577 einund mehrsprachige Schülerinnen und Schüler der fünften und zehnten Klassen unterschiedlicher Schulformen im deutschsprachigen Raum. Durch Mittelwertvergleiche konnte gezeigt werden, dass Mehrsprachigkeit nicht per se kognitive Vorteile bei dieser Art von Aufgaben bietet. Based on the Germanic intercomprehension approach, this article presents the results of a quantitative study that tested metalinguistic knowledge of monoand bilingual students. The goal of this study was to determine whether the students’ multilingualism can be regarded as a resource or rather as a barrier for solving intercomprehensive tasks. The study was conducted in the German speaking area with N=577 monoand bilingual students of different age groups (5th and 10th grade). The comparisons of means (t-tests) show that multilingualism does not automatically lead to cognitive benefits in this type of task.