by Tuula Penttilä

The Global Citizenship Study Programme was started experimentally by students from Finland's UNESCO-schools in 1994. It started nationally in 1995 when the UN turned 50 years old. The objective of the Global citizenship Study Programme is to fulfil the educational goals of the UN, UNESCO and Finland's UN Association by adding discussion to issues of peace, development, human rights, culture, environment, economy and refugees. Its main objective is to encourage development towards a mature adult life and to reinforce self-directed, critical learning. It activates many different methods of research. It emphasises evaluation and assessment of one’s own work as well as interaction skills and learning to use electronic research methods and telecommunications.

Understanding oneself and one's own culture is the basis of all learning. The student learns to recognise the responsibility of the individual and the opportunities to influence the world. The topics vary from racism to sports, and the time to complete the test varies from 3 months to a number of years. The test can be done individually or with a partner and even with a partner from another country.

The three groups of goals for personality development according to UNESCO are:

Social-Emotional Goals

• Adoption of human rights ethics,
• Strengthening of positive self-image and sound self-confidence,
• Responsibility for oneself and for others,
• Ability to endure conflict and change,
• Wish to promote justice and equality,
• Solidarity to submitted nations and groups,
• Understanding of and respect for all peoples, their cultures, values and ways of life including ethnic groups in one's country,
• Ability to see the social function and global connections of one's profession;

• A holistic and realistic image of the world,
• Critical awareness,
• Understanding one's rights and duties and those of other people,
• Acquaintance with local and global social problems and their solution possibilities,
• Realise global interdependence,
• Recognise what role one's country plays in international co-operation,
• Understand the role cultures play in planning and implementing development;

• Ability to act as a group member,
• Ability to responsible behaviour,
• Ability to show consideration for others,
• Ability to communicate with many kinds of people,
• Ability to form, give grounds to and utter one's opinion,
• Ability and motivation to constantly acquire new knowledge linking it to what has been learnt earlier,
• Ability to democratic participation;

• Ability to act for the security and continuity of one's environment,
• Ability to share well being justly,
• Motivation to promote equality and human rights,
• Awareness of the possibilities for sustainable development and wish to guarantee such development,
• Wish to protect the cultural and mental heritage of mankind,
• Awareness of everyone's right to life, development and well being,
• Wish to participate in democratic decision-making to achieve good governance.

First the student notifies the Finnish UN Association. The association offers help either electronically or in person . The student needs a tutor, who may be any teacher. Then the student follows the mass media collecting articles of interest. This helps to find a topic. A personal journal is kept during the whole project. The journal also helps in self-assessment.

The topic has to be surveyed from as many sides as possible using libraries, field-trips, interviews, WWW etc. The data are collected in a folder. Personal opinions, experiences, thoughts and questions are written in the journal.

The end product has to include a written part, but it can be a video, an audio-tape, multimedia etc. The information that has been gathered has to be usable. The dissemination and utilisation of the gathered information happens according to one's own plans. It can be done by presenting a paper to a class or making an exhibition, organising a theme week, a field-trip etc. It can be a play, a concert, a parents' evening at school.

When the work is finished, a self-evaluation is made of it. Questions like: What have I learnt? How did I develop? What was easy/difficult? should be answered. The work folder along with all different parts are gathered together and sent to Finland's UN Association where a group of experts evaluates the final product and grants a personal certificate.

The participants of this programme vary from elementary school to college students.

Editor’s Note: Tuulla Penttilä is the FIPLV Vice-President and a member of Finnish SUKOL. This article is an extract of a paper, Multicultural Education Using Modern Technology, presented by her at IATEFL Conference in Manchester in April 1998. It is compiled from a booklet: The Global Citizen by Helena Allahwerdi, which can be ordered free of charge from the Finnish UN Association, Unionink 45 B, 00170 Helsinki, Finland email: maailmankansalainen@ykliitto.fi

Web page http://www.ykliitto.fi/maailmankansalainen

REACHING THE TEACHERS : A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT

1 Introduction

A critical challenge for language teacher associations - as with others of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) status - is ensuring relevance for grassroots membership, teachers in classrooms, and having a decided impact on student learning as a result.

This ultimate aim is further complicated by FIPLV being a federation of associations, whether they be national multilingual associations or international unilingual associations.

2 FIPLV : a Federation of Federations

FIPLV has the unique role of being the only international (NGO) association which reflects the interests and needs of teachers of all languages with a focus on language per se.

As such, it unites international associations of teachers of English (IATEFL and TESOL), French (FIPF), German (IDV), Hungarian (IATH), Portuguese (SIPLE) and Spanish (AEPE), providing a forum in which representatives of these languages can share and derive benefits through the FIPLV World Council, World Assembly and ongoing collaboration.

Further, FIPLV offers the same forum to national multilingual associations who are members or through the process of FIPLV regionalisation. The former already achieves the laudable objective of uniting teachers of languages at the national level, the latter approach, through regionalisation, brings together national multilingual associations and affiliates of international unilingual associations in a 'local' area. So far, three FIPLV Regions have been formed - for Central Europe, the Nordic-Baltic and Western European areas - with another two planned : Latin America, and Southeast Asia and Southwest Pacific.

Through a process of affiliation, building upon teacher membership at the national and international levels, FIPLV membership embraces over 100 countries and several hundred thousand practising teachers.

The challenge remains one of impacting significantly on these teachers, our members .

I would like to identify action taken directly by FIPLV and excellent initiatives by member associations at the international, regional, national or local levels - which goes some way towards meeting this challenge.

3 The International Arena

FIPLV has resumed its official status with UNESCO, being accorded 'operational relations' status within the new structure. The ongoing relationship with UNESCO has been rich and profitable to both parties and has been beneficial to members. Recent projects have involved Tolerance and Linguapax, the latter leading to AFMLTA (Australia) and FIPLV hosting Linguapax V in Melbourne (Australia) in 1995, the proceedings of which (ie Linguapax V) were distributed to all member associations. Last month, we were able to participate in a UNESCO International Conference in Melbourne (Australia), having had input to the program to ensure the appearance of Linguapax and language teaching for lifelong learning. FIPLV officers have also represented UNESCO at other conferences (eg in Australia, Japan, Spain, etc) to promote Linguapax, while also doing this elsewhere under the auspices of FIPLV. This has enabled FIPLV to have a direct impact on classroom teachers present at these conferences or accessing publications of FIPLV officers.

Input to language policies of member associations - heralding a future FIPLV project - and at the Governmental level, where desired, has also been possible. In this context, FIPLV will soon be represented at conferences in Kursk (Russia) and Tel-Aviv (Israel).

Partnerships are being forged with other bodies. A promising example, with the financial support of the Council of Europe and the Centre in Graz (Austria), is to be a Workshop on Language Teaching and Peace in Graz (Austria) later in 1998. This will bring together practising teachers of various countries (ie the Balkans, Central and Western Europe) to conduct and benefit from workshops with a focus on learning languages for peace. The participants will then be expected to share this input with colleagues upon their return home.

Wherever possible, officers of FIPLV or member associations are identified to represent FIPLV personally at events internationally. We envisage FIPLV representation at activities in Kursk (Russia), Tel-Aviv (Israel), Dunedin (New Zealand), Graz (Austria), and hopefully New York (USA) over the next twelve months. Within Europe, the FIPLV Regions underwrite representation at meetings of the Council of Europe and the European Union.

4 Activities of Member Associations

As indicated above, membership of FIPLV is through affiliation of:

(1) national multilingual associations; (2) international unilingual associations or (3) delegation from FIPLV Regions which can unite components of the first two.

4.1 National Multilingual Associations

At the federal or national levels, these member associations bring together hundreds of practising teachers at annual (or biennial) conferences and more frequent workshops, seminars and meetings. Like FIPLV, they facilitate cooperation across languages, often reflecting a focus which is generic, political or content-based.

4.2 International Unilingual Associations

Having just returned from the IATEFL 32nd International Conference in Manchester (UK) - where FIPLV had three representatives - we are impressed by the ability of international unilingual associations to attract numerous participants from many countries from all continents. Around 1500 from 80 countries attended this excellent event, benefiting from an extensive and rich program. TESOL '98 in Seattle (USA), we are informed, had 9000 participants. These are two very recent examples where thousands of practising teachers were able to profit by joining with international colleagues to enjoy exciting, excellent programs. Other international unilingual associations may conduct their conferences every two or three years, but these too are also invaluable.

In between these lighthouse events, all the above associations conduct more frequent activities (ie workshops, symposia, seminars, etc) through their regional (eg FIPF 'Commissions') or national affiliates, and their Special Interest Groups. For these events, the target language becomes both the medium and focus of a range of activities, whether practical, theoretical or political.

4.3 FIPLV Regions

FIPLV Regions also organise (regional) conferences, while their member associations also conduct conferences and other activities at a local level.

All of the above have the direct result of reaching practising teachers, who either attend, access ensuing publications or are informed personally by conference participants upon their return home.

5 Professional Development

We have noted above the excellent initiatives and practices of national multilingual and international unilingual associations, and FIPLV Regions, in the shared role of providing professional development. FIPLV also conducts a World Congress every three years. The last was in Recife (Brazil) last year, the next in Paris (France) in July (22-26) 2000.

To assist us in improving all of the above, FIPLV has also initiated a Project on the Role of Associations in Teacher Professional Development. Surveys are being distributed through member associations currently, so we exhort all members to respond.

6 Information and Sharing

FIPLV can provide a conduit for sharing information and does this through FIPLV World News, appearing three times a year. Once the website is finalised and increasing numbers of teachers gain access, this will facilitate sharing through the website itself or by the external links it is to include.

The publication of such FIPLV monographs as:

1. Linguapax V (1995)
1. FIPLV : Improving the Teaching and Learning of Languages (1993)
1. Language Policies for the World of the Twenty-First Century (1993)
1. CALL in the Nineties (1991)
1. Error in Foreign Languages : Analysis and Treatment (1989)
1. Confidence through Competence in Modern Language Learning (1986)
1. The Training of Teachers of Foreign Languages : Current Issues and Perspectives (1985)

7 Communication and Networking

In addition to the personal interaction at conferences and other activities organised by teacher associations, electronic mail is opening up undreamed of possibilities for swift and effective communication and networking. The FIPLV objective of placing all Executive officers on email for almost exclusive (distance) communication has been achieved.

8 Meeting the Challenge

From our experience of working with teachers over many years and in different countries, we believe that what is needed is an emphasis on practice in language teaching - enabling teachers attending professional development activities to import directly to their classrooms - with this being underpinned by the theoretical perspective in a binary, mutually beneficial partnership of both. Others require information of a policy or educational nature. But we must not neglect the need to challenge the immense individual and collective intellect of our profession. We all need this.

The challenge is within us. We must continue to address it!

Teachers of member associations can and are invited to contribute to FIPLV's endeavour to meet the challenge, either through responding to the survey recently distributed or by presenting ideas for the 'Forum on Controversial Issues' in FIPLV World News.

Denis Cunningham

President : FIPLV

April 25 1998

FIPLV News

Executive Committee and World Council Meeting in Manchester

FIPLV’s new Executive Committee and the FIPLV World Council met in Manchester on 12th-16th March this year. This was the week of IATEFL’s World Conference, facilitating many useful and enjoyable exchanges.

Our congratulations went to Catherine Walker, IATEFL’s former President and FIPLV World Council member on co-authoring with Michael Swan ‘How English Works’, winner of the Duke of Edinburgh English-Speaking Union Award for the best work for the teaching and learning of the English language published in 1997.

Millennium in Paris

Not quite as romantic a title as ‘April in Paris’ perhaps, but here is a date that holds promise for YOU! Michel Candelier, our out-going President, is busy organising the FIPLV Year 2000 World Congress in Paris 22-26 July, 2000. Put this early on your agenda to benefit from early booking concessions. Apart from many high-powered sessions by world experts, there are other attractive possibilities which members and non-members will be quick to seize on.

Class Sizes - Breakthrough in Portugal

Maria Manuel Ricardo reported that FIPLV documentation on class sizes persuaded the Portuguese Ministry of Education to make it compulsory for any class of over 25 pupils to be either divided into two, or to be taught with two teachers present, using team-teaching methods.

Recife World Congress 1997

This was very enjoyable event characterised by many collegial exchanges, Brazilian hospitality and conviviality of a high order. Altogether a worthwhile experience in which a great deal was learnt.

Extension of FIPLV Activities

Our President, Denis Cunningham, the previous Secretary-General, continues to be highly active in promoting FIPLV worldwide. Formation of a Latin American Region is a priority, along with developments in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. We hope to extend contacts in Africa and to explore ways of reaching teachers from less developed parts of the world, where conditions for the teaching of languages are often difficult.

Forthcoming Colloquium in Graz

The next meeting of the executive committee is on October 4th during the Linguapax ‘Language Teaching and Peace Workshop’ in Graz.

Judith Hamilton

Secretary-General, FIPLV

Towards Southeast Asia and Southwest Pacific Region

Progress Report

From early 1995, the identification of regional contacts continued through local networks and by some international unilingual associations sending lists of their affiliates in the Pacific area. Another letter was sent in early 1998 to international unilingual associations requesting updated contact lists. Progress has been slow due to tyranny of distance and the diversity of linguistic and cultural background but there is a hope of reaching a wide range of affiliates in the area in the next few months.

Kip Cates from Japan continues his exemplary work in promoting Linguapax in the context of global issues through practice in his "Global Issues in Language Education Network" of 700 teachers active in global education, peace education and environmental education, and publishing Global Issues in Language Education Newsletter for JALT.

Denis Cunnigham has been invited to open the National Biennial Conference of the New Zealand Association of Language Teachers in Dunedin in July and has offered a paper on Linguapax. We hope that his participation in this event will facilitate steps toward regionalisation and enhance the place of Linguapax in this area of the globe. He has also made some invaluable contacts at the UNESCO International Conference in Melbourne this spring. There is a plan of organising a session on Linguapax at the RELC Seminar in Singapore in April 1999.

Editor’s Note: Information based on the Progress Report 2 presented by Denis Cunningham at the FIPLV World Council in Manchester in April 1998.

Congress Calendar

1998

7-10 June International Colloquium of Romance Linguists organised by Universities in Pozna? & Bielefeld. Theme: Analyse des discours: méthodologies et implications didactiques et traductologiques. Venue: Pozna?, Poland. Information: Teresa Tomaszkiewicz, Instytut Filologii Roma?skiej, Adam Mickiewicz University, Al. Niepodleg?o?ci 4, 61-874 Pozna?, Poland. Fax: + 061 853 69 33

25-26 June Colloque international de la FIPF. Theme: Le français par le théâtre. Venue: Paris. Information: Secrétariat Général de la FIPF, 1, Av. Léon Journault, F-923311 Sèvres Cedex.

5-8 July NZALT Biennial National Conference. Venue: Dunedin, New Zealand. Information: NZALT Secretary, c PO Box 12-237, Thorton, Wellington, New Zealand.

6-9 July 8^th International Conference on Functional Grammar.Venue: Amsterdam. Information: Prof. J.L. Mackenzie, Department of English, Faculty of Letters, Varije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands; e-mail: mackenzi@let.vu.nl, fax: + 31-20 444 6500

13-16 July 4^th International Conference of the English Language Teachers’ Association in Israel (ETAI). Theme: REFLECTING FOR THE FUTURE. Venue: Jerusalem. Information: ETAI Conference, Peltours - Te’um Congress Organisers, P.O.B. 8388, Jerusalem 91082, Israel, tel: 972 (0)2 561 7402, fax: 972 (0)2 563 7572, e-mail: teumcing@netmedia.net.il

13-17 July WorldCALL. Theme: CALL to Creativity. Venue: The University of Melbourne. Information: The Conference Secretariat: Fauth Royale & Associates Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 895, North Sydney, NSW 2060 Australia; phone: 61 2 9954 4544; fax: 61 2 9954 4964; email: fauroy@ozemail.com.au

20-25 July International Summer Academy for Teachers. Theme: Peace and Global Issues in the Language Teaching. Venue: Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon. Information: Irma Ghosn, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon, Lebanon Fax: + 961-9-944851, US Fax: +212-870-2762, email: ighosn@byblos.lau.edu.ln

22-24 July III. Deutschlehrerkongreß in Argentinien. Theme: DaF im Mercosur. Venue: Universidad Nacional de Cordóba. Information: Goethe-Institut, Olazábal 2251, 1428 Buenos Aires, Tel: + 0 781 2002; Fax: + 01 784 7027; email: gibue.pv@overnet.com.ar

26-31 July XIIIéme congrès national de professeurs de français. Theme: L’enseignnement pluriel du français’. Information: FBPF: Caixa Postal 5063 - CEP 88040-970, Florianópolis - S.C.- Brasil; phone: (048) 231-9355/228-3464, Fax: (o48) 231-9988/228-1117; e-mail: fbpf@acce.ufsc.br

2-6 August XIIIe congrès brésilien des professeurs de français. Theme: L’enseignement pluriel du français. Venue: Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Information: Ana Cristina Figueiredo, Márcia Cardim, Rua Caetano Moura, 140 - federaç?o CEP 40210-340 - Salvador - Bahia, Brazil. Fax:+ 071 237 7035

19-24 July 6^th International Pragmatics Conference. Theme: Language and Ideology. Venue: Reims Champagne Congrès Antwerp. Information: IPrA Secretariat P.O. Boz 33 (Antwerp 11), B-2018 Antwerp, Belgium

11-13 September International Conference of Modern Language Association of Poland (PTN). Theme: New Technologies in FLT, Children and Adults as Language Learners; Educating FL Teachers. Venue: Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna?. Information: Teresa Siek-Piskozub, School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, al. Niepodleg?o?ci 4, 61-874 Pozna?, Poland, phone: (48) 61 52 88 20, fax: (48) 61 52 31 03, email: piskozub@hum.amu.edu.pl.

11-13 September JACET Annual Conference. Theme: English Education in the Global Community. Venue: Tokyo. Information: Fax: + 81 3 326 9695.

16-20 September 9^th ASELE Congress. Venue: Santiago de Compostela. Information: Secretaría de ASELE, Apartado de Correos 890, 29080 Málaga, Espana. Telefax: +95 213 17 64

18-20 September All IATEFL SIG. Venue: Hevelius Hotel, Gda?sk, Poland. Information: IATEFL, 3 Kingsdown Chambers, Kingsdown Park, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 2DJ, UK. Phone + 44 (0) 1227 276528, Facsimile +44 (0)1227 274415. Email 10007.1327@Compuserve.com. World-wide Web http://www.man.ac.uk/IATEFL/.

24-26 September 6^th Slovenian IATEFL Conference. Venue: Ljubliana. Information: Damir Novak, Fax: +386 61 317 980, email: Damir.Novak@guest.arnes.si

24-26 September 29. GAL. Theme: Sprache und Technik. Venue:Dresden. Information: prof. Dr Axel Satzger, Technischen Universitãt Dresden, Institut für Germanistik, Mommsenstr. 13, D-01062 Dreseden. Tel. 0351/463-7891; Fax: 0351/463-7197; e-mail: germ@rcs.urz.tu-dresden.de

27 Sept. - 1 Oct. IDV-Fachsprachensymposium Theme: Fachkommunika tion 200. Venue: TU Chemnitz, Germany. Information: prof. Dr Martin Stegu, Angewandte Sprachwissenchaft, TU Chemnitz, D-09107 Chemnitz, Tel: + 49 371 531 4551; Fax: + 49 371 531 2950; email: martin.stegu@phil.tu-chemnitz.de

30 Sep. - 3 Oct. Fiplv, Linguapax and Unesco Symposium. Theme: Language Teaching and Peace. Venue: Graz, Austria. Information: Michel Candelier, 5 rue Rébéval, F-75019 Paris, France. E-mail: mcandelier@cit2.fr; fax: +33 1 40 18 39 51.

1-3 October BESIG Russia & British Council 2^nd International Conference. Theme: Business English in the Business World. Venue: Moscow. Information: Fax: + 7 095 932 8867.

15-17 October 11^th Annual EA Education Conference. Theme: Language the Key, Culture the Door. Venue: Melbourne. Fax: + 61 2 9264 4313.

17-18 October Korea TESOL’98 Conference. Theme: Perspectives on Teacher Development. Venue: Taejon, Korea. Information: Kirsten Reitan, KAIST School of Humanities, 373-1 Kusongdon Yusong-gu, Taejon, Korea 305-701, Fax: +82-42-869-4610, email:reitankb@sorak.kaist.ac.kr

26-28 October Tagung des Armenischen Deutschlehrerverbandes. Theme: Spezifik von DaF als Zweit- und Drittsprache. Venue: Jerewan, Armenia. Information: Armenischer Deutschlehrerverband, Puschkinstraéße 14, RA - 37 50 10 Jerewan, Armenia

November 6^th Latin American ESP Colloquium. Venue: Argentina.Information: Françoise Salager-Meyer, Apartado 715 Mérida 5101, Venezuela.

7-8 November 6^th Annual Convention of TESOL Macedonia - Thrace. Theme: Steps and Stages. Venue: University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki. Information: Michael Carty, Convention Coordinator , 4, Vassilisis Olgas str., 546 40 Thessaloniki, Greece, Tel/Fax: + 031 867.142

20-23 November JALT’98 Conference. Theme: Focus on the Classroom. Venue: Omiya City. Information: JALT Central Office, Urban Edge Buldg 5F, 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110, Japan, tel: 03-3837-1630, fax: 03-3837-1631

24-26 November English in Southeast Asia. Theme: Asian Perspectives Venue: the University of Brunei Darussalam. Information: Fax: +673 2 4215281.

1-5 December 1^st KAZTEFL Conference. Information: email:balia@balia.almaty.kz

1999

21-23 January 19^th Annual ThaiTESOL International Conference. Theme: Towards New Millennium: Trends and Techniques. Venue: Ambassador Hotel, Bangkok. Information: fax: +66 2 218 6027.

3-13 March TESOL’99. Venue: New York. Information: TESOL Central Office, 1600 Cameron Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314-2751 USA. Fax: 703-518-2535

6-9 July 12^th National Biennial Languages Conference. Theme: Global Citizenship; Languages and Literacies. Venue: Adelaide. Information: Jennifer Harris, MLTASA, C/O GPO Box 622, Adelaide 5001. Fax: + 08 8301 6611; email: harsmith@camtech.com.au

1-6 August AILA’99. Theme: The Roles of Language in the 121^st Century: Unity and Diversity. Venue: Tokyo, Japan. Information: AILA’99 Tokyo Secretariat, Simul International, 13-9 Araki-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160, Japan. Tel: 03-3226-2822, Fax: 03-3226-2824, Website: http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jacet/AILA99.

August/September IATEFL/SIG TDTR4. Theme: Teachers Research Teachers Development, Venue: Leuven, Belgium. Information: Information: IATEFL, 3 Kingsdown Chambers, Kingsdown Park, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 2DJ, UK. Phone + 44 (0) 1227 276528, Facsimile +44 (0)1227 274415. Email 10007.1327@Compuserve.com. World-wide Web http://www.man.ac.uk/IATEFL/.

October 2^nd Pan Asian Conference Theme: Teaching English: Linking Asian Cultures and Contexts. Venue: Seoul, Korea. Information: Kip Cates, Tottori Iuniversity, Tottori City, Japan 680. Tel/Fax: 0857-31-5650, email: kcates@fed.tottori-u.ac.jp

2000

30 June - 4 July 7^th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology. Venue: Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK. Information: Fax: ICLASP (+44) 1222 874242; e-mail: ICLASP@Cardiff.ac.uk

17-22 July Xe Congrès mondial de la FIPF. Venue: La Sorbonne, Paris. Information: Secrétariat Général de la FIPF, 1, Av. Léon Journault, F-923311 Sèvres Cedex.

22-26 July 20^th Congress of FIPLV. Venue: Paris. Information: Michel Candelier, phone/fax: + 33 1 40 18 39 51; e-mail: mc.fiplv@imaginet.fr

2001

30 July - 4 August 22. Internationale Deutschlehrertagung. Venue: Luzern, Scheiz

A Case for an Ecolinguistic Identity

by Francisco Gomes de Matos

Ever since the pioneering insights of Haugen on the Ecology of Language in 1971, there has been developing, slowly but steadily, a new dimension of the macroconcept of identity: ECOLINGUISTIC IDENTITY. The goal of this article is to make a case for the recognition of such component of individual identity and to urge that colleagues keep probing the ecolinguistic nature of human communicative life.

The concept of identity has been dealt with by far-sighted interdisciplinary scholars from many domains, among which Psychology and Linguistics. Inspiring contemporary examples are Edwards (1985) and Crystal (1997). The former has focused on aspects of the issue of how an individuals' identity can be revealed in language use, while the latter has provided a detailed account of the multidimensional concept of identity by focusing on physical, psychological, geographical, ethnic, national, social, contextual, and stylistic dimensions. That language and human beings interact in eco-systems is a principle underlying current projects in Environmental Education. In fact, the very chronology of key-concepts in that strategic are of Global Issues Education shows how pervasively our everyday vocabulary is being bathed by the waters of Ecology.

Here is an illustrative listing of terms, with their respective dating, taken from Random House (1997): 1825-30 environment; 1865-70 conservationist, natural resources; 1870 - 75 ecology; 1890-95 pollutant; 1915-20 environmentalist; 1920-25 anti-pollution (law); 1924-30 recycled (paper); 1930-35 ecosystem ; 1935-40 greenhouse effect; 1960-65 biodegradable.

This exemplification can be updated with terms used in highly specialized fields such as Environmental Law, for instance: environmental impact, environmental auditing. If as Kaplan and Baldauf Jr ( 1997) remind us, "Every language constitutes part of an eco-system", it is equally true that every person on our Planet has ECOLINGUISTIC RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES and should be educated for such ecolinguistic dignity and peace.

Twenty years ago I presented a Brazilian language teaching organization's proposal for integrating Ecology and English Language Teaching (Gomes de Matos, 1978), and now my belief in the need for integrating language education and environmental education is stronger than ever.

Here is a brief, open-ended checklist for self-evaluation of positive or questionable traits of ecolinguistic identity.

1. Do I refer to Nature in a dignifying way or do I criticize it unfairly? (In Brazilian culture, for example, you sometimes hear people talk about there being a "punishment by Nature").

• How crossculturally universal are such questionable evaluations ?
• What can be done to help language users transform their negative perception/representation into ecolinguistically sensible ways of mapping environmental reality ?

1. Do I refer to inhuman types of behavior - by humans - by equating such ways of acting with names of animals? (Again, in our Brazilian culture, in the slang vocabulary of insults you come across words such as "dog", "horse").

• How ecolinguistically universal is the use of statements such as "You're acting like an animal" ?
• Why do we, as human beings, tend to misrepresent, distort, other beings in Nature? Herein lies a challenge for all of us engaged in identifying and solving global issues of an ecolinguistic nature. The Patron of Ecolinguistics, Saint Francis of Assisi would refer to the sun as "brother sun" and to the moon as "sister moon". He not only preached but practiced what he believed.
• How would each of us fare, in that respect ?

References

News and Views

GAL

Tagungsankündigung

Die 29. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Angewandte Linguistik (GAL) e.V. findet vom 24-26 September 1998 an der Technischen Universitãt Dresden statt. Die Tagung steht unter dem Rahmenthema Sprache und Technik. Das Thema wird in sechs Themenbereichen bearbeitet:

1. Sprache, Technik und Ethik
2. Neue Kommunikationsmedien in betrieblicher Umgebung
3. Menschen und Maschinen: Beispiel Sprachterapie
4. Kulturspezifik und technische Kommunikation
5. Wissenschaftssprachen und technische Fachsprachen

1. Phonetik
2. Lexik und Grammatik
3. Textlinguistik und Stilistik
4. Sprecherziehung/Rhetorische Kommunikation
5. Medienkommunikation
6. Fachsprachliche Kommunikation
7. Soziolinguistik
8. Kontaktlinguistik
9. Kontrastive Linguistik und Interkulturelle Kommunikation
10. Übersetzungswissenschaft
11. Psycholinguistik
12. Klinische Linguistik
13. Sprachdidaktik
14. Unterrichtstechnologie
15. Computerlinguistik

Information: prof. Dr Axel Satzger, Technischen Universitãt Dresden, Institut für Germanistik, Mommsenstr. 13, D-01062 Dresden. Tel. 0351/463-7891; Fax: 0351/463-7197; e-mail: germ@rcs.urz.tu-dresden.de

HALTAL

Summer School in Psycholinguistics, June 7-11, Balatonalmádi

Hungarian Association of Language Teachers and Applied Linguists is announcing Summer School in Psycholinguistics. The topics will cover issues related to First Language Acquisition, Second or Foreign Language Acquisition and Bi- and Multilingualism. The Summer School will take place in Balatonalmádi a conference centre of Veszprém University in a holiday resort. Accommodation and the workshops will be on the same spot. It is on the Northern shore of Lake Balaton, about 120 kms from Budapest.

Hungary has continental climate, which means June is rather unpredictable. Usually this time of year is warm without any rains. Bring informal summer clothes, do not leave your bathing suits at home, and be sure you have something to put on for night walks. The programme of the Summer School includes a sightseeing tour of Veszprém, a tour on the Northern shore of Lake Balaton and Bar-B-Q on the lakeside and sailing on the lake by night.

For more information contact: Zsolt Lengyel & Judit Navracsics, University of Veszprém, Department of Applied Linguistics, Egyetem u. 10, H-8201, Veszprém. Tel/Fax: +36 88 406 360, email: lengyelz@almos.vein.hu, navracsj@almos.vein.hu

IDV

Every four years the IDV organises international congresses for teachers of German, IDTagungen, which often attract more than a thousand participants. The 11^th IDT was held in August 1997 in Amsterdam and it was generally considered a great success. Big boards in the foyer where different associations could display information about themselves and their activities were a new idea of this Congress. The cultural programme was also exceptionally rich. Afterwards, all material concerning the organisation and preparation of this congress, has been made available to the organising committee of the 12^th IDT, which is to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland, in July 2001.

The new statutes were approved of by the IDV Assembly, the Vertreterversammlung, and the executive committee for 1997-2001 was elected. Helena Hanuljaková (Secretary General), Alfred Schulze (Cashier) and Torvald Perman (Besitzer) are new executive members. At the executive committee meeting in October, Mr Perman was appointed responsible for the connections with international associations such as the FIPLV. A great priority for the new committee is the ‘electronisation’ of the IDV.

Among forthcoming events organised or supervised by the IDV, the following may attract general interest:

• June 4^th-6^th: 26. Jahrestagung Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Jena, Germany
• July 22^nd-24^th: Regionaltagung des IDV in Cordoba, Argentina
• September 2^nd-6^th: Symposium for Textbook Authors, Reichenau an der Rax, Austria
• September 27^th-October 1^st: IDV-Fachsprachensymposium, Chemnitz, Germany.

For more information contact Torvald Perman, Visasbacken 2 A, FIN-68600 Jakobstad, Finnland. Fax: 00358 6 78 51 347, email: torvald.perman@jakobstad.fi

IATEFL

This year has seen IATEFL define its mission statement, in brief version: Linking, developing and supporting English language teaching professionals worldwide; and an expanded version:

IATEFL’s mission is:

• to link ELT professionals
• to develop an international community of professional interests
• to support ELT activities at a regional, national and international level.

Don't forget to look at IATEFL's World-wide Web page for the latest information about events, publications, SIG News and the IATEFL Jobshop IATEFL Home Page: http://www.man.ac.uk/IATEFL/

For further information about any aspect of IATEFL please contact: Jill Stajduhar, Executive Officer, IATEFL, 3 Kingsdown Chambers, Kingsdown Park, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 2DJ, England. Tel: +44 1227 276528, Fax: +44 1227 274415, E-mail 100070.1327@Compuserve.com

GI-SIG IATEFL/ATEL

International Summer Academy for Teachers

July 20 - 25 Byblos Lebanon

Association of Teachers of English in Lebanon (ATEEL) and Global Issues Special Interest Group of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) are organising an International Summer Academy on Peace and Global Issues in the Language Class. It will be held at the Lebanese American University in the historic town of Byblos, Lebanon. This unique, one-week academy offers teachers a menu of three different courses on global issues, environmental education and conflict resolution. Participants are invited to enrol in one, two or all three courses.

Global Issues and EFL is a course run by Kip Cates from Japan. It will introduce EFL teachers to the field of global education - an exciting new approach to language teaching which aims at enabling students to effectively acquire a foreign language while empowering them with the knowledge, skills and commitment required by world citizens for the solution of global problems. The course is addressed to Secondary and University teachers.

Environmental Education in EFL is a course run by Eleanor Watts from UK. It will include a variety of practical ideas for motivating young people to think about environment. This will include doing surveys into local pollution problems, role-play activities, writing letters to newspapers and politicians, reading and writing stories about environmental issues, planning sustainable forms of development for their area and campaigning for their own environmental projects. The course is addressed to primary and Middle School teachers.

Content-based EFL and Conflict Resolution Skills is a course run by Christopher Renner from Italy. This course will focus on teaching English using content-based materials and variety of teaching styles designed on the theme of conflict. Participants will learn how to integrate conflict resolution skills and human rights education in EFL. The course is addressed to Secondary and University teachers.

For more information or to apply, contact: Irma Ghosn, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon, Lebanon Fax: + 961-9-944851, US Fax: +212-870-2762, email :ighosn@byblos.lau.edu.ln

SIPLE

Towards an Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Practice in Teaching Portuguese as a Foreign Language

Nowadays modern curriculum perceives the process of learning/teaching language and culture as associated activities. Those who are committed to the learning and teaching of foreign languages become acquainted with the similarities and differences in languages and culture that happen to show up in classroom activities and have an opportunity to improve their knowledge in either academic or non-academic areas which are distant from language study.

As they progress in learning in the newly taught language and culture, the non-native speaker is attracted by different kinds of knowledge which might be of great use in their wider interests. For this reason it is necessary to extend into other fields of formal or informal knowledge during the process of learning. And there will be times when the best place to achieve new understanding will lie beyond the limits of the classroom environment.

Information feedback articulates with linguistic knowledge so quickly and efficiently that teachers and students need to consider broader areas and activities in the learning/teaching process.

The Universidade Federal Fluminese gives the course of ‘Português para Estrangeiros’. Whenever a new group enrols for the course, we feel the need for a deeper and more sympathetic concern towards different cultures as well as joining with different institutions and branches of knowledge. From an intercultural, interdisciplinary and interinstitutional point of view, the teaching experience should bring out the following advantages:

• Teachers have the opportunity to be students of other cultures, by learning specific vocabulary and subject matters, sharing experiences with professionals from other institutions.
• Learners have the opportunity to develop the awareness of the new language and culture in a real context according to their own interest and this empowers them as agents of their own learning process in different and selected areas.
• The learning and teaching process is interactive and dynamic, on a national and international level, since all institutions that work in this field are interlinked, developing the same field.

It is necessary that after more than a year of existence all countries involved in the Portuguese Language Community should help enhancing co-operation projects among institutions that promote the Portuguese language and culture in all its national varieties with others of the world.

For more information contact Norimar Judice, President of Sociedade Internacional de Português - Língua Estrangeira, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói - E. Do Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

TESOL

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. announces the 1998 TESOL Academies. Because of the popularity of these practical, hands-on workshops, a third Academy has been added this year. Renowned TESOL specialists will lead intensive weekend workshops in three cities in the summer of 1998. The Academies will be held in the United States on the East coast at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland (June 26-8); in the Southwest at the University of Texas at San Antonio (July 17-19); and on the West coast at Seattle University in Washington state (August 14-16).

Each Academy will have a choice of 6- 8 topics. Participants in the Academy may select one topic for intensive study in each location. In this informal setting, ESL teachers can learn useful techniques from engaging presenters who are recognized in their areas of expertise. The workshops are also conducive to interaction among ESOL professionals - which fosters discussions about useful ideas for effective classroom practice. Workshops run concurrently from Friday afternoon through Sunday noon.

To find out more about the TESOL Academies or to register for a workshop, visit TESOL’s Web site at http://www.tesol.edu/;call Stephen Grady at TESOL’s Central Office 703-836-0774; or email Stephen at sgrady@tesol.edu.

Books and Journals

The Duke of Edinburgh English-Speaking Union Award 1997

How English Works by Michael Swan and Catherine Walter published by Oxford University Press was awarded The Duke of Edinburgh English-Speaking Union Award for 1997.

This award is given to the best work for the teaching and learning of the English language published in the year.

The judges commented:

"A thorough and accessible grammar practice book which will be of great value to learners. Very user friendly, with clear and lively presentation - an extremely useful addition to the canon, which will be welcomed by the profession... altogether a beautifully produced book."

How English Works is addressed to intermediate and advanced learners. It makes grammar practice more interesting. Rules are easy to understand and remember; exercises entertain as well as teach. Learners who want to use the book for self study are guided in their learning, and teachers who want to use the book in the class find extra exercises for group work. Two editions of How English Works are available: one with answers and one without.

Publications received:

American Studies Journal. Zentrum für USA-Studien, Stiftung LEUCOREA an der Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg, No. 40, Summer 1997.

Neofilolog. Czasopismo Polskiego Towarzystwa Neofilologicznego. No. 15, 1997.

English Teachers’ Journal. Ministry of Education Culture and Sport. Pedagogical Secretariat - English Inspectorate, Israel, No. 51December 1997.

Boletín de ASELE, Núm. 17- Noviembre, 1997.

Global Issues in Language Education Newsletter, National Special Interest Group of the Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT), Issues 29 & 30, December 1997 & March 1998.

EUROCONTACT 4, Bulletin de la Région Europe de l’Ouest de la FIPLV, Decembre 1997.

1998 Programme of Activities. European Centre for Modern Languages, Graz, December 1997.

IDV Rundbrief. Der Internationale Deutschlehrerverband, 60 April, 1998

Neusprachliche Mitteilungen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, Herausgegeben vom Fachverband Moderne Fremdsprachen (FMF), Heft 1, 1. Quartal 1998.

Fremdsprachenlernen und Verbandsarbeiten: Beiträge zur fremdsprachenpolitischen Bewußtseinsbildung. FMF Schriften, Langenscheidt. Band 1. 1998.

Language Awareness. Multilingual Matters. Vol. 7:1, 1998.

Cizí jazyky. Casopis pro teorii a praxi. Praha, Roc. 41, 1997/1998

Les langues modernes frontières. L’ association des professeurs de langues vivantes (a.p.l.v.), nu. 1, février - avril, 1998.

IATEFL Newsletter. No.140 December 1997 - January 1998 & No. 141 February-March, 1998.

FBPF. Federação Brasileira dos Professores de Francês. Informativo Bimestral Nos 20 jameiro, 1998.

Tempus, Newsletter of the Federation of Foreign Language Teachers in Finland SUKOL, No. 1 - 3. 1998.

TESOL Greece. No. 57, January-March, 1998.

The News. TESOL-France. No. 18, January 1998.

Línguas vivas. Federação Nacional das Associações de Professores de Lînguas Vivas, Lisboa.

Swan, M. & C. Walter 1997. How English Works .Oxford University Press

From the Editor

In this issue Tuula Penttilä acquaints us with The Global Citizenship Study Programme introduced in Finland. The new President Denis Cunningham explicates the FIPLV’s policy. Our Congress Calendar is already in the new century. Francisco Gomes de Matos makes a plea for ecolinguistic rights in Forum on Controversial Issues. As usual we report on the recent FIPLV activities (FIPLV News). The Member Associations, as well as institutions in co-operation with, inform about their recent and future activities (News and Views). A brief review of an awarded book by Michael Swan and Catherine Walter and a list of journals issued by and for language teachers, sent to the Editor’s address, is published in Books and Journals: Publications received.

Notes for Contributors

Contributions, announcements and letters should be sent to the Editor’s address. Advertisements should be sent to Dieter Harold (see back cover). Short contributions (up to 250 words), such as letters and announcements, can be type-written. Longer contributions should be accompanied by a PC-readable disc, with the article both in the original WP format (e.g. WordPerfect, AmiPro, Word for Windows) and in ASCII form (i.e. a .TXT file). Please provide a brief bio-statement with the office address. Contributions and discs are non-returnable. The Editor reserves the right to make editorial changes in any manuscript. The author will be consulted if substantial changes are envisaged.

FIPLV WORLD NEWS

The Latest on Language and Languages

A news service provided and edited by the Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes (FIPLV).

The FIPLV Head Office is located at Seestrasse 247, CH-8038 Zürich, Switzerland. The FIPLV site can be viewed at the following URL: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Education/FIPLV/fiplv.htm

FIPLV President: Denis Cunningham. PO Box 216, Belgrave, 3160, Australia. Telephone: Int. Code + 61 39 754 47 14. Fax: Int. Code: +61 39 754 64 19

FIPLV Vice-President: Tuula Penttilä, Viherlaaksonie 24, SF-02710 Espoo, Finland. Telephone: Int. Code: +358 059 45 07. Fax: Int. Code: + 358 0 5023 460.

FIPLV Secretary-General: Judith Hamilton, Flat 64, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL, Phone/fax 0171 839 5530; email jcochr7029@AOL.com

FIPLV Editor: Teresa Siek-Piskozub. Editorial Office: School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, al. Niepodleg?o?ci 4, PL-61-874 Pozna?, Poland. Telephone: Int. Code + 48 61 852 88 20. Fax: Int. Code+ 48 61 852 31 03. E-mail: piskozub@main.amu.edu.pl

FIPLV Treasurer: Dieter Herold, Kulenkampstrasse 15 H, D-23566 Lübeck, Germany. Telephone: International Code+ 49 451 3 27 91. Fax: International Code + 49 451 3 55 43.

Subscription at the price of CHF 45 a year available from Dieter Herold.

Advertisements inside the issue - CHF 100 full page, back cover - CHF 150. Orders sent to Dieter Herold.

Any item may be quoted, reproduced or translated provided acknowledgement is given to FIPLV WORLD NEWS.