WORLD NEWS: No. 45 April 1999
FIPLV
A NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION IN OFFICIAL RELATIONS WITH UNESCO
The Latest on Language and Languages
Editorial: The grammatical rights of adult learners: a checklist by Francisco Gomes de Matos
Note from the President
FIPLV News
Congress Calendar
Forum on Controversial Issues
News and Views
Books and Journals
From the Editor

In this issue F. G. De Matos challenges language teachers with a list of grammatical rights of adult language learners. Denis Cunningham reports on the collaboration between UNESCO and FIPLV. (Note from the President). List of obstacles to the promotion of peace in FLT is presented by the participants of EMCL Workshop 15/98 (FIPLV News). Our Congress Calendar has reached the year 2001. The Member Associations, as well as the institutions cooperating with us, discuss their recent and future activities. We also appeal for help to Burundi educators (News and Views). In Forum on Controversial Issues, I. McLeod and E. Johnson explain the meaning of the notion ‘interactivity’ with reference to language teaching. A growing list of journals issued by and for language teachers, sent to the Editor’s address, is published in Books and Journals: Publications Received. Information about the next FIPLV Congress is placed inside the back cover.

Teresa Siek-Piskozub
Editor of Publications-FIPLV
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.

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

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The Grammatical Rights of Adult Learners:

A Checklist

by Francisco Gomes de Matos

Although some progress had been made in the movement in favor of the recognition, by the United Nations, of Linguistic Rights (UDLR 1998), very little has been achieved universally as regards a very specific domain within such category of human rights, namely, language learners' rights (for a recent example, see Gomes de Matos and Celce-Murcia, 1998). Given the strongly supportive institutional context of FIPLV for probing that new frontier in language pedagogy, the time is ripe to explore another dimension within educational linguistic rights, the grammatical rights of adult learners. Accordingly, on the basis of this author's teaching experience of Portuguese and English as foreign languages in a Brazilian university context, a checklist is presented so that colleagues sharing a commitment to learners' (and teachers') linguistic rights can contribute to what could very well become a cooperatively constructed data bank. The sequencing does not imply any hierarchical ordering, but rather reflects some of the researcher's perceptions and preferences. A corresponding list of learners' grammatical responsibilities is strongly recommended, as well as of teachers' grammatical rights and responsibilities. Please note that "rights" are written in the active, rather than the passive voice, since according to British linguist John Sinclair (personal communication), the latter option would give statements a defensive tone.

Before reading the Checklist, ask yourself :

DO I ASSURE MY LEARNERS OF THEIR RIGHT TO:

  1. ask for and receive clear, grammatical explanations on the interconnected dimensions of form, meaning, and use ? (On the interaction among the three dimensions, see Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman,1999.)
  2. know what their teacher's perception of Grammar is, especially how pedagogically, descriptively, or prescriptively oriented it is ?
  3. receive constructive, humanizing feedback on their grammatical errors (with an emphasis on appropriateness, acceptability and grammaticality, rather than only on incorrectness) ? The use of communicatively/pragmatically sensitive "error priority scales", cooperatively designed and agreed upon by teachers and students could do much to enhance human linguistic rights applied to language teaching. (For an example of sensible error correction/treatment in the teaching of French, see Tagliante 1994).
  4. learn to develop as grammatically secure second/foreign language users ? The psychological issue of adult learners' "grammatical (in)security" has not been dealt with in depth in the literature, despite noteworthy efforts at characterizing Analytic/Relational learning styles. (On the latter, see Kinsella and Sherak,1998.)
  5. learn how to go on building up/ refining their grammatical proficiency as autonomous learners.
  6. learn grammar "as related to the study of texts and responsive to social purposes"( Carter, 1997).
  7. receive a glossary of the key grammatical concepts - terms that their teacher will use in the course.
REFERENCES

Carter, Ronald (1997), Investigating English Discourse. London and New York, Routledge, p.19

Celce-Murcia, Marianne and Diane Larsen-Freeman (1999), The Grammar Book. An ESL/EFL Teacher's Course. Second Edition. Boston, Heinle & Heinle, p. p.4

Gomes de Matos, Francisco and Marianne Celce-Murcia (1998), Learners' Pronunciation Rights. São Paulo, Braz-TESOL Newsletter, September, pp. 14 - 15

Kinsella,Kate & Kathy Sherak (1998), Designing ESL classroom collaboration to accommodate diverse work styles. In Joy M. Reid (ed.) Understanding Learning Styles in the Second Language Classroom. New Jersey, Prentice-Hall Regents, p. 90

Tagliante, Christine (1994), La classe de langue. Paris, CLE International, pp. 152 - 153

UDLR - Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (1998) .Follow-up Committee. Barcelona, PEN International, CIEMEN, UNESCO , 81 pp. This is the most recent document on the UDLR, proclaimed June 6, 1996 in Barcelona. Available in Catalan, Spanish, French, and English. E-mail : dudl@linguistic-declaration,org

Editor's Note: Dr. Gomes de Matos teaches at the Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil, which hosted FIPLV 's XIX Congress, March 24 -26 1997. He is a representative of FIPLV on the UDLR 's Follow-up Scientific Committee . His e-mail is fcgm@cashnet.com.br

Note from the President

Collaboration at the International Level: FIPLV and UNESCO

For this "Note from the President", I include a summary of the 1998 FIPLV Report to UNESCO, a collaborative statement on behalf of FIPLV and to which all members of the Executive contributed.

1 Introduction

To ensure the reliable provision of information to UNESCO, FIPLV decided to prepare annual reports on its activities which impinge upon the priorities, programs and projects of UNESCO. For the report, we adopt categories which differentiate relations, activities which are procedural and those which are operational.

2 Relations

FIPLV has "operational relations" with UNESCO, while one UNESCO officer has recommended that FIPLV seek "formal relations" status, which we are in the process of pursuing.

3 Procedural Matters

We would expect the following procedural activities to continue on a regular basis.

3.1 Communication

In 1998, UNESCO was included in the FIPLV mailing list to ensure that both the Languages Division of the Education Sector of UNESCO and other UNESCO centres receive copies of mailouts and publications. Regular personal email correspondence took place between FIPLV President and Ms Anna Maria Majlöf and, through her, with M Joseph Poth, Head of the Languages Division. FIPLV also communicated with Professor Colin Power, Deputy Director General for Education.

3.2 Meetings

The FIPLV President met with UNESCO officers in April and September. Informal discussions also took place between FIPLV President and Professor Colin Power in Melbourne in March.

4 Operational Matters

FIPLV has willingly supported UNESCO in the organisation of activities, representation and participation, publications and responses.

4.1 Teaching Languages for Peace Workshop in Graz (Austria) - (September 30 - October 3, 1998).

This international workshop on Teaching Languages for Peace took place at the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) and was organised by Dr Michel Candelier on behalf of FIPLV. Co-organisers included the International Linguapax Committee (through Delors Reig), the IATEFL SIG for Global Issues (through Felicity MacDonald-Smith) and Mr Bert Bartelds. The Workshop brought together 35 participants from 28 countries, with the intended emphasis on practising teachers coming from the Balkans, in addition to representation from countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic. Countries represented were : Andorra, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and Yugoslavia. The FIPLV President was the sole participant from outside those countries, where many were identified and recommended by IATEFL and FIPF.

4.2 Representation and Participation

Input by the FIPLV President to the program of the UNESCO International Conference, held in Melbourne (Australia) in March/April, ensured Linguapax was on the agenda. The FIPLV President also accepted the invitation to be a member of the Advisory Committee to the Languages Division of UNESCO.

Various FIPLV officers represented FIPLV at conferences in 1998, where they were able to further FIPLV and UNESCO priorities in formal and informal ways:

In addition to representation at conferences, there were the essential responses to requests for presentations, papers and articles. There is predictable duplication of content where the audience is not the same.

Presentations which focused on or referred to UNESCO priorities, included:

Some of these are to be published in the future.

4.3 Publications

Monographs or articles, which embraced or impinged upon UNESCO priorities, included:

4.4 Responses

Response to UNESCO Consultation Document CL/3487: Consultation on the Preparation of the Draft Programme and Budget for 2000-2001 and Preliminary Discussion of the Main Lines of Emphasis of the Draft Programme and Budget for 2000-2001 (Document 30/C5).

A response to the above document was requested from FIPLV as a representative of civil society by the UK UNESCO Forum (in the absence at the time of a UK UNESCO High Commission). A detailed response was then forwarded to Mr Ahmed Sayyad, Assistant Director-General for External Relations, UNESCO, with a copy to the UK UNESCO Forum.

5 Conclusion

The relationship between UNESCO and FIPLV has been a fruitful one over many years, which FIPLV is desirous of not only continuing, but also expanding, in the future.

Denis Cunningham, President, FIPLV

email : vsl.dcunningham@c031.aone.net.au

April 27 1999

FIPLV News

The Promotion of Peace Through Foreign Language Teaching:
Challenges to Take up
by Participants of ECML Workshop 15/98 in Graz

General background

With the aim of enabling individuals and groups to live together in plurilingual and pluricultural societies which need to develop all kinds of contacts with international environment (immediate or distant) school plays an essential role in ensuring a pacific climate of inter-individual and inter-community relations.

Modern language teaching must take on a prime responsibility in achievement of this task, insofar as communication constitutes both one of its essential objectives and its preferred means; language is also closely linked to the cultural aspects of communities and the study of language is able to demonstrate the relative nature of the interpretation schemas of each community.

The list below gives the obstacles most frequently encountered by modern language teaching in carrying out this mission. It does not mean that all these obstacles are present in all the countries considered by the workshop participants.

Concepts and terminology

Context

Society

School Actors in educational field Curricula and methodology Editor’s note: the list of obstacles encountered by modern language teachers in promoting peace education was worked out by the participants of the European Centre of Modern Languages Workshop 15/98 organised as a joint effort of FIPLV, IATEFL, Linguapax and ECML. For more information see FIPLV World News No. 44: 1-2, 7-8.
 
 

Congress Calendar

1999

30 June - 2 July 27th Annual SAALT Conference. Theme:The Kaleidoscope of Language Teaching and Learning. Venue: Technikon Pretoria. Information: Johan Viljoen, SAALT Conference, Department,of Language Dynamics, Technikon Pretoria, Private Bag X680, Pretoria 0001. Email: jviljoen@techpta.ac.za

6-9 July 12th 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

10-16 July 6th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference. Venue: Stockholm, Sweden. Information: ICLC99 (Erling Wande), Faculty of Humanities, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stocholm, Sweden. Fax: +46 8 16 2912. Email: humfak@iclc99.su.se; Website: http://www.iclc99.su.se/iclc99.

11-15 July 34th World Congress of the International Institute of Sociology. Theme: Multiple Modernities in an Era of Globalization. Venue: Tel Aviv. Information: Congress Secretariat: ortra Ltd. 1 Nirim St., P.O.B. 9352, Tel Aviv, 61092, Israel; tel.: +972-3-638-4444; fax: +972-3-638-4455; email: iis@ortra.co.il

1-6 August AILA’99. Theme: The Roles of Language in the 21st Century: Unity and Diversity. Venue: Tokyo, Japan. Information: AILA’99, International Communications Specialists (ICS), Sabo kaikan-bekkan, 2-7-4 Hirakawa-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8646, Japan. Tel: 03-3263-6474, Fax: 03-3263-7077, Email: aila99@ics-inc.co.jphttp://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jacet/AILA99.

1-4 September IATEFL/SIG TDTR4. Theme: Reflective Learning, 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/.

13-16 September 8th European Russian Language Studies in the Present Times Conference. Theme: The Reflection of Christianity in Russian Culture, Literature and Languages at the Turn of the Second Millenium. Venue: Pozna?, Poland. Information: Dr Tadeusz PacholczykInstytut Filologii Rosyjskiej, Uniwersytet im. A. Mickiewicza, al. Niepodleg?o?ci 4, 61-874 Pozna?, Poland. Tel., Fax.: + 48 61 853 33 90.

24-26 September Ostrava Symposium. Theme: European British and America Studies at the Turn of Millennium. Venue: Ostrava. Information: Stanislav J. Kavka, Department of English and American Studies, Faculty of Arts, Ostrava University. Reálni 5, 701 00 Ostrava 1, Czech Republic. Fax: + 420-69-611 30 09.

30 Sept. - 20 October GAL. Theme: Sprache und Kultur. Venue: Frankfurt, Germany. Information: Prof. Dr Horst Dieter Schlosser, Johan W. Goethe-Universität, Institut für Deutsche Sprache und Literatur II, Senckenberganlage 27 (161), 60054 Frankfurt am Main. Tel: 069/798-22275, Fax: 069/798-28332, Enali: schlosser@lingua.uni-frankfurt.de

1-3 October PAC2. Theme: Teaching English: Linking Asian Cultures and Contexts. Venue: Seoul, Korea. Information: Kip Cates. KoTESOL, Box 391, Seo Taejon 301-600, S. Korea. Fax: 042-255-1096 kotesol@chollian.net web: www2.gol.com/users/pndl/PAC/PACmain/pacinto.html

8-11 October JALT’99 Conference. Theme: Focus on the Classroom. Venue: Maebashi, Japan. Information: JALT Central Office, Urban Edge Bldg 5F, 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110, Japan. Fax: 03-3837-1631.Kip Cates, Tottori University, Tottori City, Japan 680. Tel/Fax: 0857-31-5650, email: kcates@fed.tottori-u.ac.jp

25-27 November Language TEA. Theme: Language TEA for Thinking Schools. Venue: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Information: Dr Khong Chooi Peng, Fax: (65) 792 6559, E-mail ascpKhong@ntu.edu.sg or Mrs Rahda Raviadran, Fax: (65) 789 4080, E-mail radha@tp.ac.sg

2000

February Deutsch-Französicher Kongreß. Venue: Gießen, Germany. Information: ADEAF, 18 rue du Champ de Cheval, F-70 000 Frotey les vesoul, France.

14-18 March TESOL 200. Theme: Navigating the New Millennium. Venue: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Information: TESOL 2000, Conventions Department, 1600 Cameron Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314-2751 USA.

27-29 April FMF-Bundeskongress. Venue: Berlin. Information: StD Helmut P. Hagge M.A., Lichtensteinweg 23, 22301 Hamburg. Germany Tel.: 0 40/5 36 01 38. Fax: 040/6 00 36 81.

13-14 May IATEFL East. Venue: Bulgaria. Information: IATEFL Head Office, 3 Kingsdown Chambers, Whitestable, CT5 2FL, UK; Tel: +44 (0) 1227 276528; E-mail IATEFL@Compuserve.com

21-25 June FIPLV - Nordic-Baltic Region Conference. Theme: Multilingualism is magic. Venue: Reykjavik. Information: Jórunn Tómasdóttir, Email: jorunnto@fss.is

30 June - 4 July 7th 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 20th 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 XII. Internationale Tagung der Deutschlehrerinnen und Deutschlerer (IDT). Theme: Mehr Sprache - mehrsprachig - mit Deutsch. Didaktische und politische Perspektiven. Venue: Luzern, Schweiz. Information: IVLOS Institut für Unterrichtswissenschaft - IDV, Heidelberglaan 8, NL-3584 TC Utrecht, Niederlande.

 

Forum on Controversial Issues

Kick the Fish or Flood the Field?
by Ian McLeod and Esko Johnson,

Language teaching has changed a lot in recent years, largely in line with the general pace of change in the world, and one important development is the tendency for it to be more "interactive". But what exactly does this mean?

This article has two simple aims: to address the theoretical issue of what counts or does not count for inclusion within the definition of "interactive", and to give a brief practical illustration of one specific tool for interactivity in language teaching/learning. Our practical illustration concerns Desktop Video-Conferencing, which we have chosen because it is the least used, and yet potentially the most powerful, of the available tools.

The first step is to define what we mean by "interactive language teaching", which for the sake of economy we shall abbreviate to "ILT" within this article. The ILT approach in language teaching is, not surprisingly, about interaction. Its goal and also its method is to involve the student in collaborative and group activities, establishing an exchange between the sender and the receiver, and the context of the situation. This last point is important: the activity-context need not be passive – the context can also be a player, just as in computer games the computer is a player who can throw all kinds of things at the human players. This is one of the most useful points about the new digital learning media and their associated interactive learning tools/environments.

ILT focuses on the needs and characteristics of learners. It provides opportunities for the student to participate in a range of interactive situations which reflect natural communication, and which aim to develop the student's ability to receive and send authentic messages. We are aware that the approach is far from an established methodology as such, but a range of practices that more or less share the same basic beliefs about language teaching and learning. It is the nature (and the great advantage) of interactive teaching to be highly individual in its local implementations. This is one vital way in which the information age differs from the factory age: its pedagogy has undergone a great transformation, from industrial-age uniformity and standardisation to a new post-industrial or informatics-enabled individualisation and customisation, for teachers and for learners alike.

To sharpen the focus on our picture of ILT, we may ask the question: what styles and methods of language teaching would fall outside the category of "interactive language teaching" as defined above? Are there any? Could one not argue that all language teaching is by definition interactive and therefore the term ILT is a meaningless redundancy? What, then, do we not mean by ILT?

To answer the sceptics or traditionalists who believe there is nothing new or different about ILT, we would suggest that there is a spectrum evident here, a spectrum on which the extreme example of non-interactive teaching might be the way Greek was taught at Eton College in England in the 19th Century. By all accounts the pupils were handed a text in Greek to prepare, which they did by looking up the words in the dictionary and figuring out the syntax, verb endings, etc., from a grammar book; then the Master tested them on these prepared translations. If need be, he could then choose to take the time to correct their errors and supply the approved answer, or even explain "the reasons why". There was, to be sure, an interaction between learners and texts, learners and reference sources, learners and teacher (at its most direct when the Master's cane interfaced with the pupil's backside!). However, we would exclude interactions of this type from our definition, on the grounds that the "Eton-type interactions" were of a different order, governed by pedagogic roles, rules and rituals quite external to the realm of natural linguistic/communicative activity in the Greek language (spoken or written). This is the difference: the Eton-type interactions are not immersive. They dip into Greek from outside its system, only in order to fish out material to be used as the "football" in a different game, whose goals are not linguistic ones. (We hope the reader enjoys our fish-as-football metaphor-mixture here.)

What, then, of the opposite end of our spectrum, i.e., the properly interactive end?

It might be represented in the following picture: a Finnish "reporter" – a student of English, a Finnish site - collaborating live over a desktop video-conference link with an "editor" (another student, in England), and sharing the task of producing an article for a "virtual" newspaper. The well-scheduled negotiation encounters in video-conference and ensuing writing activity via email develop the students’ communication skills in the target language. Internet resources such as online dictionaries, glossaries or help files and possibly an online machine translation suite to speed up the achievement of mutual comprehension.

A live expert tutor is never far away and will be actively monitoring and intervening for at least a part of the session. In this example of interactive language teaching, the interactions are continuous with the language systems (English and Finnish) and serve no outside goals. The learners use the languages to learn the languages, so this is basically a whole-language approach, but within a framework of support systems both human and informatic. We have flooded the playing-fields of Eton with the two languages, and the fish are swimming around talking to each other.

The most important consideration for the teacher is the framework. In our experience, the slow acceptance or take-up of classroom video-conferencing (though it has actually existed for a long time) is due to the all-too-frequent lack of a framework. This is part of a familiar problem with technology-led approaches: the technology starts as a toy and has difficulty being taken seriously as a tool.

Video-conferencing was recently used as an essential communication tool in a language simulation project. In the project, students from England were given the role of correspondents for a newspaper that was published for the benefit of English expatriates from England now living in Finland. The Finnish students played the role of sub-editors in charge of newspaper columns and assigned topics to the "virtual correspondents" to report on. The students in England did research for their articles, reporting events such as entertainment, court cases, sports, and general news. The reporters prepared to update the contents of their articles as demanded by the sub-editors.

Communication between the sub-editors and the correspondents for the first time was via video-conferencing, and the articles were sent via e-mail. The sub-editors then selected the best article for each section, and the virtual newspaper was published in their Web site, to be enjoyed by the "virtual expatriates from England".

ILT is more than a method

How can a language teacher proceed from an old paradigm to a new one; from pseudo-interactive classroom practices towards more interactive technology-enhanced language teaching? Although descriptions and layouts of online language simulations, class-to-class projects via email, collaborative writing projects, etc., are readily found in literature, including the Web, we claim that no short-cuts nor simple recipes are available.

No methodology books can show the way to success. Instead of methodology we recommend "metalogy", which is really restructuring: taking a comprehensive look at your instructional plan, i.e., asking the basic meta-questions of why? (why do you wish to implement the approach; for what instructional purpose?); what? (what elements of teaching/learning, and what parts of the curriculum do you plan to integrate in ILT?); and how? (lay-out of project/activity; selection of appropriate tools from a wide range of communication technologies).

How do you jump the wagon?

"Metalogy" is looking around and finding out about what some of our colleagues are trying to accomplish. This is a natural phase for you to create contacts for professional networking; this phase also includes receiving sufficient training in computer and networking skills. Next, you will need to run pilots to experiment with new approaches in the real context of your teaching. Proceeding systematically with a cycle of development (plan -> act -> study and modify your plan -> act, etc.) will finally help you master your ILT approach.

Undoubtedly, the kind of restructuring sketched above may strike the reader as complicated and very time-consuming. However, it is perfectly feasible if you can take part in some of the professional development (PD) programmes that are now specifically designed for language educators. Alternatively, you might consider becoming an "apprentice" in ongoing EU and global projects such as Web for Schools, KidLink, or the European Schools Project.

A group of Finnish language teachers recently took a PD programme on applying informatics in language teaching. The PD featured not only seminars and coursework conducted at site and online, but also included a major pilot effort to implement ICT and multimedia in the context of the individual teacher's regular work. Each pilot project was tutored off-site, i.e., via email, mailing lists, and telephone conversations.

Asked to report on their experiences, the teachers stated that the use of ICT as a new instructional tool brought to their language classroom:

  1. better student motivation in language learning, irrespective of the students' technological skills; both "newbie" and "techie" students found the new approaches rewarding;
  2. more scope to develop meaningful, individually assigned tasks;
  3. new opportunities for the build-up of written communication skills in an open learning environment;
  4. an opportunity for their students to explore authentic interaction – communicative exchanges across cultural and language backgrounds. These teachers, who with the support of the PD became technically more skilled, were able to solved many unknowns and gained more confidence, say they look forward to further development: they now want to turn their pilots into an integral part of their work.
Editor’s note: references and Web links for this article are available at URL htpp://www.bearn.cop.fi/ejohson/reflink.htm. Ian McLeod, Ph.D., is a researcher and senior lecturer in French and German at National College and Director of Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in Ireland. He is also an author of books and articles on FLT. Email: imcleod@ncirl.ie ; phone: 01 670 8375. Esko Johan Johnson, M.A., is a lecturer in English and Swedish in Kokkola Institute of Technology and a teacher trainer at some Finish Universities. Email: esko.johnson@kolumbus.fi ; homepage: URL http://www.bearn.cop.fi/ejohnson

News and Views

KOTESOL

Korea TESOL is a professional organisation of teachers of English whose main goal is to assist its members in their self development and to contribute to the improvement of ELT in Korea. KOTESOL also serves as a network for teachers to connect with others in the ELT community. KOTESOL is affiliated with other teaching organisations around the world such as IATEFL, TESOL Inc., JALT, Thailand TESOL, ETA-ROC, and TESL Canada.

In October 1999 KOTESOL will host The 2nd Pan Asian Conference. More than 1,500 participants are expected to attend from Asia, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the USA. Main speakers include: Penny Ur, Mike McCarth, Kensaku Yoshida, Claire Kramsch, and Kathleen Bailey. Special PAC2 events include the Asian Youth Forum which brings together youth from Thailand, Japan, Korea, as well as other Asian countries to discuss language, culture, global issues and international understanding through the medium of English-as-an-Asian-language. As part of its fund raising campaign for the Asian Youth Forum the PAC2 Marathon is organised. Another event is the Pan-Asian Focus on Materials (FOM) which is an informal group for people interested in developing materials in an Asian context.

For more information, visit the PAN Asian Conference website at: www2.gol.com/users/pndl/PAC/PACmain/PAC2.html

GAL
Frankfurt 30.09. - 02.10. 1999

Die 30. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Angewandte Linguistik (GAL) e.V. findet vom 30.09. - 02.10.1999 an der Universität Frankfurt statt. Die Tagung steht unter dem Rahmenthema Sprache und Kultur. Das Thema wird in sechs Themenbereichen bearbeitet:

I. Sprachen und auswärtige Kulturpolitik; II. Sprachkultur und Medien; III. Sprachkultur und Beruf; IV. „Gender across Languages"; V. Sprache, Kultur, Kognition; VI. Mündlichkeitskulturen

Weiterhin werden zu folgenden Bereichen Sektionen angeboten: Phonetik, Lexik und Grammatik, Textlinguistik und Stilistik, Sprecherzeihung/Rhetorische Kommunikation, Medienkommunikation, Fachsprachliche Kommunikation, Soziolinguistik, Kontaktlinguistik, Kontrastive Linguistik und Interkulturelle Kommunikation, Übersetzungswissenschaft, Psycholinguistik, Klinische Linguistik, Sprachdidaktik, Unterrichtstechnologie, Computerlinguistik, Gesprächslinguistik

Daneben werden noch Arbeitskreise, Hauptvorträge und Fachausstellungen durchgeführt.

Informationen: prof. Dr Horst Dieter Schlosser, Johann. W. Goethe-Universität, Institut für Deutsche Sprache und Literatur II, Senckenberganlage 27 (161) 60054 Frankfurt am Main. Fax: 069/790-28332. Email: schlosser@lingua.uni-frankfurt.de

TESOL

TESOL is expanding its professional development offerings for members and nonmembers alike. In 1998 three TESOL Academies were offered at US universities, and a fourth will be added in 1999. We are currently investigating the feasibility of offering TESOL Academies outside the United States.

Also this year TESOL offered its first Online Workshops, in the months leading up to the Convention. ‘Internet Business English Training’, ‘Language Teaching in the Age of Information’, and ‘Task based Curricula’ were the topics of the online sessions this year. They allowed ESL and EFL professionals from around the world to connect through technology.

In an effort to build coalitions we have concentrated this year on TESOL’s linkages with other organizations. At the convention in New York, we held meetings with representatives of National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE), the America Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), the Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes (FIPLV), TESL Canada, and the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) to discuss ways in which we might collaborate for the benefit of the profession.

Finally, the premier professional development event for TESOL is the annual convention. Over 10.000 language teaching professionals from 86 countries attended the 1999 program in New York City. At this year’s convention, the TESOL Presidents’ Award was given to the Education for Development Unit of UNICEF. The award recognizes UNICEF’s "outstanding service building skills and attitudes of global citizenship among the children of the world".

TESOL 2000 Call for Participation

The next annual convention of TESOL will take place in Vancouver in Canada in March 14-18. Deadlines for papers, demonstrations, workshops and colloquia proposals due May 14; in-progress, posters, and video proposals due August 27, 1999

A primary goal of TESOL 2000 is to share our knowledge worldwide. We plan to produce a convention CD. for all attendees in Vancouver. We plan to distribute at least 10,000 CDs that will include complete papers, handouts, abstracts, and publications and software from TESO exhibitors. Proposals are being solicited on classroom practices, research in language learning and teaching, and the connection between the two. Submissions are welcomed from teachers, teacher educators, teachers-in-preparation, graduate students, researchers, program administrators, and materials and curriculum developers, as well as other professionals in fields such as communication, education, linguistics, foreign languages, anthropology, sociology, and psychology.

For more information contact TESOL, Inc. 1600 Cameron Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, Va 22314-2751 USA or David Nunan, Ph.D., TESOL President. The English Centre, 7F, K.K. Leung Building, University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Hong Kong Sar. Email:dcnunan@hkucc.hku.hk

Global Citizenship: Languages and Literacies
6-9 Jully 1999 in Adelaide

This joint AATE, AFMLT and ALEA National Conference has been designed to appeal to teachers to provide national and international perspectives as well as sharing innovative practices. The English and Literacy strand aims to help teachers foster students’ understanding of their world and the developement of their communication skills through the themes: Global information technologies; Multiple cultures, languages and power; The diversity of literature; Equity and difference in classroom literacy teaching; Wide scale assessment and equity. The Languages strand aims to focus on the contribution of second language learning to the development of literacy through the themes: Intercultural understanding through Languages Education; Advocacy and promotion of Languages Education; International Education; Standards and assessment in Languages; Vocational Education.

The program will contain plenary sessions and parallel sessions of papers and forums on: Across Languages issues, Specific languages, Teaching English Text, Literacy Education. Keynote speakers include educators, researchers, consultants, writers and journalists from Australia, England, South Africa and the USA.

For more information, contact Sapro Marketing, Global Citizenship Conference Secretariat, PO Box 6129 halifax Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5000. Phone: +61 8 8227 0252; Fax: +61 8 8227 0251; email: allsapro@camtech.net.au; Website: http://www.nexus.edu.au/curriculum/globalcit/

FIT
Second Asian Translators’ Forum Report
3-6 August 1998 in Seoul

Despite the economic downturn gripping East and South Asia, some one hundred translators attended the Second Asian translators’ Forum sponsored by the Korean Society of translators. About half of them came from abroad, including China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Altogether more than 30 papers were delivered during the forum’s six sessions, under the headings of cultural approach to translation studies, translation teaching, technology and machine translation, literary translation, linguistic approach to translation studies and interpretation. Many of the presentations also dealt with the prospects of Asian translation practices in the 21st century, which was the general theme of the forum. Proceedings of the forum will be published.

The opening ceremony was held at the grand Conference Room of the President Hotel, where the participants stayed. Mr. Hur II, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Korean Society of translators, delivered the opening address. Congratulatory addresses were given by Mr. Kwon Tai Joon, Secretary-General of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, and Mr. Song Shusheng, Vice-President of the Translators’ Association of China. Gonie Bang gave the keynote address in which he stressed the important role FIT played in promoting the translation cause throughout the world and provided the background to the Forum and the ideals which led to the proposal to form an Asian Regional Center.

For more information, contact Lin Wusun, email: linws@pulic.east.cn.net

Soyons solidaires!

Nous reproduisons ci-dessous une lettre d’Afrique en espérant que son objet trouvera un écho favorable auprès de nos lecteurs et/ou d’organismes qu’ils représentent. Les coordonnées du destinateur sont données en bas de la lettre.

Zaire Uvira, le 22.08.1997

Objet: Demande des documentations et équipement

Monsieur le Secrétaire Général,

Nous avons l’honneur de venir auprès de votre haute personnalité en vue de solliciter un soutien dont l’objet est repris en marge.

Votre approvisionnement en docuementations (livres, revues, brochures, journaux) et équipement (appareils cinématographiques, vidéos et magnétoscopes, bandes vidéos et cassettes) servira pour l’apprentissage des langues dans l’ime de nos associations dénomée "Promotions pour l’éducation d’Alphabétisation aux adultes" en sigle PROEA.

En effet, notre ONGD est une institution d’appui au développement intervenant dans le domaine de l’Education et Formation.

Comptant sur vous, nous espérons que sujet trouvera une solution parfaite.

Veuillez agréer, Monsieur le Secrétaire Général, l’expression de nos sentiments les meilleurs.

Pour le CEFI

Pasteur KISOSE KASHA Matthieu, Coordinateur

BP 34 84 Bujumbura BURUNDI
 
 

Books and Journals

Publications received

Papers and Studies in Contrastive Linguistics. UAM - Poznañ. Vol. XXXII, 1997.

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia. UAM - Poznañ. Vol. XXXIII, 1998.

Aspects. Panhellenic Association of State School Teaching of English. No. 53 & 55, 1998.

Network. A Journal for English Language Teacher Education. The British Council. Vol. 1, no. 1, December 1998.

English Teachers’ Journal. Israel. No 52, October 1998.

Language Awarness. Multilingual Matters. Vol. 7:4, 1998.

FIT FLASH. Federation Internationale des Traducteurs. Décembre 1998

LINGUAPAX. Newsletter no. 2, December 1998.

Tydskriff vir Taalonderring - Journal for Language Teaching. South African Association for Language Teaching. 32/4, 1998.

Glottodidactica. An International Journal of Applied Linguistics. Festschrift für Professor Waldemar Pfeiffer zum. 60. Geburtstag.UAM-Pozna?. Vol. XXVI, 1998.

Neofilolog. Czasopismo Polskiego Towarzystwa Neofilologicznego. No. 17, 1998.

Les langues modernes les contenus de civilisation. L’ association des professeurs de langues vivantes (a.p.l.v.), nu. 4, novembre- décembre- janvier, 1998,

Le polyglotte nu. 35, Supplément au Les langues modernes, décembre 1998.

FBPF. Federação Brasileira dos Professores de Francês. Informativo Bimestral Nos 22, dezembro1998.

Neusprachliche Mitteilungen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, Herausgegeben vom Fachverband Moderne Fremdsprachen im Pädagogischen Zeitschriftenverlag (FMF), Heft 1, 1 1999.

Russich in den alten und neuen Bundesländern. F M F Schriften Band 2. Langenscheidt.

IATEFL Issues. No. 146, Dec.1998 - January 1999, No. 1947, February - March 1999.

Tempus, Newsletter of the Federation of Foreign Language Teachers in Finland SUKOL, No. 1 - 3, 1999.

The News. TESOL-France, No.20 October 1998, No.21 January 1999.

Global Issues in Language Education Newsletter. National Special Interest Group of the Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT), Issues: 32 September & 33 December 1998, 34 March 1999

IDV Rundbrief Heft 62, April 1999.

LMS Lingua. Riksföreningen fór Lärarna i Moderna Språk. Nr 1 & 2, 1999.

ETAI Forum. English Teachers’ Association of Israel vol. X no. 2, Spring 1999.

&Ampersand. The Elsevier Science Linguistics Newsletter. No. 3, March 1999.

A Session Organised in Brzeg on the Occasion of Professor Dr Gerhard Nickel’s 70th Birthday. A Festschrift. Uniwersytet Opolski, Opole 1999.

LINGUAPAX V

Linguapax V is the 170pp production of all papers delivered at the international workshop, Linguapax V, held in Melbourne (Australia) in mid-1995, on the theme of languages and peace.

Funded by UNESCO and supported by the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, it was organised by the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations Inc (AFMLTA Inc) on behalf of the Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes (FIPLV), the International Linguapax Committee (ILC) and UNESCO.

Invited participants from Australia, Catalonia, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand, Poland and Sri Lanka presented excellent papers on their experiences at national and international levels on the topic of languages and peace.

We commend to you this excellent publication on one of the cornerstones of teaching and learning languages : languages for tolerance and peace.

These are available for CHF 20. If you would like to order a copy or copies please complete the order form and forward it to Dieter Herold

Herrn Dieter Herold
Kulenkampstraße 15 H
D-23566 Lübeck
GERMANY

Please find enclosed my cheque / money order for CHF __________ made payable to ‘FIPLV’ which covers the purchase of ________________copy / copies of Linguapax V including postage and packing.

Name: __________________________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________ 

F2I0P0L0V
20. Kongress der FIPLV
Université René Descartes, Paris
22-26 Juli 2000
Fremdsprachen lehren an der Schwelle zum 21. Jahrhundert :
Die Herausforderung der Sprachenpluralität
Tagungsthemen

Die kulturelle Vielfalt der Lernenden

Die gesellschaftlichen Faktoren

Individuelle Entfaltung und Sprachenrechte

Sprachpolitik im Bildungswesen

Curricula

Fremdsprachenunterricht für Spezialisten anderer Disziplinen

Neue Technologien

Das Schriftliche

Das Mündliche

Unterrichtsmethodik

Lehreraus- und -fortbildung

Bitte um Beiträge

Die Anmeldungen für Tagungsbeiträge richten Sie bitte BIS ZUM 1. JUNI 1999 an das Organisationskomitee (Adresse siehe oben) entweder per E-Mail oder per Post, mit dem Vermerk "Appel à Contribution" (Tagungsbeitrag). Bitte geben Sie an : Vorgeschlagener Titel, Vortragssprache, gewünschte Dauer und eine Zusammenfassung des Beitrags von etwa einer Seite. Die Antwort von Seiten des Wissenschaftlichen Beirates erhalten Sie bis zum 30. September 1999. Die angenommenen Beiträge werden als Plenarsitzungen (50 Minuten), Sektionsbeiträge (im Prinzip 20 Minuten, für Ateliers 40 oder 60 Minuten oder 5 bis 10 Minuten Redezeit bei Podiumsdiskussionen) und Forumsbeiträge (Dauer wie bei den Sektionsbeiträgen) stattfinden. Jede Sektion wird ein spezielles Thema haben, das aus einem oder mehreren Tagungsthemen hervorgehen wird. Die Foren beschäftigen sich mit Problemen der Verbandspolitik oder geben Berichte über Aktivitäten der Verbände der FIPLV. Die Beiträge können auch die Form von Posterpräsentationen haben. Bezüglich der Vortragssprache bestehen keinerlei Einschränkungen.

Praktische Hinweise

Der Kongress findet in den Räumen der Universität René Descartes statt.

Beginn: Samstag, 22. Juli, Nachmittag. Ende: Mittwoch, 26. Juli, gegen Mittag. Es wird eine gemeinsame Veranstaltung mit der Internationalen Vereinigung der Französischlehrer in der Sorbonne geben. Die in Paris stattfindenden Feierlichkeiten zum Jahr 2000 bieten ein reiches kulturelles und touristisches Rahmenprogramm. Das Mittagessen kann vor Ort oder in unmittelbarer Umgebung der Universität eingenommen werden (etwa 50 Francs). Die Übernachtungsmöglichkeiten umfassen alle Kategorien zwischen Studentenwohnheim (etwa 100 Francs) und Drei-Sterne-Hotel (etwa 600 Francs pro Nacht). Begleitpersonen können im Rahmen der gegebenen Möglichkeiten untergebracht werden. Verhandlungen sind im Gange, um Preisnachlässe für öffentliche Verkehrsmittel zu erhalten.
 
Einschreibegebühren
Mitglieder eines Verbandes der FIPLV
Nicht-Mitglieder
vor dem 1.11.1999 FFr 400 (etwa 61 Euro oder US$ 70) FFr 600 (etwa 92 Euro oder US$ 105)
nach dem 1.11.1999 und vor dem 30.04.1999 FFr 650 (etwa 100 Euro oder US$ 115) FFr 900 (etwa 138 Euro oder US$ 160)

Die Tagungsdokumentation wird in allen Sprachen der der FIPLV angehörenden internationalen einsprachigen Verbände veröffentlicht (Deutsch, Englisch, Französisch, Portugiesisch, Spanisch, Ungarisch). Weitere Übersetzungen in andere Sprachen sind ausdrücklich erwünscht.

Wenn Sie weiterhin Informationen zum Kongress und das Einschreibeformular erhalten möchten, schicken Sie uns bitte folgende Angaben:

Wenn Sie Mitglied eines nationelen Verbands sind, geben Sie bitte an, in welchem:

________________________________________________________________________

Name: ___________________________________________________________________

Addresse: ________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes (FIPLV)

Organisation of the XXth Congress:

Université René Descartes Paris V - CTL-FIPLV 2000 45 rue des Saints Pères 75006 Paris, fiplv2000@citi2.fr