While we have numbered the items, member associations should of
course feel free to edit the mailshot in whatever way they see fit, and
include only those items they consider of interest to their members. FIPLV
will be very happy to receive any feedback or comments from members.
Here is a note from the Organiser, our former President, Michel Candelier:
Le Comité scientifique a examiné les propositions de présentation,
qui ont été très nombreuses et pour la plupart de
très bonne qualité. Un programme provisoire va être
élaboré et envoyé aux associations dans la deuxième
quinzaine de novembre. La date limite pour bénéficier d'un
tarif "early bird" va être repoussée au 1/1/2000. Cependant,
nous vous demandons de rappeler à vos adhérents qu'ils
doivent s'inscrire le plus tôt possible, car l'organisation du
congrès entraîne des besoins financiers importants, dès
maintenant.
The Congress dates are Saturday 22 July - Wednesday 26 July. You can register on the Web: http:/www.ctl.univ-Paris5.fr/fiplv2000
Or you can obtain Registration Forms from or in recent editions of FIPLV World News.
Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes
Organisation of the XXth Congress
Université Réné Descartes
Paris V
-CTL FIPLV 2000
45 rue des Saints Pères
75006
Paris
Our treasurer general Dieter Herold sent information on the European
Year of Languages 2001 to member associations. In case someone is interested
and did not get Dieter's e-mail, this is also available here on the web
site.
Dieter says: ‘Don't forget to join in the efforts to make the general public aware of the need to respect and to learn languages. Do join in the efforts to make politicians, decision makers and other people responsible in the area of education and further learning, to make them aware of the necessity to support the EYL 2001, morally and financially.’
I would add, do let us know what you are planning to do.
The executive’s own statutory meeting had a packed agenda, but it would
only be fair to say that the executive committee did manage to fit in a
small amount of sightseeing, including a delightful dinner on a boat on
the river Vltava, hosted by Professor Josef Hendrick of Krug Moderner Fremdsprachen.
And yes, for those of you who have not yet visited the city, it is every
bit as lovely as people say.
1. Is autonomy of the learner already a fact in your country?
2. Have you taught (and for how long) an autonomous learning
class?
3. What was your initial rationale for this approach?
4. Have you experienced some initial problems? (If ‘yes’ please
specify. Did you manage to overcome the difficulties? How?)
5. What are your present arguments for/against this approach?
6. Have you experienced some resistance to the idea from other
people (please specify who and their arguments).
7. In view of your experience, can every age group and every
class be granted autonomy? Why? Why not?
8. What advice would you give to those who plan to start running
an autonomous class?
.
A personal note from JH: ‘Learner autonomy’ is a term which itself
has different interpretations. At one extreme, one has to ask if there
is in fact any other kind of learning. Another viewpoint sees it as fundamentally
dishonest - offering ‘supposed’ choices of activity within a limited range
prescribed by the teacher. Others see it as the epitome of the democratic
classroom where learners come to take responsibility for the management
of their own learning - which is after all what adult learners do. So what
exactly do people understand when they hear the term or claim to use ‘autonomy’
in their teaching? Let us know what you think, please, by contacting the
FIPLV editorial office:
or by writing to:
Teresa Siek-Piskozub, School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University,
al. Niepodleglošci 4, PL-61-874 Poznan, Poland
We look forward to publishing some of the accounts in our Forum for
Controversial Issues.
President’s Moscow visit
Our President had an extremely busy schedule on his recent visit to Europe. The following is a short edited extract from his report:
September 21-27: Leaving Prague at 1000 via Frankfurt saw me arrive at the Sheremyetyevo Airport of Moscow at 1805 local time. Collected at the airport by Ludmila Baranova, I arrived at the Moscow State University at 2005 - catching up with Michael Lewis - before enjoying the University accommodation. The following morning a meeting was scheduled with Prof. Svetlana Ter-Minasova (Dean of the Foreign Languages Faculty), Olga Alexandrova and Ludmila Baranova (English Department, Faculty of Philology). The meeting provided invaluable background on the languages scene in Russia, focussing on my priorities of the visit : the formation of a national multlingual association in Russia, MAPRYAL (the international association of teachers of Russian) and their ultimate membership of FIPLV.
(MSLU): September 22 :Meeting with Representatives of Moscow State
Linguistic University
There followed a typical Russian repast, organised by Prof Irina Khaleeva,
which facilitated discussion. The trilingual discussion (in English, Russian
and French) focussed on the role and activities of FIPLV, the formation
of a national multilingual association (under the aegis of the Russian
Department of Education) and ways in which this multilingual association
could be formed and join FIPLV.
September 22-25: LATEUM Conference in Moscow (Russia): Organised admirably by Ludmila Baranova, this Fifth International LATEUM Conference - an affiliate of IATEFL - brought together some 200 participants from a range of countries, including Russia, Belarus, China, England, Latvia, Scotland and Ukraine, with some "locals" coming from as far afield as Novosibinsk (Siberia) and Kaliningrad.
Vice-President attends LAKMIDA conference in Vilnius 22 - 23 October, 1999
Here are some edited excerpts from the report by Vice-President Tuula Pentillä
Friday 22 Oct:The keynote speech was by Stase Skapiene, Vice Minister
of Education. She spoke about Early Language Learning Curriculum Framework.
They are working on their national curriculum and she asked the audience
for their input. There were four plenary sessions. I had the honour of
having the first plenary and I spoke about Intercultural Education in FL
classroom. Tim Philips, British Council in Slovakia spoke about Drama and
Lada Rovanova and Emilia Mironovova from Slovakia had a topic called Higher
Quality by Communication and Co-operation.
There were 6 sub-themes: ELT Methodology, Learner Independence,
Research, Literature, Modern Technologies and Young Learners. At the end
of the first day they had 6 meetings where they decided to form SIGs under
the headings of the subtitles of the conference.
Saturday 23 Oct.: I listened to a few interesting papers on Research.
The final plenary was by the British Council representative, Serena Yeo,
who spoke about Lithuania Cross Cultural Issues.
There were about 180 participants and about 10 foreign lecturers. The
conference was well organized and people seemed pleased with the presentations.
The atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant. In the afternoon we were taken
around the old town and later in the evening there was a dinner for the
foreign lecturers.
Towards the formation of a national multilingual association: Lithuania has had a preliminary committee since the Executive Committee was there in 1994. Its members are the presidents of the three existing unilingual associations; English, French, German. I had a meeting with Izolda Geniene (English) and Aldona Mikalauskiene (German) and we discussed the establishing of a multilingual federation. The president of the Association of Teachers of French was in Paris. They are ready to establish the federation. Their first step is to work on their statutes and then register the association. Izolda asked me to write a letter to the Ministry of Education in support of their joining FIPLV. There is a lot of good will, but everything takes time.
I enjoyed the conference and the hospitality of our Lithuanian colleagues
and had a chance to see something of the beautiful old town of Vilnius.
AND FINALLY, ON BEHALF OF THE EXECUTIVE OF FIPLV, I EXTEND GOOD WISHES
TO ALL OUR MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE COMING SEASON OF FESTIVITIES AND
MAY THE FOLLOWING YEAR BE FRUITFUL TO ALL YOUR ENDEAVOURS.
Judith Hamilton
Secretary General, FIPLV
FIPLV involvement with international and other humanitarian organisations had continued, indicating the committee’s intention of reaching out to include within the field of language teaching and learning issues reflecting a wide view of the world, and to bring together teachers of languages from as broad a spectrum as possible.
Further steps had been taken to promote relations with the international business community, in line with the notion of expanding horizons in a world which is rapidly becoming increasingly accessible, and where, while the tasks of the teacher are becoming increasingly complex, demands for transparency regarding their performance are making themselves heard.
In connection with its ongoing work on promoting tolerance in the context
of language teaching, the committee warmly welcomed the publication of
‘Language Teaching and Tolerance/ Enseignement des langues et tolérance:
Collection of materials for teachers/Sélection de documents pédagogiques
which it is hoped will be of interest to member associations. FIPLV and
the European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz are keen to follow up
the activities of the workshop and promote interest in this area wherever
possible in the context of local associations of teachers (see below).
The representation of over 25 language associations throughout Europe, with an emphasis on those located in recent or potential conflict zones such as the Balkans, served as a very real and pertinent focus for the objectives of the symposium, which were to make teachers aware of the crucial role that they play in developing a spirit of tolerance and the promotion of a culture of peace, and to offer avenues for reflection as well as concrete methods of working towards that goal.
The subject allowed for a great deal of discussion, ranging from deliberations as to the nature of groups and their need to protect themselves from perceived threats, to considerations of practical classroom methodologies. A great deal of impressive work was unveiled, including the organisation by teacher trainees of a ‘peace happening’ in a Polish university, and remarkable use of technology in Finland. No-one who was there will forget the spontaneous applause accorded to a brave Serbian colleague who, with shaking hands and strong determination expressed her own feelings of the importance of the workshop’s goals, made all the more poignant with the breaking news from Kosovo and the presence of colleagues from surrounding areas.
Workshops were conducted by Michel Candelier, former President of FIPLV, Felicity MacDonald-Smith of IATEFL/Global Issues Special Interest Group and Dolors Reig of Linguapax. FIPLV were pleased to note the positive reception given to ‘Language Teaching and Tolerance/Enseignement des langues et tolérance: Collection of materials for teachers/Sélection de documents pédagogiques’ which offered many suggestions of a practical nature as well as reflections on the role of the languages teacher, of which the following (from the Introduction by Michel Candelier) serves to give a flavour:
Knowing another’s language may, because it entails communication, be a definitive step towards tolerance. But at a deeper level… to learn a language which is not one’s mother tongue may lead one to experience another vision of the world, may make one realise the relativity of that vision adopted by one’s own group and lead to a greater ability to understand the way in which others think and behave. As a result of several experiences of such diversity, individuals may conceive their own culture as merely one of several possible responses to problems common to the human race, and also develop, in the same way, a sense of belonging to this race, over and above the frontiers of the group.
One of the fundamental objectives of language teaching… is to develop the learners’ communicative ability. .. the language class becomes the environment in which are exercised and developed the ability to listen to others, the place where learners become aware of how mutually enriching a sharing of perspectives can be. Experiencing a tolerant approach in the language class prepares learners to extend this beyond the school environment.
In a society where numerous cultural factors increasingly coexist, language teaching… can (thus) contribute to the development of a solidly responsible society which is respectful of individual identities... It is no longer sufficient simply to ask how to develop the mechanisms of comprehension and expression. The cultural dimension and the demands implied therein at the level of what is known and accepted in others -a necessarily reciprocal process - are inextricably linked to communication.
Among the many challenges for teachers noted in individual contributions, were problems such as language status - e.g. in Malta, Maltese has been accorded such a high status that English proficiency is perceived to be diminished, whereas the Basque representative pointed to the continuing need to promote teaching in and about the language. Participants from several former Warsaw pact countries noted with concern how their young people seemed to demonstrate a purely instrumental motivation to language learning as a means to make money, and seemed to lack any interest in lessons which went beyond enabling them to buy, sell, and do deals. This raised the question as to whether the teacher had the right/duty to promote a wider view of language, or whether such a view might indeed stem from future personal contacts by the learner independently from the teacher - what indeed is the teacher’s role? Others noted sadly the legacies of conflict in their countries where school leavers with different ethnic and linguistic origins, who had studied in the same schools, nevertheless held their leaving parties in different and separate locations. Our Basque colleague’s notion of ‘tolerance’ as being essentially associated with power - i.e., as something which the powerful confer on the weak, was thought-provoking; similarly conducive to lively debate were discussions on how to cope with the view of language as a source of fascinating diversity and enriching difference, where that very difference leads to distrust and conflict. A case, perhaps, of learning to accept ambiguity. There is no doubt that participants at the conference would return home with many ideas on which to ponder.
Judith Hamilton
Secretary General FIPLV
Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes
Organisation of the XXth Congress
Université Réné Descartes
Paris V
-CTL FIPLV 2000
45 rue des Saints Pères
75006
Paris
Early birds - those members registering before 1 November 1999 - benefit from reduced fees of FFr 400 for the whole conference. With lunch available on site or nearby for around FFr 50, and accommodation ranging from FFr 100 in university halls of residence to FFr 600 in three-star hotels, this has to represent the best value-for-money conference of the 20th century! Travel discounts are also being negotiated.
The conference theme is ‘The Challenges of Plurality’ and this encompasses papers (contact the Conference organisers for more information - abstracts are requested by 1 June) on:
Cultural Diversity of Learners
Social Implications
Fulfilment of Individual Potential
Educational Language Policies
The Curriculum
Languages for Specialist of other Disciplines
New Technologies
Writing
Speaking
Classroom Techniques
Teacher Education
We look forward to seeing many of you there.
Responses to this important survey have been received and we await
feedback in response to
those distributed in French. The primary objective of this survey is
to identify best practice in conducting professional development for language
teachers, and to draw on this expertise to propose future directions from
which language teacher associations can derive input to prepare future
activities of value to our profession. The final report will include:
An introduction, a list of survey questions, a summary of responses, concentrating on the nature, focus and mechanics of professional development, a section dealing with fundamental issues of PD, summaries of case studies, a synthesis of trends and recommendations.
Policies on the Teaching of Languages
Once FIPLV 2000 is over, Former President, Michel Candelier will begin
the synthesis of Policies
on the Teaching of Languages to establish an overview of world-wide
trends.
A great many new appointments are likely to be made at UNESCO within
the next six years, and while concerns continue to be expressed in some
quarters about some of the agency’s procedures, FIPLV officers have at
all times felt the benefit from their own professional relationships with
individuals within an agency whose support we value and with whom we have
always worked in friendly collaboration.
Just a reminder to our members that the Congress will be held from Saturday 22 July - Wednesday 26 July in Paris.
Progress has been made also with registration for the Congress which can now be done on the Web.
For those who feel as intimidated by the Web as I do, Registration Forms are also available from:
Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes
Organisation of the XXth Congress
Université Réné Descartes
Paris V
-CTL FIPLV 2000
45 rue des Saints Pères
75006
Paris
Remember that if you register before 1 November 1999, you benefit from reduced fees of FFr 400 for the whole conference. With lunch available on site or nearby for around FFr 50, and accommodation ranging from FFr 100 in university halls of residence to FFr 600 in three-star hotels, this has to represent the best value-for-money conference of the 20th century!
The latest edition of FIPLV World News contains details of the Congress in German on pages 20 and 21. Conference themes are:
Cultural Diversity of Learners
Social Implications
Fulfilment of Individual Potential
Educational Language Policies
The Curriculum
Languages for Specialist of other Disciplines
New Technologies
Writing
Speaking
Classroom Techniques
Teacher Education
Some colleagues whose countries do not possess a major international language may occasionally wonder whether this might represent a considerable advantage. It certainly has accounted for a neglect of language learning in the past. However, spare a moment of pity for the poor Anglo-Saxons and their Celtic cousins, who are now asking themselves which languages they ought in fact to be learning. At present 93% of school pupils learn French (a language is compulsory up to age 16). This seems disproportionate.
The news from the business world with whom a consultative exercise is
under way is that English is not enough, despite the fact that virtually
all the companies consulted to date use English at board level. French
is essential when dealing with France; in Germany at the top level speaking
the language is a distinct advantage, and there is a considerable need
for more Spanish than taught at present. Italian and Portuguese have been
neglected….and then come Chinese, Japanese, Russian. All of this represents
a huge challenge for language teachers, particularly those of us who only
have European languages.
We would ask members to urge that UNESCO retain this division by writing
a letter to that effect addressed to their National Commission for UNESCO.
Judith Hamilton
Secretary General, FIPLV