Challenges for LE contents Florentina Sâmihăian expert The National Council for Curriculum, Romania

Languages of education language culture literature communication skills values and attitudes FL LS LAC Other subjects standards knowledge aims methodology

Contextualizing contents Aims contents standards Competences (knowledge, skills, values and attitudes) Methods and strategies Key-questions: What skills and attitudes can be developed by certain contents? What values and attitudes can be hinted by certain contents? What kind of standards can be stated on the basis of operating with certain contents? How can ‘general culture’ be defined today?

Jacques Delors: „The inner treasure“ - a Report to UNESCO, 1996 LEARNING TO KNOW – the ability to combine acquisitions of language and literature in exploring or in producing oral and written texts; the ability to practice procedures of knowledge acquisition, based on linguistic and cultural competencies. LEARNING TO DO - the ability to communicate (listen, speak, read, write) in a variety of contexts and to cooperate with others in this process (communicative interactions); to accommodate to different social (language varieties) or cultural contexts (intercultural sensibility) and relate to their personal experience within a local or a national community (regional or standard language, cultural patrimony). LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER – the capacity to show respect and interest to others’ values and to have a positive communicative attitude in the spirit of pluralism; to work in common projects and manage conflict solving on the basis of communicative interactions. LEARNING TO BE (develop his / her own personality and be capable of autonomy of judging and assuming responsibility) This dimension involves: memory (linguistic and cultural knowledge), faculty of reasoning (personal responses, critical thinking), aesthetic sense (sensibility to cultural expression), and capacities of communication (confidence in his / her own abilities of communication).

LE components FL – focus on a ‘particular’ language and culture LS – focus on the ‘national’ / ‘official’ / ‘mother tongue‘ language and culture LAC – focus on specialized language of different domains of knowledge Contrastive linguistic approach Types of discourse Intercultural perspective Communicative strategies and attitudes  The centrality of communication  The possibility to identify convergences and overlaps between the three LE components

Focus on LS: heterogeneity languageliterature communication language in use diversity of contexts standard language in relation with other varieties dialogue with texts variety of texts national literature in relation with universal literature / culture

Focus on LS: contents’ structuring  Areas of knowledge  Language, literature / culture, communication  Communicative activities  Listening, speaking, reading, writing  Contexts & topics  Personal, public, occupational, educational  Childhood, Leisure, Adventures, Friendship etc.

Focus on LS: an illustration of progression Primary Lower Secondary Upper Secondary -personal response -procedures -strategies -immediate environment -discourse variety -cultural context -basic grammar rules -grammar system -semiotics -literature for children -literary genres -aesthetics, literary history -simple nonfiction -nonfiction genres -arts -play-role -critical thinking -autonomy -writing about personal -writing for different -original experience purposes expression

Literature – an example What kind of contents? -Genre and species: literary and nonliterary texts -Discourse strategies (narrative, description, dialogue, argumentative etc.) -Figures of speech, expressive uses of language -National literary history – the canon Interculturality Multiculturality

Coherence and progression: an example READING: Innocent reader  Competent reader  Autonomous reader Primary: focus on texts that can be related to students’ experience and to introduce readers to the universe of fiction Lower secondary: focus on text variety (such as genres, species, types of discourse) Upper secondary: focus on cultural representations (national patrimony in relation with different contexts - cultural, social, historical etc.)

Difficulties in approaching contents within LE  Redefining the concept of ‘general culture’  Finding relevant categories of content that are common to LS, FL and LAC (such as communicative activities, types of discourse, topics etc.)  Identifying possible vertical progression and horizontal correlations  Suggesting a common methodology that can be used along with the specific ones for each of LE components  Designing a change in the initial training of teachers having in view this integrative perspective  Identifying possible common standards for LS or for LAC

How to address the issue of contents within the European framework The framework is intended to be only a point of reference for LE in Europe. -Presenting and discussing options of understanding and structuring contents, of contents’ progression and convergences in LE -Assuming a certain perspective of LE contents’ that may guide policy makers, curriculum designers and teachers