1. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Languages of schooling and the Language Education Policy Profile: the case of Lombardy Gisella Langé gisella.lange@istruzione.it Ministry of Education, University and Research Lombardy Educational Authority

2. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 LOMBARDY Population: 10.065.440 Area: 23.859 kmq Foreign language teachers: 10.258 1 million students

3. http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Lombardy_%20Profile_EN.doc http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Lombardy_Profile_FR.doc www.progettolingue.net

4. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Scope of Lombardy Profile Importance of policy analysis at a time of change Awareness raising on specific issues including  promotion of plurilingualism  diversification of the range of languages Process supported by Italian national authorities  possible contribution of the Profile to a policy debate at national level

5. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Policies and curricula linked to contexts: – Schools in context – significance of school headteachers – Learners and their ‘language history’ For region: regional council/centre – policy and curricula for region (regional devolution) For (groups of) schools – policy and curricula for context and for learners (school autonomy) For learners – planning for own learning (learner autonomy) Suggested Actions

6. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 After the Profile (2006)  political changes at national level  regional devolution on the way  implementation of the School Reform Law voted in 2003  new documents of reference at national level that take into consideration the CEFR and the E.U. Recommendation on the 8 key competences  critical remark: more focus on English than on plurilingualism at national level

7. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Consequences of the Profile Holistic/global approach Plurilingualism Coherence Qualitative improvement Curriculum and syllabi development Indicators

8. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Area Multilinguismo e Internazionalizzazione A new Department within the Lombardy Regional Education Authority

9. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Developing common templates for language curricula Favouring languages of origin - Arabic in primary schools - Rumanian in primary and secondary schools Improving foreign language learning by starting at an early age - English as 1st foreign language at primary school, but also other languages in some schools Language learning (1)

10. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Improving foreign language learning by focusing on meaningful contents - promotion and expansion of CLIL/EMILE or bilingual courses (tandem teaching: subject teachers and FL teachers) - improvement of intercultural competences in international cooperation (e.g school exchange, educational stays, international projects, internships) - international diplomas (ex ESABAC), language certificates, language competitions and other language projects Language learning (2)

11. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 developing student autonomy using the European Language Portfolio, special projects (ex. Certilingua, etc) Language learning (3)

12. FOREIGN LANGUAGES up to 2006 English = from primary school to upper secondary school French, German, Spanish = in all lower and some upper secondary schools Russian = in some upper secondary schools Arabic, Chinese, Japanese mostly in extra-curricular courses in upper secondary schools

13. FOREIGN LANGUAGES after 2006 English, French, German, Spanish Russian: same as before 2006 Arabic, Chinese, Japanese mostly in extra-curricular courses in upper secondary schools BUT now also in curricular courses ARABIC offered in PRIMARY schools ROMANIAN offered in PRIMARY, Lower and Upper Secondary Schools

14. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 The Profile brought together teachers from languages of schooling (especially what we call Language as Subject i.e. teachers of Italian) and Foreign Language teachers: descriptors of competences for Italian as a subject and Italian as a foreign language have been developed certifications for Italian as a FL are been introduced

15. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Teachers of other subjects know what the CEFR is show great interest in the way levels, descriptors and competences are defined in it are trying to describe and grade competences for their subjects… CLIL/EMILE training activities favour awareness and cooperative work on language learning…

16. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Summing up Visible short and medium term consequences Ongoing public debate, conferences, round tables, articles, etc. General understanding of the importance of plurilingual education and languages of schooling More attention to the linguistic integration of young and adult migrants Relevant effects on curriculum development assessment vulnerable groups (chidren of migrants) institutions

17. Languages of schooling Politicians Administrators Parents Journalists Publishers Cultural Agencies Associations Trade Unions World of work University Professors Inspectors Headteachers Teachers Trainers

18. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 Next project in Lombardy… Languages of Schooling

19. 2009: European Year of Creativity and Innovation

20. Gisella Langé Strasbourg, June 8, 2009 SLOGANSLOGAN