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Plurilingualism versus multilingualism

Maria Neus Lorenzo i Galés

nlorenzo@xtec.cat

Looking for collective empowerment in Catalonia

Immigration, education and language

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Summary

• Catalan educational policy focuses on consolidating and enriching Catalan citizenship in Europe (plurilingualism versus multilingualism).

• The educational system is oriented towards providing citizens in new generations with the necessary competencies to face employability, sutainability and other challenges of the future.

• Autonomy at schools develops leadership and decision making for dealing with international compatibility and comparability.

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Content

• The Catalan culture: what are we talking about?

• New challenges for facing the future

• European language policies in education

and collective empowerment in Catalonia

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The Catalan culture... what are we talking about?

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Culture is the result of cognition, the human mutation

that extends us into new environments

and allows us to discover original solutions

to emerging challenges.Jorge Wagensberg

Culture, the extension of human beings

2010: • International Year of Biodiversity• European Year for fighting against poverty and social

exclusion

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There are no bridges between cultures,Culture is the bridge

complexity

recursivityabstraction

creativitycombinatory

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Saving diversity is a long term investment

Benefits:-planetary survival-health research reservoir-flexible response for Life and Nature-wider resource pool for facing crisis-adaptation

Biodiversity Cultural diversity

Diversity should not be unequity

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Catalonia in Europe

32.000 Km2 , 7.364.078 inhabitants (2008)15.96% of the Spanish population946 municipal locationsPolitical autonomy in Spain

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Catalan Challenge: vulnerability and dispersion

• 10M speakers in 4 countries (Spain, Andorra, Italy, France)

• Identity vs. Globalization

• From Bilingualism to Plurilingualism

• Multiculturalism vs. Intercultural

dialogue

Inclusive strategies for social cohesion

Inner frontiers are the ones that really separate us

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Sharing past?

Geographical and institutional space?

Common past?

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Immigrants students in Catalonia

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

Alumnat Estranger

Spain: 8,37 %

Immigrant students

0.81%

13.65%10.05%

7.65%

5.04%

9.03%

14.15%

Immigrant student growth in Catalonia

23.778

148.525

93.831106.746

121.622133.000

34.797

51.926

74.491

19.79316.921

9.868

155.213

Source: http://www.idescat.cat/pub/?id=aec&n=274&t=2008

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Sharing present?

An oral and written shared language?

Known and shared empowered values?

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Students newly arrived in Cataloniaordered by originating country

931 981 1.102 1.216 1.377 1.519 1.847 1.931 1.9332.491 2.502 2.720

3.3713.788

5.1595.806 5.962

6.329

14.073

1

29.561

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

Source: Servei d’Immersió i Ús de la llengua, 2008

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Sharing the future?

Sense, vision and will of common future?

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Usage of official languages in Catalonia 2008

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Companys d'estudi

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Companys de feina

0,00 500,00 1.000,00 1.500,00 2.000,00 2.500,00

Membres de la llarFamily Amistats

0,00 500,00 1.000,00 1.500,00 2.000,00 2.500,00

Friends

0,00 500,00 1.000,00 1.500,00 2.000,00 2.500,00

VeïnsNeighbours

Work Schoolmates

Source: http://www.idescat.cat/

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Several monolingual societies ? One plural society?

policy

policy

policy

policy

policy

Multilingualism or Plurilingualism?(Leonard Orban, Commissionate for Multilingualism, EU 2001)

An educational policy for dealing with diversity

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Language dymamics: ~ 5000 - 5500 languages in the world

80 % are no-state, minority languages

75% are threatened or in danger

About 8-10 % disappear every year

In 100 years about 2500 will disappear (50 %)

Source: « Halte à la mort des langues » Claude Hagège

When a language disappears, a whole culture vanishes, with its unique,collective, unrepeateble view of reality.

Only 10% are active in the Internet space(40 languages for 99,3 % of users)

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New challenges for facing the future

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Common challenges: sustainability

NASA: Hubble 2009 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/ero/index.html

Globalization

Identity

- Contradictions - Uncertainty- Acceleration- Social transformation- Transformation Society

- Plurilingualism- Interculturalism- Diversity, collective richness- Complexity of competencies- Professional flexibility

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Community building: intercultural dialogue

- self-recognitions- participation - leadership - vision of the future- dealing with diversity

Inclusion

reading, speaking, writing, listening, dialoguing

interacting in many languages

Dealing with diversity for empowering rights and duties

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Language plurality and cultural diversity (mother tongue +2)

Lifelong learning programs 2007-2013 & 2014-2020

Integrating ICT tools & e-learning in educational systems

Convergence: comparable degrees, towards transnational studies

Education: relevant to the labor market (literacy & key competencies)

Creating a common European citizenship (Prospects: enlarging complexity and diversity

29 countries : Joint declaration, European Ministers of Education (Terry Mitchell, promoter of EHEA: European Higher European Area, Bologna 1999, Berlin 2003, Bergen 2005

http://www.bologna-berlin2003.de/pdf/bologna_declaration.pdf Also: Lisbon agreement 2000, revision London 2007)

A search for a common European answerto a common European challenge

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European educational policy is linked to…

• Social inclusion: core skills, quality of the higher education system

• Innovation: creativity and autonomy• Industry: entrepreneurship, competitiveness• Research: sciences & technology• EU Framework strategy for multili/pluri-lingualism• Labor market: Recognition of professional qualifications

(Directive 2005/36/EC)

23/10/2009 - "The benefits and challenges of linguistic diversity in Europe” (Leonard Orban)Source: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1574&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

And Web: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/orban/index_en.htm

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Improving competencies for 21st C

Future cooperation on:• Developing action plans to increase levels of reading literacy and numeracy, including the use of target-setting;• Reinforcing transversal as well as subject-based competencies, particularly learning- to-learn; and• Adopting a comprehensive approach to competence development, encompassing curricula, learning materials, teacher

training, personalised learning, and assessment techniques.

Future co-operation on:• Generalizing access to high quality pre-school education;• Measuring and improving the equity impact of school education systems, and reducing quality differences between schools;• Ensuring that school systems facilitate successful transitions between different school types and levels, and into further

education and training;• Reducing early school leaving• Providing more timely support and personalised learning approaches within mainstream schooling for students with special

needs.

Future co-operation on:• Ensuring that teachers’ initial education, induction and ongoing professional development are coordinated,

coherent, adequately resourced and quality assured; and improving the supply, quality and take-up of in-service teacher education;

• Reviewing teacher recruitment to attract the most able candidates, select the best applicants, and place good teachers in challenging schools; and

• Improving the recruitment of school leaders and equipping them to focus on improving student learning and developing school staff.

Source: Communication from the Commission, 3.7.2008:Improving competences for the 21st Century:An Agenda for European Cooperation of Schools.Web: http://www.eun.org

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Improving competencies for 21st C

Source: Communication from the Commission, 3.7.2008:Improving competences for the 21st Century:An Agenda for European Cooperation of Schools.Web: http://www.eun.org

Equity

Efficiency

Excellency

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European language policies in education

and collective empowerment in Catalonia

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Language policy :

Evolution of teaching language Models

Segregated Models: Academic learning, informative, selective, restrictive, formal and elitist teaching, focused on linguistic knowledge...

Inclusive Models: Cohabitative, interactive, social approach, intercultural dialogue, ethical management of diversity, and acceptance of plurality focused on plurilingualism and intercultural dialogue...

Integration Models: Communicative and functional approach, incorporated and added learning, vocational training, focused on language assimilation...

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Accademic achievement in Catalonia for granting opportunitiesEquity

Estudis de la població

0%

50%

100%

1 2 3 4 5 6

Sense estudis Estudis primaris Estudis secundaris Estudis superiors

Source: INDESCAT http://www.idescat.cat/territ/BasicTerr?TC=5&V0=3&V1=0&V3=762&V4=763&ALLINFO=TRUE&PARENT=25&CTX=B

1981 20011991 19961986 2007

(population over 10 years old)

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Languages, the common opportunity

Source: Indescat: http://www.idescat.cat/territ/BasicTerr?TC=5&V0=3&V1=3&V3=3372&V4=3373&ALLINFO=TRUE&PARENT=25&CTX=B

0

5

10

15

20

25

2003 2008

% of pobulation

Evolution of foreign language knowledgein Catalonia

Anglès

Francès

Alemany

Àrab

Gallec

Eficience

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Plurilingualism for empowering Catalan sdociety

7 languages

5 languages!

Tamazigh (Amazic) is the 3rd language in Catalonia

Efficiency

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Moltes gràcies!

Sharingin diversity