language education

Language education is the teaching and learning of a language or languages, usually as foreign languages.

Foreign Language Teaching in Europe - In 1995 the European Commission’s White Paper "Teaching andlearning – Towards the learning society", stated that "upon completing initial training, everyone should be proficient in two Community foreign languages". The Lisbon Summit of 2000 defined languages as one of the five key skills.In fact, even in 1974, at least one foreign language was compulsory in all but two European countries (Ireland and the United Kingdom apart from Scotland). By 1998 nearly all pupils in Europe studied at least one foreign language as part of their compulsory education, the only exception being Ireland, where primary and secondary schoolchildren learn both Irish languageIrish and English languageEnglish, but neither is considered a foreign language. Pupils in upper secondary education learn at least ''two'' foreign languages in Belgium's Flemish Community, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.On average in Europe, at the start of foreign language teaching, learners have lessons for three to four hours a week. Compulsory lessons in a foreign language normally start at the end of primary school or the start of secondary school. In Luxembourg, Norway and Malta, however, the first foreign language is learnt at age six, and in Belgium's Flemish Community at age 10. Half of the EU's primary school pupils learn a foreign language, on average.English languageEnglish is the language taught most often at lower secondary level in the EU. 93% of children there learn English. At upper secondary level, English is even more widely taught. French languageFrench is taught at lower secondary level in all EU countries except Slovenia. A total of 33% of European Union pupils learn French at this level. At upper secondary level the figure drops slightly to 28%.German languageGerman is taught in nearly all EU countries. A total of 13%of pupils in the European Union learn German in lower secondary education, and 20% learn it at an upper secondary level. Despite the high rate of foreign language teaching in schools, the number of adults claiming to speak a foreign language is generally lower than might be expected. This is particularly true of native English speakers: in 2004 a United KingdomBritish survey showed that only one in 10 UK workers could speak a foreign language. Less than 5% could count to 20 in a second language, for example. 80% said they could work abroad anyway, because "everyone speaks English". In 2001, a European Commission survey found that 65.9% of people in the UK spoke only their native tongue.Since the 1990s, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages has tried to standardize the learning of languages across Europe.

Bilingual education - See main article: Bilingual education''In some countries, learners have lessons taken entirely in a foreign language: for example, more than half of European countries with a minority languageminority or regional language community use partial immersion to teach both the minority and the state language.In the 1960s and 1970s, some central and eastern European countries created a system of bilingual schools for well-performing pupils. Subjects other than languages were taught in a foreign language. In the 1990s this system was opened to all pupils in general education, although some countries still make candidates sit an entrance exam. At the same time, Belgium's French Community, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Finland also started bilingual schooling schemes. Germany meanwhile had established some bilingual schools in the late 1960s.

Methods of teaching foreign languages - There are several methods in wide use:

Immersive language education places students in a situation where they must use a foreign language, whether or not they know it. This creates fluency, but not accuracy of usage.

Tutoring by a native speaker is one of the best all-around methods. However it requires a motivated native tutor, which can be a rare, expensive commodity.

Directed practice has students repeat phrases. This method is used by U.S. diplomatic courses. It can quickly provide a "phrasebook" knowledge of the language. Within these limits, the students' usage is accurate and precise. However the student's choice of what to say is not flexible.

Absorptive language education has students listen to or view video tapes of language models acting in situations. Most instructors now acknowledge that this method is ineffective by itself.

Grammatic language education instructs students in grammar, and provides vocabulary to memorymemorize. Most instructors now acknowledge that this method is ineffective by itself.

Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language.

Eclectic methods combine the above into a single course of study. These are the most common.

Blended learning combines face-to-face teaching with interactive (and therefore frequently electronic) practice activity. This can be achieved through the adoption of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). VLEs have been a major growth point in the TEFL industry over the last 5 years. They are developed either as an externally-hosted platforms onto which content can be exported by a school or institution (examples being 'Worldwide Web Course Tools, WebCT' or the 'Blackboard' VLE) or as content-supplied, course-managed learning platforms (an example being the 'Macmillan English Campus'). The key difference is that the latter is able to support course-building by the language school. This means that teachers can blend their existing courses with games, activities, listening exercises and grammar reference units that are contained online. This has applications in the classroom and as self-study or remote practice (for example in an internet café).

Acronyms and abbreviations - ''See also English as an additional language for information on language teaching acronyms and abbreviations which are specific to English.

CALL - Computer-assisted language learning

DELF - Diplôme d'études en langue française

L1 - First language, mother language

L2 - Second language

SLA - Second language acquisition

TELL - Technology-enhanced language learning

TPR - Total Physical Response

TPRS - Total Physical Response Storytelling

See also -

Bilingual education

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL)

Eikaiwa

Monolingual learners' dictionaries

English grammar

English language

Grammar

Language

Linguistics

Second language

Second language acquisition

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

Blended learning

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

English language teaching

External links -

dmoz.org - Links to language education websites at DMOZ

learnrussian.hut1.ru - Learn Russian by Reading Free open project: adapted Russian tales, verses, complicated texts etc.

english.hb.pl - Pako's English Page - How to learn English effectively

vistawide.com - Learning Foreign Languages Articles, tips, and resources for learning other languages.

eurydice.org - Eurydice, the information network on education in Europe

lib.byu.edu - TESL Reporter, a semiannual publication dedicated to the dissemination of ideas and issues of interest to teachers of English to speakers of other languages worldwide.

ciep.fr - Diplôme d'études en langue française

!macmillanenglishcampus.com - Macmillan English Campus: a blended learning solutionCategory:Language education !de:Fremdsprachenunterrichtes:E nseñanza? de idiomasfr:Enseignement des langues !étrangèresru:Иностра� �ный? язык в !школеzh:語言教育

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