The aim of the present article is to provide an overview of the current state of affairs regarding foreign language education and bilingual education in the different parts of Belgium. In a brief ...historical contextualisation, we explain how language education in Belgium has been shaped by the country's political and economic history, which has led to legal constraints concerning the language(s) of instruction as well as foreign language education. A paradoxical situation has now emerged: on the one hand, an apparently straightforward organisation of language education according to a 'one community - one language' principle; on the other hand, a complex and heterogeneous reality with respect to the organisation of the school system in general and language education in particular. We illustrate the present situation with figures from the different language communities (Dutch-, French-, and German-speaking) on (a) foreign languages learned at school in regular settings, and (b) alternatives to the regular framework that bypass the constrictive legislation, such as CLIL. The data reveal the intricate make-up of language education in Belgium, reflecting a tailor-made approach taken by each of the three official language communities.
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Minority Languages in the Linguistic Landscape provides an innovative approach to the written displays of minority languages in public space. It explores minority language situations through ...the lens of linguistic landscape research. Based on very tangible data it explores the 'same old issues' of language contact and language conflict in new ways. It deepens our understanding of language policies, power relations and ideologies. The chapters cover a wide geographic area, ranging from Sámi in the far North, to Basque, Catalan and Corsican in the South. From the town of Dingle on the West coast of Ireland to the cities of Kiev and Chisinau in the East of Europe, including the contrasting cases of Israel and Brunei. Combining theoretical approaches from various disciplines to provide a framework which connects real bottom-up data with more abstract research on minority languages, this book will be useful for researchers and students in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and policy sciences, as well as for policy makers.
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Providing an innovative approach to the written displays of minority languages in public space this, volume explores minority language situations through the lens of linguistic landscape research
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DURK GORTER Ikerbasque research professor at the University of the Basque Country, Spain. He researches on multilingualism, European minority languages and linguistic landscapes and has published numerous books and articles on those themes. HEIKO F. MARTEN Researcher and lecturer in linguistics at Tallinn University, Estonia. He has published on multilingualism, language policy and minority languages in different European contexts, including his 2009 volume Languages and Parliaments. LUK VAN MENSEL Researcher at the University of Namur, Belgium. He has published on economic aspects of multilingualism and on Dutch, French and foreign language proficiency, in particular in Belgium.
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Providing an innovative approach to the written displays of minority languages in public space this volume explores minority language situations through the lens of linguistic landscape research. Based on very tangible data it explores the 'same old issues' of language contact and language conflict in new ways.
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List of Contributors Overview Map of Cases Discussed in this Book Studying Minority Languages in the Linguistic Landscape; H.F.Marten , L.Van Mensel & D.Gorter PART I: LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIES AND LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE 'Latgalian is not a Language': Linguistic Landscapes in Eastern Latvia and how they Reflect Centralist Attitudes; H.F.Marten Transgression as the Norm: Russian in Linguistic Landscape of Kyiv, Ukraine; A.Pavlenko Minority Semiotic Landscapes: An Ideological Minefield?; M.Hornsby & D.Vigers Language Ideological Debates in the Linguistic Landscape of an Irish Tourist Town; M.Moriarty Linguistic Landscape as a Tool for Interpreting Language Vitality: Arabic as a 'Minority' Language in Israel; E.Shohamy & M.A.Ghazaleh-Mahajneh PART II: LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE AND LANGUAGE POLICY Policies vs. Non-policies: Analysing Regional Languages and the National Standard in the Linguistic Landscape of French and Italian Mediterranean Cities; R.Blackwood & S.Tufi Two-way Traffic: How Linguistic Landscapes Reflect and Influence the Politics of Language; G.Puzey The Revitalization of Basque and the Linguistic Landscape of Donostia-San Sebastián; D.Gorter , J.Aiestaran & J.Cenoz All is Quiet on the Eastern Front? Language Contact along the French-German Language Border in Belgium; L.Van Mensel & J.Darquennes PART III: THE DISTRIBUTIVE APPROACH TO LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE The Linguistic Landscape of Three Streets in Barcelona: Patterns of Language Visibility in Public Space; E.Long & L.Comajoan The Linguistic Landscapes of Chi?in?u and Vilnius: Linguistic Landscape and the Representation of Minority Languages in Two Post-Soviet Capitals; S.Muth Multilingual Societies Versus Monolingual States: the Linguistic Landscapes in Italy and Brunei Darussalam; P.Coluzzi Using Linguistic Landscape to Examine the Visibility of Sámi Languages in the North Calotte; H.Salo PART IV: FRESH PERSPECTIVES ON LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE Discourse Coalitions For and Against Minority Languages on Signs: Linguistic Landscape as a Social Issue; E.Szabó-Gilinger , M.Sloboda , L.Šimi?i? & D.Vigers The Linguistic Landscape of Educational Spaces: Language Revitalization and Schools in Southeastern Estonia; K.D.Brown The Material Culture of Multilingualism; L.Aronin & M.Ó Laoire Minority Languages through the Lens of the Linguistic Landscape; L.Van Mensel , H.F.Marten & D.Gorter Index
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This book explores the debate on Minority Languages by examining it through a fresh lens - Linguistic Landscape research Looks at signs across Europe, Eastern Europe and Israel The volume editors are amongst the founding scholars of this new research angle in sociolinguistics Includes many cutting-edge contributions from young scholars
Assessing CLIL: a multidisciplinary approach Van Mensel, Luk; Hiligsmann, Philippe
International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism,
05/2023, Letnik:
26, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Introduction of the Special Issue 'Assessing CLIL: A multidisciplinary approach'.
Besides being promoted as a way to improve target language proficiency, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is also believed to positively impact socio-affective variables such as ...language attitudes and motivation. Yet, few extensive empirical studies exist on these aspects in CLIL. The present contribution aims to address this gap in the literature by investigating language attitudes and motivation in CLIL on a large scale across two target languages (English and Dutch) and two instruction levels (primary and secondary). Questionnaire data were collected from 896 pupils in French-speaking Belgium measuring their language attitudes in terms of perceived easiness and attractiveness of the target language and their motivation in terms of expectancy for success, task value and cost. Results of the MANCOVAs show pupils report more positive attitudes and higher motivation in CLIL compared to non-CLIL and in English compared to Dutch. However, these differences mainly appear at secondary level, suggesting more favorable profiles develop after the fifth grade, which is the onset of formal foreign language instruction for non-CLIL pupils. Moreover, the effect sizes indicate that the target language (English vs. Dutch) plays a more crucial role than CLIL vs. non-CLIL regarding language attitudes and motivation.
This study investigates pupils’ anxiety and enjoyment in the classroom when learning a second or foreign language. The particularity of this study lies in the comparison of two target languages ...(English and Dutch) in two educational contexts (CLIL and non-CLIL) at different instruction levels (primary and secondary education). While most research on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) focuses on English as a target language, the Belgian context calls for a comparison with the language of the “other” community, in this case Dutch. Data were collected from 896 pupils in French-speaking Belgium through a self-report questionnaire measuring pupils’ anxiety and enjoyment in the classroom, along with background characteristics. Results indicate that while CLIL pupils experience significantly less anxiety than their non-CLIL counterparts, English learners report significantly less anxiety and more enjoyment than Dutch learners. This suggests an important role of the target language for emotional engagement in the classroom and calls for further investigation into the role of target language perceptions. Finally, the interactions with instruction level reveal that while primary school pupils report stronger emotions, the effects of CLIL and English are much larger at secondary level.
Effects of input on L2 writing in English and Dutch Luk Van Mensel; Bulon, Amélie; Hendrikx, Isa ...
Journal of immersion and content-based language education,
12/2020, Letnik:
8, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This study aims to explore the impact of formal and informal input on learners’ variability in writing, and to compare two target-language conditions (Dutch and English) in CLIL and non-CLIL settings ...in French-speaking Belgium. A regression model shows that CLIL is a significant predictor of L2 outcomes for both target languages, but that the relative impact of formal and informal input differs depending on the target language. In short, the amount of formal language exposure predicts the outcomes of the written productions of the learners of English, and the frequency of informal exposure those of the learners of Dutch. We argue that this observation is likely related to the difference in status that each of these languages holds among the pupils in our sample. The findings thus highlight the importance of the L2 status in research on CLIL, since different L2s can yield different results.
Scholars working on multilingualism within the family have often highlighted the dynamic nature of any single family's language policy, as well as the active role that both parents and children can ...play in the evolution of their family language policy and language practices. In this article, my aim is to revise the usefulness of two concepts, familylect and language repertoire, for examining multilingual families' everyday interactions. I argue that if we consider family language policy as emerging in the interactions between children and caretakers, and we wish to investigate how such a language policy takes shape in a family's everyday interactions, the notions of a multilingual family language repertoire and a multilingual familylect may be useful lenses through which to observe these interactions, and I will tentatively illustrate their application, providing examples from two multilingual families from different (linguistic) backgrounds in Belgium.
This longitudinal study assessed the relative importance of second language exposure, motivational and attitudinal factors, and executive functions in predicting receptive vocabulary acquisition in ...children and adolescents after controlling for background characteristics (socio-economic status, non-verbal intelligence) and prior knowledge. The sample comprised 721 participants from French-speaking Belgium: 369 fifth-graders from 13 elementary schools and 352 eleventh-graders from 9 secondary schools. The background, input, and socio-affective data were obtained through questionnaires, the cognitive and language data through a round of computerized data collection, twice with an 18-month interval. While some input and motivational variables were predictive of vocabulary acquisition when analyzed separately, most of them lost significance once combined. Measures of executive functions were not related to vocabulary acquisition. Classroom input was predictive among children and adolescents, but other age-related differences emerged. The findings call for caution regarding the separate treatment of factors believed to be involved in second-language acquisition.
Recent studies on language learning motivation have foregrounded notions of identity formation and self-fulfilment. This paper takes two different theoretical frameworks as points of departure ...(Dörnyei's 'L2 Motivational Self System' and Kramsch's 'desire in language'), but it looks at the motivation/desire of the parents of young language learners, rather than at the learners themselves. Based on in-depth interviews about language and identity with nine parents of various linguistic and social backgrounds in Brussels (Belgium), the data reveal that these parents frequently had vivid mental images of what their multilingual children could achieve in the future (in contrast to their own 'monolingual' achievements). Additionally, they imagined their children having future access to a range of identity options thanks to this multilingual education. In this way, we show that 'desire in language' is not limited to the construction of an inwardly generated identity; it can also be projected outwardly onto other individuals, in this case by parents onto their children.
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