From the Editor

It is the first issue of FIPLV World News in the new century and thus challenges of the future are the leitmotif of the issue.

In The Second Language Curriculum in the New Millennium David Nunan makes predictions about future of our profession. Denis Cunningham reflects upon the 70. birthday of FIPLV  (Note from the President). 

Information on activities in Western and Central European Regions can be found in FIPLV News. Our Congress Calendar  is updated. The Member Associations, as well as the institutions co-operating with us, inform about their  future activities (News and Views).

 In Forum on Controversial Issues, Francisco Gomes de Matos challenges language teachers with yet another plea - this time to become a 'motivaCtor' to ones students.

 Two reviews: of ‘Language Death’ by David Crystal, and of an internet article on cyber-crime can be found in Books and Journals. We also publish a long list of journals issued by and for language teachers, sent to the Editor’s address.

Notes for Contributors

Contributions, announcements and letters should be sent to the Editor’s address, by post or e-mail. Advertisements should be sent to Dieter Herold (see back cover). Short contributions (up to 250 words), such as letters and announcements, can be type-written. Longer contributions should be accompanied by a PC-readable disc, with the article both in the original WP format (e.g. WordPerfect, AmiPro, Word for Windows) and in ASCII form (i.e. a .TXT file). Please provide a brief bio-statement with the office address. Contributions and discs are non-returnable. The Editor reserves the right to make editorial changes in any manuscript. The author will be consulted if substantial changes are envisaged.

Teresa Siek-Piskozub

Editor of Publications-FIPLV

by David Nunan

In the article I will concentrate on two things. Firstly, I want to look back at the trends and issues that have started to change the face of second language curricula and which I believe will have an important impact over the next few years. Secondly, I want to highlight some emerging trends that will, I believe, be central to our pedagogical endeavors as we head into the 21^st Century.

1.     What is 'curriculum'?

[....] I like to draw a distinction between the planned curriculum, the implemented curriculum, and the realized curriculum. The planned curriculum includes everything that is done prior to the delivery of instruction. It includes syllabus design (selecting, sequencing and justifying curriculum content), methodology (selecting, sequencing and justifying learning procedures), and evaluation (determining how learners will be assessed, and the curriculum evaluated). The planned curriculum is enshrined in syllabus outlines, textbooks and other materials, tests and so on. The implemented curriculum refers to what happens in the moment-by-moment realities of the classroom. It could be captured by videotapes, ethnographic observation etc.  The realized curriculum refers to the skills and knowledge that learners actually acquire as a result of instruction. Until relatively recently, it was assumed that these three dimensions would be isomorphic - the what got planned would be what got taught, and what got taught would be what got learned. We know that this equation is simplistic and naive.

2.     Philosophical and practical shifts

There have been many trends in language curriculum development over the last thirty years. Some of these have taken root, and some have not. For example, the 'methods' movement - the search for the one best method, would seem to be well and truly dead.

Here, I would like to highlight one philosophical shift that has taken root, and that is having a profound effect on all aspects of the curriculum. This is a shift from a transmission model of education to an experiential model. The transmission model sees the function of educational systems as the passing on of a received body of facts, values and procedures. Proponents of an experiential philosophy believe that the function of an educational system is to create the conditions whereby learners might recreate their own knowledge and skills. The changes to practice wrought by experientialism are summarized in the table below.

3.     Emerging trends

[...] Despite the fact that making predictions about future is notoriously difficult, it is an activity that we humans constantly engage in - both in our personal and professional lives. I may appear to be foolhardy in writing a speculative piece about the future of language teaching. That may be so, but it is a tempting prospect, and, like Oscar Wilde, I am one of those people who can resist anything except temptation.

There are three trends that I believe will have a profound impact on language teaching as we enter the new millennium. Each offers opportunities, but also threats. The first is the emergence of a limited number of world languages [T.S-P: see the review of D. Crystal's Death of Languages, pp.17-19]. The second is the impact on technology. The third is the large-scale movements of peoples from one speech community to another.

The emergence of a limited number of world languages

Writing in The Independent newspaper, Conner (2000) reports that, "Most of the world's 6,000-plus languages will have died out by the end of the century, experts have predicted... The continuing drive for the young to communicate in one of the three most popular languages - English, Spanish or Putonghua - threatens to destroy a key ingredient of humanity's cultural heritage. Scientists estimate that there are between 6,000-8,000 identifiable languages in the world and that most are spoken by less than a few thousand individuals, making them especially vulnerable to extinction. ...linguists estimate that at least half and probably nearer three-quarters of languages spoken today will be lost forever before the century is out".

Much has been written about the emergence of English as a world language. The rapid growth in the number of people learning and using English through global communications in multilingual workplaces has created many questions. A key research priority identified by the TESOL Research Agenda Task Force is "What are the implications of the changing nature of work, communication, and global economies for the teaching, learning, assessment and use of English in the information era?"

Questions and challenges facing the English language teaching profession include the following:

·       What are the implications of the changing workplace and economy globally for the teaching, learning and use of English, often with speakers of other languages or varieties of English (some of which are sometimes considered to be more prestigious than others)?

·       What equity concerns are there regarding policies and practices regarding the use of languages other than English in these contexts?

·       What are the real language needs of adults across a range of professional, vocational, and/or academic fields?

·       What role might different accents play in opportunities in the workplace?

·       How can technology meet the language needs of the workplace in an international economy?

·       What are the employment trends for immigrant and international ESL students (adolescent to adult)?

·       What are the employment trends for NNSs in English-speaking countries, in their home countries, and in ESL/EFL countries other than their own?

·       When adult professionals whose L1 is not English migrate to English-speaking countries, how many years does it take for them to reach their previous professional status?

·       What is the impact of English instruction for employment purposes on adult learners' lives (i.e. in both qualitative and quantitative terms, and particularly for women)?

·       What barriers exist to English-language education, access to employment opportunities, and ongoing language education, and how might these barriers be addressed most beneficially?

                (TESOL Research Agenda, Year 2000 version)

The official response by governments and ministries of education to this perception of the importance of English as a world language has been a rush to introduce the language at younger and younger ages. This is happening in countries as apart as Costa Rica, Mexico, and Thailand.

There are some notable exceptions - for example, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Bucking the trend, the Presidential Commission on Educational Reform in the Philippines proposed in April 2000 to switch from English or Tagalog to the use of the regional lingua franca or vernacular in the first year of school [...].(The PCER Report 2000).

In Hong Kong, the government has mandated Cantonese as the language of instruction in all but 100 high schools.

There is, in fact, no evidence that "younger = better".  In a recent review of the literature, Marinova-Todd, Marshall and Snow (2000: 12), state that,

"Many people have misinterpreted the ultimate attainment of children in an L2 as proof that they learn quickly and easily. It is not uncommon for a teacher to hear adults lament how easy a new language would be "if only I had studied it when I was young". A recent article in the news magazine The Economist typifies this misconception; the author claims in passing that bilingual children in English-only classes "can absorb the language within months". ....Research shows, however, the exact opposite. ...Significant work in the 1970s ... focusing on learners in an L2 environment showed that older learners are generally faster and more efficient in the initial stages of L2 learning. These results are continually confirmed. Rivera (1998) found that, at early stages of phonological acquisition, adolescents performed better than children. Evaluation of French immersion programs in Canada shows that English speakers receiving late immersion (L2 introduced in Grade 7 or 8) have performed as well or better than children in early immersion programs (L2 introduced in kindergarten or Grade 1) (Genesee 1987). These findings call into question the alleged advantages of younger learners in foreign language programs and demonstrate that older students can learn more than younger ones in the same period of time." (Marinova-Todd, Marshall and Snow, 2000: 12)

As foreign language teachers we should actively uphold the right of every child to develop high levels of spoken and written competence in their first language.

The impact of technology

The impact of technology is already being felt in many sectors of education, not the least in language education. Many language schools have their own websites, and it is standard practice for commercial publishers to develop websites to support their textbooks. In the last few years several internet startup companies have created a hybrid entity - a publisher/school which delivers language courses through the web.

The danger here is that the use of technology will exacerbate the current gulf in education between the haves and the have-nots.  A recent survey of computer use in the United States revealed some interesting factors. Almost 100% of full-time regular public school teachers reported having access to computers or the internet in their schools and about two-thirds say they are using the new technology for classroom instruction - but two-thirds of teachers also say they are not well prepared for the task. The survey also showed that teachers working in high-poverty schools had less access to these technologies than teachers working in more affluent schools (http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.as?pubid=2000090). Internationally, this trend is exacerbated. In Mexico, for example, it is estimated that in public schools, only one child in thirty has access to computers and the internet. In private schools, 100% of students had such access.[...]

The large-scale movements of peoples from one speech community to another

My third prediction is that the large-scale movements of peoples from one speech community to another will accelerate. From the perspective of language education, this trend will render problematic the traditional distinction between the concepts of first language, second language and foreign language. This will have massive consequences for language teaching. Population shifts are already having an impact on educators in several parts of the world. In San Francisco, children are appearing in classrooms claiming to speak English as a first language, yet the variety they speak is not recognizable as English. Teachers working with these students report that regular ESL methods and materials simply do not work with these students.

The dilemma here is whether educational systems should accept or validate the varieties of language used by their students, or whether they should attempt to inculcate one of the standard varieties. The furious debate over Ebonic in the United States is just one example of the controversy generated by non-standard varieties of language.

4.     A hope

I want to end, hot with prediction but a hope. This is that my own field of English second language education might be recognized and acknowledged as a profession. What is a profession, and what is meant by professionalism? According to Cobuild Dictionary "a profession is a type of job that requires advanced education and training". The Newbury House Dictionary defines professionalism as "the qualities of competence and integrity demonstrated by the best people in the field".

By looking at other occupations that call themselves professions, we can begin to identify criteria determining whether or not our field can legitimately be called a profession. I think that we need to take at least four criteria into account: (a) the existence of advanced education and training, (b) the establishment of standards of practice and certification, (c) an agreed theoretical and empirical base, and (d) the work of individuals within the field to act as advocates for the profession.

How do we measure up on these criteria? Here is my take on the situation:

Advanced education and training

Despite an increase in inservice  training, and the proliferation of formal award courses around the world, thousands of individuals who have no formal education and training in TESOL practice as ESOL teachers. In fact, in some language schools in different parts of the world, the only employment criterion is fluency in English. Not only do their employees lack TESOL qualifications, but thy have no teaching qualifications at all.

Standards of practice and certification

In TESOL, standards of practice and certification vary widely. Most countries have some form of certification for teachers, although this is rarely TESOL specific. Further, in most countries where some form of teaching certification is required, this process is controlled by governments and educational bureaucracies, not by professional teaching associations.

In terms of institutional accreditation, the situation also varies widely. In numerous countries, there is no professional or governmental control over language schools. In such countries, nothing can stop individuals who see language as a marketable commodity from opening their own schools, hiring and underpaying unqualified teachers, and using illegally copied materials. I am familiar with one such school that does not even pay its teachers. Native speakers of English hired as "teachers" are sent to the streets to recruit their own students to the school. Their "salary" takes the form of a percentage of the students' fees.

An agreed theoretical and empirical base

A challenge for education in general, and TESOL in particular, is to define, refine, and articulate its disciplinary basis. Education is a hybrid, drawing on a range of disciplines such as psychology and sociology. In addition to these, TESOL is influenced by linguistics (both theoretical and applied), psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, cognitive science, and numerous other disciplines. Partly because of this, we do not have a shared set of rules of the game. In fact, we do not even come close.

Advocacy for the profession

The fourth and final criterion is that of advocacy. Most professions have professional associations, and a key function of such associations is to act as advocates for the profession. They do this by attempting to influence legislators, either to create legislation that is seen to be advantageous to the profession or to oppose legislation that is seen as inimical to the profession. In the United States, the various health professions played an important role in blocking the passage of President Bill Clinton's health care reform bills. In California, a wide range of educational associations, including TESOL and the National Association for Bilingual Education, had less success in opposing an initiative designed to severely limit the profession of bilingual education in that state.

The threat to language education as a profession is an issue that intersects with the predictions I made in the body of the paper. The political imperative to increase massively the provision of English language education in both private and public sectors in many parts of the world without a concomitant increase in resource has resulted in poorly trained or even untrained individuals being pressed into service as language teachers.

While governments want more English taught in schools, there appears to be a general reluctance to come up with adequate levels of funding. In a number of countries, elementary school teachers are being deployed, or re-deployed as English teachers without training, resources, or support. The notion that if you can speak the language you can teach it is alive and well - even at official government levels. Reluctance to provide adequate funding for English language education is reinforced by the economic difficulties confronting many countries at the present time. In these and other countries then, the matter becomes a political issue of getting adequate resources to enable teaches, curriculum developers and material writers to design, deliver and evaluate effective language programs.

Similarly, technology is seen (mistakenly, I believe) by many educational providers as a cheap alternative to employing professionals. At my own institution, last year, I was offered a substantial amount of seed funding if I could add an information technology dimension to each of our courses. The justification for this additional funding was not pedagogical but political. "If you teach English through the internet, it will make your courses cheaper", I was told.

Despite these challenges and threats, I remain hopeful that our struggle to have what we do seen as a profession will bear fruit in the future. The key role for associations such as TESOL and FIPLV is to provide leadership in the four key areas I outlined above - facilitating advance education and training [...], encouraging high standards of practice, encouraging the development of a robust theoretical and empirical disciplinary base, and in arguing vigorously for the profession and the constituencies it serves.

References

Connor, S. 2000. "Words are not enough. The Independent. Reproduced in the South China Morning Post, 29 May 2000.

Marinova-Todd, S., D. Bradford Marshall and C.E. Snow. 2000. "Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning". TESOL Quarterly, 34, 1, 9-34.

National Center for Education Statistics, April 25, 2000. The use of computers in schools

Presidential Commission on Educational Reform. 2000. Philippine Agenda for Educational Reform: The PCER Report. Manila: Philippines.

TESOL Research Agenda,  2000.

Editor's Note: David Nunan is a professor in The English Centre , University of Hong Kong and a former President of TESOL. This is an abbreviated version of his presentation at the Congress FIPLV 2000 in Paris.

Notes from the President

Millennia, Milestones and 'Mondalisation'

A part of a select few - only about 6 billion! - we have had the privilege of witnessing the succession of millennia, for those who recognise the year
of 2001 and agree that this is when the Third Millennium began. Although many of us celebrated a year ago, we were content that the coming of this new century was not accompanied by the doomsday predictions associated with
the year of 1000.

For FIPLV, 2001 brings yet another birthday, but this year it is more important. FIPLV, established in Paris in 1931, has achieved the milestone
of being 70. Although we returned to Paris last July for FIPLV 2000 and feted the birthday a few months early, we believe the age of 70 is worthy of
(further) celebration.

No special event is envisaged, although much is happening in the context of the European Year of Languages-2001. Our major event took place last year, in the form of FIPLV 2000. What we are doing, however, is dedicating a special issue of FIPLV World News to celebrating the birthday. All Honorary FIPLV Counsellors and at least one Président d¹Honneur have been invited to provide a brief item on their reflections, their involvement, their achievements in FIPLV. FIPLV leaders of the past like Joseph Hendrich, Ted Batley, Reinhold Freudenstein and Bengt Henningsson, deserve the respect they are shown, having made major contributions in the recent past of FIPLV. Personally, I value them as friends and call upon their experience and wisdom, following their sage advice. But they are representative of only the recent past - the last thirty years! - and follow the previous forty years where, no doubt, others of commensurate expertise and wisdom led before. I didn¹t meet them and never will but, on behalf of FIPLV, acknowledge their achievements in establishing FIPLV and securing its critical role in the history of language teaching across the globe.

Undoubtedly, there would be others who would like to contribute small items on their perceptions of FIPLV¹s significant role in language teaching over the last 70 years. They, too, are invited to submit contributions before the end of August to the FIPLV Editor of Publications, Teresa Siek-Piskozub.

The arrival of the Third Millennium has also brought further milestones. Realising a longstanding dream of FIPLV, MAPRYAL (The World Association of Russian Language and Literature) membership of FIPLV was endorsed at the recent meeting of the FIPLV World Council in Manchester, as was the ILEI, the teacher affiliate of the Universala Esperanto-Asocio. We welcome them to FIPLV as the most recent members.

In the agreed objective of ensuring that FIPLV is truly a global federation, we are proud of the fact that FIPLV now has national associations from 25 countries from all continents and elsewhere as members, as well as providing a united forum for international unilingual associations for English
(including EFL and ESOL), Esperanto, French, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. As a result, FIPLV is arguably more globally
representative than ever before.

There are countries where teachers are not united across languages. We would like to assist in bringing them together. There are other countries
where national multilingual associations do exist. We seek closer cooperation with them. And there are languages for which there could and
should be international unilingual associations, such as Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish and others. FIPLV would like to facilitate collaboration
on behalf of these languages. Can you assist us by providing (email) contact details of any of the above associations? If so, we would be very
happy to hear from you in the context of the further 'mondialisation' of FIPLV.

To conclude, I would like to record my appreciation of the selfless commitment of members of the current FIPLV Executive (ie Tuula Penttilä,
Eynar Leupold, Dieter Herold and Teresa Siek-Piskozub), World Council and World Assembly, as well as acknowledging with due respect the significant contribution of all FIPLV officers and others who have been responsible for making FIPLV the strong, respected and only international federation acting on behalf of teachers of (all) languages across the globe.

Let's celebrate!

Denis Cunningham

President, FIPLV

djc@netspace.net.au

From the Regions

Rapport d’activités de la Région Europe de l’Ouest (2000)

Les difficultés de trésorerie que nous avons connues par le passé semblent, petit à petit, se résorber. La décision de demander une contribution à chaque association participante permet un fonctionnement minimum avec l’organisation d’une (voire deux) réunions de bureau par an.

Au cours de l’année 2000, deux réunions de bureau ont ainsi put être organisées. La première avait pour objectif de préparer l’atelier de la Région lors du congrès FIPLV 2000, dont le compte rendu se trouve ci-dessous. Notre présence à travers un atelier nous a semblé stratégique car c’était un excellent moyen pour affirmer la réalité du groupe et faire connaître ses activités et ses réflexions. Le thème même de cet atelier se voulait un reflet d’activités concrètes en prise directe avec la réalité des classes autour des aspects culturels et inter-culturels. Nous avions prévu des interventions permettant de croiser diverses langues incluant l’italien, le portugais, le néerlandais, mais cela n’a pas été possible pour des raisons de manque de disponibilités des collègues impliqués.

La deuxième réunion de bureau s’est tenue lors du congrès FIPLV 2000. Après avoir constaté le succès de l’atelier, Konrad Shröder a proposé de regrouper les différentes interventions (en ajoutant celles qui n’ont pu avoir lieu) pour réaliser une publication, sous forme de livre ou brochure, pouvant être diffusée via nos associations respectives et également la FIPLV. Les différents auteurs ont été invités de proposer leur contribution pour le mois de mai 2001, le manuscrit devrait être prêt pour le mois de juin 2001 et diffusable courant septembre. Pour ce faire, nous avons demandé une aide à projet au bureau de la FIPLV via son trésorier, Dieter Herold. Un deuxième projet est également en chantier et concerne l’organisation d’un festival européen des langues, à l’image de ce qui se passe en Allemagne. Des contacts ont été pris avec les organisateurs allemands de ce festival  afin de mettre sur pied un premier festival, à échelle réduite, dans un premier temps. Une possibilité est envisagée de mettre en relation quelques écoles en France, au Portugal et en Allemagne afin de définir les contraintes pour une généralisation.

La prochaine réunion de bureau est fixée au 30 juin 2001.

Compte rendu de l’Atelier de la Région Europe de l’Ouest (REO)

Congrès FIPLV, Paris 2000

“ S'ouvrir  à la différence linguistique et culturelle - Un défi pour l'Europe ”, tel était le titre de l’atelier animé par la REO. Il s’agissait d’amorcer une réflexion sur les problèmes de  différences culturelles et linguistiques à partir de techniques de classe (très concrètes) mettant en  œuvre la relation langue maternelle / langue enseignée et / ou langues  voisines. L’objectif était de proposer aux participants, des activités pouvant être mises en place en classe, leur permettant d'utiliser les différences  pour développer les compétences en langues étrangères chez leurs élèves.

L’atelier s’est déroulé en trois temps. Konrad Shröeder, (FMF, Allemagne) a tout d’abord situé le contexte d’un point de vue théorique, mettant l’accent sur la nécessité de travailler tant sur des savoirs déclaratifs, c’est-à-dire sur les apports d’informations nécessaires face aux élèves, mais aussi sur des savoirs procéduraux, amenant les élèves à découvrir par eux-mêmes les différences au travers de faits linguistiques ou de comportementaux précis.

Eynar Leupold (FMF Allemagne) a ensuite proposé de faire travailler les participants à partir d’un document inconnu : “ 35 paires de lèvres danoises ”. Cette contribution avait pour but d'encourager les enseignants de langues étrangères à utiliser des documents authentiques d'une langue et d'une  culture plus ou moins inconnues par des élèves pour une approche inter-culturelle. L'analyse d'une publicité des chemins de fer danois permet à la fois d'inciter la curiosité des apprenants, de leur faire découvrir des éléments linguistiques et de les encourager à émettre des hypothèses en ce qui concerne la signification de structures linguistiques et iconiques. La discussion de la question si une telle publicité serait "possible" dans un contexte culturel différent (italien, français, allemand) visait à illustrer le phénomène des spécificités (inter)culturelles.

La troisième contribution ciblait l’utilisation des nouvelles technologies, notamment l’informatique interactive multimédia, dans son apport possible à la découverte des phénomènes inter-culturels. Jean-Yves Petitgirard (APLV, France) a proposé une visite guidée de deux outils logiciels : “ Pleased to Meet You ” et “ PAMELA ”. Le premier est un didacticiel visant à développer la capacité à gérer des situations de communication en contexte de réunions internationales. Dans ce type de rencontres, l’aspect inter-culturel est essentiel car la plupart des participants appartiennent  à des cultures différentes mais utilisent l’anglais comme langue véhiculaire. Les apprenants sont ainsi amenés à construire diverses situations impliquants des faits culturels. Une fois ce modèle prêt, ils peuvent le confronter à des réalités culturelles différentes et par là développer une véritable simulation : pour chacun des pays sélectionné, les retours d’informations seront bien entendu, différents. Les savoirs déclaratifs sont également pris en compte par le logiciel, au travers différentes cartes présentant un certain nombre de faits culturels. Quant à “ PAMELA ”, il s’agit d’un outil ouvert, permettant d’associer des médias différents, notamment du son. On peut ainsi amener les élèves à émettre des hypothèse à partir de messages prononcés dans différents langues.

Les travaux de cet atelier seront détaillés dans un ouvrage à paraître courant 2001. 

Das Europäische Jahr der Sprachen 2001

Europäische Integration – interkulturelle Kommunikation – Fremdsprachenunterricht

Polnische Neophilologische Gesellschaft (PTN) und die Neophilologische Fakultät der Adam-Mickiewicz-Universität (UAM) haben zum zweiten Mal die Organisation der Regionalkonferenz CER-FIPLV übernommen. Dieses Mal wird sie im Rahmen, des durch den Europäischen Rat angekündigten, Europäischen Jahr der Sprachen 2001 stattfinden.

Die Konferenz steht unter dem Ehrenpatronat  der höchsten Behörden der Adam-Mickiewicz-Universität.

Die Organisatoren schlagen fünf Themenbereiche vor:

I.                     In der Richtung der multikulturellen Kompetenz

Der Bereich wird von Prof.Dr.habil. Weronika Wilczyńska aus dem Institut für Romanische Philologie der UAM organisiert, der Sekretärin der Region Mitteleuropa der FIPLV.

II.                   Die Rolle der Lehrmaterialien in der Förderung der interkulturellen Integration und Kommunikation

Der Bereich wird von Prof.Dr.habil. Teresa Siek-Piskozub aus dem Institut für Englische Philologie der UAM, der Vorsitzenden des PTN, organisiert.

III.             Die Bedeutung der deutschen Sprache in Mittel- und Osteuropa

Der Bereich wird von Prof.Dr.habil. Waldemar Pfeiffer aus dem Lehrstuhl Glottodidaktik und Translatorik der UAM – dem Ehrenvorsitzenden des PTN und dem ehemaligen Vorsitzenden von IDV organisiert.

IV.                 Übersetzungen / Dolmetschen – Forschungstendenzen

Der Bereich wird von Prof.Dr.habil. Alicja Pisarska, der Leiterin der Abteilung Übersetzungsstudien in dem Institut für Englische Philologie der UAM organisiert.

V.                   Europäische Integration: Austausch der wissenschaftlichen Gedanken und Erfahrungen von Lehrern

Der Bereich wird von Dr.Katarzyna Karpińska-Szaj aus dem Institut für Romanische Philologie der UAM, der Vorsitzenden für den Bezirk Poznań des PTN, organisiert.

Die Konferenzsprachen sind: Englisch, Französisch, Deutsch und Polnisch. Die Publikation der Vorträge ist vorgesehen. Zur Teilnahme laden wir alle Mitglieder und Anhänger der Polnischen Neophilologischen Gesellschaft (des PTN) ein.

Die Referatenanmeldungen, sowie Vorschläge zur Organisierung  zusätzlicher Themenbereiche,  bitte an die PTN-Adresse oder an die untenstehende Internetadresse zuschicken. Entwürfe in der Vortragssprache sollen bis Ende Mai auf Diskette oder per E-mail zugesendet werden.

Polskie Towarzystwo Neofilologiczne

Konferencja ERJ’2001

Ul. Berwińskiego 1, 60-765 Poznań, Poland

E-mail: piskozub@amu.edu.pl

Die Informationen über die Unterkunft werden im späteren Termin an die in der Teilnahmeerklärung angegebene Adresse zugeschickt.

2001

4-6 July                              6^th National Conference of the Australian Society of Indonesian Language Educators. Theme: Understanding the Language Is the Path to the People’s Hearts. Venue: The University of Melbourne. Information: Prof. Arief Budiman, Phone: (061 - 3) 8344 6650; Fax: (061-3) 9349 3472; E-mail: a.budiman@asian.unimelb.edu.au ; Ms Lily Djajamihardja, Phone: (061-3) 9684 6700; Fax: (061-3) 9690 6842; E-mail: lilyd@vsl.vic.edu.au

4-6 July                              VII. Internationale Tandem-Tage. Thema: Für viele Sprachen sensibel – Tandem. Venue: České Budejovice, Tschechien. Information: Gaudeo CB, Trebizského 1010, CZ-37006 Česke Budejovice; Fax: ++ 42 038 7 41 01 51; E-mail: congres@gaudeo.cz

5-7 July                              The Association of Language Testers in Europe’s Conference. Theme: European Year of Languages. Venue: Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona., Spain. Information: ALTE Secretariat, Fax: + 44 1223 553036; E-mail: alte@ucles.or.uk

7-10 July                            AFMLTA National Conference. Theme: Languages Our Common Wealth. Venue: Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Information: Conference Secretariat, AFMLTA Conference 2001, PO Box 201, Deakin West, ACT 2600, Australia, e-mail: willett@dynamite.com

30 July - 4 August            XII. Internationale Tagung der Deutschlehrerinnen un Deutschlehrer (IDT). Thema: Mehr Sprache – mehrsprachig – mit Deutsch. Didaktische und politische Perspektiven.  Venue: Luzern, Schweitz. Information: Tagungssekretariat: wbz cps, Bruchstrasse 9a, Postfach, 6000 Luzern, Schweitz; Tel.: 041 2 49 99 11; Fax: 041 2 40 00 79; E-mail: monika_claluna@idt-2001.com

28-31 August                    34^th SLE  Meeting. Theme: Language Study in Europe at the Turn of the Millennium. Towards the integration of cognitive, historical and cultural approaches to language. Venue: Leuven, Belgium. Information: Bert Cornillie, SLE Meeting 2001, Department Longud’stiek, Blijde – Inkomststraat 21, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Phone: 00 3216 324765; Fax: 00 3216 324767; E-mail: SLE2001@arts.kuleuven.ac.be

31 August – 1 Sept.         IATEFL Teacher Trainers and Global Issues SIGs. Theme: Incorporating Global Issues in Teacher Training Programmes: Contents, Methods, Materials. Venue: Bielefeld, Germany. Information: Christine Tilley, E-mail: 114563.1721@compuserve.com

26-28 September               3^rd CER – FIPLV Conference. Theme: European Year of Languages: European Integration - Intercultural Communication – Foreign Language Teaching.  Venue: Poznań, Adam Mickiewicz University. Information: Prof. Teresa Siek-Piskozub, School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Al. Niepodległości 4, PL-61-874 Poznań, Poland. Fax: + 48 (0) 61 829 35 05,  E-mail: piskozub@amu.edu.pl

2002

10-11 May                         7^th IATEFL Chile Conference. Venue: Santiago, Chile. Information: Paula Jullian pjullian@puc.cl

16-21 December                13^th World Congress of Applied Linguistics. Venue: Singapore. Information: Anne Pakir, E-mail: aschead@nus.edu.sg

2003

12 – 16 April                      21^st FIPLV World Congress. Venue: The Hague, Netherlands. Information: Bert Bartelds, E-mail: b.bartelds@chello.nl

Forum on Controversial Issues

by Francisco Gomes de Matos

Having helped educate/train teachers of English for many years, in São Paulo and in Recife, I am more and more  convinced that teaching  is  essentially motivaCting. What I  mean  by this is  that in  helping human  beings learn, not only do we encourage our students but we perform, that is, we play varied motivating roles. This dual challenge is reflected in the term motivaCting, herein coined so as represent what  teachers do as motivaCtors.

 What follows is an open-ended list, to be expanded and probed by colleagues sharing in interest in the fascinating domain of MotivaCtion. Realistically, both teachers and  learners should be asked to share in the formulation of Checklists such as the one presented below, since  they are the  human performers  in  the classroom.

A Checklist  for MotivaCting 

To be a  motivaCtor  calls  for

1. Thinking  of  learners as human beings  who have  their  own  aims, abilities, aptitudes, attitudes, emotions, expectations, feelings, interests, needs, personalities, potentialities, rights, responsibilities, strategies…

2. Creating opportunities for learners to feel happy in class. As the beginning of an American song goes:

Pretend you're  happy  when you're blue. It isn't very hard to do (and I would add)  even when you're not in your best mood, because of problems in the outside world. 

3.  Humanizing interactions. We're not only humanists but humanizers, in the sense that we should be imbued with the ideals of human rights, justice, and peace and should  apply  such principles accordingly, especially when assessing students' performance  through  informal/formal tests, etc.

4. Becoming aware of the importance  of  communicating through movement, mime and the  use of facial expressions  which will  attract learners. As the beginning of another  popular American tune goes:  When you're smiling, When you're  smiling,  The whole world  smiles with you ....

5. Using English for promoting what  I call communicative  peace. For  an  inspiring  example of  humanizing  vocabulary, see  David Crystal and Hilary Crystal 's  - Words on Words. Quotations on  Language and Languages (London, Penguin Books, 2000) especially  the section  on  Friendly Language (Words of comfort, love, apology, gentleness, praise, tact.) By the way, how well have  we been fulfilling our  communicative responsibility in the  classroom, when we interact with our students? Can we monitor our Pedagogical  Discourse so that what we say  will have a positive influence on our students? 

6. Playing  our  roles  so  very professionally that  at the end of every class we can feel pretty much like Sir Lawrence Olivier  felt  when he was congratulated on portraying Othello and said "I  know it was great, damn it, but I don't know how I did it. So how can I  be sure I can do it again?”

The lesson  to be drawn from  such statement is that  the teaching  of  every  class  should become a renewed, exciting, and gratifying  personal challenge  for  teachers.

7. Exploring humor and the playful elements of the English  language. As motivaCtors,  we should  entertain, be entertaining and above all, show that learning a second language, while calling for a high cognitive investment, can be lots of fun, too.

8. Designing role-play  activities  in which human issues  can be dealt with  realistically,  with both an intracultural and an intercultural focus, and made relevant  to the ecosystems  where the students live.

Teachers' motivation as  motivaCtors

 It  may be argued  by  colleagues  that  they have not  had  preparation  for motivaCting and that as a result they don't  feel competent and confident about using  improvisation (a play without a script)  and/or role-play activities in  class. I would say that although  such  MotivaCting  preparation  is  conspicuously absent  in  many - most? -  Teacher Education Programs,  every teacher  has motivaCting potentialities.

May this article be a plea for organizations offering Teacher Education Programs to fill such a gap, so that teachers can learn to motivaCT  in a systematic manner.

Linguists who do research in  Discourse Analysis rightly state that  Saying is doing and doing is performing. Let's add humanizingly to that principle, shall we?

Let me sum things up and say  to turn your performance into a deeply humanizing art, be sure you teach with a performing heart.

 Editor's Note: Francisco Gomes de Matos teaches  Applied Linguistics (English/Portuguese) at the Federal University of Pernambuco. He is a co-founder and Board of Trustees member  of Associação  Brasil - América, a  Binational Center in Recife, Pernambuco. His e-mail  is: fcgm@cashnet.com.br. This article has been reprinted from New Routes- January 2001: 40-41

News and Views

Sprache transdisziplinär

Die 32. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Angewandte Linguistik (GAL) e. V. Findet vom 27 - 29.09.2001. Das Thema wird in sechs Themenbereichen bearbeit:

I. Sprache und Őkologie, II. Sprache und Schrift im Multimedia-Design, III. Transdisziplinäre Neurolinguistik: Ein monistischer Ansatz, IV. Leitbild und Metapher: Soziologische und linguistische Perspektiven auf die Rolle der Sprache in der gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung, V. Sprachen und Grenzen - eine Herausforderung für die Angewandte Linguistik, VI. Kommunikationsoptimierung: Eine transdisziplinäre Aufgabe der Informationsgesellschaft.

Weiterhin werden zu folgenden Bereichen Sektionnen angeboten: 1. Phonetik, 2. Lexik und grammatik, 3. Textlinguistik und Stilistik, 4. Sprecherziehung/Rhetorische Kommunikation, 5. Medienkommunikation, 6. Fachsprachliche Kommunikation, 7. Soziolinguistik, 8. Kontaktlinguistik, 9. Kontrastive Linguistik und Interkulturelle Kommunikation, 10. Übersetzungswissenschaft, 11. Psycholinguistik, 12. Klinische Linguistik, 13. Sprachdidaktik, 14. Lernen und Lehren mit neuen Medien, 15. Computerlinguistik, 16. Gesprächslinguistik.

Daneben werden noch Arbeitskreise, Hauptvorträge und Fachausstellungen durchgeführt.

Informationen: Prof. Dr. Rudolf Emons, Universität Passau, Lehrstuhl für Englische Sprache und Kultur, Innstrasse 40, 94030 Passau, Tel. +0851/509-2801 (Sekr.), Fax: + 0851/509-2802; gal2001@uni-passau.de

SAALT

Challenges of the 21st Century – 2001 and beyond

29th National Conference     4-6 JULY 2001

Department of English and Classical Culture & Department of Curriculum Studies, Faculty of the Humanities of University of the Free State announce the 29^th National Conference to be held  in Bloemfontein. The general theme of the conference is Challenges of the 21^st Century - 2001 and beyond. The conference venues are the School of Education and the Genmin Lecture Halls at the University of the Free State.

Contact persons: Enquiries:  Organiser: Wium Adendorff,  Tel  (051) 444 6675, Fax (051) 444 6675, E-mail: z2@shisas.com

Convenor: Wilfred Greyling, Dept of English, UFS, P O Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300 South Africa, Tel . (051) 4012275  Fax (051) 4013528  E-mail: fgwg@engl.uovs.ac.za

Website:  http://home.mweb.co.za/ed/edlingtc/saalt/index.htm (The website will be regularly updated.)

Books and Journals

Book Review

Crystal, D.  2000.  Language Death. Cambridge: CUP. pp. 198

Ten years ago, such a book would not have been written.  Such is the embryonic nature of the issue raised, despite languages disappearing since the fall of the Tower of Babel.

Language death is a global phenomenon - and has been for millennia - but a global conscience to actually care and do something about it is regrettably recent, minuscule ... and far too late.  But it is emerging, building upon excellent initiatives of the 1990’s to gather information and document data on languages - and will be pushed along more rapidly by David Crystal’s recent publication.

Arguably, there is no-one better to address the issue.  Fuelled by his expertise, experience and previous publications, he draws upon the results of field research to provide flesh to the bones of theory.

Language Death is born of concern, a concern for humanity, linguistic diversity and a deep-rooted desire to retain the rich linguistic and cultural mosaic the globe continues to enjoy, but which is under siege.  It is born of fact and predictions.  The projections are alarming.

Of the estimated 6000 languages spoken across the globe in 2000, what number will not survive the 21st century?  50% (p165)? Up to 90% (p 18)?  Either eventuality would be tragic, as is the loss of even one language.

In Language Death, Crystal defines the phenomenon (Chapter 1), before presenting reasons for caring (Chapter 2) and exploring contributing factors (Chapter 3), before considering the steps to be taken to redress the situation (Chapters 4 & 5).

Examining the data, drawing upon empirical research and studies  - and acknowledging the debt to the „small army of fieldworkers ... who are doing the real work” (p x) - and basing his analysis on a plausible perspective and a wary use of statistics, Crystal calculates that only 4% of the globe’s 6 billion speak 96% of the languages (p 14).  For 51 of these 6000 languages, a lone speaker survived at the time of writing.  The passing of this speaker would constitute the death of yet another language.

Even basing projections on the conservative estimate of 50% of the world’s languages - rather than 90% (p 18) - disappearing in the coming century, the rate of death computes at one language dying roughly every two weeks (p 19).

It is this untenable position which defines the platform for action, for activism, following a consideration of real and possible causes of language death.  Building upon the convincing arguments on the value of languages (Chapter 2), Crystal resumes the bipolar rationale for language learning - identity or intelligibility (pp 80-1) - before underwriting the need for co-ordinated action between the theory (p 93) and the practice of empirical research (p 94).  He does not sidestep the pervasive need for the funding (p 95) of the necessary work, as he moves through a measured consideration of several of the tensions posed by the challenge : language change and dynamism, ownership of the language/culture and project, and the language/culture/identity nexus (p 121).

In a another critical section, he provides solutions by identifying factors significant to arresting language death.  Favourable characteristics include the speakers of the threatened language having prestige (p 130), increased wealth (p 132), legitimate power (p 133) within (the perception of) the dominant community, as well as having a strong presence in education (p 136), literacy in the language (p 138) and access to usage of electronic technology (p 141).

He concludes (in Chapter 5) by identifying key roles for the linguist, underlining the priority of „the linguistic health of those who speak endangered languages” (p 145).  In a balanced approach, he does not ignore the potential threat to the health of isolated communities (pp 82, 145) by the visits of ‘revitalisation teams’ (p 154).  But for Crystal, a policy of non-intervention is not feasible (p 107).

Contact details of relevant organisations are provided (pp 167-169), one of which (ie the Foundation  for Endangered Languages) is to benefit from all royalties of Language Death.

This text provides inspired, pragmatic and expert advice, based on a balanced analysis of the current situation.  The resultant projections are similarly conservative, but nevertheless alarming.  As a fellow linguist, I am convinced, but it is essential that the arguments of this text reach policy-makers, educators, leaders of international organisations and global conglomerates to instil in them the urgency of immediate action.

If this objective remains unrealised, the concern and challenge will remain in the precinct of languages, while it should be a concern of all humanity.

Denis Cunningham

January 22, 2001

Article Review

Council of Europe treaty on cyber-crime to combat Internet racism

According to a CNN report of April 25, supporters of the Council of Europe's
proposed cyber-crime treaty are pressing for provisions making it illegal to
spread racist propaganda and hate messages over the Internet, due to growing
pressure in Europe to combat Internet racism. There are also proposals for
trafficking in human beings to be declared illegal in the pioneering treaty,
which is due to be passed in June in an effort to harmonise laws on
cyberspace. The first draft of the treaty was published on the Council of
Europe website last year, and has since met criticism from industry and
Internet groups for its efforts to define a common position on hacking,
fraud, computer viruses and other Internet abuses. Internet providers argue
for minimal restrictions while governments advocate clear rules on how they
can fight online crime. The treaty is currently in its 25th version.

Read the entire article at:
http://europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/04/25/cybercrime.treaty/index.html
Editor's Note: It is reprinted from 'DiploNews' Issue #34 - May 23, 2001.

Publications received

English Teaching Forum. Vol. 39. No. 1, January   2001.

FBPF. Federação Brasileira dos Professores de Francês. Informativo Bimestral Nos 26, decembro 2000.

Global Issues in Language Education Newsletter. National Special Interest Group of the Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT), Issue 41, January 2001.

IATEFL Issues. No. 160, April-May  2001.

IDV Rundbrief Heft 66, April 2001.

Les langues modernes. Bulletin de l’Association des professeurs de Langues Vivantes (a.p.l.v.), nu. 4,  novembre -  decembre  2000, nu. 1, janvier - février - mars, 2001.

LE POLYGLOTTE. Les Langues Modernes Nu. 43. Supplément au  Les langues modernes. Bulletin de l’Association des professeurs de Langues Vivantes (a.p.l.v.),  novembre 2000.

Lingua. Boletín del Centro de Información y Documentación sobre Traducción y Terminología en Lengua Española, Victoria Ocampo, Biblioteca Nacional, No. 5, Sptembre - Diciembre 2000, No. 06, Enero – Abril, 2001.

LMS Lingua. Riksföreningen fór Lärarna i Moderna Språk. Nr  1 - 2, 2001.

Neofilolog. Czasopismo Polskiego Towarzystwa Neofilologicznego. No. 19, 2000.

Neusprachliche Mitteilungen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, Herausgegeben vom Fachverband Moderne Fremdsprachen im Pädagogischen Zeitschriftenverlag (FMF), H. 4, 2000, H.1, 2001.

New Routes. DISAL S.A. Distribuidores Associados de Livros, São Paulo. 12, January 5  & 13, April 5, 2001.

Polyglot. New Zealand Association of Language Teachers, Inc. No. 22, Summer 2000.

Portugês/ lingua estrangeira: Leitura, produção e avaliação de textos.  Norimar Júdice (organizadora). INTERTEXTO, Niterói, 2001.

Tempus, Newsletter of the Federation of Foreign Language Teachers in Finland SUKOL, No. 8, 2000, No. 1, 2001 .

TESOL Greece. No. 68, October – December,  2000.

TESOL Matters. Vol. 11  No.1, December 2000/January/February 2001, No. 2, March/April/May 2001.

FIPLV WORLD NEWS

The Latest on Language and Languages

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