Letter 4 November 1999
Letter 3 June 1999
Letter 2 February 1999
Letter 1 October 1998
FIPLV Mailshot 4, November 1999
While we have numbered the items, member associations should of course feel
free to edit the mailshot in whatever way they see fit, and include only those
items they consider of interest to their members. FIPLV will be very happy to
receive any feedback or comments from members.
Hot news: Paris 2000 Deadline for reductions
extended to 1 January!!!
Arrangements continue apace for this exciting event. The full programme is due
to reach you before the end of the year, and the very good news for members is
that there has been an extension of the deadline for registration at the lower
price of FFr 400 for the whole conference until 1/1/2000. This has to be the
best value-for-money conference of the 20th century! But don’t delay.
Here is a note from the Organiser, our former President, Michel Candelier:
Le Comité scientifique a examiné les propositions de présentation, qui ont été
très nombreuses et pour la plupart de très bonne qualité. Un programme
provisoire va être élaboré et envoyé aux associations dans la deuxième
quinzaine de novembre. La date limite pour bénéficier d'un tarif "early bird"
va être repoussée au 1/1/2000. Cependant, nous vous demandons de rappeler à
vos adhérents qu'ils
doivent s'inscrire le plus tôt possible, car l'organisation du congrès
entraîne des besoins financiers importants, dès maintenant.
The Congress dates are Saturday 22 July - Wednesday 26 July. You can register
on the Web: http:/www.ctl.univ-Paris5.fr/fiplv2000
Or you can obtain Registration Forms from or in recent editions of FIPLV World
News.
Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes
Organisation of the XXth Congress
Université Réné Descartes
Paris V
-CTL FIPLV 2000
45 rue des Saints Pères
75006
Paris
EYL 2001
Our treasurer general Dieter Herold sent information on the
European Year of Languages 2001
to member associations. In case someone is interested and did not get Dieter's
e-mail, this is also available here on the web site.
Dieter says: ‘Don't forget to join in the efforts to make the general public
aware of the need to respect and to learn languages. Do join in the efforts to
make politicians, decision makers and other people responsible in the area of
education and further learning, to make them aware of the necessity to support
the EYL 2001, morally and financially.
I would add, do let us know what you are planning to do.
PRAGUE meetings
The executive held two meetings in Prague on 18th and 19th September. Denis
Cunningham, our President, chaired a meeting which brought together
representatives of KMF - our member association in the Czech Republic - the
members of the FIPLV Executive and teachers of English, French and Spanish from
Prague and regional centres. KMF representatives included Josef Hendrich, Marie
Fenclova and Mary Hawker, who hosted the gathering. The purpose of the meeting
was to bring together language teachers of the secondary sector and members of
KMF, with the intention of KMF's expanding its profile to embrace more teachers
of the secondary sector. An excellent collaborative dinner of several present
allowed for continuing discussion.
The executive’s own statutory meeting had a packed agenda, but it would only be
fair to say that the executive committee did manage to fit in a small amount of
sightseeing, including a delightful dinner on a boat on the river Vltava, hosted
by Professor Josef Hendrick of Krug Moderner Fremdsprachen. And yes, for those
of you who have not yet visited the city, it is every bit as lovely as people
say.
Learner Autonomy - myth or reality
FIPLV is interested in collecting views from its member associations, and is
particularly interested in individual reports of first-hand accounts of
introducing autonomy into school language learning. We hope to publish findings
in the coming year, so please let us have your reactions to this important
inquiry. The new edition of World News carries a short article on what is
proposed. Questions to which your answers are sought are reproduced here:
1. Is autonomy of the learner already a fact in your country?
2. Have you taught (and for how long) an autonomous learning class?
3. What was your initial rationale for this approach?
4. Have you experienced some initial problems? (If ‘yes’ please specify. Did you
manage to overcome the difficulties? How?)
5. What are your present arguments for/against this approach?
6. Have you experienced some resistance to the idea from other people (please
specify who and their arguments).
7. In view of your experience, can every age group and every class be granted
autonomy? Why? Why not?
8. What advice would you give to those who plan to start running an autonomous
class?
A personal note from JH: ‘Learner autonomy’ is a term which itself has different
interpretations. At one extreme, one has to ask if there is in fact any other
kind of learning. Another viewpoint sees it as fundamentally dishonest -
offering ‘supposed’ choices of activity within a limited range prescribed by the
teacher. Others see it as the epitome of the democratic classroom where learners
come to take responsibility for the management of their own learning - which is
after all what adult learners do. So what exactly do people understand when they
hear the term or claim to use ‘autonomy’ in their teaching? Let us know what you
think, please, by contacting the FIPLV editorial office:
Piskozub@main.amu.edu.pl
or by writing to:
Teresa Siek-Piskozub, School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, al.
Niepodleglošci 4, PL-61-874 Poznan, Poland
We look forward to publishing some of the accounts in our Forum for
Controversial Issues.
Up-date on the UK Languages Inquiry
The Nuffield Languages Inquiry is beginning work on its report due to
appear early in the Year 2000. It has some thorny issues to address and one
wonders how exactly the commission members will deal with issues like early
learning (should this be implemented country-wide? How could it be afforded?),
compulsion (should this be introduced post-16?), diversification (should the
British be weaned off teaching so much French?), the role of grammar, and many
more. Questions of access and equity have also been raised by respondents. The
final report is unlikely to please everyone. As they say, watch this space!
UNESCO
Following a recent meeting I am hoping to be able to link up with language
teaching colleagues in some African countries. If anyone has such contacts,
please get in touch with me or indeed any of the FIPLV executive.
SUPPORTING COLLEAGUES
A letter has been despatched in support of a plea by the Association for
Language Learning, our UK association to broadcasters to ask that they think
again about suspending broadcasts of programmes in French within the UK. If your
association feels that the support of FIPLV would aid the cause of language
learning in your country, we would urge members to let us know. It is surprising
the extent to which notice is taken of an organisation which can claim to be
international.
Two visits
A very important role for FIPLV consists of encouraging the formation of
national associations in order to bring together teachers of languages. The
following accounts demonstrate how FIPLV executives make use of attendance at
conferences to promote such collaborative efforts.
President’s Moscow visit
Our President had an extremely busy schedule on his recent visit to Europe. The
following is a short edited extract from his report:
September 21-27: Leaving Prague at 1000 via Frankfurt saw me arrive at the
Sheremyetyevo Airport of Moscow at 1805 local time. Collected at the airport by
Ludmila Baranova, I arrived at the Moscow State University at 2005 - catching up
with Michael Lewis - before enjoying the University accommodation. The following
morning a meeting was scheduled with Prof. Svetlana Ter-Minasova (Dean of the
Foreign Languages Faculty), Olga Alexandrova and Ludmila Baranova (English
Department, Faculty of Philology). The meeting provided invaluable background on
the languages scene in Russia, focussing on my priorities of the visit : the
formation of a national multlingual association in Russia, MAPRYAL (the
international association of teachers of Russian) and their ultimate membership
of FIPLV.
(MSLU): September 22 :Meeting with Representatives of Moscow State Linguistic
University
There followed a typical Russian repast, organised by Prof Irina Khaleeva, which
facilitated discussion. The trilingual discussion (in English, Russian and
French) focussed on the role and activities of FIPLV, the formation of a
national multilingual association (under the aegis of the Russian Department of
Education) and ways in which this multilingual association could be formed and
join FIPLV.
September 22-25: LATEUM Conference in Moscow (Russia): Organised admirably by
Ludmila Baranova, this Fifth International LATEUM Conference - an affiliate of
IATEFL - brought together some 200 participants from a range of countries,
including Russia, Belarus, China, England, Latvia, Scotland and Ukraine, with
some "locals" coming from as far afield as Novosibinsk (Siberia) and
Kaliningrad.
Vice-President attends LAKMIDA conference in Vilnius 22 - 23 October, 1999
Here are some edited excerpts from the report by Vice-President Tuula Pentillä
Friday 22 Oct:The keynote speech was by Stase Skapiene, Vice Minister of
Education. She spoke about Early Language Learning Curriculum Framework. They
are working on their national curriculum and she asked the audience for their
input. There were four plenary sessions. I had the honour of having the first
plenary and I spoke about Intercultural Education in FL classroom. Tim Philips,
British Council in Slovakia spoke about Drama and Lada Rovanova and Emilia
Mironovova from Slovakia had a topic called Higher Quality by Communication and
Co-operation.
There were 6 sub-themes: ELT Methodology, Learner Independence, Research,
Literature, Modern Technologies and Young Learners. At the end of the first day
they had 6 meetings where they decided to form SIGs under the headings of the
subtitles of the conference.
Saturday 23 Oct.: I listened to a few interesting papers on Research. The final
plenary was by the British Council representative, Serena Yeo, who spoke about
Lithuania Cross Cultural Issues.
There were about 180 participants and about 10 foreign lecturers. The conference
was well organized and people seemed pleased with the presentations. The
atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant. In the afternoon we were taken around the
old town and later in the evening there was a dinner for the foreign lecturers.
Towards the formation of a national multilingual association: Lithuania has had
a preliminary committee since the Executive Committee was there in 1994. Its
members are the presidents of the three existing unilingual associations;
English, French, German. I had a meeting with Izolda Geniene (English) and
Aldona Mikalauskiene (German) and we discussed the establishing of a
multilingual federation. The president of the Association of Teachers of French
was in Paris. They are ready to establish the federation. Their first step is to
work on their statutes and then register the association. Izolda asked me to
write a letter to the Ministry of Education in support of their joining FIPLV.
There is a lot of good will, but everything takes time.
I enjoyed the conference and the hospitality of our Lithuanian colleagues and
had a chance to see something of the beautiful old town of Vilnius.
Translation of mailshot
As recipients know, we have made efforts in the past to distribute (mostly
German) translations of the mailshot to those who might desire them. We regret
on this occasion that internal pressures mean this is not possible right now.
Perhaps members will be able to enlist the help of colleagues for explanation of
sections which they particularly wish to understand.
Secretary General on the road
For those of you who do not know this, I have the fortune to be married to
someone with masses of airpoints. This is to explain what I shall be doing in
the next few months (DV). I am giving you this information in case you think
there is someone ‘out there’ who might be interested in talking about the work
of our federation: Starting next week I will be in: Sweden, Chile, The Virgin
Island, Florida, Australia, Beijing…. for starters - and of course Paris in July!
Then I shall need a holiday….
AND FINALLY, ON BEHALF OF THE EXECUTIVE OF FIPLV, I EXTEND GOOD WISHES TO ALL
OUR MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE COMING SEASON OF FESTIVITIES AND MAY THE
FOLLOWING YEAR BE FRUITFUL TO ALL YOUR ENDEAVOURS.
Judith Hamilton
Secretary General, FIPLV
While we have numbered the items, member associations should of course feel free
to edit the mailshot in whatever way they see fit, and include only those items
they consider of interest to their members. FIPLV will be very happy to receive
any feedback or comments from members.
Judith Hamilton
Secretary General, FIPLV
FIPLV Mailshot 2, February 1999
While we have numbered the items, member associations should of course feel free
to edit the mailshot in whatever way they see fit, and include only those items
they consider of interest to their members. FIPLV will be very happy to receive
any feedback or comments on this initiative.
Paris 2000
Work by the Organising Committee for our 20th World Congress to be held from
Saturday 22 July - Wednesday 26 July in Paris in the Year 2000 is progressing.
Registration Forms have already been requested from keen FIPLV members, and can
be obtained by early birds by writing to:
Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Langues Vivantes
Organisation of the XXth Congress
Université Réné Descartes
Paris V
-CTL FIPLV 2000
45 rue des Saints Pères
75006
Paris
Early birds - those members registering before 1 November 1999 - benefit from
reduced fees of FFr 400 for the whole conference. With lunch available on site
or nearby for around FFr 50, and accommodation ranging from FFr 100 in
university halls of residence to FFr 600 in three-star hotels, this has to
represent the best value-for-money conference of the 20th century! Travel
discounts are also being negotiated.
The conference theme is ‘The Challenges of Plurality’ and this encompasses
papers (contact the Conference organisers for more information - abstracts are
requested by 1 June) on:
Cultural Diversity of Learners
Social Implications
Fulfilment of Individual Potential
Educational Language Policies
The Curriculum
Languages for Specialist of other Disciplines
New Technologies
Writing
Speaking
Classroom Techniques
Teacher Education
We look forward to seeing many of you there.
Regionalisation: Expansion into Latin America
and South-East Asia
FIPLV member associations will be pleased to note that Francisco Gomes de Matos
and Carmen Lucas are co-ordinating activity towards the formation of a Latin
American Region, while the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers’
Associations is moving to form an FIPLV Region for Southeast Asia and the
Southwest Pacific.
FIPLV Project
a) The Role of Associations in the Professional Development of Teachers: Towards
a Rationale, Process and Content
Responses to this important survey have been received and we await feedback in
response to
those distributed in French. The primary objective of this survey is to identify
best practice in conducting professional development for language teachers, and
to draw on this expertise to propose future directions from which language
teacher associations can derive input to prepare future activities of value to
our profession. The final report will include:
An introduction, a list of survey questions, a summary of responses,
concentrating on the nature, focus and mechanics of professional development, a
section dealing with fundamental issues of PD, summaries of case studies, a
synthesis of trends and recommendations.
Policies on the Teaching of Languages
Once FIPLV 2000 is over, Former President, Michel Candelier will begin the
synthesis of Policies
on the Teaching of Languages to establish an overview of world-wide trends.
UNESCO
FIPLV is now in "operational relations status” with UNESCO subsequent to the
latter agency’s restructuring of its relations with Non-Governmental
Organisations such as ours. FIPLV has been actively involved in promoting
Linguapax, the highlight being the Linguapax-centred Workshop in
Graz (Austria - see enclosed copy of our last mailshot), organised primarily by
Former President, Michel Candelier. Through FIPLV intervention, Linguapax
featured on the programs of the UNESCO International Conference in Melbourne
(Australia), as indeed in various other conferences and meetings in different
parts of the world.
A great many new appointments are likely to be made at UNESCO within the next
six years, and while concerns continue to be expressed in some quarters about
some of the agency’s procedures, FIPLV officers have at all times felt the
benefit from their own professional relationships with individuals within an
agency whose support we value and with whom we have always worked in friendly
collaboration.
Relations with our Member Associations
In the quest to retain and build upon good relations with current national
multilingual and international unilingual member associations, FIPLV officers
have participated in conferences and activities of IATEFL in Manchester and
Ljubljana (Slovenia), AFMLTA (Australia), ALL (UK), FMF
(Germany), and NZALT (New Zealand). Representation is planned for TESOL '99,
while meetings with officers of other member associations are anticipated in
1999.
Expanding membership
A key objective is to encourage membership of more national multilingual
associations. To this end, discussions have been held with colleagues in Israel,
the Ivory Coast, Malta, all Balkan countries (except Croatia) and most countries
in Central and Eastern Europe. The Linguapax-centred Workshop in Graz (Austria)
provided considerable potential, and as already reported in our last mailshot,
many very positive links were forged.
Other International Associations
The desire to improve relations with other international associations, has led
to meetings with the Presidents of AILA, FIT and UEA. Tuula Penttilä, our Vice
President, is also in regular communication with the Secretary of MAPRYAL, while
a meeting and conference in Moscow in late 1999 should facilitate meetings with
its President.
Bereavement
We note with sadness the death of our esteemed friend and colleague, Dr Iva
Pychova, member of the FIPLV World Council. Her contribution will be greatly
missed.
Executive committee meeting Sept. 29th 1998
The executive committee of FIPLV held its second meeting of 1998 in Graz, Austria, on 29th September and 2nd October, where Michel Candelier on behalf of the executive had co-organised Workshop 15/98 in conjunction with the European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz on the contribution of language teaching to peace (see below). As usual there were many items on the agenda, including reports of meetings, conferences and activities in places as far apart as Tel Aviv, Finland, New Zealand and Slovenia.
FIPLV involvement with international and other humanitarian organisations had continued, indicating the committee’s intention of reaching out to include within the field of language teaching and learning issues reflecting a wide view of the world, and to bring together teachers of languages from as broad a spectrum as possible.
Further steps had been taken to promote relations with the international business community, in line with the notion of expanding horizons in a world which is rapidly becoming increasingly accessible, and where, while the tasks of the teacher are becoming increasingly complex, demands for transparency regarding their performance are making themselves heard.
In connection with its ongoing work on promoting tolerance in the context of
language teaching, the committee warmly welcomed the publication of ‘Language
Teaching and Tolerance/ Enseignement des langues et tolérance: Collection of
materials for teachers/Sélection de documents pédagogiques which it is hoped
will be of interest to member associations. FIPLV and the European Centre for
Modern Languages in Graz are keen to follow up the activities of the workshop
and promote interest in this area wherever possible in the context of local
associations of teachers (see below).
CONFERENCE ON THE TEACHING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES TO PEACE:
30 September - 3 October 1998
European Centre for Modern Languages, Graz, Austria.
The representation of over 25 language associations throughout Europe, with an emphasis on those located in recent or potential conflict zones such as the Balkans, served as a very real and pertinent focus for the objectives of the symposium, which were to make teachers aware of the crucial role that they play in developing a spirit of tolerance and the promotion of a culture of peace, and to offer avenues for reflection as well as concrete methods of working towards that goal.
The subject allowed for a great deal of discussion, ranging from deliberations as to the nature of groups and their need to protect themselves from perceived threats, to considerations of practical classroom methodologies. A great deal of impressive work was unveiled, including the organisation by teacher trainees of a ‘peace happening’ in a Polish university, and remarkable use of technology in Finland. No-one who was there will forget the spontaneous applause accorded to a brave Serbian colleague who, with shaking hands and strong determination expressed her own feelings of the importance of the workshop’s goals, made all the more poignant with the breaking news from Kosovo and the presence of colleagues from surrounding areas.
Workshops were conducted by Michel Candelier, former President of FIPLV, Felicity MacDonald-Smith of IATEFL/Global Issues Special Interest Group and Dolors Reig of Linguapax. FIPLV were pleased to note the positive reception given to ‘Language Teaching and Tolerance/Enseignement des langues et tolérance: Collection of materials for teachers/Sélection de documents pédagogiques’ which offered many suggestions of a practical nature as well as reflections on the role of the languages teacher, of which the following (from the Introduction by Michel Candelier) serves to give a flavour:
Knowing another’s language may, because it entails communication, be a definitive step towards tolerance. But at a deeper level… to learn a language which is not one’s mother tongue may lead one to experience another vision of the world, may make one realise the relativity of that vision adopted by one’s own group and lead to a greater ability to understand the way in which others think and behave. As a result of several experiences of such diversity, individuals may conceive their own culture as merely one of several possible responses to problems common to the human race, and also develop, in the same way, a sense of belonging to this race, over and above the frontiers of the group.
One of the fundamental objectives of language teaching… is to develop the learners’ communicative ability. .. the language class becomes the environment in which are exercised and developed the ability to listen to others, the place where learners become aware of how mutually enriching a sharing of perspectives can be. Experiencing a tolerant approach in the language class prepares learners to extend this beyond the school environment.
In a society where numerous cultural factors increasingly coexist, language teaching… can (thus) contribute to the development of a solidly responsible society which is respectful of individual identities... It is no longer sufficient simply to ask how to develop the mechanisms of comprehension and expression. The cultural dimension and the demands implied therein at the level of what is known and accepted in others -a necessarily reciprocal process - are inextricably linked to communication.
Among the many challenges for teachers noted in individual contributions, were problems such as language status - e.g. in Malta, Maltese has been accorded such a high status that English proficiency is perceived to be diminished, whereas the Basque representative pointed to the continuing need to promote teaching in and about the language. Participants from several former Warsaw pact countries noted with concern how their young people seemed to demonstrate a purely instrumental motivation to language learning as a means to make money, and seemed to lack any interest in lessons which went beyond enabling them to buy, sell, and do deals. This raised the question as to whether the teacher had the right/duty to promote a wider view of language, or whether such a view might indeed stem from future personal contacts by the learner independently from the teacher - what indeed is the teacher’s role? Others noted sadly the legacies of conflict in their countries where school leavers with different ethnic and linguistic origins, who had studied in the same schools, nevertheless held their leaving parties in different and separate locations. Our Basque colleague’s notion of ‘tolerance’ as being essentially associated with power - i.e., as something which the powerful confer on the weak, was thought-provoking; similarly conducive to lively debate were discussions on how to cope with the view of language as a source of fascinating diversity and enriching difference, where that very difference leads to distrust and conflict. A case, perhaps, of learning to accept ambiguity. There is no doubt that participants at the conference would return home with many ideas on which to ponder.
Judith Hamilton
Secretary General FIPLV