31.15 / What is the interest of foreign language courses from nursery to secondary education?

31.15 / What is the interest of foreign language courses from nursery to secondary education?

Introduction

We live in a society where international exchanges are frequent, access to information in a foreign language is easy (books, internet, television…), mastery of several languages ​​is often required on the job market… Openness to cultural differences is real! In this context, learning and mastering a foreign language is a priority, a necessity. Moreover, in our multicultural society, speaking several languages ​​is also helping to build interculturality.

An essential current issue is therefore to enable each child to learn the foreign languages ​​which are essential to find their place in our society. This is why our teaching offers foreign language courses from the fundamental. This is currently compulsory for everyone from the 5th year of primary.

Are the foreign language courses in our school system effective and attractive? From what age do you start this apprenticeship? Which languages ​​to favor? How to motivate and arouse the interest of the pupils? With what means?

Why is this important?

Offering foreign language learning at school means offering all students, whatever their family situation, the chance to discover another language, but also another culture, another country associated with that language. It is about reducing social inequalities, giving students the means to allow everyone to find their place in our society.

It is above all about learning to speak and understand the language taught and to open up to another culture, to enter into the foreign language and its culture.  » Of course, language and culture are inseparable. To enter a language is to enter a culture. We discover there a relationship that is sometimes similar, sometimes different to the world. It is for the child the opportunity to take a distanced look at his own culture, on that of his family. (…) Learning a language gently leads him to change his representations, to go beyond stereotypes. By discovering thata tongue is not the layer of another, it also understands that a culture is not superior to another. (…) Learning a foreign language is open to the world and to the other to come back to oneself, enriched. [1] » Beyond learning the language taught, it is about questioning the relationship with others, understanding a culture and its traditions, developing an open-mindedness and values ​​of tolerance, respect … To register in our society!

From this multicultural perspective, should we also take time at school for learning linked to the cultural origins of students or teachers, an openness to these cultures? Many pupils have already been exposed to another language and another culture either in their family or by living with peers of immigrant origin. It seems important to take this reality into account. But how ?

At what point in the school career?

In a previous analysis, we were interested in learning a second language from an early age and proposed, for it to be as beneficial as possible, that this learning begin “From the age of three, given the receptivity and openness to phonemes still present at this age, in childcare services or nursery education.[2] « . The young child is naturally gifted for languages ​​given the awakening of his senses: very developed ear, desire for communication, pleasure of learning, talent of imitator… It would therefore be necessary to think from the nursery school, when the basics of mother tongue are relatively well mastered.

According to research carried out, among others by Annick Comblain at the University of Liège[3], even if this language teaching is compulsory for the entire Wallonia-Brussels Federation only in 5th grade, it seems important to start learning a foreign language before the child turns 9.

What language to teach? In our trilingual country, is it beneficial, depending on the place of residence, to master at least two of the three national languages? To find a job in Brussels, fluency in Dutch is often required and would therefore give young people more luck when they are adults. In addition, English has a considerable place in our society: in international communications, on the job market … This is why it is offered as a language course, from primary education in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Dutch, German or English depending on the geographic region.

• Premises of an apprenticeship in kindergarten

According to Annick Comblain, the more children hear various languages ​​at a young age, the more their linguistic talents will develop. This would be even stronger if the language is learned by a native speaker and if the language is strongly different from the mother tongue (for the comparison with phonemes and a completely different syntax). As Marie-Claire Mzali, Inspector of National Education in France explains,  » The research showed that, the younger a child, better he perceives and reproduces sounds different from those of his mother tongue. Around 12 years old, already, this capacity is diminishing. In short, “to start early is to speak better”, whatever the language. And I would even say that the further the taught language is from the mother tongue, the more the child is offered the ability to transfer acquired skills to learn other languages.[4] « 

We can therefore imagine that it would be more interesting for our French-speaking children to be confronted with Dutch, English, Russian or German than with Spanish or Italian. But how can this be allowed?

In any case, it seems wise to take advantage of the awakening and openness of young children to language to stimulate their interest and teach them the basics of languages ​​that can be of use to them in their future life. As Patrick Montcoeur explains, “A child in kindergarten learns to master a host of knowledge, including the rules of his mother tongue. Integrating a foreign language into it means making the most of the child’s natural flexibility by favoring the playful and emotional aspects of learning.[5] « 

• Compulsory learning from primary school

In our current system in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation[6], learning a second language is authorized from the first primary. It is only compulsory from the 3rd year of primary in the Brussels region and in certain municipalities.[7] and the 5th primary in the rest of Wallonia. In addition, immersion education is possible from basic.

In the Brussels-Capital Region and in the municipalities referred to in article 3 of the same law, the modern language is Dutch. In the Walloon Region, with the exception of the municipalities referred to in article 3 of the same law, the modern language can be Dutch, English or German. The director, in the education of the French Community, the organizing authority, in subsidized education, may, by school, after having taken the opinion of the participation council referred to in article 3, propose the apprenticeship of one language or the choice between two languages. There can never be a choice between three different modern languages.[8]

The four fundamental skills are listening comprehension, speaking, reading comprehension and writing. These are to be developed by thinking of an active participation of the pupils, by proposing awakening activities and by focusing on the pleasure of communication. But how do we put these goals into practice in our current school system with classes of sometimes more than 20 children? What means can be given to teachers to enable them to provide attractive language courses?

• Consolidation of achievements and continuity in secondary

In secondary school, it is essential to maintain, develop and consolidate the knowledge acquired in the second language learned in primary school. This is why, in Brussels and in the municipalities with facilities, the first language learned in secondary education remains Dutch and this continuity of the language learned in primary education is encouraged in Wallonia. All students must follow a modern language course at the rate of 4 hours per week during their secondary education.

From the 3rd secondary, it will be possible for the young person to learn a 3rd language or even more according to the options offered by his school. The most common languages ​​are Dutch, English, German and Spanish.

As Nicole Bya, head of modern languages ​​at the Catholic Secondary Education Federation, explains, “ With older children, you have to get them to experience « pseudo-situations » that can have meaning for them. Exchanges, participation in European projects are part of it« .[9] «  In this sense, school trips and partnerships with a Dutch-speaking or foreign school are very useful. It can be interesting to create a communication, to allow a sharing with the pupils of a foreign school or a Dutch-speaking or German-speaking Belgian school.

How to arouse the interest of the pupils?

Even if various methods are possible and if opinions can be different depending on the experts, linguists, teachers… the majority seem to agree on the importance of giving concrete meaning to learning and favoring active participation.

In this sense, it seems essential to seek to:

• develop their communication skills;
• facilitate the discovery of other cultures (respect, open-mindedness, listening, etc.);
• give the pleasure of being able to understand and express oneself in another language;
• help understand the language and culture of other people;
• develop a sensitivity to the language in general and in its different contexts.

Like Laure Dumont, we believe that this learning should be done through awakening activities to be fun, creative and attractive. « The objective of this teachingis to familiarize the child in a way playful with the practice of a foreign language, but also to open it up to other cultures, to prepare him for a teaching and a practice which will be more intensive in the middle School.[10]  » And in our schools, are the lessons fun enough? Should we review the way in which language courses are organized?

It seems wise to offer language learning while seeking to develop students’ interest, to give it meaning. One could imagine in kindergarten listening to a story, learning a rhyme, organizing a game… In primary school, it can be interesting to learn a Saint-Nicolas song or Christmas in another language, to make pastry with the recipe in the language of the country of origin of the cake, to discover the ways of greeting and the formulas of politeness in the language of origin of a teacher or a classmate … In secondary school, teachers can offer in class listening to and translating a song, watching a film in its original version, listening to news on the BBC, etc.

How to support each student?

As for the other subjects, the pupils do not all have the same basic skills, but they must be allowed to acquire the same language skills and give them the same opportunities. What do we do with precarious students or of foreign origin who find themselves in language insecurity? What do we put in place for students who do not …

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