“Language and Culture:The construction of a new paradigm”

Sarah Cartwright CILT@CfBT

Idiom encapsulating culture

The French for expressing being busy and having other priorities:

“J’ai d’autres chats à fouetter”

Meaning defined by cultural context:“I want to go to the beach”

England: a plurilingual society

• 1 in 7 primary school children in England speak a language other than English at home;

• 1 in 10 secondary pupils likewise

• Emergence of new “regional” languages:

Italian in BedfordshirePunjabi in the West MidlandsSomali in LondonPolish in Lincolnshire

• Meantime English has gone “global” and developed into a lingua franca, shedding many of its traditional idioms

Our Languages across Europe

Complementary schools

• Teach their community’s language(s), often offer additional tuition in Maths, English and Science and a range of cultural activities

• Estimated to be around 3,000 such schools run by volunteers

• Strong interest in alternative pedagogies to better engage youth

• Young people have their own “take” on traditional culture

• This originality/rebellion expressed in a fusion of the languages eg development of Banglish in Tower Hamlets, London

• Academic researchers in the field include Professor Jennifer Chesire, Queen Mary, University of London, Prof Angela Creese, University of Birmingham and Dr Charmian Kenner, Goldsmiths

Fortress Europe under pressure to redefine parameters

• The nation state as an artificial construction

• The internet as more powerful than the state in facilitating/controlling communication

• Gobalisation as more than an economic phenomenon

• Obama as a cool role model for “global identity”

• Linguistic borders as permeable - as those of the nation state

• New paradigms:

language becomes multicultural as culture becomes multilingual

ConclusionWe could and should…

Define the learner rather than the language

Positively embrace diversity and plurilingualism

Develop a curriculum and pedagogy to meet needs of today’s multi-level plurilingual language learners

Recognise identity confirmation as a powerful driver in language learning – more compelling than employability

Promote the plurilingual “voices” of parents and pupils

Strive to abolish the distinction between “minority” & “migrant” languages in the interests of social cohesion

References

• J. Anderson, ‘Towards an integrated second-language pedagogy for foreign and community/heritage languages in multilingual Britain’, Language Learning Journal, 36:1, June 2008, pp.79-89.

• A. Creese, A. Bhatt, N. Bhojani, and P. Martin, ‘Multicultural, heritage and learner identities in complementary schools’, Language and Education, 20:1, pp.23-43.

• D. Dorling, So you Think You Know About Britain? Constable, London, 2011.

• T. Issa and C. Williams, Realising potential: complementary schools in the UK. Trentham Books, 2009.

Lifelong learning programme: accompanying measures “Our Languages across Europe”

Identification of key stakeholders across Europe

Development of a network of 50+ language professionals who will take part in dissemination activities;

Launch and final conferences

Seminars in Europe to share best practice/case studies/pedagogies

Development of website

1,000 copies of revised Our Languages toolkit + DVD.

Initiation of similar projects in a minimum of 3 other EU countries.

Promotion of resources to a minimum of 5000 learners across Europe.

Our Languages across Europe

How can you contribute?

Please

Stay in email contact

Distribute the new e-toolkit

Promote the website

Share your network

Organise a seminar

Register for the final conference: 22 + 23 Sept 2011, London

THANK YOU!