33The Training of Teachers of a Foreign Language

TheTrainingofTeachersofaForeignLanguage:DevelopmentsinEuropeMainReportAReporttotheEuropeanCommissionDirectorateGeneralforEducationandCultureRevisedReportAugust2002TheTrainingofTeachersofaForeignLanguage:DevelopmentsinEuropeMainReportAReporttotheEuropeanCommissionDirectorateGeneralforEducationandCultureRevisedReportAugust2002WrittenbyMichaelKelly,MichaelGrenfell,AngelaGallagher-Brett,DianaJones,LaurenceRichardandAmandaHilmarsson-DunnAddressforcorrespondence:ProfessorMichaelKellySchoolofModernLanguages,UniversityofSouthamptonSouthampton,SO171BJ,UKContentsExecutivesummaryiMainReport1ContextsforAddressingLanguageTeacherTraining12Provisionoflanguageteachertraining163GoodPracticeandTrainingNeeds454RecommendationsforAction58AppendicesAppendixICasestudiesAppendixIINationalreportsAppendixIIIMethodologyiTheTrainingofTeachersofaForeignLanguage:DevelopmentsinEuropeExecutivesummaryThisstudyexaminestheinitialtrainingandin-servicetrainingofteachersofaforeignlanguageinEurope.Itsummarisesdevelopmentsoverrecentyears,presentsanumberofcasestudiesofgoodpractice,andmakesrecommendationsonhowgoodpracticeandinnovationcanbespreadmorewidelyacrossEurope.Thestudyexaminesthebroadersocialandpoliticalcontextandtheimmediatepolicycontextinwhichithasbeenprepared,withtheremitandmethodologyadopted.Itoutlinesthecontextofforeignlanguageteachingandlearning,includingthepatternsoflanguageeducationinpre-school,incompulsoryschooling,andinthepost-compulsorysectors.Itoutlinesthediversityofsocialandprofessionalcontextsforlanguageteachers,andtherangeoflanguagesforwhichinitialteachertrainingisavailable.Drawingonanoverviewofthirty-twocountries,thestudyexaminesthecurrentprovisionofinitialandin-serviceteachertrainingforsecondaryschoolsandforprimaryschools.Itexaminesorganisationalissuesofwhereandunderwhatconditionstrainingisprovided,includingthequalificationsthatmaybeobtained,andtheformsofcareerrecognitionavailable.Itreviewscurriculumissuesofwhattheoreticalcontentisoffered,andwhatarrangementsaremadefortraineestogainpracticalexperienceofteaching.Anditanalysesstructuralissuesofhowlongtrainingcourseslastandunderwhatmodestheyaredelivered.Thestudypresentsfifteencasestudiesthatwereinvestigatedindetail,identifyingabroadrangeofgoodpractices,fromwhichwiderlessonscanbelearned.Arisingfromtheseandtheoverviewofprovision,aseriesofmaintrainingneedsareidentified.Extensiveappendicescontainfurtherinformationonthefifteencasestudies,nationalreportsonlanguageteachertrainingineachofthethirty-twocountriesstudied,andthemethodologyadoptedforthestudy,whichwasproducedbyateamattheUniversityofSouthampton,ledbyProf.MichaelKellyandDrMichaelGrenfell.ThestudyconcludeswithrecommendationsproposingwaysinwhichlanguageteachertrainingcanbefurtherstrengthenedbyactionsatEuropeanlevel,addingvaluetoactionsatnationalandlocallevels.TheyareaccompaniedbyasampleprofessionalprofileoftheidealEuropeanlanguageteacherofthetwenty-firstcentury.BuildingaEuropeanInfrastructureforTrainingLanguageTeachers•AEuropeanBenchmarkforLanguageTeacherTrainingshouldbedeveloped,toprovideacommonunderstandingofthedifferentprocessesandcomponentsinvolved,andguidelinesforgoodpractice.•Anaccreditationframeworkshouldbeestablishedtoprovideabasisforcomparability,andtorecogniseflexibleroutestothestatusofqualifiedteacheratEuropeanlevel.•AvoluntaryprogrammeofQualityAssuranceshouldbeestablishedataEuropeanlevelwithEuropeanfactorsasguidingprinciples.•Asupportnetworkforlanguageteachertrainingshouldbeestablished,basedonasmallteamwiththetaskofbuildingcapacity,providinganinfrastructure,andofferingrecognitionandlong-termcontinuityfortrans-Europeanprojectsandnetworks.ii•AmajorEuropeanresourcesserviceshouldbeestablished,includingaportalweb-site,toprovideaccesstoinformationandmaterialsforlanguageteachersandtrainers.•Thedevelopmentofarrangementsfordualqualificationsshouldbefurtherencouraged.•Closercooperationshouldbeencouragedbetweentraininginstitutionsandpartnerschools,andbetweeneducationdepartmentsandlanguagedepartments.•Allin-servicetrainingcoursesshouldbeaccreditedatlocalornationallevel.•AnAdvisoryGrouponEuropeanTeacherTrainingshouldbeestablishedtoworkwithnationalagenciestoco-ordinatekeyaspectsoflanguageteachertraining.TheEuropeanLanguageTeacherofTomorrow•EuropeanQualifiedLanguageTeacherStatusshouldbeintroduced,qualifyingitsholderstoteachinanymemberstate,andusethetitle‘EuropeanLanguageTeacher’.•Teachertraineesshouldberequiredtoachieveagreedlevelsoflinguisticcompetencecorrespondingtotheirspecialist,semi-specialistornon-specialistteacherstatus.•EuropeanLanguageMentorstatusshouldbeintroducedtorecognisekeyindividualsinvolvedintraining.•Teachertraineesshouldgainexperienceofteachinginmorethanonecountry.•Teachertraineesshouldbeabletocompiletheirqualificationsbytakingdifferentunitsindifferentcountries.•Specialistlanguageteachersshouldbetrainedtoteachmorethanonelanguage.•LanguageteachersshouldbetrainedintheskillsandapproachesnecessarytomakestudentsawareoftheirroleasEuropeancitizens,andmoretrainingmaterialsshouldbedevelopedtosupportthistraining.•Allteacherss