Bilingual classes
Bilingual instruction (also: bilingual instruction ) is offered at modern-language grammar schools , occasionally at comprehensive schools and secondary schools , as well as at schools abroad . In the case of bilingual teaching, the subject matter is taught in at least one subject (subject) in a language other than the usual language of instruction, or the entire subject matter is generally taught in more than one language. It is also possible to change the language of instruction in one and the same subject in different lessons. Recently, more and more elementary schools are offering bilingual education with language acquisition through immersion .
Didactics of bilingual teaching
There is still no comprehensive didactics for bilingual subject teaching; A first approach, however, is the model of the bilingual triangle developed by Wolfgang Hallet (1998) . This assumes that bilingual subject teaching is neither a conventional subject teaching that is simply translated into a foreign language nor an extended foreign language teaching .
The aim of a bilingual subject lesson based on the model of the bilingual triangle can be more general (not only for the subject of history ):
"The pupils should learn to communicate with people from other languages and cultures in an appropriately scientifically sound manner:
- about their own experiences, their own living environment and their own culture and society (target field 1)
- about phenomena, conditions and facts of the target-language cultures and societies (target field 2)
- about phenomena, conditions and facts of cross-cultural, global or universal importance. This target field is particularly important for future-oriented history lessons (target field 3). (Woidt 2002: 83) "
Scientific background
There is still insufficient comprehensive research in this area. Most of the time, only partial areas were scientifically checked, so that there is still no complete theoretical foundation for bilingual teaching.
Primarily, the language competence of the students in the first or second foreign language is promoted, as much more is spoken and not just read or heard. The early promotion of linguistic skills should also lead to secondary successes such as creativity , flexibility or an extended knowledge horizon . In addition, the bilingual lessons through practical application also deepen the understanding of the other and one's own culture (change of perspective by changing language) and easier to break down language barriers .
The entire vocabulary of the respective subject is used in bilingual lessons . In addition, typical sentence positions and expressions are memorized, as "real" teaching material is mostly used, but there are also some (few) materials that are specially designed for teaching that integrates German. These materials contain, for example, target language lists of speeches as an aid. Often they also incorporate the students' own cultural perspectives into the tasks in order to encourage reflection on their own.
Studies by the University of Wales and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg came to the conclusion that bilingual teaching is almost entirely beneficial. A study of bilingual German - French teaching in the Swiss canton of Valais (by the University of Neuchâtel ) showed that children who attended bilingual classes at an early stage not only learned the second language faster, but also improved their general language skills. No deterioration in the first language was found ( Groupe de recherche sur l'enseignement bilingue , 1994). The summary of the DESI study (German-English-Student Performance-International) published in March 2006 also speaks of the remarkable successes of bilingual teaching:
“A successful model for promoting language skills, mainly in grammar schools and secondary schools, are bilingual offers. In addition to the cross-national representative sample, DESI examined 38 classes that had used English as the language of instruction from the seventh grade onwards in at least one subject, but mostly in two to three subjects (e.g. geography , history, biology ) . Such additional learning opportunities have a particularly positive effect on the English performance of these students, in particular on their communicative competence: In listening comprehension by the end of grade nine, they achieve a lead of around two school years over students with comparable starting conditions. But also in the ability to recognize grammatical errors and correct them, their progress is very remarkable. "
criticism
In the meantime, it has been shown that low-performing students in particular often cannot withstand the additional pressure in a second foreign-language subject lesson and that the average grade of those students therefore falls. However, in most schools only those students who meet certain requirements are admitted to the bilingual classes (for example, passing a test, grade two or better in the second language), which has repeatedly led to the accusation of promoting the elite in bilingual teaching .
Critics of early bilingual education in primary schools argue that it would give basic skills such as writing or reading in the mother tongue even less scope than before, although this would be necessary according to the latest findings of the PISA and OECD studies . However, this could be further encouraged by expanding and improving the quality of German as a subject. However, the ability of younger children to learn a foreign language similar to their mother tongue with sufficient immersion , so that bilingual support does not necessarily have to be neglected in the first years of school, speaks in favor of starting foreign language subject instruction at an early stage .
However, often only a frontal teaching develops, since the teacher is the only one who has a reasonably confident command of the foreign language. The objection is that other forms of teaching, such as group work, are difficult because otherwise the students fall back into the German language . Expressions in the mother tongue should not, however, be completely prevented in bilingual subject teaching; because the pupil's need to express themselves on the “subject” has priority over the consistent use of the foreign language - this is a crucial difference between bilingual subject teaching and teaching foreign languages , which increasingly aim at monolingualism as the pupils progress .
Since bilingual lessons require more time in preparation as well as in the lesson itself, it can happen that the knowledge is conveyed on a deeper level. In order to avoid this, the number of hours in the bilingual school subject is usually slightly increased. In Baden-Württemberg, for example, in the bilingual French train, each of the bilingual subjects taught receives two additional hours per week, and French is also taught with an increased number of weekly hours.
Bilingual classes in Germany
The bilingual teaching in schools looks very different. The teaching requirements differ depending on the federal state . The schools differ in the entry year, the intensity and the subjects, with most secondary bilingual schools from the seventh grade onwards teach subjects related to social science, such as history and geography, in the foreign language. Most of the time, students in a bilingual class have more language classes in addition to bilingual classes. In addition, many schools not only have bilingual classes, but also parallel classes that are taught in German. Bilingual lessons also take place in the minority languages Upper Sorbian , Lower Sorbian and North Frisian , including at the Sorbian Gymnasium Bautzen, the Lower Sorbian Gymnasium Cottbus and the Risum Skole in Risum-Lindholm in North Frisia .
In many bilingual schools, school partnerships are maintained in order to expand language skills through student exchanges .
Only in some schools do students take special degrees. For pupils who attend the bilingual German-French branch of a grammar school up to the Abitur , there is the possibility of acquiring the double qualification AbiBac on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement . There is no corresponding contract with the United Kingdom , the United States or any other English-speaking country for a double degree offered and recognized in both contracting states .
history
The origins of bilingual teaching in Germany are mostly based on political circumstances. For example, the Élysée Treaty set the goal of deepening linguistic knowledge, which paved the way for bilingual teaching in Germany and France and the so-called partner language concepts, especially in border regions. The Goethe-Gymnasium in Frankfurt am Main was the first German school with a German-English bilingual branch in 1969 and is one of the founding schools of the International Baccalaureate . In Lusatia , on the other hand, bilingual secondary schools were established as early as the 1950s.
Public elementary schools
There are bilingual courses in public primary schools in numerous German federal states. Usually European lingua franca are offered, such as English, Spanish, Russian and Italian. Some primary schools in Saxony and Brandenburg offer bilingual lessons in Lower or Upper Sorbian . Since the 1990s, there has been a gradual transition from a system in which only Sorbian was differentiated as the language of instruction or as a foreign language, to bilingual subject teaching at different levels known as 2plus (two languages plus additional foreign languages). In Kehl , on the French border, the Falkenhausenschule offers special bilingual German-French classes.
Bilingual classes in France
As in Germany, there are also sections at French Lycées ( upper secondary schools ) in which students are prepared for the AbiBac double qualification . Between German and French schools that offer AbiBac, there are often partnerships for joint projects, including those for joint examination preparation.
In some regions, bilingual teaching also serves to promote minority languages . Examples are the privately owned Occitan-speaking Calandretas in France .
See also
literature
- Wolfgang Hallet: The Bilingual Triangle. Considerations on the didactics of bilingual subject teaching. In: Practice of modern language teaching. Volume 45, No. 2, 1998, pp. 117 f.
- Hans Woidt: Plea for bilingual history lessons . In: History in Science and Education. Volume 53, No. 2, 2002, pp. 76-86.
- Edgar Otten, Manfred Wildhage: Practice of bilingual teaching . Cornelsen Scriptor, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-589-21699-9 .
- Gerhard Bach: Bilingual teaching. Basics, methods, practice, perspectives . (= Colloquium Foreign Language Teaching. Volume 5). 3. Edition. Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2005, ISBN 3-631-54234-8 .
- Eckhard Klieme u. a .: Lessons and skills acquisition in German and English. Central findings of the study German-English-Student Achievement-International (DESI) . Frankfurt am Main 2006
- Sabine Doff (Ed.): Bilingual subject teaching in the secondary level. An introduction . Narr Verlag, Tübingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8233-6591-4 .
Web links
- German education server: editorial page bilingualism, multilingualism
- Education server Hessen: ways, experiments, decrees for bilingual teaching
- Bilingual Subject Education - A sample analysis of subjective theories about the efficiency of English as a language of instruction
- Dossier on the subject of CLIL - Integrated foreign language and subject learning, Goethe-Institut ( Memento from January 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Bilingual teaching in the context of European language policy . Housework, first state examination. On: Free University of Berlin . Retrieved May 31, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. Bettina Werner: Bilingual Teaching in the Context of European Language Policy , p. 60 ff. Edocs.fu-berlin.de . Housework, first state examination. On: Free University of Berlin . Retrieved May 31, 2014.
- ↑ Cf. Bettina Werner: Bilingual Teaching in the Context of European Language Policy , pp. 33–40 ff. Edocs.fu-berlin.de . Housework, first state examination. On: Free University of Berlin . Retrieved May 31, 2014.
- ^ Anton Golecki: Possibilities and limits of bilingual teaching in the subject of history. On: mediathek.bildung.hessen.de . Retrieved May 31, 2014.
- ↑ Website of the Sorbian Gymnasium ( Memento of the original from March 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Website of the Lower Sorbian High School ( Memento from June 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Website of the Risum Skole ( Memento of January 24, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Witaj Language Center: Teaching the Sorbian language in schools ( Memento from 23 August 2012 in the Internet Archive )
