Purpose of teaching foreign languages; discussion on current situation
The purpose of the foreign language teaching as it is stated in the ‘Cross-curricular Approach to Foreign Language teaching’[1] is:
a) To promote the holistic development of the students’ personality.
b) To be able to communicate with people who have a different way of linguistic expression. c) To understand gradually notions such as multiculturalism and multilingualism.
d) To develop personal learning strategies.
e) To understand that language constitutes a mean of approaching other cognitive areas.
These are essential targets inside the European Union but in practise how much do we understand the notion of multiculturalism to teach it to the class. How much do we let children develop personal learning strategies and most of all how do we contribute so that language can develop to a mean of approaching other cognitive areas? Perhaps by making references to English film stars and pop singers? We tend to rest assure inside the turtle shell of our educational past, teaching only the four basing skills and caring only for high achievement rates in the exams.
There is strong evidence from research that schools have not been successful in producing young people who can think rationally, critically and creatively in meeting the challenges of a controversial world which is technologically advanced, changing rapidly and discontinuously. A vital concern for the English language teacher would be, through ELT, to enable students to think logically and independently in dealing with their own learning as well as with the issues arisen in the dawn of a new century. (ELT NEWS p9 March 2000)
The verb ekpaidevo (εκπαιδεύω), meaning to educate in Greek derives from the prefix /ek/ (/εκ/) and the root /paidevo/ (/παιδεύω/) which means that the teacher guides the child from illiteracy to literacy, from instinct to critical thinking and autonomy in decision making. It is believed that fifty per cent of the child’s maturity is founded when the child is 0-5 years old. Recent studies in Greek school have shown that the identity of the human being is raised as a process-which is influenced by life experiences rather as a product that relates to birth. Thus in order for people to be well-rounded personalities, they need cognitive, psychological and emotional development, i.e. education and manners.
Unfortunately there are many teachers nowadays that have formed passive roles as consumers of ambiguous knowledge that others have produced for them and their students. They argue that time is limited and that they do not have enough resources to implement large-scale projects or to be educated on different techniques. Private language schools seem to suffer from “exam pressure”. Students have to devote more of their time to University entrance preparation, and English is viewed as a subject they should finish with before the second grade of high school. It seams that today teaching tends to exclude cognitive thinking and does not require much thought or action about any issues beyond the decision as to the appropriate grammatical structure. Many teachers do not even dare to get out of their course books and depend their lessons only to the material that is written in the small mindedness of their contents. A recent questionnaire in state high schools in Athens about EL has shown that only 20.8% of students bought their English course book showing with this way their dissatisfaction to the school system and the curriculum approach.
As Thornbury (1998) (elt News april 2000 p 14) argues “the global marketing of English exploits the addictiveness of grammar in much the same way as the tobacco industry exploits the addictiveness of nicotine”. There is an obsession with form which means that course book topics and texts are rarely valued for their communicative potential but exist only as vehicles for language presentation and practice. Language code instead of becoming a tool to help the human being to communicate has become a weapon in the accomplishment of multiple strategic interests (i.e. advertising campaigns), and formation of uncritical thinking.
[1] The cross-curricular approach in the revised unified Greek curriculum 2001(Government Gazette-Fek 1375/18-10-2001
Thanos Kyrtzoglou
DoS
STAVRIDOU LANGUAGE SCHOOL
BA Modern Languages
MA Educational Leadership & Innovation
a) To promote the holistic development of the students’ personality.
b) To be able to communicate with people who have a different way of linguistic expression. c) To understand gradually notions such as multiculturalism and multilingualism.
d) To develop personal learning strategies.
e) To understand that language constitutes a mean of approaching other cognitive areas.
These are essential targets inside the European Union but in practise how much do we understand the notion of multiculturalism to teach it to the class. How much do we let children develop personal learning strategies and most of all how do we contribute so that language can develop to a mean of approaching other cognitive areas? Perhaps by making references to English film stars and pop singers? We tend to rest assure inside the turtle shell of our educational past, teaching only the four basing skills and caring only for high achievement rates in the exams.
There is strong evidence from research that schools have not been successful in producing young people who can think rationally, critically and creatively in meeting the challenges of a controversial world which is technologically advanced, changing rapidly and discontinuously. A vital concern for the English language teacher would be, through ELT, to enable students to think logically and independently in dealing with their own learning as well as with the issues arisen in the dawn of a new century. (ELT NEWS p9 March 2000)
The verb ekpaidevo (εκπαιδεύω), meaning to educate in Greek derives from the prefix /ek/ (/εκ/) and the root /paidevo/ (/παιδεύω/) which means that the teacher guides the child from illiteracy to literacy, from instinct to critical thinking and autonomy in decision making. It is believed that fifty per cent of the child’s maturity is founded when the child is 0-5 years old. Recent studies in Greek school have shown that the identity of the human being is raised as a process-which is influenced by life experiences rather as a product that relates to birth. Thus in order for people to be well-rounded personalities, they need cognitive, psychological and emotional development, i.e. education and manners.
Unfortunately there are many teachers nowadays that have formed passive roles as consumers of ambiguous knowledge that others have produced for them and their students. They argue that time is limited and that they do not have enough resources to implement large-scale projects or to be educated on different techniques. Private language schools seem to suffer from “exam pressure”. Students have to devote more of their time to University entrance preparation, and English is viewed as a subject they should finish with before the second grade of high school. It seams that today teaching tends to exclude cognitive thinking and does not require much thought or action about any issues beyond the decision as to the appropriate grammatical structure. Many teachers do not even dare to get out of their course books and depend their lessons only to the material that is written in the small mindedness of their contents. A recent questionnaire in state high schools in Athens about EL has shown that only 20.8% of students bought their English course book showing with this way their dissatisfaction to the school system and the curriculum approach.
As Thornbury (1998) (elt News april 2000 p 14) argues “the global marketing of English exploits the addictiveness of grammar in much the same way as the tobacco industry exploits the addictiveness of nicotine”. There is an obsession with form which means that course book topics and texts are rarely valued for their communicative potential but exist only as vehicles for language presentation and practice. Language code instead of becoming a tool to help the human being to communicate has become a weapon in the accomplishment of multiple strategic interests (i.e. advertising campaigns), and formation of uncritical thinking.
[1] The cross-curricular approach in the revised unified Greek curriculum 2001(Government Gazette-Fek 1375/18-10-2001
Thanos Kyrtzoglou
DoS
STAVRIDOU LANGUAGE SCHOOL
BA Modern Languages
MA Educational Leadership & Innovation
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