Scottish Languages Review - new issue online now

[Harold Schiffman]

Scottish Languages Review - new issue online now Ewan
McIntosh<http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/cs/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=2117>
Published
28 May
*You can get into the latest online issue of the Scottish Languages Review
right now!*

In this edition we start off by featuring early language learning from three
different perspectives. Helen
Shanahan<http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/SLR/Current%20Issue/Shanahan.pdf>reports
on an action research project where she was trying to increase her
own use of the target language with her young charges in a French Club
class. She took inspiration from the evaluation report on Early Partial
Immersion Teaching of French at Walker Road Primary
School<http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/PDFfiles/Walker%20Road.pdf>in
Aberdeen, which showed that even very young learners can cope with
much
more foreign language input than expected.

Still staying with early language learning, Lorraine
Sweeney<http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/SLR/Current%20Issue/Sweeney.pdf>discusses
two different models of teaching modern languages in the primary
class: delivered by the class teacher – which she terms the 'generalist' or
by a qualified teacher who only sees the class once a week, in other words a
'specialist'. Lorraine has first-hand experience of both models so feels in
a strong position to argue which has more advantages.

Finally, Elaine
Pasternak<http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/SLR/Current%20Issue/Pasternak.pdf>provides
a detailed account of how early language learning has been
implemented in her own local authority. This is a very valuable contribution
because it allows readers to have greater insight into the many
considerations that have to be grappled with in order to implement an
authority-wide language policy.

We included a number of articles on the different language learning &
teaching methods of China and Scotland in our last
edition<http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/SLR/Issue14/Index.htm>.
Here, Yimei Li <http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/SLR/Current%20Issue/Li.pdf>, a
teacher of English who is currently spending a year in Scotland as a
Comenius Language Assistant, gives an illuminating account of her
contrasting experiences.

Moving to the secondary sector, Hannah
Doughty<http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/SLR/Current%20Issue/Doughty.pdf>reports
on a Scotland-wide survey which investigated the ways in which
pupils in their third year of secondary schooling think about their future
career aspirations and how they relate these goals to language learning. One
of the encouraging findings from the survey is that schools *can *make a
difference.

Some possible ways in which schools can market languages to their pupils
through cross-collaboration with colleagues in further and higher education
are highlighted by Murray
Hill<http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/SLR/Current%20Issue/Hill.pdf>.
He also calls for increased political activity on the part of teachers.
Murray speaks from experience, having collaborated himself with secondary
schools on the award-winning Languages Work! events, and more recently
having lodged a petition with the Scottish Parliament calling for a step
change in language strategy
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/cs/blogs/mfle/archive/2007/05/28/10089.aspx

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