Programme Gallery
Saturday 21 November
09:00 Registration
09:45 Official opening: Welcome and Introduction
10:00-11:30 Plenary session 1: Minority languages in Ireland: policy, provision and possibilities
11:30-12:00 Coffee break
12:00-13:00 Plenary session 1 (continued): Minority languages in Ireland: policy, provision and possibilities
13:00-14:00 LUNCH
13:00-17:00 Posters and book stalls
14:00-15:00 Masterclass 1 — Filling in forms & making grant applications
15:00 Official opening of second half of conference
Launch of PPLI Transition Year materials
Launch of Eurolog-Ireland
15:15-16:45 Round tables with discussants from Europe and the RF: Russian language and culture in Europe
Round table 1 Russian-Irish cultural dialogue.
Round table 2 Mainstreaming the teaching of Russian in Ireland.
Round table 3 Complementary education: theory and best practice.
Round table 4 Nurturing pluringual competence.
16:45 COFFEE BREAK
17:00-18:00 Plenary session 2: reporting from the round table discussions. Best practice - a summary
19:00 Reception in hotel
20:00 DINNER
Sunday 22 November
9:30-11:30 Master-classes: Russian language and culture in Ireland (in parallel)
Masterclass 2 Russian language maintenance programme for the children of Russian-speaking immigrants – a systematic approach.
Masterclass 3 Teaching Russian to the children of Russian-speaking immigrants. Education of children of preschool age. Peculiarities of teaching Russian as a Foreign Language.
Masterclass 4 Parenting in a multilingual environment. Conducted in Russian and English..
Masterclass 5 Teaching Russian as a foreign language and Russian as a home language.
Masterclass 6 Teaching Russian to school-children /teenagers.
11:30-12:00 COFFEE BREAK
12:00-13:00 Plenary session 3: The next steps Closing remarks
14:00 Eurolog-Ireland inaugural meeting
ABSTRACTS
Plenary Session 1
Shane Downer, CEO, International Adoption Association
The International Adoption Association, formerly the Irish Foreign Adoption Group, was formed in 1990 to provide help and guidance to parents intending to adopt abroad. www.iaaireland.org
Who am I? Intercountry Adoption: Identity, Language and Culture
Intercountry adoptive parents are encouraged to preserve and cherish the birth culture of their adopted children. This actually forms part of the assessment process before deciding whether applicants will be allowed to adopt, and is in line with article 8 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, respecting a child's identity. There is also some research which indicates that children who are physically different from their adoptive parents are more likely to engage with their birth culture and language. However, with children adopted in over 40 countries by Irish parents to date, there are many birth cultures and languages to consider.
Karen Ruddock, Post-Primary Language Initiative (PPLI)
The Post-Primary Languages Initiative (PPLI) was started in 2000 with the purpose of implementing the policy of the Department of Education & Science of diversifying, enhancing and expanding the teaching of languages in second-level schools.www.languagesinitiative.ie
Alastair Smeaton, the Library Councils
The Library Councils, formed in 1947, advises and assists library authorities round the country and is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the central library system. www.librarycouncil.ie
An outline of Dublin City Libraries’ involvement in the promotion of multi-lingual collections such as The Rosetta List, The Goethe Collection, The Bright Books Rental Scheme and the Russkiy Mir Foundation donation, amongst others.
Integrating Ireland
Integrating Ireland is an independent network of community and voluntary groups working in mutual solidarity to promote and realise the human rights, equality and full integration in Irish society of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants. www.integratingireland.ie
Claire Bourgeois, Alliance Francaise
Experience of supporting the French language and culture in Ireland
Didier Cordina, Waltham Forest Bilingual Group
Waltham Forest Bilingual Group is a voluntary group set up by parents who want to share experiences of raising children bilingually. Based in East London, it aims to promote and encourage multilingualism.
How the organisation was set up and why. The composition of the group and how it operates. Access to funding. The benefits to families trying to raise bilingual children.
Francesca La Morgia, Bilingual Forum Ireland
BFI is an association that brings together researchers working on different aspects of language contact, including psycholinguists, education experts, speech and language therapists, psychologists, sociolinguists and community workers.
The Role of Bilingual Forum Ireland
The main aim of BFI is to provide information based on the latest research findings on bilingualism. Parents are invited to take part in information sessions and workshops that focus on topics such as the benefits of bilingualism, the strategies to raise bilingual children, and the methodologies to increase the use of the minority language at home and at in the external environment. BFI offers courses, counselling for individuals or groups and short talks or workshops tailored to the audience.
Through the website www.bilingualforumireland.com it is possible to find out more about bilingualism, and also ask questions, start and join discussion topics.
Another ongoing project is the building of a database of resources and initiatives for families who wish to promote a minority language and a database of researchers who work on different aspects of language contact.
The strength of BFI lies in the fact that the information provided applies to all languages and can help both the Irish-speaking community and the communities of newcomers.
The main objective of BFI is to make the Irish society aware of the importance of multilingualism. The first step is the dissemination of clear and accessible information in order to encourage families to expose their children to more than one language from early on. While directly targeting families, BFI also provides training for teachers on how to advice parents and how to introduce activities in the curriculum that take linguistic diversity into consideration.
Val Makovskaia, Plymouth Multilingual Families
Plymouth Multilingual Families is a voluntary group set up by parents to facilitate the transmission of a minority language and culture to the next generation.
Passing a minority language to our children - the ups and downs. Setting up a minority language support group - getting going.
Finding the right audience, providing activities for the children and support to the parents, finding support in local organisations.
Karin Bacon, the head of The International School of Dublin
The International School of Dublin operates as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of international education. It offers an international, inclusive and caring education informed by the philosophy and pedagogical practice of the International Baccalaureate (IB).www.internationalschooldublin.ie
The International School of Dublin was established in 2007 and is the only school in Dublin implementing the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP). How and why the school was set. The IB’s view of language teaching and learning and what it looks like in the context of ISD.
Léargas works on behalf of the Department to manage European, national and international exchange and cooperation programmes in education, training and youth and community work. www.leargas.ie
Nadette Foley, Dublin Multicultural Resource Centre
Dublin Multicultural Resource Centre is a city centre community based organisation open to all linguistic and ethnic groups which is commited to promoting and celebrating the development of a multicultural society through the integration of established and new communities living in Dublin http://multicultural-dublin.org/
The National Centre for Guidance in Education works to support and develop guidance practice in all areas of education and to inform the policy of the Department in the field of guidance.
The National Parents’ Council contributes to the advancement of the early and primary education of all children, in order to improve and enrich the education of each child and to support the involvement of parents at all stages.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is devoted to improving the quality of education at primary and secondary levels through curriculum reform and reform of assessment.
www.ncca.ie
Round Tables
Round table 1: Russian-Irish cultural dialogue.
Maria Kiernan, Natalia Pakshina, Vladimir Kuts, Sergei Tarutin, and others.
Round table 2: Mainstreaming the teaching of Russian in Ireland.
Nadezhda Ivanovna Smirnova, Pushkin Institute of Russian Language, Moscow
Issues of teachers' certification. Re-training as teachers of Russian as a foreign language (distance education)
Lana Ilyin, The Post-Primary Languages Initiative
The Post-Primary Languages Initiative: Russian as a Transition Year module in secondary schools in Ireland; the Post-Primary Languages Initiative was created in 2000 as part of a Department of Education and Science policy for the strengthening, expansion and diversification of foreign language teaching in secondary schools.
The objective of the transition year Russian course is to interest students in Russian language and culture and perhaps lead them to go further, choosing it as a subject in the Leaving Certificate.
Irina Aleksandrovna Starovoitova MGU, Moscow RUSSIA
Russian language testing: to what end?
1. The system of certification testing for Russian as a Foreign Language (TORFL) was launched in 1992 and from 1997 there have been testing centers at leading Russian universities. In order to matriculate at any Russian university one must be certified at level 1 (TORFL-1). In order to take a diploma in a non humanities field candidates sit TORFL-2, while humanities candidates must pass TORFL-3. TORFL-4 is necessary for teaching Russian as a foreign language.
2. Levels in the TORFL (general proficiency) system correspond to those adopted in European countries.
3. More recently, the diagnostic value of (in identifying students' typical mistakes) has been remarked as an advantage ancillary to the test's utility in certification (determining proficiency level). In this regard there is a need for further collaboration between teachers and testers.
4. Tests with English-speaking subjects have identified the most common types of errors caused by language interference, ignorance of lexical collocations and confusing grammatical constructions.
5. Testing has helped to identify white spots in the selection of material, facilitating adjustment of the curriculum.
6. Holding a TORFL certificate can be an advantage in both employment and education. In some cases, a TORFL certificate exempts school graduating students from sitting a Russian language exam.
Svetlana Parming, president of the Association of Russian-language teachers in Sweden (CARTS)
Coordinator of seminars and conferences for Russian-language teachers from the Swedish Department of Education skolverket.se website administrator http://modersmal.skolverket.se/ryska
A few words on the history of heritage language teaching in Sweden
As a result of 1977/78 reforms each municipality is required not only to assist migrant communities in the development of the Swedish language, but also in the maintenance of their native language.
During 1977-1988 2-year training courses for teachers of native languages were introduced at the Teachers' University in Stockholm. During this time, 1,300 teachers were retrained and received heritage-language teacher diplomas.
Then came the first wave of the financial crisis, and the programme was put on hold..
The current situation of Russian-language teachers in Sweden.
Very often, teachers suffer not for lack of competence, but rather from the necessity to conduct lessons with pupils of different age groups and at different levels.
I have done research to identify the situation and see if Russian-language teachers need retraining.
Many Russian-language teachers in Sweden have no teaching degree or are teachers of other subjects.
Conclusions: It has been found that Russian-language teachers, despite their different work experience and qualifications, have expressed a strong interest in professional distance teacher-training courses for teachers from Russia and Sweden.
Round table 3 - Complementary education: theory and best practice.
Inna Shestopalova, a member of administration of the "Russian Teacher" union, Sweden
The Union of Russian Communities in Sweden (formed in Stockholm on October 18, 2003). This is a voluntary, non-religious and independent non-profit association of 25 non-commercial organizations, 20 business organizations and other individuals with about 1000 members.
The union has set itself the following objectives:
• to promote Russian culture in Sweden
• to promote closer contacts between Russia and Sweden
• to facilitate the social integration of Russians living in Sweden
• to challenge chauvinistic tendencies and bring Russian compatriots together
• to promote cooperation with all regions of Russia and citizens of the Federation in Moscow, St Petersburg and other regions.
Funding comes from membership fees, advertising revenue, grants from the Swedish State Office of Youth, the Vera Sager Foundation, grants from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs government commission for the support of compatriots.
The union participates in Russian TV programs on a local television channel. We have published and posted on the www.rurik.se website a book in Russian about realities of living in Sweden and paths to economic independence for Russian immigrants.
On October 17 this year in Stockholm, in collaboration with the Russian Embassy we organised the Second All-Sweden Conference for Compatriots. It was attended by more than 80 delegates from different parts of Sweden.
Strategy to address the preservation of the Russian language and culture among children and youth in Sweden.
Over the last decade the Russian-speaking population in Europe has increased dramatically to number even as high as 10 million. Sweden is one of the few European countries where the teaching of heritage languages is protected by law and free of charge. Children are entitled to 1 hour's instruction per week in their native language if it is a home language of at least one parent.
Most Russian-speaking children in Sweden are assimilated and lose Russian as their mother tongue. In the best case they might retain it as a foreign language. Avoiding attrition requires an appropriate environment for communicating with Russian-speaking peers and Russian-speaking adults besides parents. Russian television might be of benefit, but scarcely any children's programmes are broadcast in non-CIS countries. So, often our children are caught between two cultures. However well he might speak that language, the young person understands that he is not Swedish, but having lost his native tongue no longer feels Russian. A case in point: a teacher asks her class: "What will you be when you grow up?"
"A driver," says Sven.
"A teacher," says Britt.
"I'll be a Swede," replied Ivan.
This problem cannot be solved without a clear programme. We need support from Russia. It is important to establish cultural centres. Russian speaking communities should prioritise working with children and young people. There should be playgroups for the youngest children. We aim to organise educational exchange programmes with Russian-speaking organizations in Europe and to support the initiatives of other countries in organising competitions and other efforts.
It is only by the combined efforts of families, teachers, the community, the Government of the country of residence and the Russian Government that we can ensure the preservation of Russian language and culture by our children. Only then will Russian take its rightful place among European languages.
Vitaly Makhnanov Russian School, Cork, Ireland
Experience of the Russian school in Cork, Ireland.
The more languages a person knows, the richer is his personality: Russian-speaking parents looking forward to a future where their children bear two cultures and are talented translators, writers and teachers must transmit that language to their children.
The Eastern European Association of Ireland in Cork was set up in 2003. Its main aim and purpose is to enrich Irish culture and help preserve the cultures of the peoples of the former USSR.
Seeing how easily our children would switch to English and become reluctant to use Russian, we wondered where this would all lead. So we created the association and a Russian Saturday School. In this school, our motto is "Do it yourself, help yourself!"
On the one hand, the school is a kind of business requiring business experience, start-up capital, premises, and income (parents’ payments). Secondly, it is a civic initiative of likeminded people. Now, we are not professionals, so questions arise such as who should teach in the school (qualified teachers or, as in our experiment, a rotation of parents). Who are our student pool - all children or just our own and our friends'? And hat about taxes and insurance and the legal status of the school?
Economic difficulties impact our objectives as we consider our priorities going forward: should we include more children or focus on quality of education? Where can we find resources to develop the school? Will the education children receive in our school be recognised in Russia? And what is the ultimate goal of studying in the school? How can it benefit Irish society? Looking forward, what about a Russian kindergarten, library, media, periodicals, the Internet, Russian TV, evening entertainment and hobby groups?
Cork is the second largest city in Ireland and it would be great to have a "Little Russian world" there - a place one could communicate in Russian, read Pushkin and Tolstoy, watch the news on TV and simply spend time with friends over a cup of tea. After all, as they say, "He who forgets his past, has no future."
Inna Forgham, Russian Support Group “Cheburashka”, Portsmouth, UK
Teaching Russian as a second language to preschool children: tasks, problems and suggested solutions
Among the principle tasks involved in teaching Russian as a second language to children are :
1. The provision of professional training (retraining) of specialists, directly involved in teaching.
2. The provision of both children and their parents with stable motivation to learn Russian.
3. The development of programmes and learning materials, collecting resources and methodological literature.
We believe a possible solution of the aforesaid problems would be the foundation and development of Russian speaking voluntary organizations (in our case, The Russian Support Group.
We have worked out a tailored educational programme “Russian Language and Culture for Kids” we have developed. Its main objective is to promote the cultural and social development of children through learning Russian and Russian culture.
The teaching methodology applied is based on the principles of active learner-centred approaches. The curriculum includes: basic vocabulary (words and phrases), alphabet, numbers, poems, songs, Russian-folk fairy-tails, dances, musical instruments and costumes.
The basis for each lesson plan is a situation (in the zoo, in the forest, in the shop, in the theatre, etc.). Most game activities include drill exercises. In general, the teaching is based on direct method with a lot of visual aids applied. This brings the learning process as close as possible to a natural way of mother-tongue acquisition.
Taking into consideration psychological peculiarities of young children, every 10-15 minutes we play active games or do phonetic-physical exercises. At the end of each class children demonstrate the results of their work to their parents. At this point it is important for the parents to ask questions like: “What have you been doing?”, “What have you drawn?” etc.
As a guideline, parents are given special cards which state the learning material of the lesson (words, poems, letters, etc.) to encourage them to revise and memorize the material with their children.
All in all, it is worth emphasizing that a close cooperation between parents and teachers is the main guarantee for success.
Currently, the program is undergoing testing and editing. New ideas and materials, taken mostly from the Internet, are constantly sought out and added to the program.
The author would be happy to share her resources and welcomes any comments, questions and suggestions concerning the developed programme.
Round table 4 Nurturing pluringual competence.
Natalja Zhukova, psychologist Helsinki, Finland
Myths and the Reality of child bilingualism in migration
Common misconceptions of parents in bilingual and multilingual immigrant families.
How certain features of child psychology affect language learning.
Psychological aspects of successful language learning for children in the immigrant family and in school/kindergarten.
The value of the mother tongue in the life of the child and adult.
Helen Gray, Kalinka Russian Social Club, the city of Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom
Kalinka Russian club was founded in late 2008 for children from birth to 4 years.
Experience suggested the playgroup alone could not sustain interest in studying Russian language and culture, so the group began providing direct language training. As of April 2009, there were two groups, for children 3-4 years old and 4-6 years old meeting weekly with three volunteer teachers. From September 2009 three more groups began: Mother and I, Smeshariki ("The Funny Ones") for children 4-7 years old and the group Luntik ("Moonman") for 4-8 year olds. For the youngest children learning occurs in games. We practice the Zheleznova method, a child development program for use in kindergartens.
Main difficulties: 1) Motivating Saturday attendance of the club; its solution: active communication with parents and children through extracurricular activities, etc. 2) Sustaining students' interest in Russian language and literature.
We adopt mainstream primary schools methods, matching class content and observing special occasions, and encourage extracurricular reading. We use Internet resources such as http://www.russisch-fuer-kinder.de/ and www.urya.com.
Extracurricular work is important, such as organising Christmas festivities.
Organizational challenges: cooperation with local authorities and with Russian clubs in other cities; the lack of information to support (the creation of) clubs and children's groups; learning to cover basic legal issues; obtaining the necessary certifications; insurance; CRB registration for all volunteers working with children; applying for grants.
Ekaterina Protassova, University of Helsinki, Finland
Variability in Bilingualism
Studies show that there is a difference between knowledge of Russian as a native language for those who live in Russia and those living abroad. Besides, there exist significant differences in school practices, communicative norms, models of education and childrearing, and standards for written work. It has been found that bilingual competencies should be placed on a scale ranging from optimal command of the vernacular to optimal command of Russian. While there are children who develop adequate proficiency in both languages, it is very rare not to find some advantage in one or the other. Important factors are age, language of each parent, family communicative style, cognitive and communicative characteristics of the child, the situations in which the child uses Russian and the quantity and quality of spoken input.
The situation of Russian in Finland
In Finland children can begin learning Russian in kindergarten: there are several pre-schools geared toward Finnish-Russian and Russian-Finnish bilingualism. Some one thousand two hundred pupils are learning Finish and Russian in the Finnish-Russian schools. There are streams for native, very good (for example, having lived some years in Russia) and normal level learners. In addition to these schools, more than one hundred pupils begin learning Russian as a foreign language in various cities from the third grade, and more than two hundred from the fifth. In the country as a whole, between grades 1 and 9 a roughly equivalent number of people - about three thousand - learn Russian as a native language and as a foreign language. Every year in school final examinations (after 12-13 years of study) about 450 people complete a minor course in Russian, and 350 people a longer course, and the number has been increasing in recent years. Finnish textbooks for Russian have been designed for different levels and different conditions of study and meet present European requirements for foreign language learning materials.
Master-Classes
Master-class 1
Filling in forms & making grant applications
Jacoba de Vries, grant application expert, Galway, Ireland
Funding for migration projects
Fundraising for projects for immigrants, or for research concerning immigration issues, can be a great effort in times of recession. This workshop explores different ways of fundraising and focuses mainly on European funding. European (EU) funding can be used for projects in Ireland, as well as for international projects, carried out by a cooperation of organisations based in different EU member states. Relevant EU funds for migration projects, managed in Dublin or Brussels, will be introduced and requirements for organisations to apply for funding explained. The workshop leader uses her experience as policy officer for the European Migration Funds to brainstorm with the participants about possible projects for their organisations. Besides that she will present some examples of Irish funds and creative ways of fundraising.
Master-Class 2
Russian language maintenance programme for the children of Russian-speaking immigrants – a systematic approach.
Galina Clark, Director
The survival and growth of the "Druzhba" ("Friendship") London association of Russian language schools
The first school established as part of this not-for-profit Association was set up in 2003 in Eris. There are now three schools in different areas of London in the association attended by 250 children of Russian and mixed families aged between three and eighteen years old. Schools operate on Saturdays and Sundays, and occasionally other days, such as holidays and festivals, including national British occasions. In addition to its own lessons, a "Druzhba" school conducts classes in Russian culture in other primary and secondary schools.
Basic principles of the Association:
1. Quality education - professional teachers meeting contemporary standards for effective education (methodologies for teaching Russian as a Foreign Language, classical and contemporary art); modern (RFL) textbooks, educational materials and media.
2. Ongoing professional development of school teachers of Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL), including intensive lectures and seminar courses. We have conducted two training courses (2008-9) for teachers of the Association and school teachers from EU countries and Thailand.
3. Diversified education and upbringing of children that celebrates children's choice based on their interests. Subjects taught include Russian language, music (vocal, piano, guitar, instrumental ensemble and solfege), dancing, painting, gymnastics and ballet. There is an infants' group for mothers and babies from 1 to 3 years old.
4. Parents’ systematic participation in the life of the school community as well as their active contribution to children's cultural curricula; teaching parents about various genres of art.
5. Financial stability secured by the close involvement of parents in school life and with the support of sponsors (private foundations, municipal and metropolitan authorities), whose interest is constantly sustained by continuous updates and demonstrations of the children's accomplishments.
6. Efforts to expand our activities in the promotion of Russia's culture and language and to encourage the involvement of English-speaking children and parents in the life of the Russian-speaking community.
S. Y. Kurits, Professor, Systems Analyst
Programme of language maintenance for children of Russian-speaking immigrants - a systematic approach.
1. A systematic approach to Russian language maintenance: why? Commonsense thinking tends to be inductive, extrapolating from the particular to general patterns; to succeed in preserving the Russian language in Russian-speaking immigrant children requires a deductive (general to specific), which is to say, systematic approach. Such an approach spares inefficiency and disappointment.
2. Why should the children of immigrants, for whom English has become and will remain a native language, need Russian? The answer to this question, which suggests the purpose of this programme, is clear if one appreciates the interests of all participants, of whom there are thirteen: the pupil, parents, parents' parents (grandparents), the teacher, school director (who is also programme director), a specialist in teaching Russian abroad (who trains the teacher), the author of the textbooks used, the textbook publishers, a bookseller, local education authorities and the directors of a Russian Cultural centre, and sponsors.
3. The interests of the foremost of these should determine the activities of all participants. Parents: they decide whether their children will study the Russian language, and most of them do not see why their children should learn Russian.
4. Participants' goals. Children's (guided), parents' (guiding), grandparents', teachers' and others'.
5. The organization bringing it all together: a formal or informal (community based) body equipped to manage the long-term (not ad hoc) interests of participants which can effectively promote participation in the programme. A professional, systematic approach best serves the preservation of Russian. Without this, it is impossible to preserve the Russian language among children of immigrants, no matter the number of speeches made, policies penned, or resources expended in its name.
Master-class 3
Teaching Russian to the children of Russian-speaking immigrants. Education of children of preschool age.
Ekaterina Protassovа, University of Helsinki, Finland
The particulars of teaching Russian language to preschool children
Young children acquire language at home and by communicating with their peers and with various adults. Formal language teaching should work from natural processes of language acquisition. For preschoolers, age-appropriate presentation of materials is essential in motivating verbal communication, listening, response and self expression. We recommend a system that involves speech and language games and a special lesson style integrating learning-object content. The system is laid out in a number of books and manuals.
Nina Vlasova, PhD, lecturer
Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) to the children of Russian-speaking immigrants
1. The purpose of teaching children Russian is to impart a command of the modern Russian language.
2. A consciously practical approach to teaching Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL). The difference between teaching Russian as a Foreign Language to children of Russian-speaking migrants and teaching Russian as a native language (RNL) in Russia; lexis and grammatical proficiency.
3. Grammatical structure as the basis of language.
4. RFL methods: language learning through ‘models’.
Model: communication sample in which a syntactic structure built on key vocabulary illustrates essential points of grammar.
5. Sequential introduction of grammar and vocabulary in reading, not necessarily involving formal memorisation.
6. Text as a model: the adaptation of texts; simultaneous acquisition of vocabulary, grammar, phonetics and intonation.
7. Adapting RFL methods designed for adult learners to use with children.
8. Levels of language proficiency: the balance of grammatical and lexical materials at each stage.
9. Lesson planning.
10. Assessment.
11. Teaching Russian to preschool and primary school native speakers following attrition in a non-Russian-speaking environment.
12. RFL textbooks for children.
Master-class 4
Parenting in a multilingual environment. Conducted in Russian and English.
Natalja Zhukova, psychologist Helsinki, Finland
Practical psychological support for parents and professionals working with multilingual children in an immigration context.
Materials from the author's workshop "The relationship of child and parent under conditions of family migration: families with preschool children"
Francesca La Morgia
Discovering bilingualism (Info@bilingualforumireland.com)
This 1 hour workshop will be divided into two parts: the first one will focus on language development, on the social, cognitive and linguistic benefits of bilingualism, and on the role of the parents and the environment in the child’s linguistic development. In the second part of the workshop parents are invited to ask questions and discuss issues related to their experience.
Master-class 5
Teaching Russian as a foreign language and Russian as a home language
Irina Kell, PhD the Cambridge Russian School, UK
Experience of teaching Russian as a foreign language and Russian as a native language in the same class at the Cambridge Russian School.
The Cambridge Russian School has existed for ten years. During this time, we have accumulated vast practical experience that is complemented by theoretical research. Teaching at our school is based on two distinct methods - Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) and Russian as a native language (RNL) - but in practice these techniques are constantly combined. In recent years one more commonly prefers the term "Russian as a second native tongue" - (RSN).
At present, 130 children between 3 and 16 years old study Russian in 13 classes in our school. These numbers make it possible for us to create classes grouped by age and language level, which is often not possible in smaller schools.
Why RFL in a pure form is not ideal for working in supplementary/weekend Russian schools:
• the limited number of classroom hours makes it difficult, and often impossible, to achieve the ends of comprehension, speaking, reading and writing by repetition and revision of grammatical patterns
• Children do not have that comprehension of the grammatical structure of language upon which teachers can rely with adult learners, for whom this technique was developed. Indeed, their native language is often at only an early stage of development.
• Children will find the large quantity of exercises, guided dialogues, formal tables and other similar techniques in this approach dull and monotonous. Such techniques should be replaced by play elements.
• Tailoring lexical content strictly to common usage is not always advisable. It is difficult for children to identify "important and unimportant" words. They learn words and grammar easily in games, simultaneously expanding their vocabulary and assimilating structural knowledge of the language, a strategy that is characteristic of native language acquisition.
At the same time, a precise structure in the presentation of new material and clear, logical system, alongside a communicatively oriented approach, - make it possible to work with groups where children's first language is not Russian. In teaching Russian, one should pay particular attention to grammatical structure, parts of speech, word formation and words' structure - topics fundamental to RFL. For the most effective instruction in literacy and linguocultural studies children in both streams need specially selected texts and materials Combining RFL with RNL approaches is a new and promising method which requires further research, practice materials and training manuals. We are convinced that such a method is necessary and will be very useful to many teachers, practitioners and students.
N.I . Smirnova, Pushkin Institute of Russian Language, Moscow
A Pushkin-based quiz-lesson. Cultural and methodological aspects.
1. Lesson plan based on the life and works of Pushkin to be used in Russian schools abroad and on Russian language courses. This lesson introduces students to Russian literature and culture through the life and work of Alexander Pushkin. The objectives of the lesson are to generate interest in Pushkin and to teach the importance of this poet in Russian and world literature.
2. The lesson takes the form of a quiz with Power Point slides successively revealing questions and their answers, which are accompanied by additional information. The material covered in the quiz should depend on the age and background of participants. This master class concerns execution of this lesson plan. We will consider two versions of the quiz - one meant for overseas students of Russian as a foreign language not familiar with the works of Pushkin and one for students following a Russian school curriculum (in embassy schools, for example). Teachers can adapt the quiz to suit their own class.
3. The session concludes with a report from the international "Our Pushkin" festival at the Pushkin Institute of Russian Language and some recommendations for extracurricular cultural activities.
Master-class 6
Teaching Russian to school-children /teenagers
Pauline Georgievna Gelfreich, Milan, Italy
The organization of a distance learning centre at a weekend school for Russian
1. The concept of remote (distant) learning.
2. A short history of distance learning.
3. Reasons for establishing a centre for distance learning at the supplementary Russian school in Italy
4. The experience of creating a remote education centre in the Russian school under the L.N. Tolstoy Centre for Bilingualism
5. How to create a centre for distance learning in a weekend Russian school (practical points):
- Estimating demand in your country
- The role of a school's administrative body
- Economic assessment of the project
- Internal (school) documentation
- Selection and training of teachers
- The necessary equipment
- Curriculum design
- Textbooks and teaching materials for distance learning
- Formats of a distance learning lesson
- The exchange of teaching experience and the question of copyright
- Advertising and presenting the project to parents
- Enrolment, student grouping/class assignment, remote placement testing
- Continuous assessment and certification of students' proficiency level
- Reenforcing a positive attitude and motivation for distance learning students
- Managing home contact
- Parents' role/involvement
- The importance of a school's website and discussion forum
6. Documents that a remote learning centre can accredit (local diplomas/qualifications, PEL, TORFL, Russian certificate)
7. Cooperation in distance learning: a proposal
Dr. Ekaterina Kudrjavceva-Hentschel, Frankfurt, Germany
www.russisch-fuer-kinder.de as a teachers’ resource
1. Presentation of a website and its contents
2. How to use site materials (picture puzzles, handouts, tests)
3. Brief discussion of teaching RFL
4. Participants' questions; discussion of possible collaborations.