Two West-European models of multilingual education

2.1. The Luxembourg system

Like Latvia, Luxembourg is a small country (approx. 1000 square kilometres) with a linguistically diverse population (approx. 410,000) which since its independence in 1839 has undergone considerable influence from its powerful neighbours (Germany, France). The Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg is the only European country which has mandatory multilingual education for the entire population (since 1848). It operates a three-language policy in education, consisting of the local vernacular, Luxemburger, a partially standardized Germanic language which is the state language, and two other official languages, German and French. Primary education starts in Luxemburger, gradually changes over to the almost exclusive usage of German by the end of primary school and introduces French as a medium of instruction in secondary school. Luxembourg stands as a compelling counter example to traditional uniformist assumptions relating multilingualism to inadequate educational achievement, economic under-development, and political instability because of problematic relationships between minority and majority groups. In Luxembourg, a higher than European average proportion of secondary school pupils pursue university and other forms of tertiary education, often in neighbouring countries. The country also has had higher than European average GNP increase per annum, while inflation and unemployment are at a European record low.

Key features of the trilingual education program:

• Nursery school and the 1^st year of primary school are in the home language, Luxemburger.

• German, a genetically related L2, is taught as a subject from the 1^st year of primary school onwards and replaces Luxemburger as the exclusive medium of instruction by the end of primary school.

• Literacy skills are first taught and acquired in German (given the non-codified nature of Luxemburger)

• A typologically more distant L3, French, is introduced as a subject in grade 2 of primary school.

French gradually replaces German as the dominant medium of content-matter instruction in the course of secondary education.

• All teachers are nationals and speak all three languages.

• All three languages are used in school and the wider community (to different degrees and for different purposes). The L2 and L3 prevail in the neighbouring countries (Germany, France, Belgium).

3 Outcomes:

• All university education and much other tertiary education is followed in either the L2 or the L3 in neighbouring countries (France, Germany, Belgium), implying that levels of L2 and L3 proficiency and scholastic attainment at the end of secondary education meet foreign tertiary education standards.

For more details, see Lebrun & Baetens Beardsmore (1993).

2.2. The European School model

European Schools (ESs) are intended primarily for children of European Union officials working abroad though other children, including host nationals and immigrants also attend. There are currently 14 European Schools located in seven member states of the European Union. Each European School consists of several first language sections, collectively covering eleven of the European Union's official languages (i.e. Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish). The European School population contains both language majority and language minority children but the former are always in the numerical minority in any given school. For instance, in the European Schools near Culham (U.K.), pupils from the English L1 section are the majority language pupils but within the school they are outnumbered by the other L1 sections. All European Schools and all L1 sections follow the same curriculum, which leads to the European Baccalaureate, a special diploma which provides access to universities world-wide.

European Schools are distinctly multilingual and multicultural, not only in terms of their pupil population, but also in their organisation, ethos and goals. These goals include the promotion of (a) high levels of scholastic and intellectual development, (b) intercultural understanding and a pluralistic identity, and (c) high levels of functional proficiency in at least two languages. These two languages are the child's home language (L1) plus a second language of wider currency to be chosen from French, English or German, the three working languages of the European Schools system.

Key features of the European Schools model:

• Basic education in nursery school (2 years), primary school (grades 1-5) and secondary school (grades 6-12) is provided in one of the eleven different L1 sections.

• The L1 is the dominant medium of education until grade 7 (age 13). Only in the final years of secondary school the total amount of instruction through the medium of the L1 may drop below 50%, the rest being taken up by other languages.

• all pupils must learn a second language -- either English, French or German-- from the first year of primary school onwards.

4

• The L2 is first taught as a subject. From grade 3 onwards it is increasingly used as a medium of communication and instruction in other, non-language classes. In the last two grades of schooling, a little over 50% of the time-table can be taught in the L2.

• A third language (L3) is compulsory taught as a subject in grades 7 to 10. In grades 11 and 12 it can be taken as an elective course. The L3 can be any EU language not previously studied as L1 or L2. If the L3 is English, French or German, it may also be used as a medium of instruction for certain elective courses in grades 11 and 12.

• All L2 and L3 courses are taught to mixed classes of pupils from different L1 sections (but not pupils for whom the language of instruction is the L1).

• All teachers are native speakers of the language they use in class and know in addition at least one other working language of the European Schools system (i.e. English, French, German).

• Subjects such as History, Geography, and Economics are taught in the L2 to mixed groups of pupils from a supranational, European perspective to promote multicultural awareness and a European identity.

• Social engineering, the deliberate mixing of pupils from different L1 backgrounds inside and outside the classrooms (in the playground, during extra-curricular activities and special communal integration lessons) creates opportunities for cross-linguistic and cross-cultural contacts, fostering socio-cultural integration and reinforcing the formal L2/L3 learning process.

• L2/L3 learning can (but need not) be further promoted by the availability of the language in the wider, out-of-school environment (e.g. German in the European School in Munich, French in the European Schools of Brussels, English in the European School of Culham).

Outcomes:

• European School pupils attain comparable levels of academic achievement as monolingual L1 pupils, even for content matter taught and examined in the L2 and L3;

• L1 proficiency is comparable to monolingual peer norms;

• Global levels of L2 proficiency approximate monolingual native speaker norms by the end of secondary schooling (but not necessarily earlier) if the L2 is available in the wider, out-of-school context (e.g.

French-L2 in the European School in Brussels). If not, slightly lower levels of L2 proficiency may be attained (e.g. German-L2 in the European School in Brussels).

• L3 proficiency, although generally lower than L2 proficiency, may still be fairly high if the L3 is available as a vehicular language inside or outside the school.

• Pupils develop a non-ethnocentric identity, reflected in nuanced and positive attitudes towards their own L1 and other languages, cultures and nationalities. Nationalistic antagonism and ethno-linguistic tensions are rare.

5 For a comprehensive description of the European School system, see Baetens Beardsmore (1995), Housen (2002a).