Aims and expectations of LaDiva

Marina Tzakosta

LaDiva coordinator

University of CreteDept. of Preschool Education,Faculty of Education

The rationale of LaDiva

• The synthesis of today’s society demands the interaction of people coming from different geographic, historical, social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

• Examining the mechanisms which influence language learning is of central scientific and pedagogical interest.

• Language development is highly influenced by geographical, historical, social and cultural adjacency.

• Adjacency may drive complete or partial change of (all or some of) the involved linguistic systems.

The rationale of LaDiva

• Language learning is an active and continuous process being influenced by multiple system-internal and system-external factors at the same time.

The rationale of LaDiva

Given system-internal factors, language learning is highly influenced by

• First, the similarities and differences holding between the learners’ mother language (L1) and the target language (L2); the more adjacent two languages are typologically, the easier a language is learned as a second language.

• Second, L2 learners’ certified level of proficiency; the higher the level of proficiency, the easier a second language is learned.

• Third, L2 learning is influenced by the knowledge ranking of the second language.

LaDiva questions

Most people speak more than one second language

• how are second languages rated in terms of their proficiency level?

• Which one is a true second language and which one is a third or, even, a fourth language?

LaDiVa: objectives

• To investigate how language develops in the speech of preschool and early primary school pupils in multilingual and multicultural environments, these environments being the countries of the participating institutions and

• To design, produce and apply original teaching material in true class settings

LaDiVa: objectives

• Given that students come from different countries (Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Turkey with different backgrounds in

- educational systems, - language learning and - language teaching

additional objectives

Direct contributions and expected outcomes of the IP• To design teaching material which fits the needs

of each participating country.

• To apply the newly designed teaching material in real class settings.

Indirect contributions and expected outcomes of the IP• To further strengthen the ERASMUS bonds

between the participating institutions and extend their multilateral cooperation.

• To keep on exchanging ideas on teaching methods and new projects.

• To increase the degree of transparency, compatibility and - at the same time – co-operation between higher education and the daily practice in all ways the latter is expressed.

Indirect contributions and expected outcomes of the IP• To develop a strong multidisciplinary approach

given the multidisciplinary orientation of the participating institutions.

• To add to our knowledge of how different linguistic systems are learned under various social and cultural conditions by populations differing in their level of education and their age.

• To train students on how language can be taught in entrepreneurial intensive environments (long-term outcome).

What we expect you to do

• Interact, interact, interact!

• Work together & learn form each other

• Look for special features of your languages

• Look for special features of your culture

• Look for special features of the languages and cultures of your co-workers and compare

• Exploit your environment

• Produce teaching material

What happened last year

• During the first year of our IP we made a general introduction on the combination of both language-internal (i.e. purely linguistic) and language-external factors (i.e. social, cultural etc.) which influence language learning.

What should happen this year

• During the second year of the IP we will delve into the language-internal factors which affect language learning.

• Different working groups will examine different modules of grammatical analysis (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics) of the examined languages as well as look into the typological similarities/ differences of mother (L1) languages and second (L2) languages.

• This approach will shed light on the subtle characteristics of deep linguistic variables which drive language learning and teaching.

Goals of the assignments

• Focus on

- Linguistic aspects- Social aspects- Cultural aspects- Pedagogical aspects

Linguistic aspects

• Pick up a favorite/ popular topic of your mother language under investigation use of grammars

Focus on

one level (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics)

or

intra-related levels (e.g. how phonology affects morphology)

Linguistic aspects

• Relate the topic under investigation to the languages of minorities in your countries use of grammars & the internet

a. Language contact?

b. Language typology?

c. other?

Social aspects

• How do social circumstances affect language learning?

a. Financial crisis?

b. Poverty?

c. Studies?

d. Other?

Cultural aspects

• Differences and similarities between sending and hosting countries?

Pedagogical aspects

• Age groups (focus on a) preschool children (age range 4-6 years) and b) early primary school pupils (age range of 7-9 years)

• Sample diversity

• Pedagogical aims

• Theoretical model adopted

So …• Create a ppt – other materials?

• Make teaching proposals regarding teaching strategies addressing different groups

• Apply your material in classes in your countries

• Send back your results

Let’s start!