1. A Plurilingual Portfolio Project
for secondary school and research in
Luxembourg
Marie-Anne Hansen-Pauly
University of Luxembourg
“Researching Multilingually”
Durham University 28th-29th March 2012

2. “How can we tell the dancer from the dance?”
Claire Kramsch / W.B. Yeats, “Among Schoolchildren”
Researching multilingually
about multilingual and plurilingual practices in school
contexts
 Multilingual refers to
 Several languages involved: plurilingual learners and researchers
 Situations in which they are used
 People who use several languages (plurilingual learners/ teachers)
 Works of reference for the research
 Multilingually
 Involving several languages in the research process/
development project with its outcomes

3. Outline
 Situating the project - Luxembourg
 Multilingual curricula for plurilingual learners/ teachers
 Project motivation
 Getting started : project development
 Comparing perspectives
 Choosing a tool for learning AND research
 Driving questions
 Implementing the project
 Negotiating and clarifying the concepts:
 Developing a “third space” for multilingual approach
 Final report and outcomes
 Analysing the data
 Disseminating results
 Questions for future research

4. Situating the project
MULTILINGUAL COUNTRY:
History and statistics
Languages and education
Multilingual curricula/ plurilingual learners

5. Some historical facts about languages in Luxembourg
 For many centuries a trilingual country:
 Luxembourgish – Lëtzebuergesch, the spoken idiom of all
 French, the language of legislation, administration, and
more recently the lingua franca of immigrants from
southern Europe as well as the language of commuters
 German, langue d’alphabétisation
 Since the 19th century, both German and French
have been school languages for all pupils
 1984 – this trilingualism was formally recognised
in a law

6. “A Language Friendly School ?”
 All students learn languages
 French, German, English – as compulsory languages/ languages as subjects
 Italian, Spanish, … as optional languages
 All students use second/ foreign languages to learn
other subjects
 All teachers teach through a second/ foreign language
 Students bring in a multitude of first languages – not
taught/ used at school

7. Demographic details
Année 1981 1991 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Population
Population totale (x1000) 364,6 384,4 439,5 444,1 448,3 455,0 461,2 469,1 476,2 483,8 493,5 502,1 511,8
dont: Femmes 186,7 196,1 223,0 225,2 227,3 230,3 233,1 237,0 240,4 244,2 248,7 252,7 257,2
Luxembourgeois 268,8 271,4 277,2 277,3 277,6 277,2 277,5 277,8 277,9 277,9 278,0 285,7 290,5
Étrangers (x1000) 95,8 113,0 162,3 166,7 170,7 177,8 183,7 191,3 198,3 205,9 215,5 216,4 221,3
dont: - Portugais 29,3 39,1 58,7 59,8 61,4 64,9 67,8 70,8 73,7 76,6 80,0 79,8 81,3
- Italiens 22,3 19,5 19,0 19,1 19,0 19,0 19,0 19,1 19,1 19,1 19,4 18,2 17,7
- Français 11,9 13,0 20,0 20,9 21,6 22,2 23,1 24,1 25,2 26,6 28,5 29,7 31,0
- Belges 7,9 10,1 14,8 15,4 15,9 16,2 16,3 16,5 16,5 16,5 16,7 16,7 17,0
- Allemands 8,9 8,8 10,1 10,1 10,2 10,5 10,8 10,9 11,3 11,6 12,0 12,0 12,1
- Britanniques 2,0 3,2 4,3 4,5 4,7 4,7 4,7 4,8 4,9 5,0 5,3 5,5 5,6
- Néerlandais 2,9 3,5 3,7 3,6 3,6 3,6 3,7 3,7 3,8 3,8 3,9 3,9 3,8
- Autres UE 10,6 6,6 9,2 9,7 9,7 10,3 12,4 14,5 16,5 17,9 19,5 20,5 21,7
- Autres … 9,2 22,5 23,5 24,6 26,4 25,9 26,9 27,3 28,8 30,2 30,1 31,1
Étrangers en % 26,3 29,4 36,9 37,5 38,1 39,1 39,8 40,8 41,6 42,6 43,7 43,1 43,2

8. Examples of secondary students’
syllabus/ language of instruction
 Valérie, aged 14 Maths French
History German
 speaks L and some F
Biology German
at home Geography German
 3rd year of SE PE Lëtzebuergesch
French French Arts German French
Religious Ed. German French
German German
Latin French
English English

9. 5è
Valérie’s weekly schedule 9th grade – Secondary
Time of exposure to various languages
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
1 French English History Biology French
2 Latin PE Latin French Geography
3 Maths Maths German PE Latin
4 Geography Art & Design English Ethics English
5 Ethics Maths
6 German French Maths
7 German History French Latin German

10. 4e
Tom’s weekly schedule 10th grade – Secondary
Time of exposure to various languages
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
1 Maths German French PE French
2 Moral Ed. Chemistry Maths German Biology
Art&Design Chemistry
3 PE English English
Geography
4 History Biology English French
Geography Art&Design
5 English Maths French
6 German French History Maths German

11. A word about language and non-language teachers
 Graduates from various countries
 Good language competences
 Curricula developed in Luxembourg/ resources from
abroad

12. Research interests in learning and teaching
processes
 CLIL
 Learning, using
and acquiring
several languages Learner and
teacher
 Development of inter- and perspectives
transcultural competences
through experiences of
texts/ literature

13. Events triggering the idea for the project
 2001 : Eu Year of languages: CEFR ...
 ELP national versions in many countries
 National educational language policies in Lux
 2005-EU presidency: Multilingual Classroom
 Growing awareness of CEFR
 CoE Profile of educational language policies: more cooperation
recommended
 University of Luxembourg (2003): multilingual
 Research unit: LCMI (Language, Culture, Media, Identity)

14. Driving questions for our research
 Focus on language learners
 Compare teaching traditions and methodology
 Explore teachers’ cultural identities
 Do teachers follow an L1 or an L2 / foreign language
approach?
 How can awareness of common concerns be raised?
 What cooperation between language teachers could
help learners?

15. Getting started : project
negotiation
COMPARING PERSPECTIVES
University team
Cooperation with language teachers (Lycée Classique Diekirch)
CHOOSING A TOOL FOR LEARNING AND RESEARCH

16. University Team
 4 common languages/ different levels or areas of
academic expertise
 Luxembourgish as first language plus
German, French, English at varying levels of
competence
 All involved in teacher education
 Also coordinated a European project : CLIL across
Contexts: A scaffolding framework for teacher
education (2006-2009)

17. The team as matrix for the work
• Guy • Vic
FRENCH GERMAN
Lëtzebuergesch
ENGLISH GERMAN
• M-A • Dany

18. Preliminary work
 Negotiating our understanding of key concepts through
common background reading in 3 languages
 Community of practice, Activity theory, ...
 Language use rather than knowledge about the language
 Documents of the Council of Europe and theoretical underpinnings
 Social constructivism :
 Kersten Reich; Philippe Jonnnaert; Mary Larochelle ,
 Socio-cultural theory:
 J.P. Lantolf ...
 Language biographies
 “third culture” Claire Kramsch, ...

19. Examples of “problem” terminology requiring
some negotiation
 German words:
 Didaktik
 HOU – handlungsorientierter Unterricht
 English words :
 Skill
 Assessment
 TBL
 French words:
 Compétence
 Évaluation
 autonomie

20. Decision
 Initiate a research/ development project that would focus on
all learners’ (school) languages
 2 possibilities:
 Separate studies, with each a focus on ONE language; diachronic
appraoch
 Common project with a focus on new, integrated perspectives,
as suggested by CEFR and ELP ; synchronic approach
Work with a common tool : a language portfolio
 find a school where some language teachers are ready to work together and
cooperate with the university

21. Whole team
University team
Student
Teachers
teachers
Learners
Home languages

22. Several functions for the portfolio
 For teachers:
 Allows implementing recommendations of CoE and Ministry of Education:
development and evaluation of language skills and of cultural competences
 Fosters innovative practices with a focus on skills
 Can be a tool for differentiation, constructive feedback
 For learners:
 Is an instrument for growing autonomy and self-reflection
 Strengthens learning strategies in all languages
 For researchers:
 Provides data on learning and teaching processes in 3-4 languages
 An artifact for mediation between communities
 A mirror of plurilingual learning

23. Plurilingual portfolio
 Dialogic and interdisciplinary approach
 Researchers and project participants are
interacting communities of practice
 Projects and changes can be monitored according to
principles of activity theory
 A person’s languages should be conceived as one
dynamic and integrated system (multilingual
mind)
 The learners’ environment is crucial for language
development (ecological perspective)

24. Implementing the project
• NEGOTIATING AND CLARIFYING
CONCEPTS
• DEVELOPING A “THIRD SPACE”
FOR MULTILINGUAL APPROACH

25. Project organisation
 3 years at different levels
 Regular meetings with language teachers of the same
class:
 to listen and ask questions about current practices
 to observe lessons
 Provide some input on skills/ competence-based
language learning
 Foster exchanges and cooperation between
teachers
 Propose activities around the common portfolio

26. Concepts of Portfolio
 Starting with the EU model : ELP/ PEL/ ESP: reluctance and scepticism,
as too much focus on can-do statements, and functional L2 language
 German models of portfolios, eg Themenportfolio
More complex, content-based approach , more appropriate for L1 approach
focus on creativity
 Ilse Brunner, Felix Winter
 French/ Canadian models of portfolios: du concept de compétence à
l’évaluation des apprentissages (process-oriented); practical details
 Georgette Goupil et Guy Lusignan
 English/ American models of portfolios: standard-based; Multiple -
Intelligences
 Carol Rolheiser et al.
= Preference for models in one’s “own” language , with a concern
for cultural issues and cultures of learning; some cross consultaion

27. Agreement on key principles
 Focus on use of language, situated learning, task based
learning
 Accept a common negotiated framework of reference for the
3 languages: 4/5 basic language skills
 Include cultural elements or work on more literary texts
 Allow for some learner autonomy
 Encourage goal setting and self-evaluation
 Focus on process to provide formative feedback
On other points no complete agreement could be
found, in particular in relation to formal, summative
assessment practices.

28. Points of discussion
 Creativity and product oriented?
 Tool for remediation?
 Portfolio structure?
 Choice of documents: ... ?
 Inclusion of Luxembourgish?
 Integration in regular lessons or separate times for pf?
 Common portfolio/ folder for all languages?
 Language biography? In what language?
 Project duration?

29. “Third space”
 Conceive the classroom and the portfolio as spaces
integrating different cultural and language
components
 E.g.:
Learners who are familiar with texts in German,
French ..., and who have their own cultural
experiences will integrate these elements into their
construction of meaning when reading a text in
English or ...

30. Final report and outcomes
• Analysing the data
• Disseminating results
• Questions for future research

31. Analysing the data
 Learners’ productions as inserted in the portfolio
 Oral presentations of portfolios with comments of
self-evaluation
 Interviews with learners
 Posters on portfolio experience
 Teacher questionnaires
 Student teachers’ reports of their portfolio
experiences

32. What do the portfolios developed by teachers/
students tell us about the processes of language
acquisition and multilingualism?
 What we looked at to assess multilingual learning
 The use of a language biography
 References to learners’ L1
 Common structure of portfolio presentations for all languages
 Shared grids of (self-)evaluation
 Assessment practices
 Language learning strategies / awareness of similarities
 Examples of mediation
 Visibility of (common) teaching methodology

33. Conclusions
 A portfolio of plurilingual learners must be more
than the addition of separate monolingual language
portfolios
 Space for integrated , intedisciplinary/ multilingual products
 Space for common reflections on shared checklists
 Space for separate culturally determined products and
personal comments from a plurilingual perspective
 Space for learners’ creativity and personal interests
 Shared responsibility of language teachers – provide slots in
the curriculum (timetable)

34. Questions of multilingually researching team
 Separate, expert reports or global appreciation?
 E.g.: Can an expert of German analyse the English components
of a portfolio?
 What language(s) for dissemination?
 Bilingual presentations? Slides in one language and oral
comments in another?
 Publication? –Multilingual publishers?
 Translations?!
 Role of a common language – but which one?