Issue 11 - 01/05/2005

What a treat we have in store for you in this issue!

First up is a discussion article, written jointly by Vee Harris and Jennie Prescott. It builds on their well-received presentation and follow-up seminar at the SCILT conference ‘Language Learners: Their Strategies and Their Voices' in January 2005. The article contains a wealth of tips and also some downloadable teaching materials to try out with your classes.

Secondly we have a paper by a former HM Inspector of Schools, Anthony Giovanazzi who was National Specialist HMI for Languages at a time when Scotland 's two major languages innovations took place almost simultaneously: MLPS and Languages for All. ‘Tony' was a major figure not only in inspecting what was happening in schools but also in enabling Scotland to project itself positively across the European scene, e.g. in hosting a major Council of Europe conference on languages at primary school. Although the article refers in part to events taking place in the 1990s, the issues which it discusses remain highly relevant to today.

As you will be aware, the G8 summit this year is taking place at Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland in June. To highlight the importance of this event, Perth & Kinross Council have started an international initiative linking up every school in the authority.

Our ‘Language Learner/Teacher Voice' category has expanded to include learners in higher education, and we also get to read about the teaching perspective from four newly qualified teachers, and four foreign language assistants – writing in their native tongue (some also provide an English version).

Lastly, the four main cultural representatives whose remit includes the support of language teachers in Scottish schools give an overview of their activities. These include the Institut Francais, Goethe Institut, Italian Consulate and Spanish Consulate.

Learning strategy instruction: in theory and in practice

Vee Harris (Goldsmiths’ College) and Jennie Prescott (Deptford Green School)

In this article, we want to share with you our experiences of teaching pupils how to learn. This has been the aim of our STIR project (STrategy Instruction Research), where we have been working in two London schools with classes of 12-13 year old pupils. Jennie works in a large, mixed, inner-city school where many of the pupils come from the local minority ethnic communities. The other school is smaller and situated towards the suburbs, with a larger proportion of high attaining pupils.

Download full article as PDF - Learning strategy instruction: in theory and in practice

Le temps oublié

A Giovanazzi OBE

Old men forget... well, perhaps, and perhaps not always - and perhaps they are not that old anyway. And sometimes little comments read somewhere become so many madeleines in the tilleul of current circumstances. Two madeleines crumbled on my teaspoon as my eye caught a remark in an edition of the SALT journal.

Download full article as PDF - Le temps oublié

Perth and Kinross Council: Thinking Globally!

With the United Kingdom having the presidency of the G8 Summit in 2005, and in particular with the event being hosted in Perth and Kinross, Education and Children’s Services were tasked with thinking about how we could engage our young people with the summit, and indeed the issues surrounding it, in order to enrich the learning experiences they have.

Download full article as PDF - Perth and Kinross Council: Thinking Globally!