NEWSLETTER # 3 - October 2017 PAGE 1 NEWSLETTER # 3 October 2017 TALKING ABOUT LANGUAGE AND EMOTIONS AT HOME In this issue Intro We are glad to present the third newsletter of our project TALES@home. The 1 Intro 1 One year into the project 2 The tool under construction 5 Migrants and language education 6 Save the date project is halfway, so this seems like a good moment to give an overview of the work we have accomplished so far. We will try to offer you a first impression of what the final results will be. On the 8th of May the final results and tool will be officially presented and made available for practitioners. More information in this newsletter. One year into the project A year ago TALES@home started conducting research to deepen our understanding of the way multilingual families experience and handle the use of languages at home. We were interested in the influence of language attitudes on the family members personal relations and language learning abilities. We also tried to gain insight in how these issues are taken up by professionals. This The research part is finished and a first version of the tool is developed and tested. In the next phase the definitive version will be created sustained by a manual, online lessons and film. way we were able to look at underlying feelings and attitudes that should be brought to the surface and become more debatable. Our findings led to a first version of a digital tool that should enable children and their parents to openly talk about how, a sometimes complex multilingual situation, makes them feel. The first test period was completed and right now the definitive version is being created and will then be tested for the last time. A forthcoming manual, film and online course will support professionals in using this tool. Further developments can be followed on our website www.talesathome.eu and all results will be presented at a conference on the 8th of May 2018. Afterwards the tool and its supportive materials will be freely available.
NEWSLETTER # 3 - October 2017 PAGE 2 The tool under construction Hilde De Smedt, Foyer In order to lift a tip of the veil we will offer an overview of the different activities that will be part of the TALES@home tool. Some activities will be done by children individually or their parents and some will be carried out together. The output of each activity encourages family members to express themselves and engage in a constructive exchange of ideas and feelings. This all happens under the guidance of a professional. In this short overview we will illustrate the tool by using the example of the Thomson family. A brief description of this family: Olivia is a 9 year old girl who was born in England. Her mother was born in Italy and her father in England. The home language is Italian. In England, Olivia went to an English school until the age of 6. Afterwards, the family moved to Brussels and Olivia now receives her schooling in Dutch. 1. Create a family Each family member creates a kind of avatar. Every one of them explains the languages they use and offers a first glimpse of how they feel about this situation. They are also encouraged to tell something about the important points of reference in their lives (places, persons, dreams, ). Family Thomson - Olivia linked the colour grey to English. It s a sad colour for her and she explains that she has the impression of losing her English and that it bothers her. Chatting with English friends has become quite frustrating. 2. Language portraits A language portrait allows family members to explain to each other the meaning of languages in their lives and they can also clarify their feelings in this respect. Family Thomson - The father did put Dutch (in blue) on his shoulders. It s like a burden to him. He is convinced of the importance to improve his very basic language skills, since this has become increasingly important for his daughter, but at work he only uses English. He finds it difficult to make time for it. Olivia however, thought her father simply didn t like Dutch. She is glad to hear that he is willing to make an effort.
NEWSLETTER # 3 - October 2017 PAGE 3 3. Skills on a ladder With the ladder they discuss current language skills and their eventual goals. Family Thomson - Here are all three of them on a ladder, showing their skills in the Italian language. During a small talk afterwards, Olivia mentioned that she would like to improve her Italian, especially her writing skills in order to communicate with her relatives in Italy. Both parents agree and will look for a way to help her. Olivia had never raised this issue before., 4. Discussing situations In different situations (dinner, family visits, discussions, homework ) family members use different languages. Here they can express their feelings in this regard and if they re maybe willing to make certain changes. They do so by either colouring the situation blue (cold, negative) or red (warm, positive). Family Thomson - Discussing the situation having visitors at home Olivia admitted that she never invites friend over from school, because she is afraid her parents will not be able to communicate with them! 5. Timeline The timeline allows them to tell their language history: how skills and their interrelated emotions have evolved over time, often in the context of migration. Family Thomson - This activity was only done with the mother. She migrated from Italy to England by the age of twenty and moved to Belgium at thirty. In England she felt bad for a while about losing her Italian, but in Brussels she has gotten more involved with the local Italian community.
NEWSLETTER # 3 - October 2017 PAGE 4 The third meeting of the project partners in Vilnius - Patrizia Civetta, Foyer Between September 13 and 15 the third meeting of the project TALES@Home took place in Vilnius (Lithuania). Soros International House, our Vilnius-based project partner, hosted this third meeting. Everything was perfectly organized by Daiva, Gusté and Gabriela in order to make our stay pleasant and our work efficient. The meeting started with a presentation of the activities of Soros International House by the director of the organisation, Daiva Malinauskiene. Soros is a very active organisation in charge of quite a few European projects and organises language courses, meetings and is also a recognized Centre for language testing and certification. Afterwards, Cinzia Novara from Unipa presented the results from the research on the different families, Sabrina Colombo from Eurac presented the results from the interviews with the professionals. We discussed in detail the new version of the tool presented by Ilja Cooreman from Howest and made a start with the development of the manual and the training. And finally the concept of the conference was spoken through. During our stay we spent an afternoon visiting the city of Vilnius and its outskirts. We were impressed by the Cathedral of St. Stanislav and St. Vladislav, dating back to between the 13th and 15th century and by the Palace of the Dukes of Lithuania with its Gothic, Renaissance and Early Baroque halls. We were lucky to admire the gorgeous Opera House on a daily basis, since it was situated just opposite our hotel. The highlights of the sightseeing tour were the visit to the castle of Trakai, situated about 30 kilometres from Vilnius. It was very interesting to discover that Trakai is the village of the Karaites, who have lived there since the 14th century and have preserved their traditions. A big discovery for us all was the delicious cuisine of Lithuania to which Daiva introduced us. The next meeting of the partners will take place in January 2018 in Palermo (Italy). We are already looking forward to exchanging the results of our combined efforts.
NEWSLETTER # 3 - October 2017 PAGE 5 Migrants and language education Vilma Bačkiūtė Ministry of education and science of the Republic of Lithuania / Head teacher activity division (department live long learning) Lithuania has a small population of about 1.1 % of foreign residents. Most common grounds for migrants who seek a residence permit in Lithuania are business, studies, work, or personal reasons. According to Statistics Lithuania, the majority of immigrants to Lithuania are returning Lithuanian citizens (about 80 %). About 10 % are from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine; and up to 3 % are from EU countries, mostly from Latvia, Poland and Germany. Work migrants from non-eu countries increased significantly in 2016. According to the Lithuanian Labor Exchange, long distance drivers, metal ship hull assemblers, metalworking machine operators and tailors are in demand. Some new immigrants choose to work in ethnic businesses, for example, Chinese or Indian restaurants, Turkish kebab kiosks or Thai massage parlors. In 2016, there were 425 applications for asylum. Most requests were received from citizens of Syria (38 %), Russia (14 %), Iraq (9 %) and Afghanistan (8 %). Lithuanian language courses for asylum seekers are organized by reception centers for refugees and continued on the municipal level by the authority ensuring integration. According to the Integration Procedure, the length of a free Lithuanian language course is 190 hours completed with an examination. There is a possibility to get an additional course of up to 100 hours, if a person fails the examination. According to a project report prepared by a group of researchers (V. Pilinkaitė-Sotirovič, L. Biekša, I. Ivašauskaitė, K. Žibas, 2016), illiterate refugees with poor educational backgrounds report that language courses are not useful, because they are targeted to learners with higher levels of education and the teaching time was insufficient. The report states that < > Some refugees having started their own business shared their good experience saying that as soon as they developed their social network (friends, acquaintances and customers), they got more language practice and greatly improved their linguistic skills as compared to learning with a teacher and a textbook (UNHCR, 2014; Žibas, 2013). In accordance with the Law on Education, all children under 16 years of age, both nationals and foreigners with permanent or temporary residence permit, must be enrolled in compulsory education. Prior to attending a school, children with no proficiency in Lithuanian have an opportunity to learn the Lithuanian language in a special levelling class to bridge the language gap. Schoolage children from migrant families receive an additional 30 % funding in the student basket, which is the budget allocation per student earmarked by the state and distributed by municipalities. This additional funding for migrant children should cover the expenses of assistance for the student s faster integration, including language learning. Though Lithuania is still very homogeneous with 85 % of the population Lithuanian, national minorities are multiple and linguistic and cultural diversity of the society is increasing. According to the population census 2011, the Polish are 6.7 % of the population that is concentrated in Southeast Lithuania, and Russians are second largest group (5.9 %), that is concentrated in Vilnius and Klaipėda. Belarussians formed 1.2 % and Ukrainians 0.5 % of the population. Smaller traditional minorities in Lithuania are the Jews, Germans, Tatars, Latvians, Karaims and Gypsies. Other minorities largely consist of new immigrant communities, e.g. Turks and Chinese. In 2011, there were 154 ethnicities represented in Lithuania. In 2007-2009, a group of researchers conducted a survey of home languages (Project Title: Language Usage and National Identity in Urban Areas of Lithuania (Cities and Languages)) in three largest Lithuanian cities Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda. The survey data showed that though Lithuanian is the most widely used and prevailing in different spheres of life and at home, Lithuanian cities are multilingual. School children in the survey mentioned 37 languages as home languages that they practice at home. The survey results show the increasing usage and importance of English, which is becoming a sign of social and economic status in Lithuania. Respondents with higher status claim better proficiency in English. Importance of English is recognized by respondents of different ages, different ethnicity and different economic status, but it is seen as prestigious especially by younger respondents. There is a risk that multilingualism is seen as a danger to the state language, but the added value of a multilingual society is obvious and should not be overlooked when forming language teaching and education policies. In terms of language teaching, it is important to recognize different home languages of individual students and create opportunities for practicing them, encouraging the linguistic diversity and multilingualism.
NEWSLETTER # 3 - October 2017 PAGE 6 Save the date! Talking about Language and Emotions at Home. Empowering multilingual families. Conference on the 8 th of May, Brussels (afternoon) During this conference, research results and final tool will be presented to practitioners working with multilingual families, researches and policy makers. The conference will be in English and registration is free. Details and registration will be available soon on www.talesathome.eu Expert meeting on the 9 th of May, Brussels (morning) International researchers and some other experts will be invited to present their research and exchange ideas on the use of languages in multilingual families. The meeting will be in English. Experts will be asked to send an abstract. Details and registration will be available soon on www.talesathome.eu Follow us on Facebook and on our website. Check out which interesting events are taking place near you! Website www.talesathome.eu Facebook tales@home