COMENIUS 2 Pri-Sec-Co Primary and Secondary Continuity in Foreign Language Teaching

Laufzeit: 2 Jahre (Beginn 2007)
Koordinator: Dr. Annika Kolbe, Päd. Hochschule Freiburg Breisgau /PH Heidelberg
Kontaktpersonen: Maria Felberbauer, Doris Sygmund
Webseite: www.pri-sec-co.eu/de/home.html
Partner: Deutschland, Österreich, Schweden, Schweiz, Spanien, Ungarn,

Summary: The project addresses the transition from primary to secondary education in foreign language learning and teaching. This transition from rather informal and holistic to more formal and conscious ways of language learning is often experienced as a problematic one by pupils and teachers alike due to different teaching approaches and a lack of communication and cooperation between teachers of both levels. Whereas language learning at the primary level is communicative, content-based and multi-sensory, rule-oriented learning and written language prevail at the secondary level. The project seeks to exchange experiences and gather models of good practice in the field of transition and further develop strategies to facilitate the move from primary to secondary education.

It will create both an international website and local manuals for teachers and teacher trainers on the subject. These products intend to help teachers get insights into different teaching approaches and learning cultures and foster mutual understanding (e.g. via commented videotaped sample lessons). They will also provide teaching material for the transition phase (e.g. based on task-based and CLIL approaches) which aim at reconciling both approaches ("bridging tasks"). For diagnostic purposes, assessment tools are presented, including self-assessment and portfolio work. The sample lessons as well as the teaching and assessment material are accompanied by comments and study tasks which will enable teachers to reflect on their own teaching and to integrate new ideas.

These materials will serve as a basis for the development of methodological concepts for transition conferences and teacher-training on the topic of transition. Apart from the website and the local manuals, the results are disseminated through initial teacher training in the participating organisations as well as through in-service teacher training courses involving the associate partner schools. An international Comenius teacher training course is projected. Each of the partner organisations which work in the field of teacher training cooperates with at least one primary and one secondary school in order to collect sample lessons, try out and test material which is developed in the project and gain feedback from teachers and pupils. The project addresses the target languages English, German and French.