Abstract
The so-called language gap is not a modern invention, since language is power and a form of taking dominion over the world in humans' intellectual confrontation with reality. Historically, there has been inequality in language learning and mastery as a way to access knowledge and to achieve self-fulfillment in both the public and private spheres. This chapter explores the concept of language gap from a diachronic perspective and the way in which the Andalusian education system has taken actions emanating from European language policies, aimed at bridging the language gap among young people through initiatives of great impact on content and language education, such as the consolidation of bilingual education programmes through the CLIL approach and pedagogical tools like the Integrated Language Curriculum, the European Language Portfolio, and the School Language Project.
TopFrom Proto-Clil To The Democratisation Of Bilingual Education
In a seminal book titled CLIL (2010), Coyle et al. define the concept of CLIL in crystal clear terms:
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a dual focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both content and language. That is, in the teaching and learning process, there is a focus not only on content, and not only on language. Each is interwoven, even if the emphasis is greater on one or the other at a given time. CLIL is not a new form of language education. It is not a new form of subject education. It is an innovative fusion of both. (2010, p. 1)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Plan for the Promotion of Plurilingualism: Plan de Fomento de Plurilingüismo , language policy document regulating language teaching and learning in Andalusia (Spain) for the period 2005-2015.
Erasmus+: EU programme for the period 2014-2020 that seeks to foster mobility, language learning and intercultural understanding amongst people through education, training, youth and sports initiatives within the European Union and beyond.
CEFR: The acronym stands for the Common European Framework of Reference, the framework document for language learning, teaching and assessment in Europe, setting six levels of language competence (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) for teachers and learners.
Pluriliteracies: The ability to produce and understand messages in a variety of linguistic and nonlinguistic codes (e.g., in languages other than the mother tongue or in visual, mathematical, or spatial terms).
Integrated Language Curriculum: The implementation of pedagogical initiatives that involve all the languages of instruction used at school, setting shared learning goals and outcomes, methodological strategies and assessment procedures for all the language teachers.
PEDLA: The acronym stands for Plan Estratégico de Desarrollo de Lenguas en Andalucía (Strategic Plan for the Development of Languages in Andalusia), a language policy document setting strategic objectives for language teaching and learning in Andalusia (Spain) for the period 2016-2020.
Knowledge Society: Name given to the current society, where knowledge is the greatest asset of human communities alongside the capital and talent of individuals to propel the economic growth, development and freedom of nations forwards.
School Language Project: A school programme that seeks to improve students’ communicative competence in the L1, L2 and L3 and overall academic performance through the systematic cultivation of language skills and genres on the part of language and content teachers alike.
CLIL: The acronym stands for Content and Language Integrated Learning, a term coined in Europe in the 1990s to refer to an educational approach in which an additional language is used as a language of instruction for learners to access and assimilate curricular or disciplinary content.
European Language Portfolio: A pedagogical tool devised by the European Union to foster language learning among its citizens and cultivate their communicative intercultural competence in a variety of languages.