NATURAL language processing, LANGUAGE planning, LANGUAGE policy, GOVERNMENT policy, LINGUISTICS
Abstract
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LANGUAGE policy, SCHOOLS, SCHOOL children, INTERNATIONAL agencies, CULTURAL policy, MULTILINGUALISM, LANGUAGE & languages
Abstract
The article attempts to analyze how well schools in the sixteen different states in Germany are fulfilling the goals of the language policy of the European Union that each student should be proficient in three languages. The author points out that the German law called the Hamburger Abkommen of 1964 required that all secondary pupils must learn English, and that later standards in some German states also explicitly require the learning of French. Also discussed is the great variety of foreign languages offered in German schools, although the largest percentage of pupils graduating from schools of all levels have proficiency in the English language, which is seen as a gateway to learning other languages.
SCHOOLS, LANGUAGE policy, INTERNATIONAL agencies, LANGUAGE & languages, MODERN language education, LANGUAGE & education, EUROPEAN Union. Commission on Science & Education
Abstract
The article presents an analysis of foreign language learning in Italian schools within the context of the stated European Union policy that students should be competent in two foreign languages in addition to the mother tongue. The author states that in Italian schools the English language is an integral part of the curriculum but that other languages are overlooked, a situation which must be changed. The author argues that action is needed at the level of the European Union for reform to take place in Italy. Referred to are works by linguistics professors Gerhard Stickel and Ulrich Ammon.