CARAP teaching and learning materials

Descriptors:

The aims of this activity are: to identify the languages that appear in the texts (Gaelic, English, French, Catalan, Spanish, Italian, German), to indicate those words that are similar to Spanish words and to complete a table with some Italian words, Gaelic, English, French, German and Catalan. Similarities with Spanish or other languages must be taken into account as a starting point.

Themes: arts/heritagedaily lifeleisure/sports/games

Source: Coronado González, M.L. (2005). Guía de aprendizaje para los estudiantes de las Escuelas oficiales de Idiomas.

Descriptors:

The main purpose of this activity is to make participants recognise which fragments of texts belong to the same language and to put these fragments into the right order to get a coherent sequence. Participants have to consider on similarities between the different fragments as well as on their previous knowledge of other languages. They also have to indicate which language it is. The activity is divided into five tasks. The first unit of 60 minutes covers the first three tasks, the second unit deals with tasks 4 and 5. For the first task, the teacher hands out photocopies of table 1 containing 33 fragments of texts written in 11 European languages (three fragments of text in each language). The students work on their own or in small groups. They try to group the fragments and to put them into the right order, writing their solutions – and if possible the name of the languages - into a grid. The second task focuses on the students’ reflection on the way they solved the first task, explaining their strategies both for finding the fragments of one language and for choosing the right order and for determining the language In the third task, the students are supposed to find European language families and match the 11 languages to the corresponding family. Tasks 4 and 5 deal with more unfamiliar languages, spoken in French Guyana. In its structure, task 4 corresponds to task 1 and in task 5, students are requested to identify two European languages which are related to two of the three languages analysed. This activity aims at openness towards languages and language diversity, as well as at becoming aware that one spontaneously refers to other language varieties already known when confronted with a new language variety. The complexity of this activity can be raised by adding other languages or reduced by removing some languages.

Themes: comprehension strategieshistory of languages/language familieslanguage variation/diversity

Descriptors:

The main purpose of the activity is to help the students realize the importance of knowing foreign languages. The students give their own definition of language, word, dictionary, translator, etc. Afterwards they check their definition in the dictionary. The teacher reads the story ‘Dutch without pain’ and asks the students to reflect on ways to communicate in a foreign language.

Themes: comprehension strategieslanguage learning

Source: Ecml project Janua Linguarum (Ja-Ling)

Descriptors:

Les élèves sont amenés à réfléchir sur le fonctionnement d’une écriture alphabétique autre que l’écriture latine : ils observent des textes pris dans les Contes des mille et une nuits. Ils observent la mise en page des extraits et sont émenés à reconnaître la directionnalité de l’écriture arabe. Ils désignent sur une carte les pays arabes et ceux où l’arabe est parlé comme L2, L3...dont certains pays européens. Ensuite il se familiarisent avec l’écriture en recopiant d’abord des consonnes (activité de calligraphie), puis des lettres avec des signes diacritiques – cette tâche les amène à découvrir que toutes les écritures alphabétiques ne fonctionnent pas de la même façon (chemins divers pour transcrire des voyelles en latin et en arabe). Dans l’activité « Devinette », ils déchiffrent des mots écrits en arabe. (Prolongement possible : s’il y a un élève arabophone dans la classe, faire lire l’extrait en arabe et faire observer le système phonétique de l’arabe). A la fin de l’activité, moment de détente : lecture commune de Ali baba ou un autre conte au choix pris dans Mille et une nuits. Une synthèse sur l’évolution des écritures est disponible dans la fiche Aweken28 intitulé D’emballages et d’autres choses. Le matériel est la version hongroise du matériel intitulé « Arabian script » , élaboré dans le cadre du projet Jaling par Marjeta Colarič à la Faculté de Pédagogie de Ljubljana (Slovénie).

Themes: literature/stories/talesWriting (systems) / punctuation / orthography

Source: Lőrincz Ildikó – Kis Andrásné : Arab írás. unpublished Sloven version: Marjeta Colarič: Arabian script : Teacher Training College of Ljubljana

Descriptors:

Les élèves sont amenés à réfléchir sur la diversité des écritures et sur la fonction de l’écrit à propos de l’observation de l’emballage de quelques produits alimnetaires de base (lait, pâtes etc.) Ils observent l’organisation typographique des emballages et font des activités d’identification et de repérage en groupe à partir de textes rédigés en langues romanes, germaniques, slaves, finnougriennes etc. Ils identifient les langues en fonction des écritures et d’autres indices (p.ex .immatriculation du nom du pays) et justifient leur choix, ensuite, ils comparent les caractéristiques des différentes écritures. Dans un deuxième temps, ils repèrent des mots transparents (mots interenationaux, emprunts) dans différentes langues où d’autres expressions moins transparentes grâce à des indices typographiques. Un guide pédagogique est fourni qui comprend également une synthèse sur l’évolution de plusieurs écritures du monde. Le matériel est la version hongroise du matériel intitulé « Emballages » , élaboré dans le cadre du projet Evlang.

Themes: foodtext organisation/structureWriting (systems) / punctuation / orthography

Source: Lőrincz Ildikó : A csomagolásokról és még erről, arról... unpublished

Descriptors:

The teacher makes copies of worksheet 7.2.1 for each student. The teacher makes copies of the informational worksheet 7.2.1. The students can write a message with their mobile telephone and that in their mother language. The teacher asks if the students have been using abbreviations or numbers in their messages. The teacher writes the abbreviations and the numbers on the blackboard (or asks a student to do it) and then classifies them per language. The students work using the worksheet and the informational worksheet and try to find the numbers contained in the names and then classify the names per language.

Themes: comprehension strategiesnumbers/numeration

Source: Jonckheere, S., De Doncker, H., De Smedt, H. (2009). Talen op een Kier: Talensensibilisering voor het basisonderwijs. Mechelen: Plantyn.

Descriptors:

The purpose of this activity is the exploration of the concept of linguistic borrowing in relation to the topic of the Oceans. The activity is divided into four sections: 1. The first section is called 'The oceans in the world'. On Worksheet 1, the participants have to give some information about the oceans in the language they know best. Worksheet 3 provides a table with the word 'Ocean' in various languages (German, French, Italian, Russian, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and Swedish). The pupils are asked to explain why the word looks the same in many languages and to add the word in other languages they know. 2. The second section is named 'Waves and wind' and is concerned with the description and measuring of waves. 3. The third part is called 'When the waves grow bigger and bigger'. This section includes three worksheets. Worksheet 2 is concerned with different kinds of winds and storms. The students link the names of storms to their original words and they have to find out which languages created the original words (Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Greek). On the third worksheet, the pupils have to find out about borrowings in the English language. The pupils are supposed to guess why terms like tsunami are loaned by other languages. Then they look up some more loanwords in other languages (Switzerland Romansh, Spanish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Gaelic, Dutch and Hindi). Finally, the class is asked to think of English loanwords borrowed to other languages. 4. Finally, the pupils discuss their learning process.

Themes: geographylinguistic borrowing

Source: ECML Project CONBAT+

Descriptors:

Originally designed as an exchange activity within the Plurimobil project (link page Plurimobil) this activity can be easily adapted. Learners discover differences and similarities between their culture and other cultures, which also gives them a better understanding of their cultural identity.

Themes: identity/othernesssocial and cultural environment

Source: Plurilingual and intercultural learning through mobility

Descriptors:

The purpose of this exercise is to explore multicultural/-lingual aspects of body part mathematics – counting and measuring – for this procedure varies in different cultures. The pupils are asked to work through six worksheets focussing on number systems and units of length. Worksheet 1: The class reads a text about measuring units related to body parts. Afterwards they talk in English or their L1 about this procedure of measuring. Each pupil writes down an example for a mathematical problem. Worksheet 2: Everyone writes down words which represent different parts of human hands and arms in English and their L1. Worksheet 3: Here, a text about the numeric system of New Guinea is to be read. The Country should be found on the map. The second task is to find body parts that represent measuring units which are not mentioned in the text. Then, they should be written down in English and in the pupils' L1. Worksheet 4: A short text about a potential body part measuring is provided. After having read the text, the class is divided into pairs. They compare the names of measures in different languages (English, French, Czech and Italian) and complete a table. Finally, the whole class discusses examples of body part measuring and counting in their countries. Worksheet 5: The pupils read a text about different measuring systems and where they used to be applied. The mentioned countries should be found on the map. Then the pupils compare two arithmetic problems, convert to base 20 and try to think of more problems. At last, the class talks about the number systems in their countries. Worksheet 6: This worksheet is supposed to be used by the teacher only. The teacher can talk about how numbers used to be represented in a symbolic manner (pictures, colours etc.) by different cultures. The teacher writes down a table with numbers on the blackboard, asking the class whether there is a way to memorise them easily. The parts of the material where comparing one of the languages of the learner's repertoire contributes to the learning of English come under Integrated language Didactics.

Themes: human bodynumbers/numeration

Source: ECML Project CONBAT+

Descriptors:

Learners learn about the language policies of different countries. They compare them and reflect on what they mean for the language communities, especially in Denmark, and how they promote or hinder multilingualism within society. Finally, they create a linguistic law for Denmark.

Themes: minority/minority languagessocial/cultural/linguistic discrimination

Source: Undervisningsforløb til 9. klasse (Prof. Petra Daryai-Hansen University of Copenhagen, Department of English, Germanic and Romance studies, Denmark)

Descriptors:

Originally designed activity for student exchanges (short or long exchanges) in lower secondary school level within the Plurimobil project (link page Plurimobil), this activity can easily be modified for classroom use and adapted to other school levels. Learners reflect on their own cultural identity and discover its different facets.

Themes: cultural contactsidentity/otherness

Source: Plurilingual and intercultural learning through mobility (PluriMobil)

Descriptors:

By means of this activity the students are lead to the discovery that not all the words of one language can be translated into another language (for example the Eskimos have different words to indicate ‘snow’) . The class is divided into two groups (one group must be composed of students speaking different mother languages). One group needs to use a computer. The teacher copies worksheet 3.4.1 for one group and copies worksheet 3.4.2 for the other group. The students of the two groups try to answer the questions contained in the worksheet one using the knowledge of students speaking more the one languages and the other using the computer. The conclusion is that you can find an answer to questions concerning languages EVEN without using the computer.

Themes: cultural/linguistic diversitylanguage variation/diversityvocabulary

Source: Jonckheere, S., De Doncker, H., De Smedt, H. (2009). Talen op een Kier: Talensensibilisering voor het basisonderwijs. Mechelen: Plantyn.

Descriptors:

This activity raises a threefold question: 1) about family roots, the origins of each one of us, 2) about cultural mobility that pupils have already had or are planning, 3) about networks of relationships all around the world. The diversity of the activities and the suggested progress make it a real project to be carried out beginning to end, within the class: creating symbols for regions, traveling and meeting people in space, creating maps and posters, and finally writing a small text (which can be improved later on and compiled in a book).

Themes: cultural contactscultural/linguistic diversitygeography

Source: Activité créée par Muriel Molinié.

Descriptors:

During this activity the students play the game UNO with 48 cards (40 normal cards and 8 special cards). The cards are written in 10 different languages and indicate 4 different colours. As preliminary activity the students try to read the colours’ names in the different languages and then they can start to play the game. The game is followed by a discussion concerning the language families.

Themes: colourshistory of languages/language families

Source: Jonckheere, S., De Doncker, H., De Smedt, H. (2009). Talen op een Kier: Talensensibilisering voor het basisonderwijs. Mechelen: Plantyn.

Descriptors:

The purpose of this activity is to compare different habits and ways of preparing coffee in various cultures, to research the words ‘milk’ and ‘coffee’ in different languages and thereby to learn how to use an electronic translation device. The pre-activity requires internet access, as the learners are asked to research different methods of preparing coffee in various cultures. Afterwards, the pupils discuss habits concerning coffee in different cultures, focusing on different opinions about teenagers and children drinking coffee. With Worksheet 3 and 4, the pupils familiarise with the language tools of the Internet and how to handle online dictionaries such as the google translator.

Themes: daily lifelanguage contactslanguage variation/diversity

Source: ECML CONBAT+ project