Learning Spanish as a minority language in the french speaking and swiss-german speaking part of Switzerland
A study of writing competences of children with Spanish speaking origins
The aim of this project is to study the linguistic competences of bilingual children when producing written texts in Spanish. The participant children attend heritage language and culture (HLC) courses. The main research question is: How do bilingual children of Spanish-speaking origin learn and conserve writing competences in Spanish in a context of formal instruction (HLC courses)?
Swiss National Science Foundation, project funding, Project no. 135407
The aim of this project is to develop basic standards for the languages taught at schools where Rhaeto-Romanic is spoken (i.e. Rumantsch Grischun (RG) and German). The standards are based on those used throughout Switzerland for German, French and Italian in the context of the so-called HarmoS-L1-Consortium. Wherever possible, a procedure analogous to the HarmoS methods will be chosen.
Project management
Team
In this project, commissioned by NWEDK, EDK Ost and BKZ, suitable lingualevel test packages were compiled to test the levels of the foreign languages French and English in public schools in the German-speaking cantons, years 6 through 9. These assessments allow planners to accurately gauge the current abilities students have in the foreign languages and to provide useful information for more efficient planning in the future.
International foreign language certificate
Zertifikat Deutsch für Jugendliche (ZD j)/German certificate for young people at Swiss public schools: Innovation and evaluation
Project management
Team
This practical research project, commissioned by the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK), grants interested Swiss schools access to the internationally recognised certificate Deutsch for Jugendliche ZD j (German for young people/teenagers, level B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). The main task lies in informing and advising schools as well as in arranging license agreements for them. In addition, any student who is interested...
Project management
The three German-speaking countries in Europe have developed a cooperation to revise and develop international diplomas for German as a foreign or second language – a very interesting topic for and in Switzerland. The University of Fribourg has been commissioned by the EDK to participate in the project with the German partners Goethe Institute (GI) and The European Language Certificates (telc) as well as the Austrian association Österreichisches Sprachdiplom Deutsch (ÖSD).