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“Studies show...” Authorities, expertise and evidence in the debate on early foreign language education in Switzerland

Project management
Verena Tunger, Daniel Elmiger
In 2004, the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) issued a decision to begin foreign language education already at primary school; as a result, Switzerland’s cantons have successively adapted their foreign language education programmes, starting in the 2006/2007 school year. The new requirement has generated prolonged and multi-layered debate in which various sources are cited, including scientific studies, literature on early language instruction and other forms...

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The treatment of errors in the foreign language

A comparison of correction practices for written texts in French, English, Italian, Romansh and German in primary school
Project management
Giulia Berchio
In language pedagogy, a linguistic error is commonly defined as an element that fails to conform to a norm (e.g. a grammatical, orthographic, pragmatic rule). In general topic of errors has generated much debate in pedagogical circles, and it has inspired numerous scholarly studies on interlanguage, metalinguistic awareness and the efficacy of correction practices for promoting language learning. Despite the topic’s prevalence, however, evidence is largely lacking on how teachers approach...

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Synergies between languages at school: «SWIKO triple S»

Project management
Thomas Studer, Elisabeth Peyer
Team
Nina Selina Hicks
Calls for a stronger pedagogical connection between teaching the language of schooling and teaching foreign languages have repeatedly been made, as it is believed learners can benefit from the potential synergies. Despite this long-standing demand, however, language lessons continue to focus largely on a single language. The SWIKO triple S project is investigating whether interrelationships between the language of schooling and foreign languages can be capitalised on.

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Teaching of French as a Foreign Language (FFL) and Development of Oral Communication Skills at the Lower Secondary Level - DISCO

Project management
Anita Thomas, Simone Morehed
Team
Aline Siegenthaler
The development of oral communication and interaction (conversational involvement) is a key focus in foreign language teaching frameworks, as outlined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), documents from the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK), and the Regional Education Plans. However, despite the efforts made in this field, the desired outcomes remain elusive. Foreign language instruction, particularly in French, has traditionally...

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Lichtenauer Karine

Veröffentlichungen

In Vorb. Coordination de séquences didactiques pour le projet SMILE sur la base de travaux d’étudiant-es 

2024. « Pavillon Le Corbusier », In Babylonia SMILE

2024. Lichtenauer, K. & Anita Thomas. « Corpus d’apprenant-es : un « basquette » de ressources pour l’enseignement des langues étrangères / Learners Corpora : a « basquette » of Ressources for Foreign Language Teaching » ». In Babylonia 2/24, 8 – 13. 

2023. Loder Büchel, L. & K. Lichtenauer. « Another day, another museum ». In Babylonia 2/23, 8 – 9. 

2023. Loder Büchel, L. & Lichtenauer, K. « General Considerations for Foreign Language Instruction with Museum Visits ». In Babylonia 2/23, 72 – 79. 

2022.  Lichtenauer, K., & Laura Loder Büchel. « Visiting a museum : des points communs aux points de rencontre » », avec Laura Loder Büchel. In Babylonia 3/22, 8-10.

2021. « Marthe Gosteli », In Teaching Tasters 2021/1 (https://babylonia.online/index.php/babylonia/TT)

2021. « Des mots pernicieux aux formules mernicieuses. Pratiques inclusives et signalisation du genre: quels choix ont été réalisés pour le présent numéro de Babylonia ». In Babylonia 3/21, 110 – 116.

2020. Loder Buechel, L., Lichtenauer, K. „Grading and Gathering Evidence in Swiss Elementary and Lower Secondary School English Language Classrooms“. In: Mickan, P. & Wallace, I. (Hrsg.). Handbook of Language Education Curriculum Design. New York : Routledge.

2018. Chételat, D., Lichtenauer, K. „Le Concept général pour l’enseignement des langues en Suisse, impact d’un rapport d’expert sur les politiques éducatives relatives à l’enseignement des langues étrangères (langues nationales et anglais)“. In Babylonia 3/2018, 30 – 33. 

2017. „Compréhension entre communautés linguistiques : textes fondamentaux et mise en œuvre“. In Enjeux pédagogiques 27, Bienne : Haute Ecole Pédagogique HEP-BEJUNE, 13 – 14. 

2015. De Pietro, J.-F., Gerber, B., Leonforte, B. & Lichtenauer, K. „Quelle place pour les approches plurielles 
dans les nouveaux plans d’études des trois régions linguistiques de la Suisse?“. In Babylonia 2/2015, 59 – 65.

Koordination & Herausgabe 

Pragmatique et enseignement des langues étrangères, Babylonia 1/26. Avec Anna Ghimenton & Elisabeth Peyer, en préparation.

Corpus d’élèves en langue étrangère / Korpora von Fremdsprachenlernenden, Babylonia 2/24. Avec Anita Thomas. Numéro : https://babylonia.online/index.php/babylonia/issue/view/44, Podcast CeDiLe : https://cedile.ch/de/lernerkorpora-einblick-in-babylonia-2-2024-podcast 

Vivre les langues au musée II / Sprachen im Museum erleben II, Babylonia 2/23. Avec Laura Loder Büchel.
Numéro : https://babylonia.online/index.php/babylonia/issue/view/31, Podcast CeDiLE: https://cedile.ch/de/living-languages-at-museums-part-ii-insight-from-babylonia-2-23-podcast 

Vivre les langues au musée I / Sprachen im Museum erleben I, Babylonia 3/22. Avec Laura Loder Büchel 
Numéro : https://babylonia.online/index.php/babylonia/issue/view/24, Podcast CeDiLE : https://cedile.ch/de/sprachen-im-museum-erleben-einblick-in-babylonia-3-22-podcast 

Project SMILE (Swiss Museums in Language Education). Avec Laura Loder Büchel. 
Page Internet : https://babylonia.online/index.php/babylonia/issue/view/26 

Lichtenauer, K. (Coord.), Chételat, D. (Coord.), Brohy, C., Chesini, C., Egli Cuenat, M., Gerber, B., Kappler, D., Klee, P., Loder-Büchel, L., Wirrer, M. (2017). Gute Praxis im Sprachenunterricht – Beispiele für den Unterricht der Landessprachen und des Englischen in der obligatorischen Schule. Mit der fachlichen bzw. regionalen Expertise von Bossart, M.-N., Brauchli, B., Egli Cuenat, M., Jörimann Vancheri, B., Kuster, W., Le Pape Racine, C., Manno, G., Nadig, S. Schweizerische Konferenz der kantonalen Erziehungsdirektoren (EDK). https://sprachen.educa.ch/de/gute-praxis [4.1.2018].

Transcription of the FrOMi corpus

Project management
Nathalie Dherbey Chapuis
This project – a collaboration between S. Madikeri (Department of Computational Linguistics, University of Zurich) and N. Dherbey Chapuis – aims to attain an error rate of approximately 20 percent in automatic transcriptions of audio recordings; at present, AI-generated transcriptions (e.g. Whisper, Microsoft) have an error rate of nearly 50 percent. In a second step, the transcripts will be corrected by hand.

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A critical historiographic analysis of discourses of language “rise” and “decline”: emergence, circulation and impact in (inter)national spaces

Project management
Zorana Sokolovska, Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà
The goal of this research project is to examine language ideological debates throughout the period 1970-1990 in two international organisations, the Council of Europe and the European Union, from a critical sociolinguistic perspective. Their discourses on multilingualism and their recommendations for language teaching have shaped language policy in education in many European contexts since.

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A minority within the minority

Supporting heritage language speaking students in German vocabulary at Romansh schools
Project management
Dominique Caglia
The canton of Grisons in Switzerland promotes the goal of Romansh-German bilingualism with unique school models in traditional Romansh-speaking areas. In those areas, the minority language Romansh is the school language in primary schools. At secondary school levels, however, school language is switched to the majority language German. Differences in contact with German outside of school settings lead to extremely heterogeneous class constellations during German lessons from the third...

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National inventory of bilingual education: the current situation in Switzerland

Project management
Daniel Elmiger
Team
Verena Tunger, Aline Siegenthaler
The Inventar des zweisprachigen Unterrichts (inventory of bilingual education) provides an overview of bilingual education in Switzerland, specifically of all bilingual education programmes currently in progress (2021/2022 school year) at compulsory schools and upper secondary schools.

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Sounds of the Language of Instruction: From the Challenges of the First Hours to Reading

Project management
Nathalie Dherbey Chapuis
When commencing the compulsory education curriculum, pupils are five years old and are assumed to have mastered the oral foundations of the language of instruction. In some districts however, up to 80% of pupils entering 1H speak a different language at home, and between 60 and 70% do not speak or understand French at all. The processes whereby so-called “allophone” students, even if many of them were born in Switzerland, acquire phonological representations of French (i.e.

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