CUERPO DE MAESTROS-INGLÉS
CENTRO DE OPOSICIONES
TEMA 20: FOREIGN LANGUAGE SUBJECT IN THE OFFICIAL EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM. CRITERIA CRITERIA TO B E REFLECTED IN THE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULAR CURRICULAR PROJECT.
THEME 20
0. Introduction. 1. Educational organisation in spain 2. Foreign languages. general implications and criteria to be considered in primary education . 3. Foreign languages. the common european framework and main considerations to be reflected in the educational and curricular projects and in lesson planning . 4. Theme overview. 5 . Bibliography Anexos (opcionales: ver cd) .
FOREIGN LANGUAGE SUBJECT IN THE OFFICIAL EDUCACIONAL CURRICULUM. CRITERIA TO BE REFLECTED IN THE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULAR PROJECT.
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0. INTRODUCTION When considering teaching foreign languages, languages, findings on good practice practice show clearly that a large and invaluable amount of activity is taking place in respect of:
Creating the conditions for good practice at transnational, national, local and individual levels.
Preparing students students and teachers for good practice practice in teacher teacher education.
Supporting and exemplifying exemplifying good practice through the creation of of a languagesfriendly environment at school and through a range of teaching techniques and materials.
Disseminating ideas on good practice and language language teaching to a wider audience.
These include ideas for raising the profile of early languages learning in the public, political and educational mind mind.. From the widely varying evidence, it is clear that good practice does not by itself constitute one conceptual methodology, but is better viewed as a repertoire of measures on which teachers can draw as appropriate. The European Commission, Commission, in the Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic
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Diversity: An Action Plan 2004-2006 (2003), has expressed its intent to extend, consolidate and develop the early learning of one or more foreign or additional languages in each of the EU member states.
Accordingly to the Council of Europe general orientations, the European Common Framework of reference for the teaching and learning of languages and the current Educational Laws in our country, some important changes have been set into the official National Curriculum for Primary Education in Spain. These changes and the main guidelines for improving the communicative learning of foreign languages at compulsory educational levels will be widely described through this theme and linked to the curriculum contents and the curriculum documents which should be elaborated when designing the Primary school program.
1. EDUCATIONAL ORGANISATION IN SPAIN
1. 1. THE SPANISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Compulsory primary education in Spain lasts six years - catering for children aged six to 12 years.
Prior to the primary phase, pre-compulsory infant education is regarded as an integral part of the education system, although it remains optional for children. The 2002 Organic Act on the Quality of Education formalized pre-school education into the above two cycles. The first cycle (for children up to three years of age) is concerned with the education and welfare of children. The purpose of the second cycle (infant education for three- to six-year-olds) is to care for the physical, intellectual, emotional, social and moral development of children, In Most places the infant school is part of the primary school which allows a smooth transition to primary education at the age of six.
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There are four educational phases in the education system:
Phase 1: Pre-compulsory, infant (early years) education, to six years of age.
Phase 2: Compulsory primary education, aged six to 12 years.
Phase 3: Compulsory lower secondary education for 12-to 16-year-olds.
Phase 4: Upper secondary education, post-16.
In terms of education, the Constitution identifies a series of areas over which the State has exclusive competence and others for which the Autonomous Communities may assume responsibility. An A u t o n o m o u s C o m m u n i t y assumes 'full powers' over education when it takes over all the regulatory and executive responsibilities not included within the State's exclusive
area
of
competence.
Spain
has
recently
completed
this
process
of
decentralisation; by December 1999, all 17 Autonomous Communities had assumed full powers over education, under the coordination of the, then, Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) at national level.
The Autonomous Communities, amongst others:
Oversee the implementation of the national standards defined at MECD level.
Exercise all regulatory and executive powers involved in administering the education system in their respective regions, which have been devolved to t hem.
Establish, authorise and operate public and private educational establishments and administer their personnel, construction, equipment, renovation and reform.
Further develop - at regional level - the national guidelines for curricula.
Conduct research.
Process and grant subsidies to private education establishments.
Administer scholarships and study grants.
Curriculum There are three levels of control of the curriculum, as follows:
a.
The official curriculum (or basic curricular design, Royal Decree 126/2014 of February 28th for the National Official curriculum for Primary Education), determined both at the national and the Autonomous Community level. The official curriculum sets out
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objectives in terms of skills, methodogical principles, and content and assessment criteria. b.
Curricular plans define the actual curriculum which is delivered in school. They must state the educational aims for each of the different stages and levels, the content to be taught in each of them, as well as the methodological and assessment criteria
c.
Class programmes, in which the individual teacher adapts the school's curricular plan to meet the needs of the children in his/her class. Every teacher has some discretion for setting concrete standards for his/her class.
Curriculum content The statutory minimum core curriculum requirements specify that the following 'areas of knowledge' must be studied at compulsory primary level (children aged six to 12 years):
Spanish Language and Literature (and the co-official language and literature of the Autonomous Community -Valencian Language and Literature.)
Mathematics.
Natural Science.
Social Science.
Foreign languages. (At least one)
Social and civic values or Religion.
Physical Education.
Artistic Education (Plastic arts, Music, Dance, and Drama).
1. 2. FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND SPANISH PRIMARY EDUCATION
Under current reform proposals, the study of a foreign language will become compulsory nationwide from age six and it can be added a second foreign language in the third cycle whenever the A u t o n o m o u s Communities authorized it. In addition to foreign languages, special emphasis is also being placed on the command of ICTs and cultural aspects both especially related to foreign languages area of learning.
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The current educational law proposes a foreign languages teaching approach based on the orientations settled by the Council of Europe and the Modern Language Division in the Common European Framework of reference for learning, teaching and Evaluation of the Languages (2001) The main objective of teaching foreign languages in Primary Education in Spain is to facilitate the acquisition of students’ communicative competence, an specific competence which includes not only talkative and expressive skills that are useful to communicate in a foreign language but rather they are also of vital importance for any other social activity and for the students' learning general process. This implies considering approaches based on communication and focused on the acquisition and development of communicative competence and the several sub-competences which are involved in it: grammatical competence, discursive competence, sociolinguistic competence, strategic competence and socio-cultural competence. By means of developing their communicative competence, language learners are able to communicate and to interact. The area of learning of foreign languages contributes to the learners’ global intellectual and social development, to their development as persons and citizens members of a p l u r i l i n g u a l and multicultural society.
The basic principle derived of this position is the need to learn a language by using it in communicative contexts which should be as much realistic as possible and meaningful for the learners. These communicative contexts should facilitate communicative language acts that imply the needing to communicate something to others and to interact with them as a mean of socializing with a real purpose.
The learning contents are grouped into sections related with four learning contexts:
Section 1: Oral comprehension: listening.
Section 2: Oral expression and interaction: speaking.
Section 3: Written comprehension: reading.
Section 4: Written expression and interaction: writing.
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ASSESSMENT
Generally, all children are continually assessed during compulsory primary education, by school-based classroom assessment, and the individual institution, whether it is state or private sector, is responsible for assessment, and for awarding any relevant certification.
The minimum core curriculum includes basic guidelines for assessment, which is regarded as an integral part of the curriculum.
Assessment is expected to be:
Global: covering the entire range of abilities set out in the general objectives for primary education and in the assessment criteria for the various 'areas of knowledge'.
Continuous: class teachers constantly gather information about the learning process of children.
Formative: designed to regulate and guide the education process by providing a continual flow of information that enables improvements to be made both in the educational process and its results.
Assessment at this level should also serve to determine any special needs attention required by children. The identification of any difficulties through assessment could result in the introduction of Individual Curricular Adaptations (ACIs) for some.
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2. – FOREIGN LANGUAGES. GENERAL IMPLICATIONS AND CRITERIA TO BE CONSIDERED IN PRIMARY EDUCATION
2. 1. A LANGUAGE IS USED IN SITUATIONS
The National Curriculum for the Teaching of English in Spain (Royal Decree 126/2014 of February 28 th) refers to the fact that learners need English both for educational, vocational and recreational purposes. Spanish teachers/learners of English need therefore to be made aware of the importance of context for language use and be prepared to adapt English to any given situation.
In situations of foreign language use, there is often communication between people from different cultures. The curriculum stresses the need for learners to develop an awareness of the `cultural context' of the foreign language, and to get new insight not only into the foreign culture, but also into their own cultural background. Successful communication, it is said, depends not only on linguistic competence, but also on the ability to communicate `across cultural differences'. According to the National Curriculum, the main goal for the teaching of English is to develop the students' ability to use English, and to stimulate them to interact with people from `English speaking and other cultures'. The focus in the curriculum on the cultural dimension of the teaching of English corresponds with an increased awareness internationally of the link between language and culture. Research on the role of context for language use has led to the understanding that language and culture are in fact two sides of the same coin, and that teaching one without the other is no longer a feasible option. Focus has been put on the need for foreign language students to become aware of the cultural frames of reference that always constitute the backdrop for language use, both in one's native and in the foreign language.
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2. 2. THE PRIMARY SCHOOL Foreign language learning begins with the main aim of developing ‘language awareness’, a general consciousness of linguistic phenomena (relationship with the native language or other languages present in the classroom environment). The focus here is on partial objectives concerned above all with an individual’s general competences – (discovery or recognition by the school of the plurality of languages and cultures, preparation for moving away from ethnocentrism, relativisation but also confirmation of the learner’s own linguistic and cultural identity; attention paid to body language and gestures, sound aspects, music and rhythm, experience of the physical and aesthetic dimensions of certain elements of another language) – and their relationship with communicative competence, but without there being a structured and explicit attempt to develop this specific competence. The first foreign language starts with the emphasis on basic oral communication and a clearly predetermined linguistic content (with the aim of establishing the beginnings of a basic linguistic component, primarily phonetic and syntactic aspects, while promoting elementary oral interaction in class).
2. 3. ASSESSMENT
Assessment is described in this section in the sense of the assessment of the proficiency of the language user . Evaluation is a term which is again broader than assessment. All assessment is a form of evaluation, but in a language programme a number of things are evaluated other than learner proficiency. These may include the effectiveness of particular methods or materials, the kind and quality of discourse actually produced in the programme, learner/teacher satisfaction, teaching effectiveness, etc. Achievement
a s s e s s m e n t is the assessment of the achievement of specific
objectives – assessment of what has been taught. It therefore relates to the week’s/term’s work, the course book, the syllabus. Achievement assessment is oriented to the course. It represents an internal perspective.
Proficiency assessment on the other hand is assessment of what someone can do/knows in relation to the application of the subject in the real world. It represents an external perspective.
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Continuou s assessment is
assessment by the teacher and possibly by the learner of
class performances, pieces of work and projects throughout the course. The final grade thus reflects the whole course/year/semester. Fixed p oint assessment is
when grades are awarded and decisions made on the
basis of an examination or other assessment which takes place on a particular day, usually the end of the course or before the beginning of a course. What has happened beforehand is irrelevant; it is what the person can do now that is decisive. Formative assessment is
an ongoing process of gathering information on the extent
of learning, on strengths and weaknesses, which the teacher can feed back into their course planning and the actual feedback they give learners. Formative assessment is often used in a very broad sense so as to include non-quantifiable information from questionnaires and consultations. Summ ative assessment sums
up attainment at the end of the course with a grade. It
is not necessarily proficiency assessment. Indeed a lot of summative assessment is norm referenced, fixed-point, achievement assessment.
3. – FOREIGN LANGUAGES. THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK AND MAIN CONSIDERATIONS TO BE REFLECTED IN THE EDUCATIONAL AND CURRICULAR PROJECTS AND IN LESSON PLANNING
3. 1. THE COMM ON E UROP EAN FRAM EWO RK
The Common European Framework, which has been elaborated by the Modern Languages Division of the Council of Europe (2001), provides a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe. It describes in a comprehensive way what language learners have to learn to do in order to use a language for communication and what knowledge and skills they have to develop so as to be able to act effectively. The description also covers the cultural context in which language is set. The Framework also defines the levels of proficiency which allow learners’ progress to be measured at each stage of learning and on a life-long basis. The Common European Framework is intended to overcome the barriers to communication among professionals working in the field of modern languages arising
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from the different educational systems in Europe. It provides the means for educational administrators, course designers, teachers, teacher trainers, examining bodies, etc., to reflect on their current practice, with a view to situating and co-ordinating their efforts and to ensuring that they meet the real needs of the learners for whom they are responsible. By providing a common basis for the explicit description of objectives, content and methods, the Framework will enhance the transparency of courses, syllabuses and qualifications, thus promoting international co-operation in the field of modern languages. The provision of objective criteria for describing language proficiency will facilitate the mutual recognition of qualifications gained in different learning contexts, and accordingly will aid European mobility.
3. 2. PLURILINGUALISM
In recent years, the concept of plurilingualism has grown in importance in the Council of Europe’s approach to language learning. Plurilingualism differs from multilingualism, which is the knowledge of a number of languages, or the co-existence of different languages in a given society.
The plurilingual approach emphasises the fact that as an individual person’s experience of language in its cultural contexts expands, from the language of the home to that of society at large and then to the languages of other peoples (whether learnt at school or college, or by direct experience), he or she does not keep these languages and cultures in strictly separated mental compartments, but rather builds up a communicative competence to which all knowledge and experience of language contributes and in which languages interrelate and interact. In different situations, a person can call flexibly upon different parts of this competence to achieve effective communication with a particular interlocutor. For instance, partners may switch from one language or dialect to another, exploiting the ability of each to express themselves in one language and to understand the other; or a person may call upon the knowledge of a number of languages to make sense of a text, written or even spoken, in a previously ‘unknown’ language, recognising words from a common international store in a new guise.
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From this perspective, the aim of language education is profoundly modified. It is no longer seen as simply to achieve ‘mastery’ of one or two, or even three languages, each taken in isolation, with the ‘ideal native speaker’ as the ultimate model. Instead, the aim is to develop a linguistic repertory, in which all linguistic abilities have a place. This implies, of course, that the languages offered in educational institutions should be diversified and students given the opportunity to develop a plurilingual competence. Furthermore, once it is recognised that language learning is a lifelong task, the development of a young person’s motivation, skill and confidence in facing new language experience out of school comes to be of central importance . The responsibilities of educational authorities, qualifying examining bodies and teachers cannot simply be confined to the attainment of a given level of proficiency in a particular language at a particular moment in time, important though that undoubtedly is.
3. 3. AN ACTION-ORIENTED APPROACH
A comprehensive, transparent and coherent frame of reference for language learning, teaching and assessment must relate to a very general view of language use and learning. The approach proposed by the CEFRL, generally speaking, is an actionoriented one in so far as it views users and learners of a language primarily as ‘social agents’, i.e. members of society who have tasks (not exclusively language-related) to accomplish in a given set of circumstances, in a specific environment and within a particular field of action. While acts of speech occur within language activities, these activities form part of a wider social context, which alone is able to give them their full meaning. We speak of ‘tasks’ in so far as the actions are performed by one or more individuals strategically using their own specific competences to achieve a given result. The actionbased approach therefore also takes into account the cognitive, emotional and volitional resources and the full range of abilities specific to and applied by the individual as a social agent.
Accordingly, any form of language use and learning could be described as follows:
C o m p e t e n c e s are the sum of knowledge, skills and characteristics that allow a
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person to perform actions.
General com petences are those not specific to language, but which are called
upon for actions of all kinds, including language activities.
C o m m u n i c a t i v e l a n g u a g e c o m p e t e n c es are those which empower a person to
act using specifically linguistic means.
C o n t e x t refers to the constellation of events and situational factors (physical and
others), both internal and external to a person, in which acts of communication are embedded.
Language
activities involve the exercise of one’s communicative language
competence in a specific domain in processing (receptively and/or productively) one or more texts in order to carry out a task.
L a n g u a g e p r o c e s s e s refer to the chain of events, neurological and physiological,
involved in the production and reception of speech and writing.
Text is any sequence or discourse (spoken and/or written) related to a specific
domain and which in the course of carrying out a task becomes the occasion of a language activity, whether as a support or as a goal, as product or process.
D o m a i n refers to the broad sectors of social life in which social agents operate.
A higher order categorisation has been adopted here limiting these to major categories relevant to language learning/teaching and use: the educational, occupational, public and personal domains.
A strategy is any organised, purposeful and regulated line of action chosen by an individual to carry out a task which he or she sets for himself or herself or with which he or she is confronted.
A task is defined as any purposeful action considered by an individual as necessary in order to achieve a given result in the context of a problem to be solved, an obligation to fulfill or an objective to be achieved. This definition would cover a wide range of actions such as moving a wardrobe, writing a book, obtaining certain conditions in the negotiation of a contract, playing a game of cards, ordering a meal in a restaurant, translating a foreign language text or preparing a class newspaper through group work.
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3. 4. COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE PROCESSES
Act as a speaker, writer, listener or reader; the learner must be able to carry out a sequence of skilled actions.
3. 5. ERRORS AND MISTAKES
Errors are due to an ‘interlanguage’, a simplified or distorted representation of the target competence. When the learner makes errors, his performance truly accords with his competence, which has developed characteristics different from those of L2/FL norms. Mistakes, on the other hand, occur in performance when a user/learner (as might be the case with a native speaker) does not bring his competences properly into action.
Different attitudes may be taken to learner errors, according to the European Common Framework: a) Errors and mistakes are evidence of failure to learn; b) Errors and mistakes are evidence of inefficient teaching; c) Errors and mistakes are evidence of the learner’s willingness to communicate despite risks; d) Errors are an inevitable, transient product of the learner’s developing interlanguage. e) Mistakes are inevitable in all language use, including that of native speakers.
The action to be taken with regard to learner mistakes and errors may be:
a) All errors and mistakes should be immediately corrected by the teacher; b) Immediate peer-correction should be systematically encouraged to eradicate errors; c) All errors should be noted and corrected at a time when doing so does not interfere with communication (e.g. by separating the development of accuracy from the development of fluency); d) Errors should not be simply corrected, but also analysed and explained at an appropriate time;
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e) Mistakes which are mere slips should be passed over, but systematic errors should be eradicated; f) Errors should be corrected only when they interfere with communication; g) Errors should be accepted as ‘transitional interlanguage’ and ignored.
3. 9. SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS (SEN)
In the field of foreign languages a major emphasis within the acquisition of communicative competence is educational provision for all which leads towards each citizen having some competence in at least two Community languages. Access to educational opportunities in foreign languages is part of the social dimension of European integration, and a means for the individual to benefit from occupational and personal opportunities. In addition, access to foreign language learning at school is directly linked to the promotion of lifelong learning and European citizenship. Individuals are protected from any discriminatory practice on grounds including disability and genetic features, which would exclude them from such access Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union 2001, Article 21.
Thus, we may assume that all young people in the European Union, whatever their disability, whether educated in mainstream or segregated schools/streams, have equal rights to foreign languages education according to provision of opportunity and resources in their respective environments. Ensuring full access to foreign language learning is fundamentally an issue of responding to diversity. Scientific knowledge on cognition and learning, and insight into individual learning styles, has advanced considerably in recent years. In addition, the teaching profession has focused on designing methodologies so that language learning suits a range of div erse ‘language learning styles’.
The foundation of good foreign language teaching practice rests on responding to the diverse language learning styles of the individual. This applies to all learners regardless of age, ability or disability. Recent good practice in SEN has led to the development of Individual Educational Plans (IEP). The IEP has been given special
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prominence during the shift towards inclusion of SEN pupils into mainstream education. The IEP allows those responsible for the individual, and the individual him/herself, to design an adapted educational plan specific to the person’s abilities and disabilities.
Quality foreign language teaching practice for pupils with SEN requires methodologies which are equally good for non-SEN pupils alongside specific interventions according to the profile of attitudes, aptitudes, and needs in the individual’s IEP. Across the board, these methods require enhanced multi-sensory input and adaptive support.
The aim of teaching foreign languages to pupils with special needs goes beyond preparing him/her to have a specific level of communicative competence in order to use a target language in professional and personal life. SEN pupils can and do achieve high levels of foreign language competence, but there are those who do not. However, these lower level achievers are able to achieve other benefits, relating to personal and educational development, alongside possible modest linguistic achievements. To encourage a pupil to bypass foreign language learning because of low foreign language communicative performance expectations is to deny him/her access to these benefits which link directly to European citizenship. Pupils with special needs are only one part of the diversity jigsaw to which the foreign language learning systems will need to further adapt leading to benefits for all.
4. – THEME OVERVIEW
In Spain, after the proposals derived from the latest educational reform and from the Council of Europe educational orientations, some changes have been made into the primary curriculum to implement the importance of beginning to learn foreign languages at early ages, officially in the first cycle of primary education, although in infant education they have the first contact with the foreign language.
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If children are to pick up English in a “natural way”, their early classroom experience should be essentially in English and language should ideally be “acquired” in a similar way to the bilingual child with the teacher taking a similar role to the bilingual parent. This means learning the foreign language through the learning process itself in a communicative way. At primary stage, according to the National Curriculum, children are learning:
to communicate / to learn
to live with others in harmony / to interact confidently
to know about the world and life
to respond to stimuli / to control their responses
to use their different forms of intelligence creatively
to play and to work together in harmony The KEY to primary FL learning is:
Knowledge: of language and linguistic culture – songs, rhymes, games,
routines, social skills, etc – of how children acquire language and of the general curriculum in all areas;
Experience and Enthusiasm: of early-learning in general; your own, your
colleagues’ and your pupils’;
Young Learner Friendly Environment: both physical – classroom and
equipment – and affective – a teacher who brings confidence, affection, security, interest and enjoyment to learning and who respects each child’s learning process and rhythm.
Finally, we can list the items which characterize a good elementary school in foreign language teaching:
The foreign language is used (almost) exclusively.
Classroom activities involve meaningful and purposeful language use.
The environment is child-centred and instructional experiences are developmentally appropriate.
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Tema Especifico 17/ 16
CUERPO DE MAESTROS-INGLÉS
CENTRO DE OPOSICIONES
TEMA 20: FOREIGN LANGUAGE SUBJECT IN THE OFFICIAL EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM. CRITERIA TO B E REFLECTED IN THE SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL PROJECT AND IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULAR PROJECT.
The content of the elementary school curriculum is integrated with language learning.
The target culture is an integral part of instruction and is coordinated with the social studies program.
BIBLIOGRAPHY : - THE ORGANIC ACT OF EDUCATION (Ley Orgánica 2/2006 de 3 de Mayo de 2006, de Educación LOE) - THE ORGANIC ACT ON QUALITY OF EDUCATION (8/2013 of 9 th of December.) - The Royal Decree 126/2014 of February 28th, which stablish the curriculum in Primary Education - PROMOTING LANGUAGE LEARNING AND LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY. Commission of the European communities (at EURYDICE Network (http://www.eurydice.org), -
CURRICULAR CHANGE: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. http://ibe.unesco.org/publications/prospects02_05.htm UNA NUEVA ESTRATEGIA MARCO PARA EL PLURILINGÜÍSMO.
http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/lang/doc/com596_es.pdf -
THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK. Complete text of the CEF, interactive version.
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/CADRE_EN.asp
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Tema Especifico 17/ 17