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"Instruction in languages other than German in Germany:

Carol W. Pfaff jfkilxpf@zedat.fu-berlin.de. "Instruction in languages other than German in Germany: Case studies of Sorbian, Polish, Turkish and Chinese in Berlin and Brandenburg” Carol W. Pfaff With Meral Dollnick, Lisa Heinzmann, Jingfei Liang and Marta Rusek

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"Instruction in languages other than German in Germany:

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  1. Carol W. Pfaff jfkilxpf@zedat.fu-berlin.de "Instruction in languages other than German in Germany: Case studies of Sorbian, Polish, Turkish and Chinese in Berlin and Brandenburg” Carol W. Pfaff With Meral Dollnick, Lisa Heinzmann, Jingfei Liang and Marta Rusek Sixth Heritage Language Research Institute: UCLA June 18-22, 2012

  2. Introduction - 1 Germany today is a paradigm example of linguistic diversity. Regional and minority languages whose populations have resided here for generations continue to live in the area and their languages are endangered through decreased generational transmission. In addition, massive changes in the demography of Germany resulting from the economic and political transitions in the 20th and early 21st centuries have changed Germany’s linguistic topography, resulting in increasing societal and individual multilingualism or plurilingualism. Both regional and immigrant minority languages are supported, to some extent by language and cultural instructions not only by community organizations, but increasingly have also found a place in the German educational system. This presentation focuses on four minority languages in two German Federal States, Berlin and Brandenburg, • summarizing the legal basis for support for languages other than German(LOTGs) • giving an overview of instructional offerings in Sorbian, Polish, Turkish and Chinese.

  3. Introduction – 2Contexts and school types for instruction in LOTGs • Public schools • Bilingual programs • Foreign language offerings • Externally organized classes • Community schools • Consulate sponsored classes • The remainder of this presentation is devoted to case studies of minority languages in Berlin and Brandenburg.

  4. Introduction – 3The Four Case Studies • Each of the four cases studies represents a language which has come to be spoken in Germany by diverse historical paths and diverse socioeconomic settings: • Sorbian is spoken by an indigenous regional minority, • Polish is the national language of a neighboring countries and spoken my waves of immigration and settlement in Germany, • Turkish is the most numerous language spoken as a consequence of labor migration from Mediterranean countries since the 1960s • Chinese is a language of increasing importance for global business, diplomatic and cultural concerns, now spoken by a sizable number of migrants, who have settled here for an extended period or permanently.

  5. Introduction – 4Geopolitical position of Berlin and Brandenburg in Germany Berlin is an island surrounded by Brandenburg, one of the easternmost States of the Federal Republic of Germany, formerly part of the German Democratic Republic. As outcome of reunification, the two States have been (partly) merged administratively but each still retains distinctive characteristics, stemming from historical inclusion in the former East Germany (all of Brandenburg and the Eastern districts of Berlin) or as affiliation with West Germany (the Western districts of West Berlin).

  6. Language Policies – 1Language as Problem/Duty, Right, Resource Languageas Problem  Language as Duty: prominent at national level • Adults: language requirements for Immigration , Residence, Naturalization • Children: language education with an emphasis on the national language Language as Right: prominent at International and European levels • Regional and minority languages … • Immigrant languages Language as Resource: prominent at European level • Education for plurilingualism at national and state levels • Toolkit for Transcultural communication

  7. Language Policies – 2Language as Right: European Treaties and Directives European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) adopted in 1992 protect and promote regional minority languages (in Germany: Frisian, Danish Sorbian) each Party undertakes to apply a minimum of thirty-five paragraphs or sub-paragraphs chosen from among the provisions of Part III of the Charter, including at least three chosen from each of the Articles 8 and 12 and one from each of the Articles 9, 10, 11 and 13. education in the language and culture signage media Council of the European Communities Directive 77/486/EEC of 1977, 2009 report includes all children of persons born outside current country of residence §8 supports education in pupils’ heritage language for personal, and professional benefits and as facilitating learning. See Pfaff et al. (to appear) for discussion

  8. Language Policies – 3Implementation of Language Rights for Sorbian in Brandenburg Since German reunification, Lower Sorbian is officially supported in educational institutions in Brandenburg, parallel in Saxony §5 of the Brandenburg School Law: pupils are guaranteed the right to learn Sorbian/Wendish and to receive instruction in selected subjects in that language. In addition, knowledge of the history and culture of Sorbs and Wends is to be provided in the settlement areas of those populations, anchored in the curriculum since 2008. • Evaluation of ECRML treaty compliance in 8 European countries (de Jager & van der Meer 2007) judged that Germany partly fulfilled the treaty undertakings concerning preschool, primary and secondary education for Sorbian, noting a shortage of bilingual teachers, insufficient continuity following pre-school and an absence of Sorbian education in all territories where it is used.

  9. Sorbian – 1 - history The Sorbian language is a West Slavic language with two major dialect divisions: Upper Sorbian, spoken in Saxony and Lower Sorbian, (also called Wendish) in Brandenburg who settled there around 600, well before the migration of Germanic tribes to the area. During the Middle Ages, the Sorbian language was spoken over a much more extensive area than today but emigrated in the 19th century as a result of religious (and linguistic) persecution. The Wendish House was established in 1904 followed by the Domowina umbrella organization Sorbian associations in 1912 which was later banned during the Nazi period. After the war, Sorbian organizations were reestablished and linguistic rights, including signage and the language instruction were recognized. During the GDR period, Sorbian language maintenance was fostered and most of the educational institutions that continue to support the Sorbian language were founded during that time, including the Niedersorbische Gymnasium, founded in 1952 and the Sorbische Schulverein, e.V. founded in 1991, which supports education in Sorbian in preschool, primary and secondary school and to university level. Nonetheless the population has become increasingly diluted as a result of resettlement of Germans into Sorbian regions and Sorbians into non-Sorbian regions

  10. Sorbian – 2 - instruction Recognition of the difficulties of maintenance of Sorbian stimulated foundation of the first preschool in 1998 in Cottbus/Sielow. The WITAJ Language Center, founded in 2001, supports language maintenance projects, schools materials and teacher training and activities for parents, children and youth in kindergartens and schools. Sorbian is now supported in community-based kindergartens and in public primary schools and secondary school and college preparatory Gymnasien in Brandenburg and Saxony. (see map)

  11. Language Policies – 4Implementation of Language Rights for immigrant minority languages • Mother tongue instruction per se is spotty, offered mainly by or with the assistance of ministries of education of the “home countries” (Turkey, Greece, Poland … China). • A few bilingual education programs exist, funded and staffed as part of the regular Berlin school system, motivated as supporting ethnic identity and also as resource—discussed below. • Turkish/German bilingual literacy classes in Berlin • 2-way immersion Europaschulen in 9 different languages in Berlin

  12. Polish -1 – history and legal basis The legal basis for Polish instruction abroad is anchored in Article 6 of the Polish Constitution of 1997, which commits the Polish state and its institutions to support Poles living abroad[. The current provision is given in the directive of the Minister of National Education of 24 September 2009, Dz.U. 2009 nr 164 poz. 1306. Although support for the language and culture of Polish and German speakers residing in the other country was part of the Deutsch-Polnischer Nachbarschaftsvertrag (German-Polish Treaty on Good Neighborliness) of 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union and establishment of Poland as a Republic, Offerings in Polish at the primary and secondary level have been implemented but not to the extent as might have been expected. However, in June 2011, on the 20th anniversary of the agreement, these provisions were reviewed and maintenance of cultural identity and the mother tongue of each group was explicitly stressed.

  13. Polish -2 - instruction Polish in Berlin preschools • Since 1986 there has been a Polish/German preschool in the Moabit district of Wedding, “Maluch” with which follows Montessori principles. Both Polish and German caretakers are present to speak to children in their first languages, but their focus is in fostering German and preparing children for German schools[1]. Since 1997, another Polish/German Kita, “Kajtek” [2]. aims to insure Polish language maintenance and acquisition of German, with fluency in the spoken languages, early contact with written language fostering an appreciation for multilingualism. Their program includes contact with pupils from the German/Polish secondary level Europaschule. • The Polish/German bilingual Europaschule (SESB) was established in 1997/98, at the Katharina-Heinroth-Grundschule, continuing at the Robert Jungk Oberschule, with a program parallel to the other SESB Europaschulen, with content instructions in Polish and requiring two of the four examination subjects to have been instructed in Polish. The first Abitur class will graduate in 2013. It is noteworthy that admission to the Polish/German secondary program at the R-J-O is by assessment test in Polish. Not only pupils who attended the Grundschule SESB program may attend but also other pupils whose level of Polish and German is sufficient, for instance through attending Polish language courses offered by Oświata, discussed below. • A further type of secondary school in which Polish is supported for explicitly instrumental reasons is found at the Oberstufentzentrum Bürowirtschaft und Verwaltung, a program in which instruction in Polish is linked to an internship in Poland, supported with funding from the EU education program “Leonardo da Vinci” and the Stiftung für deutsche-polnische Zusammenarbeit[7]. As of 2011/2012 Polish is also offered at the private DIDACTICA business school[8]

  14. Polish – 3 instruction Polish instruction outside the public school system in Berlin is offered for children and youth (among others) by Oświata and the Polish school in Berlin, the latter supported by the Polish Embassy, financed by the Polish Ministry of Education. Oświata, the oldest Polish organization in Germany, was originally founded in 1881, to support the immigrants from Poland in maintenance of their language and culture. This organization, banned during the period 1939-1945, was reactivated in Berlin to support the new wave of immigration in 1985. It began offering courses for children and youth in Berlin in 1988. (Żabko 2003). Polish instruction in Brandenburg schools • The situation of Polish instruction in Brandenburg also reflects the greater weighting of culture, contact, commonality rather than focus on language skills. As we have seen in Figure 2, Polish is more frequently taught in the primary grades (as a “Begegnungssprache”) and less frequently as foreign language in either primary or secondary schools. However, school reports for 2011 show that Polish as foreign language offered at 6 primary schools and 2 secondary schools, though not at the highest grades and thus apparently not possible as a examination topic for college preparatory diploma.

  15. Turkish 1 – history of immigration, current population Turkish in Germany is the largest “Gastarbeiter” languages stemming from the immigration of the 1960s whose population has continued to grow, through family reunion and later through natural increase in Germany. According to the 2012 Migration & Population report for Germany In 2010 •8.5 million families resided in Germany • 2.33 million (28.8%) had “migration background”. • Of these 21% were of Turkish background. The current school-age population represents 2nd and 3rd generations with Turkish migration background. Although a large proportion now have German citizenship, the language is mostly robustly maintained into the 3rd generation by many (Akıncı & Pfaff 2008, Backus, Jørgensen & Pfaff 2011).

  16. Turkish –2 Turkish language instructionConsular extra-curricular instruction The most longstanding is mother tongue supplementary instruction, offered in accordance with the EEC Council Directive of 1977 supporting the rights of immigrant children and the desire of the Turkish government to support globalization through education in Turkish as well as German. In Berlin these courses are offered at 137 primary schools in Berlin. In 2011, there were about 4,000 pupils, taught by 55 teachers, some of whom already lived in Berlin, some who come from Turkey for five years.

  17. Turkish –3Bilingual literacy classes The first public school programs to offer Turkish instruction were there biliteracy classes (zweisprachige Alphabetisierung) for Turkish /German, developed in Berlin in the 1980s. The goal of these programs is both to prepare pupils for secondary school, to facilitate access to Turkish literate culture and to foster positive Turkish identity. The organization of instruction demands close cooperation between Turkish and German teachers and parallel teaching of the material, whether basic literacy skills. As of the 2011/2012, five public primary schools offer Turkish mother tongue instruction 5 hours/week in 1st-4th grades, 3 hours/week in 5th-6th grades, with Turkish for German speakers as an elective 2 hours/week. Bilingual content instruction is offered 5-7 hours/week in classes with team teaching by Turkish and German native speaking teachers. The attempt to foster transfer by the teachers’ practice of drawing explicit parallel in the languages, may have had some unforeseen consequences, fostering the entrenchment o f language contact phenomena in orthography but also in the frequency of collocations and choice of lexical realizations of certain conceptual fields, such as connectors (Dollnick 2011).

  18. Turkish –4Bilingual literacy classes in Berlin 2011/2012 613 pupils (in 5 classes) Other ethnic/national/language backgrounds: Albanian, Arabic, Azerbaijan, Austrian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Ghanaian, Greek, Italian, Yugoslavian, Lebanese Pakistani, Polish Romanian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese 18

  19. A 5th grade bilingual literacy class in Berlin, 2010

  20. Turkish –5Turkish as language of instruction and as foreign language • Public schools • Europaschulen dual language immersion program (SESB) Turkish / German is one of the 9 language pairs offered throughout primary and secondary grades. (see slides 29-31 below) • Turkish is offered as second foreign Language in six Berlin public schools. • Private schools The international Gülen network, represented by the Tüdesb Bildungsinstitut Berlin-Brandenburg operates schools in Berlin : • 4 preschools • 1 primary school • 2 secondary schools The preschools are bilingual; the primary and secondary schools provide instruction in German, following the curriculum of the Berlin public schools. The primary school offers English and Turkish as foreign language from the 1st grade and the secondary schools offer English as first foreign language and Turkish or French as 2nd foreign languagehttp://www.tuedesb.de

  21. Chinese – 1Chinese Migration to Germany The communities of Chinese in Germany represent one of the smaller and less-studied groups of overseas Chinese and are a very small group in Germany. • In 2010 statistics showed 81 331 Chinese nationals living in Germany. • In the last three decades, 13 580 have become naturalized German citizens. • Between 1978 and 2010, the Chinese population increased 82 times from 984 to 81 331 today , whereas the foreign population in Germany in general increased less than doubled during the same period (see graph at right). • The population of overseas Chinese in Germany is young (average age 31) Source: Statistisches Bundesamt, Wiesbaden, 2010

  22. Chinese – 2Chinese as foreign language in public schools: Berlin and Brandenburg • Starting in 2002, Chinese was first offered as foreign language in Berlin secondary schools and as of 2010 there are over 30 secondary schools In Germany offering Chinese as a foreign language option. • As reported by PAD (Pädagogischen Austauschdienst), in 2010, there are altogether roughly 5570 pupils who are taking Chinese courses at 220 schools in Germany. • Compared to 2007/2008, the number of pupils taking Chinese courses has increased 75 percent from 3320 to 5570. Although the absolute number is still small, the quick growth within a short-time period should not be ignored. • all the Berlin schools have partner schools in China, which builds a steady foundation for the on-going language courses in these schools.

  23. Chinese – 3Chinese community schools in Berlin • There are three Chinese community schools in Berlin at present, two of them teach Mandarin using the simplified writing system, the third teaches Cantonese and traditional characters. • The Yizhi school is one of the three Chinese community schools in Berlin teaching Mandarin Chinese. • It has 183 students in 2012 • Chinese heritage: 151 • Non-Chinese heritage: 32

  24. Chinese – 4Chinese community schools in Berlin --2 • Chinese as a heritage language are organized and run by parents. • Teachers are either parents or Chinese students studying in Berlin. • In Germany in general, It offers three hours of language instruction every Saturday. • The course books come directly from China and are sponsored by the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. • The school curriculum also includes cultural component, such as Chinese history, geography, calligraphy, etc.

  25. Language Policy – 5Language as Resource Lisbon Strategy, Education for Plurilingualism The European Union adoption of the Lisbon Strategy in 2000 set the EU the goal of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010, … aiming to secure sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs as well as greater social cohesion. Language learning was seen as crucial and Member states were encouraged to provide foreign language education in the languages of the other EU countries, particularly the languages of immediately bordering EU countries.

  26. Languaguage Policy 6Education for PlurilingualismGuide for the Development of Language Education Policies in Europe • Plurilingual educationwill refer to all activities, curricular or extra-curricular of whatever nature, which seek to enhance and develop language competence and speakers’ individual linguistic repertoires, from the earliest schooldays and throughout life. • Education for plurilingualism will refer to plurilingual education (for example, teaching national, foreign, regional languages), in which the purpose is to develop plurilingualism as a competence. It will be noted that plurilingual education may also be achieved through activities designed principally to raise awareness of linguistic diversity, but which do not aim to teach such languages, and therefore do not constitute language teaching in the strict sense. Beacco 2007 Council of Europe Guide: www.coe.int/lang

  27. Education for Plurilingualism: Foreign Languages Offerings Berlin 2010 / 2011Brandenburg 2009/2010 (languages, pupils) (languages, schools & school types)    Source: Mezger 2010: 37

  28. Foreign Language Implementation – 1 “Begegnungssprachen”In contrast to foreign language instruction, “encounter language” instruction aims to foster creativity, fantasy, desire for discovery and appreciation of linguistic and cultural diversity; instruction is focused on oral skills. Berlin: Turkish/German biliteracy classes Turkish children are taught to read and write in both languages BUT German and other L1 children are taught to read in German only, have informal content in Turkish as “Begegnungssprache” All children have team taught subject matter courses in both languages Brandenburg: Begegungssprachen 2008/2009 There are 3 times as many Polish as Russian classes (reverse of relationship for foreign language instruction.) But there are double the number of French classes And 100 times more classes with English as Begegnungssprache

  29. Foreign Language Implementation – 2“Europaschulen” in Berlin (SESB) (2-way bilingual education in 9 languages + German) The Staatliche Europaschulen Berlin (SESB) were founded in Berlin in 1992/1993 on the assumption that proficient multilingualism is highly advantageous to: • prepare pupils for international mobility for study and work • serve as a bridge between Western and Central Europe Further, the bicultural classes where pupils with different background learn with and from each other is intended to • contribute to combating prejudice and discrimination

  30. Foreign Language Implementation – 32-way bilingual Europaschulen in Berlin (2012) Pluricentric standard varieties are accepted for English, Spanish and Portuguese; diasporic varieties of the other languages are found but discouraged. Russian, Turkish and Polish secondary schools are not Gymnasien

  31. Foreign Language Implementation – 4Structure of dual immersion schools in Berlinthe Polish/German elementary school All SESB dual immersion schools in Berlin share the structure of this elementary school. The same school houses the both the Polish/German bilingual immersion program as well as a regular elementar y school with German-only curriculum. Many extra curricular activites are shared by pupils of both school types

  32. Final Remarks --1 • Although, the present paper has merely scratched the surface of the state of Sorbian, Polish, Turkish and Chinese in Berlin and Brandenburg, in each case study we have identified areas in which the policies for these LOTGs develop top-down from European institutions to Germany to the Federal States and also from the bottom-up, from the local communities to the schools. Further, the policies of the external nations, Poland, Turkey and China play a role in the implementation of the offerings in these LOTGs, parallel to the policies of community institutions in the case of Sorbian. • An important cross-cutting factor is the attitudes of the participants, most especially the pupils themselves, but also their parents, teachers and schools in their valorization of the different languages the pupils’ present or future verbal repertoires, the well-known distinction of instrumental and integrative motivations for learning languages in terms of their perceived usefulness in the global linguistic marketplace and also in their home, local communities and in the actual (or imagined) homelands.

  33. Final remarks --2 • In our four cases, the amount and type of instructional offerings appear to be determined less by the demographic strength of the populations than by perceived potential value and prestige, inked to major historical political changes, in particular the division of Germany, its reunification, changes in the membership in the EU and the changing global economies. • For Sorbian, considerable strides have been made by the community institutions to implement recommendations of EU policy Charter for Regional Minority Languages, resulting in increased offerings of Sorbian within public schools in Brandenburg. However, these measures do not yet seem to be reaching the wider community as well as pupils with Sorbian background. • For Polish, there is increasing support but it is not commensurate with the population of potential native speakers or non-native users. Thus, Polish is still offered in public schools in Brandenburg primarily as a “Begnungssprache” rather than as a foreign language. However, several new programs at primary and secondary levels in public schools and a range of private and consular offerings have been implemented and Polish is taken up in vocational and business schools.

  34. Final remarks --3 • For Turkish, though the bilingual offerings in primary schools and in the Turkish/German SESB in Berlin reach only a small fraction of the potential population of Turkish-speaking children and adolescents, there are now several secondary schools which offer Turkish as foreign language which is recognized as one of the possible advanced subject for the college preparatory diploma (Abitur). In addition, Turkish is offered in some vocational secondary school progrems. Institutions outside school such as the consulate offer mother tongue instruction and Turkish is still strongly present in the linguistic landscape of Berlin. • For Chinese the offerings for the non-Chinese population far exceed the offerings for children of Chinese background in Berlin, support for Chinese for the general population have also begun in Brandenburg, though it is not as widespread as in Berlin. The findings on the offerings for children with ethnic Chinese background indicated that the community-based schools are useful in supporting home use which is not always strong. • In general, we find that the policies most widely implemented reflect prestige and the perceived instrumental value of learning the languages, Polish and Chinese for children and youth outside these ethnic groups, while offerings directed to the internal group and individual identities of the children and youth with Sorbian, Turkish and as well as Polish, borne as much by the external institutions as well as the public schools.

  35. References Dollnick, Meral (2011): Konnektoren in Türkischen und Deutschen Texten bilingualer Schüler. Eine vergleichende Langzeituntersuchung zur Entwicklung schriftsprachlicher Kompetenzen. Unpublished dissertation, Frei Universität Berlin. Liang, Jingfei 2012. “Chinesisch-Spracherwerb und die Zweisprachigkeit bei zweiten-Generation Migrantenkindern in Deutschland. Eine empirische Untersuchung in einer Berliner Chin. Kulturschule” Presentation at the Dissertation Colloquium Technical University Berlin 26 JAN 2012. Metzger, Verena 2010. Deutsch als Zweitsprache in Brandenburg Darstellung und Einbettung in die Fachdiskussion. Magister Arbeit Potsdam University. Nagel, Sebastian 2009. Zwischen zwei Welten. Kulturelle Strukturen der polnischsprachigen Bevölkerung in Deutschland. Analyse und Empfehlungen. Stuttgart: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, e.V.(ifa). Norberg, Madlena 2010. Schulischen Vermittlungsformen der Arbeitssprache Sorbisch/Wendisch in der Niederlausitz ab der Primarstufe Rěcny centrum WITAJ-Sprachzentrum. Pfaff, Carol W. 2010. Multilingual development in Germany in the crossfire of ideology and politics.In U. Okulska, and P. Cap (eds.) Perspectives in Politics and Discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 328-357. Pfaff, C.W., M. Dollnick, L. Heinzmann, J. Liang & M. Rusek (to appear) ""Instruction in languages other than German in Berlin and Brandenburg: Overview and case studies of Sorbian, Polish, Turkish and Chinese” To appear in P. Grommes and A. Hu (eds.) Plurilingual education: Policies – Practice – language development . Hamburg Studies in Linguistic Diversity (HSLD). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

  36. Acknowledgements Material for this presentation was compiled by: Carol W. Pfaff jfkilxpf@zedat.fu-berlin.de Professor of Linguistics, Free University Berlin Sorbian Lisa Heinzmann, Lisa.Heinzmann@gmx.net Masters Candidate, European Master in Intercultural Education, Free University Berlin Polish Marta Rusek, martarusek@yahoo.com M.A. English and North American Studies, Free University Berlin Berlin/Stettin Liaison Office Turkish Meral Dollnick, meral.dollnick@web.de Ph.D. Freie Universität Berlin, Research Assistant in MULTILIT Project, Potsdam University Chinese Jingfei Liang, jingfei@gmail.com Ph.D. Candidate in Linguistics, Technical University Berlin. 36

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