Aims and expectations of LaDiva

1. Aims and expectations of LaDiva Marina Tzakosta LaDivacoordinator University of Crete Dept. of Preschool Education, Faculty of Education

2. The rationale of LaDiva • The synthesis of today’s society demands the interaction of people coming from different geographic, historical, social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. • Examining the mechanisms which influence language learning is of central scientific and pedagogical interest. • Language development is highly influenced by geographical, historical, social and cultural adjacency. • Adjacency may drive complete or partial change of (all or some of) the involved linguistic systems.

3. The rationale of LaDiva • Language learning is an active and continuous process being influenced by multiple system-internal and system-external factors at the same time.

4. The rationale of LaDiva Given system-internal factors, language learning is highly influenced by • First, the similarities and differences holding between the learners’ mother language (L1) and the target language (L2); the more adjacent two languages are typologically, the easier a language is learned as a second language. • Second, L2 learners’ certified level of proficiency; the higher the level of proficiency, the easier a second language is learned. • Third, L2 learning is influenced by the knowledge ranking of the second language.

5. LaDiva questions Most people speak more than one second language • how are second languages rated in terms of their proficiency level? • Which one is a true second language and which one is a third or, even, a fourth language?

6. LaDiVa: objectives • To investigate how language develops in the speech of preschool and early primary school pupils in multilingual and multicultural environments, these environments being the countries of the participating institutions and • To design, produce and apply original teaching material in true class settings

7. LaDiVa: objectives • Given that students come from different countries (Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Turkey with different backgrounds in • educational systems, • language learning and • language teaching additional objectives

8. Direct contributions and expected outcomes of the IP • To design teaching material which fits the needs of each participating country. • To apply the newly designed teaching material in real class settings.

9. Indirect contributions and expected outcomes of the IP • To further strengthen the ERASMUS bonds between the participating institutions and extend their multilateral cooperation. • To keep on exchanging ideas on teaching methods and new projects. • To increase the degree of transparency, compatibility and - at the same time – co-operation between higher education and the daily practice in all ways the latter is expressed.

10. Indirect contributions and expected outcomes of the IP • To develop a strong multidisciplinary approach given the multidisciplinary orientation of the participating institutions. • To add to our knowledge of how different linguistic systems are learned under various social and cultural conditions by populations differing in their level of education and their age. • To train students on how language can be taught in entrepreneurial intensive environments (long-term outcome).

11. What we expect you to do • Interact, interact, interact! • Work together & learn form each other • Look for special features of your languages • Look for special features of your culture • Look for special features of the languages and cultures of your co-workers and compare • Exploit your environment • Produce teaching material

12. What happened last year • During the first year of our IP we made a general introduction on the combination of both language-internal (i.e. purely linguistic) and language-external factors (i.e. social, cultural etc.) which influence language learning.

13. What should happen this year • During the second year of the IP we will delve into the language-internal factors which affect language learning. • Different working groups will examine different modules of grammatical analysis (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics) of the examined languages as well as look into the typological similarities/ differences of mother (L1) languages and second (L2) languages. • This approach will shed light on the subtle characteristics of deep linguistic variables which drive language learning and teaching.

14. Goals of the assignments • Focus on • Linguistic aspects • Social aspects • Cultural aspects • Pedagogical aspects

15. Linguistic aspects • Pick up a favorite/ popular topic of your mother language under investigation  use of grammars Focus on one level (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics) or intra-related levels (e.g. how phonology affects morphology)

16. Linguistic aspects • Relate the topic under investigation to the languages of minorities in your countries  use of grammars & the internet a. Language contact? b. Language typology? c. other?

17. Social aspects • How do social circumstances affect language learning? • Financial crisis? • Poverty? • Studies? • Other?

18. Cultural aspects • Differences and similarities between sending and hosting countries?

19. Pedagogical aspects • Age groups (focus on a) preschool children (age range 4-6 years) and b) early primary school pupils (age range of 7-9 years) • Sample diversity • Pedagogical aims • Theoretical model adopted

20. So … • Create a ppt – other materials? • Make teaching proposals regarding teaching strategies addressing different groups • Apply your material in classes in your countries • Send back your results

21. Let’s start!