INVESTING IN LANGUAGE

News

Staff Reporter / 2012-08-12 12:42:24

Learning

The new decree on language education, as agreed unanimously by the governing board of Valencia, has now come into force in preparation for the next school term.

From September, more than 45,000 school children will set out on becoming the first truly multilingual age, to ultimately become the first generation of school leavers who will be fluent in speaking, writing and reading in Castellano, English and in the traditional language of the Valencia community, Valenciano.

The Official Gazette of the Valencian Community (DOCV) has published the new decree, which sets out to explain that there will be two language models, the Programa Plurilingüe en Valenciano (PPEV) and the Programa Plurilingüe en Castellano (PPEC). Both models will include elements in English and will be rolled out progressively. The elements of both languages will then be included in other subjects on the curriculum, not exclusive to classes in language learning.

The English element for youngsters, Educación Infantil la lengua inglesa, will commence in the first year of the second stage of Primary education, at the age of 3 years. Parents and family members will be able to be involved in the process and monitoring of learning, allowing input and dialogue for the first time on the subject of English language learning. Similar to that of the Spanish groups, at least one other non language subject will also be taught in English.

Ultimately, the concept will feature right through the educational calendar, from Primary age, through Secondary education, higher education and vocational training, in the hope that the future path for these students will be easier when the time comes for them to search for work, rather than the situation that young people currently find themselves in, unable to find work and fast tracking language learning in order to expand their potential to find work in other sectors and countries.

The concept will also include a module to allow for a fourth language to be learnt, which opens up the potential across Europe even wider in the future, should the potential of the opportunity be realised.

In order to deliver on the idea, the Education Ministry has vowed to provide 3,000 teachers each year who are qualified to a level required for language learning, as well as providing an infrastructure for higher educational bodies and universities to prepare to be able to offer accredited training courses.