KS2+Framework+for+Languages+(Intercultural+Strand)

Recently, I was asked to run a session at CILT (The National Centre for Languages) demonstrating how eTwinning (and other international programmes the British Council offers) can help teachers meet the objectives of the Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages, with special reference to the //Intercultural Understanding// strand. If you haven’t already read this document, you can find a downloadable copy on the DCSF’s website. The aspects of the Intercultural Understanding strand that I’ll be referring to are on the template on page 75 of this document. I thought the best way to demonstrate how effective international linking can be in this respect, would be to illustrate some of the Framework’s objectives, in the context of some of the projects we’ve seen registered on eTwinning by teachers in the UK over the past year. Song

Starting in **Year 3**, as well as some basic tasks, such as identifying countries where the language you’re teaching is spoken, there is a lot of emphasis on the use of song – not only as a language tool, but also as a way of raising the children’s cultural awareness. The Framework states that, by the end of Year 3, children should be able to //recognise a children’s song, rhyme or poem well known to native speakers//. There are lots of eTwinning projects at Primary level that use song as a cultural medium, but a recent one that I’ve found very interesting is called **Crossing the Border – Learning French together!** What’s interesting about this project is that it’s a French language collaboration between //Church Aston Infant School// in Shropshire and a school in Oldenburg, in the North of Germany. It proves that you don’t always need to correspond with native speakers to learn a language! This is quite a new project, but the schools in the UK and Germany have already used songs such as //Salut// and //J’aime la Galette// to share their first cultural experiences of the French language. You can see the work that they have already published on the project’s TwinSpace @http://new-twinspace.etwinning.net/web/p16854/welcome Celebrations

By the end of **Year 4**, children are expected to be able to //talk about celebrations of which they have experience// and //know about similar celebrations in other cultures//. eTwinning projects with a focus on celebrations are eternally popular. A very good example of this type of project is **Magic Christmas Trees and Wishes** a project involving a wide-range of schools in different European countries, including //Saints and Scholars Integrated Primary School// in Northern Ireland. The schools introduced themselves, drew pictures of Christmas trees, made videos of Christmas traditions and sang traditional Christmas songs. Most of the work related to this project has been published on the TwinSpace @http://twinspace.etwinning.net/index.cfm?accessType=public&collabSpaceID=33156&fuseaction=home.main Traditions

By the end of **Year 4** children should also have a grasp of different traditions and be able to //identify similarities in traditional stories//. Again, there are many examples of eTwinning projects that aim to introduce children to the traditions and stories of other European countries. I’ve selected two example of this:

Traditions Across Europe

is an award-winning project involving //Churchfields Primary School// in the West Midlands. This project has been going for some time now and features a blog

@http://traditionsacrosseurope.wordpress.com/ which was nominated for best group blog in the Edublogs Awards in 2009.

Once Upon a Time

is a story-telling collaboration between //Adel Primary School// in Leeds and partners in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. They have published their work on a blog. Daily Life

By the end of **Year 5** children should be able to //identify similarities and differences in everyday life// between their home culture and the culture of the language they are studying.

Getting to Know you

by //Rackham C of E Primary// school in Cambridgeshire, is a typical eTwinning project of this type. In this project, the UK school has collaborated with a partner school in France, to discuss topic areas such as; family, school life, school lessons etc. You can see some of the public pages of this project’s TwinSpace at

@http://new-twinspace.etwinning.net/web/p16673/welcome Cultural diversity

By the end of **Year 6**, children should be able to //demonstrate understanding of and respect for cultural diversity//. All of the projects we’ve seen so far have got an element of this in them, however, one of my favourite eTwinning projects is the multi-award winning **Schoolovision 2009!** by //Yester Primary School// in Scotland, also involving schools in England, Wales and more than 30 European countries. The principle behind Schoolovision is similar to the concept of //The Eurovision Song Contest//, with each country recording a song - in their own language, or a language they are learning – and each school voting for its favourites, culminating in a live video-conference in May last year, when the results were counted up. The winning school was from the Czech Republic and sang their song in Czech! How different from the English-language dominated competition of the adult version! This wasn’t specifically an MFL project, however, it tapped into the joy that children have when learning songs and new languages. They don’t have any of the fear of learning a new language that we seem to develop as we get older. In terms of understanding of and respect for cultural diversity, well, check out the Schoolovision blog and you’ll see the objectives of the KS2 Framework in action! @http://schoolovision2009.blogspot.com/