Mehrsprachigkeit im Fokus - Eröffnungsvortrag

Conference given outside the academic context (2018)

(Dis)engaging in Language and Sciences Lessons: How do Primary School Students in Multilingual Luxembourg Communicate With Each Other?

Presentation (2018, November 09)

As the country with the highest percentage of immigration in Europe, Luxembourg has a very diverse school population. This doctoral project is part of the research project ‘CALIDIE’ that investigates how ... [more ▼]

As the country with the highest percentage of immigration in Europe, Luxembourg has a very diverse school population. This doctoral project is part of the research project ‘CALIDIE’ that investigates how multilingualism can be capitalized on. In Luxembourg, the teaching of Luxembourgish, German and French accounts for 40.5% of all curricular time. Assessment studies have shown that students of Portuguese, French and Slavic heritage underperform compared to Luxembourgish and German-speaking students in primary schools (MENJE, 2017). While studies in preschool, Year 1 and Year 2 classes show that some teachers begin to draw on children’s semiotic repertoires (Kirsch 2017), the present project targets Years 4 and 5. The focus lies on translanguaging practices. Translanguaging is the enactment of a person’s linguistic and non-linguistic resources. Research in bilingual and trilingual school contexts has shown that translanguaging can promote knowledge, understanding and academic success (García & Sylvan 2011). To help students learn, teachers need to encourage students to make use of their resources in a strategic and responsible way, whatever the status of the languages (García, Johnson & Seltzer 2017). In this paper, I examine the extent to which a fourth-grader of Slovenian language background deploys (or does not deploy) his linguistic repertoire while interacting with peers. Data are drawn from eighteen days of observation and video-recordings of the students’ language use in German, French and Science lessons from September 2017 to July 2018 in a state school in Eastern Luxembourg. The thematic analysis focuses on classroom interactions among students; the learning activities; the languages; and the purposes of their (in)flexible language use. Preliminary results show that peer interactions and child-led learning activities are scarce; the students communicate in the language of instruction; and translanguaging is used to (help) participate. The findings are tentative because data collection is on-going. [less ▲]

'Analogue Renaissance': Strategies of Technostalgia with Kodak’s new Super 8 film camera

Scientific Conference (2018, November 09)

“There are some moments that digital just can’t deliver, because it doesn’t have the incomparable depth and beauty of film. These moments inspired Kodak to design a new generation of film cameras.” Along ... [more ▼]

“There are some moments that digital just can’t deliver, because it doesn’t have the incomparable depth and beauty of film. These moments inspired Kodak to design a new generation of film cameras.” Along with this mission statement, Kodak announced the making of a new Super 8 film camera at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2016. The announcement preceded the re-release of various other “retro” and “vintage” products in the following years, including Kodak’s iconic Ektachrome film stock. This paper critically investigates Kodak’s so-called “Analogue Renaissance”, the return of these analogue amateur film technologies that used to be widely popular among amateur film and home moviemakers in the 1970s. The re-releases not only fostered the imagination of numerous hobbyists around the world who were familiar with analogue filmmaking already, but also a new generation of users interested in film’s analogue aesthetic and material qualities. The paper analyses Kodak’s cross-generational attempt to remediate, revive and re-imagine the Super 8 film camera as a past media technology in particular. Drawing on the concept of “technostalgia”, the reminiscence of past media technologies in contemporary memory practices, it aims to further build on previous attempts to theorize the dynamic relations between the past and the present, the analogue and the digital, and the archival and the performative. While Kodak has been strategically framing the new Super 8 film camera under the label of the “Analogue Renaissance”, it will be shown that it not limits itself to remediating the design and analogue functionality of the device’s idiosyncratic equivalent. On the contrary, remarkably enough, the new Super 8 camera comes with several additional digital features, such as the recording of digital sound and a LCD display. The paper argues that this merging of the film camera’s original analogue features with digital ones makes Kodak’s new film camera a fundamental “hybrid” media technology, whose manufacturer’s attempt to update it to the present day by adding digital features entails more than just a way of enhancing user possibilities and experiences. While Kodak advertises its new device with a statement that aims to exaggerate the impossibilities of the digital, it will be argued that Kodak’s new Super 8 film camera requires a theoretical thinking that moves beyond the analogue-digital divide as well as previous conceptualizations of (tech)nostalgia. [less ▲]

Reflexions et pistes sur le nouveau cours "Vie et société" de l'enseignement fondamental au Luxembourg. Est-ce que tout était vraiment mieux avant?

Presentation (2018, November 08)

Schulische Kompetenzen von Erstklässlern und ihre Entwicklung nach zwei Jahren.

Poster (2018, November 08)

Jedes Jahr werden in den luxemburgischen Schulen die ÉpStan (Épreuves Standardisées) durchgeführt. Hierbei handelt es sich um nationale Schulleistungstests, welche Kompetenzen im Bereich der Mathematik ... [more ▼]

Jedes Jahr werden in den luxemburgischen Schulen die ÉpStan (Épreuves Standardisées) durchgeführt. Hierbei handelt es sich um nationale Schulleistungstests, welche Kompetenzen im Bereich der Mathematik und den Schulsprachen (Luxemburgisch, Deutsch und Französisch) auf standardisierte Art messen. Der vorliegende Beitrag ist sowohl eine Bestandsaufnahme der Schülerschaft zu Beginn des formalen Bildungswegs als auch ein Bericht ihrer Evolution über zwei Jahre im luxemburgischen Schulsystem. Hierzu haben wir die Daten aus drei Erhebungen (2014, 2015, 2016) der ÉpStan analysiert. Zum einen zeigen wir, anhand von Daten aus drei verschiedenen Kohorten, welche schulischen Kompetenzen Erstklässler (Zyklus 2.1) am Anfang ihrer Schullaufbahn aufweisen. Zudem hatten wir die Möglichkeit die Schüler und Schülerinnen der ersten Erhebung (2014) zwei Jahre später im Zyklus 3.1 nochmals zu testen und somit ihren Entwicklungsverlauf über zwei Jahre im luxemburgischen Bildungssystem zu dokumentieren. Diese ersten längsschnittlichen Daten zeigen, dass die Mehrheit der Schülerinnen und Schüler zu Beginn des Zyklus 2.1 das Niveau Avancé in den drei überprüften Kernkompetenzen („Luxemburgisch-Hörverstehen“, „Vorläuferfertigkeiten der Schriftsprache“ und „Mathematik“) erreicht. Somit stellen wir fest, dass die für den ersten Lernzyklus festgehaltenen Bildungsstandards erfüllt sind. Zwei Jahre später fällt die Verteilung der Schülerinnen und Schüler auf die verschiedenen Kompetenzränge negativer aus als im Zyklus 2.1. Im Zyklus 3.1 haben vergleichsweise mehr Kinder das Niveau Socle in allen drei Kernkompetenzen („Deutsch-Hörverstehen“, „Deutsch-Leseverstehen“ und „Mathematik“) noch nicht erreicht. Unsere Befunde zeigen außerdem, dass verschiedene außerschulische Faktoren (wie z. B. sozioökonomische Situation, Sprachhintergrund) bereits sehr früh im Verlauf der Schullaufbahn einen äußerst starken Einfluss auf die Testergebnisse haben und sich dieser Einfluss über die Jahre hinweg verstärkt. Abschließend präsentieren und diskutieren wir verschiedene Erklärungsansätze für diesen beobachteten Schereneffekt. [less ▲]

"La Première Guerre mondiale est traitée comme une petite guerre" au Luxembourg

Speeches/Talks (2018)

Wat droen d’Schoulen zur Leeschtung vu Schülerinnen a Schüler bäi? E systemateschen Iwwerbléck iwwer déi aktuell Fuerschungslag an Uwennung u lëtzebuergesche Längsschnëtt-Donnéeën

Scientific Conference (2018, November 08)

The influence of a professional development on teachers’ and carers’ multilingual practices in early childhood education in Luxembourg

Scientific Conference (2018, November 08)

The need for multilingual pedagogies has been recognized and several multilingual programmes have been implemented in early childhood in Europe. In Luxembourg, where this study is based, laws were voted ... [more ▼]

The need for multilingual pedagogies has been recognized and several multilingual programmes have been implemented in early childhood in Europe. In Luxembourg, where this study is based, laws were voted in 2017 that require early years practitioners to develop Luxembourgish, familiarize children with French, and value home languages. To develop inclusive multilingual practices, the authors of this presentation developed a 30-hour professional development programme (thereafter PD) which was long-term, collaborative, inquiry-based, performance-oriented, and included coaching. The participants carried out and video-record activities based on books and rhymes in several languages, reflected on these, and received feedback. This case-study examines the influence of the PD on the understanding of language learning and practices of two teachers and five carers working in schools and crèches. The data stem from a questionnaire completed three times; twelve interviews; six observations of the training; 30 video-recorded activities; ten coaching reports, and emails. The methods of data analysis comprise paired samples t-test, correlational analysis, content analysis and triangulation. The findings show a positive effect of the PD on understanding of language learning and practices. The teachers and some carers developed a better understanding of social constructivist learning theories which influenced their practices that began to focus on interactions between adults and children, and amongst children. The other carers understood the relevance of dialogue and carried out activities in several languages but their overall practice did not change. The findings confirm that collaborative, inquiry-based PD can be transformative (Gaikhorst et al., 2017; Prenger et al., 2017) and change perspectives and practices to some extent (Buschmann & Sachse, 2018). In addition, they add to the dearth of literature on PD on multilingual education in early years (Egert, 2015). Buschmann, A., & Sachse, S. (2018). Heidelberg interaction training for language promotion in early childhood settings. European Journal of Education, 53(1), 66-78. Egert, F. (2015). Meta-analysis on the impact of in-service professional development programs for preschool teachers on quality ratings and child outcomes. Gaikhorst, L., Beishuizen, J. J. J., Zijlstra, B. J. H., & Volman, M. L. L. (2017) The sustainability of a teacher professional development programme for beginning urban teachers, Cambridge Journal of Education, 47(1), 135-154. Prenger, R., Poortman, C. L., & Handelzalts, A. (2017). Factors influencing teachers’ professional development in networked professional learning communities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 68(1), 77-90. [less ▲]

À la recherche du Web perdu …

Presentation (2018, November 07)

Alors que la durée de vie d’une page Web est estimée en moyenne à deux mois et celle d’un site Internet à moins de cinq ans, les internautes qui ont suivi les premiers développements du Web grand public ... [more ▼]

Alors que la durée de vie d’une page Web est estimée en moyenne à deux mois et celle d’un site Internet à moins de cinq ans, les internautes qui ont suivi les premiers développements du Web grand public dans les années 1990 ont déjà vu disparaître plusieurs communautés virtuelles et certains de leurs espaces en ligne favoris, à l’instar de Geocities, Myspace, ou Vine. Ce Web perdu invite à penser à la fois la nostalgie et la « fabrique de la désuétude » (pour reprendre Gustavo Gomez-Meijia in Schafer V. dir., Temps et temporalités du Web, Presses de Nanterre, 2018) qui marquent la Toile, et les enjeux de mémoire et de patrimonialisation qui leur sont attachés. Mais c’est aussi la manière dont le Web du passé peut être retrouvé, reconstruit, étudié, que ce soit en histoire ou en archéologie des médias, qui est en jeu. C’est rechercher un Web inscrit dans des temporalités, espaces, pratiques et matérialités propres et qui doit être recontextualisé. Il faut faire face aux silences mais aussi au trop plein d’archives du Web, qui s’avèrent à la fois pléthoriques et lacunaires, et se confronter au risque d’une perte d’intelligibilité. La quête des origines du Web, le sentiment d’un âge d’or du Web des débuts, les bruits et les silences des archives du Web, ou encore le risque de perte de sens seront au cœur de cette intervention pour interroger les sources, pratiques et défis d’une histoire foisonnante. [less ▲]

Growth and characterization of single crystals across the BaTiO3-CaTiO3-BaZrO3 phase diagram for lead-free piezoelectrics

Doctoral thesis (2018)