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SIGMA Scientific Committee on Languages |
Graça Abranches
Faculdade de Letras
University of Coimbra
P 3000 Coimbra
The complexity and variety of situations in the educational system characteristic of a period of rapid and fundamental changes which began in the 1980's is aggravated in Portugal's case by severe deficiencies in inter-institutional information circuits and by the bureaucracy involved in the more formal contacts too often required for access to relevant data. In several instances it was just not possible to get the information and the comments from the institutions, departments, professional organisations, experts and colleagues I have contacted, a particularly necessary procedure at this stage (when new institutions are created and programmes are launched and reorganised every year), if one is to present a fairly reliable account of the current state or to predict and comment on the future shape of foreign language education in Portugal.
I would also like to stress that although I have endeavoured here to express views which may be broadly endorsed by a significant number of those with a professional interest in language education, I am well aware of the fact that when writing about education, even if only to report on the means and organisation of a system, its specific ends and purposes must unavoidably be considered and one therefore inevitably declares allegiance to specific social realities and ideals. That political allegiance underlying this report should be regarded as very much my own.
The national language of Portugal is Portuguese.
The status of Portuguese as a minority language within the EU, with relatively large emigrant communities in some Member States (e.g. France, Germany, Spain, UK and Luxembourg), and its much stronger relative position as a national language in South America (Brazil) and Africa (Angola, Mozambique, Guinea, Cape Verde, S.Tomé e Príncipe) have caused some incongruent and sometimes conflicting official statements and measures in terms of language policy, balancing between its affirmation as a trans-European language (and European and 'Atlantic' culture) abroad and as a de jure European language and culture at home. If a greater social (vd. media) acceptance of non-European standard varieties and non-standard regional accents of Portuguese and the presence in the new National Curriculum for Portuguese of Brazilian, African and popular non-standard literature and of texts in translation can be invoked as signifying a more comprehensive view of the language and the cultures expressed in Portuguese, the fact remains that very little has been achieved in terms of co-operation with other non-European Portuguese speaking States towards defining common targets and strategies in language education and linguistic and cultural policy. On the other hand, a greater emphasis has so far been placed on often isolated initiatives to promote national literature and the arts in the EU than on a coherent global policy aimed both at increasing learning and at the development of Portuguese studies in other EU Member States.
The majority of the immigrant minorities in Portugal have Portuguese or a Portuguese creole as a native language. There is no provision of Portuguese as a second language for speakers of other languages in public non-higher education and scarcely any attention has been paid (at all levels of the educational system) to the special needs of speakers of non-standard or non-European standard varieties of Portuguese.
Sectors: Higher (post-secondary) education institutions are categorised in two sectors, the university sector (with 13 public and 7 private universities) and the non-university sector (schools and colleges of higher education, some organised in polytechnic institutes). The last 20 years have witnessed an enormous expansion in the number of institutions (often with regional extension programmes) in both sectors, with greater emphasis on the non-university HEIs.
In both sectors there are public institutions and institutions of a private or co-operative nature, which, again, have grown considerably in number in the last decade. The degrees awarded by the latter are academically but not always professionally recognised. There is also a 'free autonomous institution of public utility' (Universidade Católica Portuguesa), whose status results from provisions of the Concordat between Portugal and the Holy See.
The distinction between 'academic' and 'vocational' education does not nowadays always coincide with the division university/non-university sector, namely in teacher education, as will be explained further below. The historical division is nevertheless still operative both in terms of curricular emphasis and social status and in terms of awards and professional qualifications.
Degree programmes: The university sector offers a) - undergraduate degree programmes ('licenciaturas'), requiring 4 to 6 academic years of study, depending on the field; universities no longer offer shorter undergraduate programmes ('bacharelatos'), as they did from 1968 to the late 70's; the present 'licenciatura' results, in most cases, from a reorganisation of previous undergraduate + postgraduate taught programmes (3 years for a 'bacharelato' followed by 2 or 3 years for a 'licenciatura'); b) postgraduate taught programmes (1 to 2 years/2 to 4 semesters after graduation followed by a publicly defended dissertation for a 'mestrado' or a post-graduate diploma diplomas may not require a dissertation); and c) postgraduate degrees by research (the 'doutoramento', equivalent to a PhD degree, which nowadays may, in some faculties, integrate taught programmes of advanced level). Access to post-graduate degrees by research requires a post-graduate Master's level degree or diploma or, more rarely, a professional curriculum assessed by the Faculty's scientific board. Increasingly, study programmes both at undergraduate and postgraduate level are being based on credit systems, though, particularly in the humanities, this is still far from being the rule. The title of 'agregado', required to reach the top of the university teaching career, is very often considered a 'degree'.
The non-university sector offers undergraduate degree programmes ('bacharelatos'), requiring 3 years of study, and awards diplomas of specialised studies ('D.E.S.E.s' at least 1 year of study after the 'bacharelato') and, as in the case of Teacher-training Colleges or Centres, academic diplomas equivalent, for certain purposes, to 'licenciaturas' (after 4 years/8 semesters of study).
Curricula: Until 1974 there was great uniformity in the curricular structure adopted for undergraduate and graduate degrees by institutions belonging to the same sector, although the contents of the courses could vary a great deal. There is no law at present outlining a single general curriculum for the programmes offered, and universities and other HEIs formally possess a great deal of autonomy to determine the programmes of study prescribed for their awards, although each university or HEI, both public and private, is required to submit their curricula to ministerial accreditation.
Access: Admission requirements secondary education (12 years of study [4 primary + 2 + 3 + 3]), national exam in one subject corresponding to the area taken in the last cycle of secondary education ('prova de aferição'), exams in core subjects determined by universities and other HEIs ('provas específicas'). 'Numerus clausus' in all cases.
Despite a large increase in the number of institutions, and a significant increase in the number of students admitted, demand for places is generally very high and access rates remain extremely low by European standards (the number of students in higher education is 9 per cent of those in the educational system). Equality of opportunity is further conditioned both by deficient financial student aid (under 10 per cent of all HE students benefited from public grants in 1993-94, when the more or less symbolical fees in public higher education had already been replaced by the new system of progressively higher fees approaching 'full-cost-fees') and by the fact that the system has of late expanded through the growth of the private sector (where fees are much higher).
Academic year: Organised in years, semesters (2 semesters of 9 (!) to 15 weeks equal 1 academic year), or a combination of both, depending on the institution, programme, course or subject. Credit units and other modular systems are nowadays used in several programmes. The academic year starts in late September, October or even November, again depending on the institution, and ends in June or July. Interruptions at Christmas (16 days), Carnival (5 days) and Easter (16 days). In many institutions all teaching is interrupted in February (4-5 weeks) for assessment of semester courses and periodic assessment of annual courses. There is a final examinations period in June and July, a limited (2 annual courses) second-chance final assessment period in September/October and a third period for final year students in December (without interruption of classes). This means that in some cases up to a third of the academic ear is spent in student assessment.
The 1989 Curricular Reform (DL 286/89), part of the 'New Reform of the Educational System' which followed the 1986 skeleton legislation for the national educational system (Lei de Bases do Sistema Educativo, Lei n.o 46/86), stands out as a turning point in foreign language education in the post-primary sector in Portugal through the reduction, from two to one, of the number of compulsory foreign languages in the school curriculum. This measure, contrary to Portuguese educational tradition (and to the present trend in some other EU Member States), apparently goes against official policy statements in matters concerning the promotion of the 'European dimension' and multicultural education. It was argued at the time (Fraústo da Silva et al., 1988, 55-57) that Portugal was the only monolingual European state to have two compulsory foreign languages in the school curriculum (the first starting in year 5 and a second one in year 7 of the educational system) and that the too high failure rates in foreign languages (always higher than the average failure rates, and after year 7 often occurring simultaneously in both FLs) had tremendous educational costs. Those facts, added to the need to raise the number of teaching hours per week (one of the acknowledged causes of the very low achievement rates was the fact that in several instances the FL time allocation was 2 x 50m per week), were seen as good enough arguments to support the proposal. The fact that a second FL was offered as an optional subject throughout the 6 final years of post-primary schooling was considered an adequate measure allowing for an increase in foreign language proficiency.
In pre-primary (not compulsory) and primary education (years 1 to 4) there is no compulsory foreign language learning in the public sector. Schools may offer one FL course in this cycle as an extra-curricular activity. Some localised experimental programmes of early foreign language learning (generally within LINGUA programmes and comprising English, French and, more sporadically, Italian and German) have recently been implemented in primary schools, but they have not so far been either systematically followed up or extended beyond the very few city schools covered by those time limited trial programmes. There is at least one local project within a LINGUA programme (ESE Coimbra) contemplating Greek, Danish and Finnish, but it has not yet been submitted for approval. Foreign language education for children of this age group is available, and often compulsory, in the private sector (English, French and German being the more common options, Italian very rarely so).
In the first cycle of post-primary education (years 5 and 6), with a 4 x 50m per week time allocation, pupils in the public sector have now one foreign language as a mandatory subject, the options being, in theory, English, French and German. It should also be possible (as in primary education) to follow an extra-curricular beginners course in a second FL, but this possibility is limited to a small number of schools.
In the second cycle of post-primary education (years 7, 8 and 9) the compulsory foreign language has a 3 x 50m per week load and there is the option of a second FL, in theory again, English, French, German, Spanish or Italian (the option of a second FL is set against musical education and technological education, all on a 3 x 50m per week basis).
It must be said that achievement rates in foreign languages in the post-primary sector do not seem at this early stage to have significantly improved in compulsory education since the implementation of the New Reform, although the suppression of a compulsory second foreign language has allowed better global achievement rates: a large number of pupils choose technological education, where achievement rates are much higher, instead of a second foreign language; those choosing a second foreign language tend to be those from privileged social backgrounds, who often attend private language schools. The very relevant role played by supplementary foreign language teaching in private language schools (or by private tutors, 'explicadores') is not taken into account in official statistics and the deficiencies and inadequacies of the system which intensify the social selectivity of foreign language education in compulsory schooling are therefore disguised. The effect on pupils' achievement rates of the reduction in length of teachers' study programmes (at the cost of the so called academic disciplines) and of the lowering status of initial teacher education and training, as well as of the existence of a large body of temporary and compulsory peripatetic teachers are not considered when analysing failure rates. More subject-specifically, the contradictions between the stated educational aims of language education in the National Curriculum (e.g. 'cultural and linguistic awareness, personal development in terms of self-confidence, responsibility, creativity, esprit critique and independent judgement, social interaction as a means of overcoming all kinds of prejudice and discrimination and promoting the sense of co-operation, solidarity and citizenship in a multicultural world') and the insipid blueprint of a stereotyped communicative euro-tourist which actually conditions much of the course methodologies, teaching strategies and materials have only sporadically been addressed as one of the plausible causes for the poor achievement rates in compulsory FL education. The surrender value (Michael West) of language education is not taken into account either when officially defining course priorities or analysing failure rates.
Compulsory education for those who entered school in 1987 ends in year 9 (for those who entered the system before that date it ended/ends in year 6 ). The last three years of post-primary education (year 10, 11 and 12, the cycle now named secondary) contemplate the study of a foreign language as a mandatory course included in the group of 'general education disciplines', whatever the branch of secondary education chosen by the pupil (technological and natural stu dies, economics and social studies, humanities, artistic studies). Pupils may either choose the FL studied in the previous cycles or start a new FL. The time allocation is again 3 x 50m per week. A second foreign language is compulsory as one of the 'specific education disciplines' for those pupils taking the humanities-modern culture branch (4 x 50m per week for FL2). One of the options in the group of 'technical education disciplines' for all branches is translation techniques (the basic foreign language in these courses is usually English, more rarely French or German, the target language Portuguese).
Although, as mentioned above, English, French and German, and later on Spanish and Italian, are in theory possible options in the school curriculum, only English and French are usually available as first FL (compulsory) and often also as second FL (optional). German, particularly in large secondary city schools, is a possible option for pupils taking a second FL.
English is increasingly the dominant language chosen as first FL, although in some parts of the country (mainly the inner east, home of most of Portuguese emigration to France) French still remains the first choice for a considerable number of pupils. The general tendency in the last years is, however, for a decrease in the choice of French as first FL. Until the 1970's, and in accordance with the historically dominant cultural influence of France in Portugal, French was the compulsory first language in post-primary education, and English the second; German was a mandatory subject in upper secondary education for those wishing to study Law and Germanic Philology (English and German language and literature). But since the 1970's, when choices of first compulsory foreign languages were offered, English has been steadily gaining ground, particularly in city areas and in the western and southern parts of the country.
German comes third as optional second foreign language, but far behind both English and French, in spite of a gradual increase in the number of pupils opting for it, mainly in city areas of the western coast (in 1992/93 in the educational area of Central Portugal 2.6 per cent of post-primary pupils attended German classes, see Neves, 1993, 17). These statistics do not correspond to the number of pupils actually wanting to choose German (in most cases children from the upper middle class and children of Portuguese immigrants in German speaking countries), as there is often some reluctance or difficulty in forming mixed classes in schools and therefore a minimum number of pupils is needed for the option to be offered. Since the great majority of the teachers of English are also qualified teachers of German (in the 3rd cycle and in secondary education the professional 'group' for tenured teachers includes both English and German), the problem is not one of lack of qualified personnel, although it must be stated that after many years spent teaching only English many teachers are unwilling or lack sufficient confidence to teach German.
In the inner eastern region, closer to the Spanish border, there has been a growing demand for Spanish, although very few schools offer the option, either because the number of pupils does not reach the minimum required to form a class or because of a lack of qualified teachers.
I have no knowledge of Italian being offered as an option in any 2nd and 3rd cycle or secondary school of the public sector, although the classical university of Lisbon, partnered with the Lycée Français Charles Lepierre, has been able to professionalise, with classes of Italian, a few teachers of Italian.
The level of proficiency in foreign languages of students opting for language studies in higher education has decreased over the past few years (a significant example is that two thirds of the students entering Portuguese and French Studies in the University of Coimbra in 1992-93 had scores below 50 per cent in the access exams in the core disciplines, Portuguese Literature and French see Curso de Estudos Portugueses e Franceses, Auto-avaliação, 1994, 64). At the same time, the pupils who perform better in foreign languages in secondary schools very often pursue studies in other disciplines. The causes may be sought in the low status of modern languages in relation to other disciplines (due to the traditional image of language and literature studies as low prestige soft options and to the fact that most of the HE graduates in these disciplines are destined to a low status and highly feminized teaching profession), but also, I would argue, in the progressively instrumental and functional rationale dominating foreign language instruction in the secondary sector (at the expense of the educational aims which often remain circumscribed to the pious intentions opening the foreign language section of the National Curriculum), a phenomenon which, besides the above mentioned consequences in terms of social discrimination, stresses the image of languages as ancillary tools and undignified objects of proper academic study.
Degree programmes in modern languages offer Spanish, Italian and Dutch at beginners' level, but not English, French or German, which must have been taken in secondary education as a pre-requisite for admission. Other languages (e.g. Russian and Danish) are offered on a free course basis in some universities.
Until the mid 1970's the classical universities offered two programmes in modern language and literature: Germanic Philology (combining English and German) and Romanic Philology (combining Portuguese and French as major subjects, but offering optional courses in Spanish and Italian). The transformation of philological studies into modern language and literature programmes opened the possibility of different combinations of languages, but all programmes (with the exception of Portuguese studies) must still combine two languages as major subjects (Portuguese/English/German/French can be combined in all classical universities, Italian and Spanish, when offered, can only be combined with Portuguese, except in Lisbon, where they can be combined with French). Dutch is offered as an optional course within the combinations including German in Oporto, Coimbra and Lisbon, and one Scandinavian language in Oporto. Language and literature programmes continue to define their aims and determine their contents within a humanistic tradition of liberal education and in some cases a philological/historical orientation co-exists with interdisciplinary concerns and an emphasis on recent theoretical approaches to literary, cultural and linguistic studies. All programmes in language and literature are nowadays connected to teacher education and training programmes (see Appendix 2.vi and 3.1 below) and their mandatory courses constitute, in the classical universities, the subject study component of the language teachers' education. There tends nevertheless to be no articulation whatsoever between the contents and approaches of the 'scientific' component of the programmes and the optional vocational courses (except in some 'non-scientific' didactics courses). The typical curriculum consists of 4 annual or 3 annual + 2 semester courses for each language, 2 annual or 2 semester linguistics courses, 2 annual culture and civilisation courses and 5 to 6 annual literature courses. Courses on introductory literary studies, literary theory and general linguistics are part of all programmes. The particular contents as well as the theoretical approaches of the courses, including language courses vary a great deal and depend on departmental policy and on the specialisation of the staff. North-American literature is a compulsory subject for all programmes including English, and Canadian literature and culture, Irish culture and North-American culture are common optional courses.
The new universities have until recently only offered teacher training programmes (combining Portuguese with either English or French), but most of them now offer language and literature programmes which include German, either in combination with Portuguese or English (Aveiro, Minho, Madeira, UTAD) as well as the combination English/French and Portuguese/Spanish (Madeira). The course design of these programmes is closer to that of the classical universities than to their own teacher education and training programmes, although a stronger emphasis on languages and a weaker emphasis on literary studies seems to be the norm in most cases.
The Catholic university and one private university offer programmes in Portuguese/French, Portuguese/English and French/English similar in course design to those offered by the new universities.
The Open University offers a programme in Portuguese/French.
Arts degrees were reduced, by ministerial determination, from five to four years in the late 1970's and a system of branches (scientific and vocational) after the 2nd year was introduced in some universities in the late 1980's (see Appendix 2.vi). Universities tried to resist the pressure to eliminate courses as a result of these measures and programmes now consist of 6 annual courses per year and the flexibility of the curriculum is not great. New programmes are being structured on a system of credits, and others are being reorganised, but several programmes are still based on the traditional system.
Courses are usually taught on a 4h per week basis, except language courses which can have up to a 6h per week time allocation. The language of instruction in non-language courses is both Portuguese and the language concerned, depending on departmental policy. In the classical universities non-language courses are generally taught in Portuguese except when taught by professors or lectors who are native speakers. In some new universities all teaching is done in the language concerned. Each course is independently assessed and forms of assessment vary considerably from institution to institution and from course to course. In small classes there is often the possibility of continuous assessment, but courses may be assessed by final written examinations or by written tests, which in some cases may be combined with essays. Oral exams are only compulsory under certain circumstances but language courses must have some kind of oral assessment.
The majority of students are full-time students, but specially in the final years a large number of students study part-time (most of them work as unqualified language teachers in 2nd and 3rd cycle and in secondary schools).
Student participation in exchange programmes through ICP networks has been extremely relevant, although the number of language students involved is lower than in other areas and problems of reciprocity in exchanges seem to be greater. Also exchanges involving students of German and French have so far proved easier than those involving students of English, in spite of the very positive experience of ICPs with Irish Universities.
Staff exchange has been rather limited up to now.
The impact of exchange programmes on either the organisation, contents or assessment of MLL programmes has been negligible.
The combination of modern language studies with areas other than literary studies is a new field in Portugal, where interdisciplinary programmes have, at this level, practically no tradition to speak of. It is therefore not always easy to distinguish this type of programme from those mentioned under 4 below.
Degree programmes in Linguistics offered by two public universities include the study of two foreign languages and linguistics (German/English/French), but the general emphasis of the programmes is more on theoretical and descriptive linguistics than on applied language studies. Courses on translation, sociolinguistics, textual linguistics and computer applications in linguistics and computer programming are included in those degree programmes, often as options.
The Catholic University started three years ago a degree in Portuguese and Applied Foreign Languages, combining Languages and Cultures with Law, Economics and Business and Management. Several private universities have now launched degree programmes in Communication and Culture Sciences, with options in public relations, marketing and publicity and media studies, where the study of 1-2 foreign languages and cultures is compulsory. Undergraduate degree programmes in International Relations and European Studies will open next year in the private sector also with a modern languages component (English and French seem to be privileged). It is too early to try to assess in most cases even to describe both the weight and the contents of the language studies within these programmes. Courses in translation techniques are often mandatory in these programmes.
Programmes may vary in structure, and the language component can either be one or two taught courses per academic year throughout the programme (with a time allocation of 4 to 6h per week) or the major component of a specialisation branch after a 2 year (4 semesters) common core (as it seems to be the case with communication and media studies and European studies). In some cases, a 5th year with seminar taught courses and training modules, which may require language training, is to be provided.
Since this is a new field, the number of ICPs involving Portuguese institutions is very low. But Community programmes (v.g. ERASMUS and COMETT) have had an important indirect impact on the creation of most of those courses.
Most public and some private universities offer postgraduate degrees in modern languages in areas corresponding to the specialisation of the supervisors. It is virtually impossible to indicate with any precision the contents of the programmes on offer (except by describing them all), as they vary from institution to institution and within each institution, according to the research policy of departments and the research interests of the staff in charge of particular programmes.
Taught postgraduate Master's level studies in literary and cultural studies, comparative literature, literary theory, linguistics and postgraduate diploma programmes in translation studies are offered by almost all public university language and literature departments. Programmes leading to a Master's degree in foreign language didactics are offered in Aveiro.
Postgraduate degrees by research of PhD level are offered by public universities in literature, culture, literary theory, linguistics and, more recently, translation theory. Studies of advanced post-Master's level in applied language studies (applied linguistics, language education, methodology/didactics) are relatively new in Portugal and in some university sectors discredited as an academic research field. They may be carried out in some public universities (particularly in the new universities of Aveiro and Minho).
A language component is increasingly becoming part of new postgraduate programmes in European Studies, Marketing and International Business (MBA) and Sociology of Communication, Culture and Technology, but it is still early to assess whether languages are in fact integrating elements in those programmes or just service course options. It should be said though that there are programmes in European Studies and International Relations where no advanced level of foreign language knowledge is required.
Postgraduate programmes are of three types, postgraduate diplomas, granted usually after two year taught programmes, Master's programmes consisting of two or three semester taught courses followed by a research period to prepare a dissertation and programmes at doctoral level, by research and thesis, which may require attendance of taught courses of advanced level. The general tendency is to shorten the length of programmes (until recently postgraduate programmes of Master's level could take, in the humanities, as long as 4 or 5 years to be completed and programmes by research and thesis at doctoral level as long as 12 years or longer), and time limits are now being established, usually 4 to 5 semesters for Master's programmes and 5 years for the Doctor's degree. The taught courses may be of several types (seminars, supervised reading courses, lectures, tutorials) and nowadays are usually organised on a credit system. The flexibility of programmes varies considerably, but there are cases where candidates have several options and where part of their credits (which can be as high as one fifth of the total) can be taken in a different programme. The taught part of the programmes is assessed course by course (and methods of assessment vary considerably, from exams to essays, presentation of papers, etc.). External assessors (one for Master's degrees, two for Doctor's degrees) are required as members of the jury who review dissertations and theses and as examiners in the public discussion where the work is finally assessed.
The impact of ERASMUS and LINGUA programmes at postgraduate level has not been very significant so far, both because a framework for exchange of research students does not exist and because of difficulties due to the different duration of taught programmes and adjustments needed in credit transfer systems. For postgraduate studies in translating and interpreting, see 5.4 below.
For over 90% of the graduates there are no career prospects outside teaching.
It is difficult to describe and understand the present diversity of teacher education and training programmes and models in Portugal without some historical perspective, as in the last 15 years several models have successively and often concurrently been implemented (see Appendix 2). At present various models, different rationale and often contradictory elements from extinct programmes coexist, a situation paradigmatically illustrated in the education and training of language teachers.
The traditional school-centred in-service training model (used until the early 70's for all post-primary teachers' training in Portugal) was progressively replaced by initial training higher education programmes integrating practice modules. Since the late 1980's the responsibility for training language teachers relies exclusively on HEIs from the university and non-university sector.
In principle, the non-university sector is only responsible for the education and training of language teachers for the 2nd cycle (1st cycle of post-primary education years 5 and 6) and the university sector for the education and training of language teachers for all cycles of post-primary education (2nd cycle years 5 and 6 , 3rd cycle years 7 to 9 , and secondary years 10 to 12). In practice, the classical faculties have been prevented until now from using 2nd and 3rd cycle schools as partner schools (although the new universities can do so), in spite of the fact that most of the classical faculties professionalised teachers will teach 3rd and even 2nd cycle pupils. On the other hand, graduates from non-university Higher Schools of Education have recently been accredited (Despacho Normativo n.o 1-A/95 dos Ministérios das Finanças e da Educação) to teach all cycles in 'wanting subjects', as, e.g., foreign languages. When teachers professionalised by classical faculties in 'non-traditional' language combinations (meaning all language combinations except Portuguese/French and English/German) are still prevented from teaching English and German (being compulsory integrated in the Portuguese/French professional 'group' in secondary schools because the romance language component of their degree is the privileged one in the placing system used by the Ministry of Education), it is hard to understand the rationale of the above mentioned decision.
The private sector, particularly non-university HEIs, has in recent years launched several initial language teacher education and training programmes, some of them with recognized academic degrees but still awaiting ministerial professional accreditation (which depends, among other factors, on the provision of public partner schools for direct classroom practice and supervised training).
Content and structure vary a great deal, depending on the institutions, often more for historical and circumstantial reasons than as a result of conscious options in terms of rationale, goals and requirements. The four broad areas of subject study, educational sciences, methodology/didactics and practice have very different relative weight in the programmes offered, as have the specific courses within each of them: subject study, for example, can range from 80 to 30 per cent of the total of taught courses and the vocational psychopedagogical component from 20 to 70 per cent (see FENPROF, 1992, 14).
All programmes combine two languages, either two foreign languages or one foreign language and Portuguese (see above 2.1.1 for university programmes). Higher Schools of Education in general only offer teacher training programmes combining Portuguese/English and Portuguese/French.
The classical faculties, in a more academic tradition, privilege subject study in their programmes, usually identical, in terms of mandatory courses, to their degree programmes in modern languages and literatures (see above 2.1.1); the psychopedagogical area usually consists of 3 annual courses (in some cases offered by the Faculties of Psychology and Educational Sciences), and the methodology/didactics of two annual or semester courses and an annual university taught seminar during the final year of supervised teaching practice in a partner school.
In the new universities the emphasis is on the psychopedagogical or educational sciences (usually 8 to 10 semester courses); subject study usually consists of 2 annual courses on language, 2 on language and culture and 3 semester or two annual courses on literature; methodology/didactics of 2 semester courses. Practice in a partner school, on a model similar to the one adopted by the classical universities, occurs in the final year, but can be taken concurrently to university taught courses and therefore precedes the award of the degree in education.
In the Higher Schools of Education (ESEs), the subject-oriented courses are reduced to a minimum, ranging from 3 semester language courses (60h), plus 1 semester culture and 1 semester linguistics course to 6 semester language courses, plus 1 semester culture, 1 semester literature and 1 semester linguistics course. Specific language methodology/didactics is always taught on a 1 semester basis. Some ESEs include in their pre-primary and primary teacher education and training programmes one foreign language (English or French) mandatory course (1 to 4 semesters, 60 to 120 hours in all), which is meant to prepare teachers for early FL teaching.
Both in the ESEs and in several non-university institutions of the private sector one year courses or diplomas of 'complementary education' have been accredited allowing former primary school teachers to become teachers of French or English (in combination with Portuguese) in years 6 and 7 of post-primary education (and nowadays, see Despacho Normativo n.o 1-A/95 in 3.1.1, also in years 8 to 12), with a curriculum that may include, in terms of language education, a mere 150h taught language course plus a 60h didactics course.
The structure and length of the programmes also varies from the 6 years more strictly sequential model of postgraduate vocational training after an academic degree in Modern Languages and Literatures (Classical University, Lisbon) to the 4 year integrated model of the Higher Schools of Education. All programmes include direct classroom practice co-supervised and assessed by the partner school and the HEI. The structure of this practice module again varies according to the institutions: in the programmes offered by the classical universities graduates (with a degree for teaching purposes) are placed in partner schools as trainee teachers, on a one year contract with full pay as academically qualified teachers. They are under the supervision of a university tutor and of a school mentor for each of the languages and are responsible for two classes (one for each language) and expected to teach other modules in their mentors' classes, which must be from a different language level (in the case of combinations with Spanish and Italian teacher trainees rarely have the opportunity for classroom practice in those languages so their training is done with classes of Portuguese). This model owes a great deal to the classical model of in-service 'estágio' (see Appendix 2.i). At the other end of the spectrum, with the new universities in between, the Higher Schools of Education have short integrated practice modules along the study programme, with a longer module in the final year, but trainees have always student status and are therefore never responsible for a class. They teach a variable number of hours in the mentors' classes included in the minimum of 30 per cent of specific education and training hours that should be devoted to the subject areas.
The faculties which offer a 5 year programme (4 years for the academic degree, integrating vocational taught courses as mandatory options in the third and fourth years, followed by the 5th year 'estágio' in a partner school) are trying now (as is the case of Coimbra and Oporto), as a result of the self-assessment of their programmes, to return to the type of 6 year programme they offered in the transitional period of the late 1980's and which was never abandoned by the classical university of Lisbon, where academic education and vocational education and training are clearly separated, the latter consisting of a 2 year postgraduate programme.
Since there is no provision for any part of the programmes for initial and in-service training of language teachers to be spent in a country where the language is spoken, the impact of European programmes, specially ERASMUS and LINGUA, has been extremely relevant, although it must be said that teacher education, and namely the education and training of language teachers, has not had the priority it deserves in those programmes and the number of students, teachers and teacher trainers involved so far is, in absolute and in comparative terms, still very low.
Some of the initial training 'estágios' have been supported by programmes financed by the E.S.F.
A large number of teachers in the educational system are still 'unprofessionalised' teachers with proper academic qualification but no 'estágio' and often without vocational 'theoretical' education (see above and Appendix 2); since 1989 they may be 'professionalised' through an in-service training programme the taught part of which is nowadays usually offered by the Open University (see Appendix 2.vii). This system has been contested on pedagogical, scientific and professional grounds and it is proving to be unable either to adequately deal with the situation of numerous teachers already in the system and specially with that of those that continue to enter it every year with vocational degrees in FL teaching but who lack supervised and assessed teaching practice (due to numerus clausus for the initial 'estágio'). The official option for initial training for all assumed that this type of in-service training would soon be rendered unnecessary in some subject areas, such as foreign languages, but it looks like the steps taken so far have not brought about the miracle some hoped for. Anyway, since this is a type of training considered 'in extinction' for FL teachers (and no one seems to know how the situation of language teachers with a degree for teaching purposes but no 'estágio' is going to be solved in-service supervised classroom practice for FL teachers outside initial training programmes is nowadays virtually non-existent), in this section I will consider only post-professional continuing education programmes.
Accredited post-professional continuing education programmes have only very recently been implemented in Portugal, where nowadays a certain number of credits in continuing education is required for access to the upper stages of the teaching career. Until 1992, when the legislation framing the Continuing Education of all school teachers was published, continuing education and short term in-service training courses in FL were available but attendance was dependant on the teachers' own initiative (and means) and it had no effect on their career. Some of the programmes were offered by the Ministry of Education (when there was a change of syllabus, for example), but the main role was played both by foreign organisations committed to the development of specific languages and by private language schools, and by Teachers' Associations and Unions. Very few scholarships and bursaries were available for courses and short term visits abroad. In August 1994, the National Co-ordinating Committee for Continuing Education, where schools, unions and other associations and partners were represented, was replaced by a 5 member Scientific-Pedagogical Board appointed by the Ministry of Education as the body now responsible for accreditation of all credit-awarding short term programmes in continuing teacher education and training.
Programmes may be offered by universities, non-university HEIs and other accredited Continuing Education Centres, often in partnership with associations of schools. Private institutions may also submit programmes for accreditation.
Private language schools and foreign organisations (such as the British Council, the Goethe Institut, the Alliance Française, the DAAD, the Bureau d'Action Linguistique of the French Embassy) continue to play a relevant role in post-professional language teacher training, both on a complementary basis and through autonomous short programmes of continuing education. A similar role continues to be played by FL teachers' organisations and associations and Continuing Education Centres linked to Teachers' Unions.
Content of programmes varies a great deal, and may include refresher language modules, courses addressed at new developments in methodology and didactics, general educational topics and more academic subject-study modules, usually articulated with new developments in the school syllabus and/or in discipline research.
To be designated as credit awarding programmes have to fill certain requirements. There are short, medium or long term programmes, their length varying from a minimum of 25 to a maximum of 230 hours. They may be of several types (workshops, courses, seminars, practice modules, development of research projects, study circles) and can privilege theoretical or practical education or the teachers' own experience in the workplace. They may have two levels (the 'normal' level 25 to 50 hours and the specialisation level 120 to 150 hours) and the credits awarded vary accordingly. Special 'reconversion' programmes (120 to 230 hours) do not usually apply to FL teachers. Individual assessment of trainees and assessment of the programme is obligatory and can be undertaken in various ways.
The new credit awarding programmes for teachers' continuing education have all been launched within a general programme (FOCO) funded by the European Social Fund. Also the Community provision of funding for teachers to follow courses in other EU countries and the school exchange programmes have had a positive impact on in-service training of language teachers, in spite of the low number of people involved so far.
The Instituto Camões (a public institution created by DL n.o 135/92 for the promotion and development of Portuguese language and culture) is responsible for the provision of short taught courses for graduates who have applied for lectureships in Portuguese in other countries, whenever there are vacancies to be filled. Attendance of these courses is compulsory for those wishing to fill the post. Until very recently there was no other formal education or training in PSL. The University of Oporto now offers a Diploma in teaching Portuguese as a foreign language. A degree programme leading to a 'licenciatura' in teaching Portuguese as a second language has been announced by a private university for next year.
The contents of the training programmes offered by Instituto Camões and by the University of Oporto concentrate on teaching methodologies and language analysis of Portuguese for teaching language to speakers of other languages. The contents of the new degree programme are unknown.
The length of the programmes varies from a 2-3 months intensive course to short modules distributed along a period of 6 months to one academic year. The new degree programme should take four academic years.
There are as yet in the university sector no programmes combining language study with other disciplines to degree level, either in the area of the humanities and social sciences or in fields involving more professionally oriented disciplines. Nevertheless, language study is being increasingly integrated as a mandatory or optional course in a number of non-language degree programmes. But in general languages are, for the time being, still not seen as integrating elements in non-languages curricula and their status is therefore more adequately described as that of service courses. See 4.2 below.
Degrees in Sociology, Journalism, Media Studies, Engineering, Computer Sciences, Mathematics and Business and Management often have nowadays mandatory foreign language courses (generally English); degrees in Law, Economics and Architecture occasionally have an optional foreign language course. English is offered as a free option course in some faculties. The offer of language courses depends on the institutions, and therefore the curricular position of languages within or along non-language programmes varies a great deal. Often even in cases where language courses are provided as part of the programme students can be exempted from attendance if they pass an ad hoc language exam of intermediate level. In most cases the dominant element in these courses is language for special purposes; in other cases, students follow a general language course aimed at improving their language skills at a rather basic level. In a very small number of cases the main objective may be if not the study of another culture at least an approach to the particular aspects of that culture more directly related to the students own specialist area.
It must be said that the offer of language courses for students in non-language programmes is still not very common. Significantly, in most Arts Faculties language courses in English, German and French are the only courses in modern language and literature programmes that cannot be taken as optional courses by students in other programmes, mainly for insufficient human and material resources. Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Russian are usually possible options in Arts Faculties where they are taught. To my knowledge only one public university (Evora) has a language centre for the purpose of offering language courses (in most cases compulsory) to non-language students, as does the Catholic University. No special provision of language courses for Portuguese students in exchange programmes is offered in public universities (the candidates selected are those that by their own means have already reached an adequate linguistic level). Demand for language courses is far greater than departments are able to satisfy.
There are some university short and medium length Portuguese language programmes for non-native speakers: extra-mural Summer Courses and 1 or 2 year language/culture/literature programmes where ERASMUS students can be integrated whenever there are modular systems. In some cases intensive language courses are provided for ERASMUS students.
The special needs of students from Portuguese emigrant families, who in increasing numbers enter the educational system at higher education level, have not so far been addressed by specially designed language courses.
Some private language schools offer courses of Portuguese as a second language.
The structure and length of the courses is extremely varied and the same applies to forms of assessment. The language component can be taken over one, two or three years for 2 to 4h per week as a mandatory course or may be on a completely optional basis with no credit in overall grades.
See 2.2.3. above.
Until the late 1980's only one private non-university institution offered a training programme for translators, although most language and literature university degrees included some study of translating and a variable amount of translation practice in language and literature courses. Since then public universities have created either postgraduate diplomas in translation after a 2 year taught programme (University of Coimbra, Classical University Lisbon) or translation branches in their Modern Languages and Literatures degree programmes (New University Lisbon, University of Oporto). Research in translation theory for higher degrees (Doctor's degree) may be carried out in these universities.
Several non-university HEIs, both public (ESE Faro) and private now offer shorter undergraduate vocational programmes for translators (and programmes combining translation and comparative literature).
Interpreters are usually trained in non-university HEIs from the private sector (though there are private Universities and one public polytechnic, Leiria, now offering a vocational degree programme for both translators and interpreters). The same programmes usually train interpreters and tourist guides or associate interpreting and secretarial studies or interpreting and public relations. In the public sector, the Oporto Polytechnic offers an undergraduate degree programme for interpreters and the University of Minho has recently launched, with the support of the Common Service of Conference Interpretation of the European Commission, a postgraduate specialising programme for conference interpreters.
The translation branch in Modern Languages and Literatures degree programmes includes either one FL (English, German, French) or two (French as a dominant language and either Italian or Spanish as a complementary language), but always in combination with Portuguese Studies. The specialising courses usually consist of a translation theory course, a course on word processing, a course on contrastive analysis (Portuguese/FL), and two practical courses on general language translation (target languages Portuguese and FL). A more professional oriented seminar in the 5th year accompanies the practical professional training period (Oporto).
Postgraduate programmes in translation require proficiency in two foreign languages (English/German, French/English, German/French), a 'solid cultural background' about the countries where the languages are spoken as well as 'an excellent command' of Portuguese. Their stated aim is to prepare students to pursue careers in the field of translation. Programmes include courses on translation theory and textual analysis and stylistics, general translation practice (target language Portuguese), special languages (economic, financial, commercial), technical and legal translation, textual production and advanced composition practice, applied linguistics and (sometimes) translation technology and computer assisted translation, contemporary culture or political-cultural history of the countries concerned, international organisations and European law. One programme provides introductory courses in legal and economic studies and another one integrates professionalising practical project work.
In non-university training programmes in both translation and interpreting the emphasis is on professional skills requiring intermediate level proficiency in the foreign languages. Most of these programmes are linked to or originated in secretarial training programmes and the contents of the courses retain to a certain extent that professional orientation. The emphasis on oral skills is greater in programmes for interpreters but the initial language level and the final level reached in both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting are not, in general, very high.
The new postgraduate specialising programme in conference interpretation offered by the University of Minho requires advanced proficiency in at least two foreign languages and Portuguese (either two active and one passive language or one active and three passive languages), confirmed oral skills and a reasonable knowledge of contemporary economic and political affairs. Education and training in consecutive and simultaneous interpretation is the basis of the programme and courses in economics, law and political sciences are mandatory. The programme has a very strong European orientation.
Translation branches in MLL programmes: 4 or 5 specialising annual courses taken in the 3rd and 4th years are added to the language, culture and literature courses of the traditional MLL curriculum. In Oporto, a practical professional training period is supposed to take place in a 5th year, accompanied by a specialising seminar. It has proved difficult to find training posts for all candidates.
Postgraduate diplomas in translation: two year programmes of taught courses, 19h to 22h per week in the first year, 13h to 20h in the second year. Each course is independently assessed.
The 3 year programmes of 'bacharelato' level offered by non-university HEIs are assessed by coursework and examinations.
The one year postgraduate programme in conference interpretation has a minimum of 20 credit units, 14 of which in interpretation techniques (12h per week, 2 theoretical, 4 theoretical-practical and 6 practical); the other credits can be obtained by taking courses in economics, law, political sciences or European studies. Two practical assessment tests during the year and a final exam in consecutive and simultaneous interpreting precede the award of the professional diploma.
The impact of community programmes at undergraduate level is more direct (there are several IPCs specially for German and French), but a certain number of students at postgraduate level have participated in ERASMUS and LINGUA exchange programmes as undergraduates and that experience was seen as an incentive to pursue studies in this area at postgraduate level.
Also most programmes in translation and interpreting (the clearest example being the above mentioned programme on conference interpreting) either were created or have developed a stronger European cross-cultural component as a result of co-operation and exchange within the EU.
None, besides research and teaching translating and interpreting.
No full language degree programmes are offered in non-university institutions of higher education except the language teachers' training programmes and the programmes in translation and interpreting already mentioned in 3 and 5 above.
Language diplomas awarded by the British Council, Alliance Française and Goethe Institut are, if combined with other qualifications, accredited by the Ministry of Education as 'sufficient' qualification to teach English, French and German in 2nd and 3rd cycle schools.
Languages (i.e. English, more rarely French and in a couple of cases German) are included in a large number of the vocationally oriented programmes offered by non-university HEIs. Again the situation is extremely varied and very difficult to describe, as in the past two years a large number of new programmes have been launched in the public and mainly in the private sector and very often the same designation is used for very different programmes. The quality of the programmes and the type and level of language studies offered is, at this early stage, impossible to estimate, although if one is to generalize from the longer established programmes, both the initial and final levels of language skills tend to be rather low. Courses are strongly professionally oriented, with a main emphasis on language for special purposes, although in most cases a substantial amount of the course must address fairly basic language skills.
In Agricultural Studies, English has been for some time now a mandatory subject in all public Higher Schools of Agrarian Studies. Courses in English and sometimes French, are usually compulsory also in Business and Management, Accounting, Public Relations and Secretarial Studies and in the new areas of Tourism Studies, Recreation and Leisure, Heritage and Environment, Computer Applications, Marketing and Communication and Media studies. In some Higher Schools of Education a language course is also mandatory in training programmes for teachers of music, visual education and mathematics. Languages other than English are not in general offered, even on an optional basis, except in the rare cases where two languages are required.
The more common situation seems to be a modular language course (60 to 130h in all), but again it depends on the programme; it can be more developed, particularly in the area of tourism. All programmes at this level are three year programmes.
See 2.2.3 above. Also several short term projects funded by the European Social Fund and integrated in programmes such as, e.g., NOW were used by non-university HEIs as a basis from which to develop longer degree programmes in new areas.
The need to promote a quantitative and qualitative improvement of language education is strikingly urgent. The number of FLs learnt in general secondary education in Portugal is the lowest in the EU - 0.8 % in 1991/92, when for many pupils in the system the 1986 Reform, which reduced from two to one the number of compulsory languages, still did not apply. English, the most taught language, is chosen by approximately 3 times more pupils than the second placed French (source: Eurostat 6/94).
Also the role of foreign language education in awakening and furthering linguistic awareness should be brought to bear more centrally on the school curriculum and articulated horizontally with the mother tongue in a country where literacy rates are extremely low: 12.7% of the population are illiterate; 80% (age cohort 25-64) left school before year 6 and 93% did not finish secondary education (data from 1991, source OECD, 1994, and Censos 91); 30% of the pupils in the system do not finish year 6 and the schooling rate for the 3rd cycle (years 7-9) is at the moment 55% (data given by the researchers responsible for the National Literacy Survey, in Ribeiro, 1995, 13). In such a context, the educational components of foreign language learning and the development of receptive skills need to be privileged in compulsory education, at the same time that the instructional component and productive skills must be more relevant to a growing number of pupils. How language teachers can meet these demands within the new curriculum, in their present working conditions, and if the tendency to cut down the length of training programmes is not inverted, remains to be seen.
Human and material resources are notoriously insufficient at all levels of the educational system. In higher education, and particularly in universities, this situation is aggravated by the low professional and institutional status of language teachers (forming a category apart, outside the university teaching career, with no prospects of promotion, and no incentives and scarcely any support in research) and by the low status, and hence the often low academic standard of professionally oriented courses and programmes (which very rarely are articulated with or integrated in the more 'scientific' and 'academic' programmes). It is felt that the average FL proficiency of students in HE (also in language programmes) is low, but the resources and policies which might improve this situation, supporting students in extending (and also in maintaining) their language skills are either non-existent or insufficient. Language departments often cannot meet the needs of their own students, much less those of students from other disciplines.
The need to develop, and in most cases to implement, the study of lesser-used and lesser-taught languages and of minority cultures is felt at all levels of the educational system, as one of the main means of promoting the 'counter narratives' needed if the 'European dimension' is to be something other than a bureaucratic and standardised concept of identity that excludes 'others', creates new and often racialized boundaries, and obscures the divisions, differences and exclusions within itself.
There is a general need to increase participation in exchange programmes. Portugal is still the weak partner in most exchange programmes, often for reasons having to do with insufficient funding, and staff exchange and curriculum development have been underprivileged in most ICPs so far. Hence, the development of the ECTS system is proving to be difficult and slow.
The demands made on staff by inter-institutional co-operation and exchange programmes are not usually recognised (e.g. proper administrative support and moderation of their teaching load are needed).
Flexibility and interdisciplinarity are urgently needed in existing Lang./Lit. programmes (more language and non-language options and the possibility of taking part of the credits in a different programme), as is the horizontal and vertical articulation of theoretical and 'applied' courses, if those programmes, and with them teaching and research in language, linguistics, literary and cultural studies, are to survive at all as something other than unacknowledged language teachers' training activities and to attract students other than those who could not make it into more prestigious non-language programmes, supposedly preparing them for higher status professional occupations. It is my belief that if 'pure' and 'not-so-pure' subject-based and discipline-based teaching and research in the field traditionally designated by Modern Languages and Literatures is to have any future at all in our universities and raise, as it must, its present declining teaching (and mainly assessment) standards, it can only do so by developing interdisciplinarity and through involvement in new 'alternative' programmes, thereby increasing participation, opening new fields of research and teaching through contact with other disciplines and proving the 'real' usefulness of its own subject-core study and research. The reorganisation of programmes in structures based on modules or study units and the generalisation of systems of credits are necessary if flexibility and interdisciplinarity are to be achieved. The present trend, in some universities, to move the more vocationally oriented (i.e. teachers' and translators' training) courses to postgraduate specialisation level is a welcome response to the need to raise both educational and professional standards and should be supported by the central educational authorities. But it should also be used as a means to promote the much needed research in the so called 'applied' areas, it should be more diversified in terms of the professional orientation of the programmes offered, and it should not be used either to prevent the development of interdisciplinary non-professionalising undergraduate degree-awarding programmes or to move to a new 'higher' ghetto the now 'disengaged' more professionally oriented courses.
Several European languages are still not offered in any Portuguese HEI and others are unavailable except as free courses in some universities. Teaching of lesser-used and lesser-(or un)taught languages needs to be promoted at this level if it is ever to reach secondary education.
Funding is blatantly restrictive in MLL, and human and material resources (from books to more sophisticated technological equipment) are clearly insufficient.
Practically no attention has been paid so far to professional competence related to language study outside the fields of language teaching and translating and interpreting. There is an urgent need to promote research and teaching in applied languages and to develop postgraduate professionally oriented specialisations integrating language study and foreign languages and non-language subjects. There are enormous difficulties (outside the area of teacher training) in forming partnerships or other types of co-operation with the professional world allowing practice or training modules to be offered.
There is also a need to develop programmes of specialisation in Portuguese as a 2nd or foreign language.
Most of what was mentioned in previous points has a direct or indirect bearing on the 'creation of Europe' (development of languages other than English, flexibility and interdisciplinarity of programmes, promotion of applied language studies and research, modularisation of programmes as a requirement for promotion of the ECTS system). There is a need to increase exchanges (study abroad should be supported and funded so that it could become a fundamental part of language degrees) and to extend exchanges to postgraduate programmes, particularly to research degree programmes.
Language teachers' education and training is a key sector needing urgent re-organisation if present standards of language proficiency at all levels of the educational system are to be raised.
Shorter integrated initial training programmes: programmes offered by the non-university HEIs are in general extremely deficient in terms of language study (subject study takes 30% of the total of taught courses - language instruction does not go beyond rather basic language skills, cultural and linguistic studies are often confined to general one or two semester courses, and specific methodology and didactics taught on a one semester basis). Without any support of language departments, qualified staff and material resources are very scarce and access to sources of information difficult. The recent creation of language centres with a strong European orientation in some HEIs may prove, if properly resourced, to help fill this gap. But the fact remains that the standards of language and cultural education in these programmes need to be substantially raised and the quality of the programmes rigorously assessed.
Longer initial training programmes: in programmes offered by universities the main problems seem to be the overload of courses; the non-flexibility of programmes; the lack of articulation of contents and approaches of the scientific component and the more professionally oriented part of the programme (courses and classroom practice), and the fact that courses in this component tend to be reduced to applied psychology and general education theory (with very little or no emphasis on sociology of education) at the cost of applied language study, specific methodology/didactics and intercultural competence.
There is a need to offer programmes where the study of less-taught EU languages, in combination with those now available, is possible.
Higher degrees: access of language teachers to postgraduate degrees needs to be promoted and provision of postgraduate programmes in LSP and applied language studies need to be developed.
Curricular units relating to specific professional competence need to be developed in most programmes, and a much stronger emphasis is needed in applied language study, specific methodology/didactics, intercultural competence, i.e. in courses articulating the academic specialisation component of the degree and the professional practice. A greater emphasis is needed on educational aspects of language learning, awareness of language and articulation of mother tongue and foreign language.
A general evaluation of existing initial training programmes is needed - indicators available clearly favour professionalisation at postgraduate level.
Partnerships between HEIs and schools need to be developed on a more permanent basis and the role of schools in training programmes needs to be strengthened.
The threat to reduce the one year 'estágio' of university training programmes to a short practice module needs to be strongly opposed (the professional relevance of the 'estágio' has been attested by trainees and professionals alike, see Um Estudo de Avaliação, 1986, passim). The tendency should be, on the contrary, to extend teaching practice thus structured to all initial teacher training programmes.
Direct classroom practice in the languages taken as majors in initial training programmes must be made available to trainees of combinations with Italian and Spanish (now limited in practically all cases to classes of Portuguese).
The present situation of professionalised teachers qualified to teach English and German but prevented from doing so because the language combination of their degrees (English/French, Portuguese/English, French/German, Portuguese/German) does not fit into the professional 'groups' in secondary schools (Portuguese/French and English/German) is scandalous, and more so when the system continues to use part-time students and professionalised teachers with lower academic and professional qualifications to do their job.
The needs of part-time students, most of them working as unqualified teachers, and the needs of their own pupils, have to be addressed. Intensive supplementary courses and supervision of teaching are needed, as long as academically unqualified teachers remain in the system.
In-service training must be available to all academically qualified but unprofessionalised teachers.
Continuous education programmes need to be available to all teachers and to be properly funded. programmes should be more diversified than at present so as to address different needs and interests.
Existing open and distance education and training programmes need to be supplemented by academic support and by tutorial groups which meet regularly. Again, a quantitative increase in human resources and properly trained staff are required.
Language courses need to be integrated in all teacher training programmes and non-language teachers should be given the opportunity to maintain and develop their language skills.
Only a small number of teachers have been able to benefit from staff exchanges and from immersion or in-service courses abroad, in spite of the positive impact of LINGUA and of the active involvement of language teachers in European Education Projects and in European (former inter-culture) clubs in schools. Exchanges tend, nevertheless, to be unilateral due to insufficient funding.
Curriculum development and exchange needs to be extended, as well as co-operation in production of teaching materials.
European Cooperation Programmes should be developed by HEIs.
Information on access to Community programmes needs to be more widely available.
Training programmes in lesser-taught EU languages need to be developed.
Non-language departments need more language awareness. The provision of language instruction for students of other disciplines is clearly insufficient, often non-existent. There is a need to develop programmes where non-language subjects are combined with language study to degree level and to generalise the provision of language courses both as integrating elements and as service courses in non-language programmes. The final level of language skills in the few existing courses needs to be raised and the structure, objectives, content and methodology need reassessment in order to effectively meet students' needs (which have, in most cases, been too generally or perfunctorily defined).
If language departments are to provide or to co-ordinate the provision of these courses, human and material resources must be strongly reinforced otherwise they will not correspond to these needs. Applied language research needs to be promoted and supported. More language centres, in close co-operation with language departments but with a stronger interdisciplinary and vocational orientation, are needed.
Since language skills quickly erode unless kept in use, there is, in this area, a particular need for continuous education and for the provision of self-access facilities and materials, which are virtually non-existent at the moment.
Given that language study is scarcely available in non-language programmes in most universities, there is an urgent need to provide intensive language courses for students wishing to take part in exchange programmes if participation is to increase and diversify.
If a growing number of professionals are to be able to function in professional contexts in a foreign language, integrated language courses must be created and others reorganised to meet this need. The type of language skills required, particularly where receptive and productive skills are concerned, needs to be clearly defined and addressed. Cultural awareness needs to be seen as a fundamental part of FL proficiency with a direct bearing on professional capacities.
Professional bodies and employers are being slow in explicitly requiring and valuing language skills.
See above, particularly the need to provide language instruction as a means of extending student participation in exchange programmes. Staff exchange and co-operation in curriculum development need to be extended in this area, where most of the changes have occurred to respond to new needs arising from European integration.
There are also deficiencies at present in the provision of courses in Portuguese as a foreign language for ERASMUS students; the difficulties arising from the need to provide diversified modules (in terms of general linguistic level and specialised language) at different times in the school year cannot be met by - and should not be the sole responsibility of - the overburdened and underfunded modern language departments of Arts faculties. The few existing language centres should be resourced and others created in order to meet this need.
There is a need to raise the level of linguistic proficiency and of basic theoretical knowledge in most of the existing programmes, particularly those offered by non-university HEIs. Before more postgraduate programmes can be created to answer the need to increase the number of qualified professionals in these areas, due to lack of resources and of qualified staff, existing programmes at postgraduate level should be the object of proper funding and resourcing and research more intensively promoted. Numbers in existing programmes need to be extended and more language combinations (including lesser-taught EU languages) should be offered.
There is a need, particularly where non-university programmes are concerned, to clearly separate translation and interpretation skills, a question which is partly dependent on the present professional status of both translators and interpreters. This situation also conditions the lack of differentiation in the levels of language education and in translation and interpretation training of professionals as the qualification required for different professional activities. International co-operation could help here.
Differentiation of training in receptive and productive skills is very rarely made in training programmes, and consequently too often much effort is expended in training production at such a basic linguistic level as to be of no use in a professional capacity.
There are difficulties in the provision of practical in-service training for both translators and interpreters.
Specialisation in translation in different areas (e.g. law and administration, technology, literature, etc.) is needed, and might be facilitated if joint 'alternative' undergraduate degree programmes were offered.
Terminological data bases in Portuguese are vital to stop the present expansion of blatantly imprecise mongrel terminology, often originating in Community produced data bases.
There is a need to raise the standards and to increase the number of trainees in interpreting, particularly in conference interpreting (the postgraduate programme now offered at Minho may prove an example to follow).
Programmes training professional translators and interpreters in lesser-taught EU languages are needed.
Co-operation of the type that made possible the specialising programme for conference interpreters at Minho should be extended to other programmes. International co-operation is felt to be crucial to the development of training in translating and interpreting.
No full language degree programmes are offered in non-university HEIs, except language teachers' training programmes and programmes in translation and interpreting. See above 7.2 and 7.4.
Although many programmes have been created lately with language courses as mandatory subjects, this is still far from being the general case and there seems to be a tendency in some areas to reduce the scope of language courses and the time devoted to language studies (as, e.g., in some Agrarian Studies programmes). There is a need to extend the offer both of integrated language courses and of service courses, and to examine (or re-examine) the nature and function of language studies in these programmes, the levels of achievement that should be expected (and which are at present generally very basic, unintegrated and of doubtful use for students) and the time and resources needed to attain them. Many programmes are being launched and accredited offering, in terms of human and material resources, no guarantee whatsoever of being able to perform what they purport to.
See 7.3.2 above. In this instance, where a large number of programmes is supposed to train professionals in areas where language skills are clearly core elements in the professional competence of the trainees, these skills should be more rigorously assessed and a higher level of proficiency should be required than is at present the case. There is a need for qualified staff and for resources, starting with adequate teaching materials for LSP addressed to the needs of students.
See above 7.3.3. There are more difficulties here due to the inexistence of language departments. The impact of the recent creation of a few language centres is still difficult to assess.
To go beyond the identification of needs and to propose concrete measures to meet them is an almost impossible step in this context without sounding either candid or presumptuous. These measures are, in Portugal's case given the type and magnitude of the needs, for the most part dependent on global policies and on political priorities which lie outside the scope of the present report. I will therefore limit myself to a summary listing of measures that hardly respond to the wide range of (often not so new) needs mentioned in the previous section(s).
It is not easy to distinguish the responsibilities to be mentioned under 1 and 2. HEIs enjoy, by statute, a great deal of scientific, pedagogical and administrative autonomy, but financing, particularly in the areas that concern us here, is almost exclusively dependent on public funding, and private sponsoring is virtually non-existent. Research projects and programmes which imply higher investments (always translated in budgets as 'costs') tend not to be accredited or supported. The definition of educational priorities and educational policy development are heavily conditioned by highly restrictive budgets oriented by monetarist criteria and the rating of Modern Languages (that of the humanities in general) is very low. The low-cost expansion of the system of higher education (mainly through an uncontrolled rapid growth of the private sector and the largely unplanned proliferation of non-university HE programmes), which has been privileged by the Government in recent years in order to increase access rates, was not supported by clearly defined national priorities, by a detailed survey of the educational needs of the system and of social and professional demands, or by the development of national minimum standards. A commitment to the maintenance and enhancement of quality based on national planning and proper public funding, on the one hand, and institutional academic autonomy and social accountability, on the other, is still to be developed in the Portuguese system of higher education.
Reorganisation of initial training programmes aiming simultaneously at improving subject study standards, extending the offer of optional courses (more flexible programmes) and at developing the professionally oriented component with a sharper focus on applied language study, oral skills, specific methodology/didactics and intercultural competence.
Provision of programmes combining the study of lesser-taught languages with those now offered.
Development of applied research and postgraduate programmes for language teachers.
Development of inter-institutional co-operation.
Development of co-operation with partner schools and school mentors.
Development of co-operation with language teachers' professional associations and teachers' unions.
Development of European Cooperation Programmes, exchange and curriculum development in the area of language teachers' training.
Evaluation of the different types of existing language teachers' education and training programmes; definition, with HEIs, professional bodies and teachers' unions, of a common vision of what language teachers' education and training is intended to achieve; formulation of a national policy and national re-definition of minimum standards. Adequate funding and resourcing of programmes in order to meet quality requirements, privileging the expansion and improvement of existing programmes instead of the random proliferation of under-staffed and under-resourced new programmes.
Reorganisation of professional 'groups' in schools so that all professionalised teachers can teach the language they are professionally accredited to teach, whatever the language combination of their degree.
Provision of properly funded in-service training and continuing education for all teachers in the system. Measures to develop the opportunities of study/training abroad for language teachers. High priority measures enabling untrained teachers working in the system to complete their academic and professional qualifications.
Promotion of languages other than English (in terms of funding and information); extension of the choice of languages actually offered in most schools beyond English and French; incentives to mixed classes in schools, so that choice of FL can actually occur; extension of early language learning.
Development of exchange programmes, giving within LINGUA a high priority to the training of language teachers for schools, and paying particular attention to the special needs of small countries and lesser-used and lesser-taught languages. Development of data bases, teaching materials and distance education networks and resources to which both institutions and individuals can have direct access.
Extension of the provision of language degrees, more flexible and interdisciplinary programmes combining language and non-language study to degree level.
Modularisation of programmes and development of measures assisting the recognition of degrees and study units.
Promotion of applied language studies and research.
Development of study of lesser-taught languages and cultures.
Development of professionally oriented programmes at postgraduate level.
Integration of language courses in all degree programmes.
Creation of language centres in close articulation with Modern Languages departments for the provision of subject-based language courses, culturally aware service courses and self-access facilities and materials to meet the needs of non-language students in terms of professional capacity, work placement and study abroad, and courses in Portuguese FL for ERASMUS students.
National review of existing provision and proper funding and resourcing to support the development of the measures listed above that must be seen as 'educational investments' and cannot be met by private sponsoring.
Support of awareness raising projects to promote study of FLs other than English and to assist the recognition by professional bodies and employers of the value of language and inter-cultural competence.
Incentives to the development of quality assurance systems.
Exchange programmes and international co-operation in areas more directly responding to new needs ('alternative' programmes, internationalisation of professional specialisation, raising of standards in the education and training of translators and interpreters, professionalisation at postgraduate level) is fundamental for their local development. Also in this case, particular attention must be paid to the special needs of small countries (uneven exchanges due to insufficient funding) and lesser-used and lesser-taught languages. Measures of positive discriminaton are needed to prevent aggravation of existing inequalities between regions, institutions and students.
Development of data bases, teaching materials and new educational and training technologies, and distance education networks and resources.
Properly staffed and resourced language centres should be created, research recognised as indispensable and adequately funded, culturally aware language courses integrated in all non-language programmes. The stronger professional orientation of the programmes offered in these institutions cannot be used as justification for the general low standards of language and inter-cultural competence aimed at by the language courses offered.
Evaluation of the different types of existing language education and training programmes and national re-definition of minimum standards.
See also 8.2.2 above.
See 8.2.3 above.
(1994) Censos 91. Lisboa, Instituto Nacional de Estatística.
(1994) Curso de Estudos Portugueses e Franceses (Licenciatura em Línguas e Literaturas Modernas). Auto-Avaliação. Ano lectivo de 1992-3. Coimbra, FLUC.
(1989) Ensino Superior na Comunidade Europeia. Organização dos períodos escolares e carga horária dos docentes. Unidade Nacional de Eurydice, Série H - Documentação e Informação, Lisboa, Ministério da Educação, Gabinete de Estudos e Planeamento.
(1990) Fontes de formação inicial dos professores do ensino básico e secundário: o caso da disciplina de Português. Lisboa, Ministério da Educação, Gabinete de Estudos e Planeamento.
(1994) Les chiffres clés en éducation dans l'Union européenne. Bruxelles, Commission Européenne.
(1986) Licenciaturas do Ramo de Formação Educacional e Licenciaturas em Ensino. Um estudo de Avaliação. Lisboa, Ministério da Educação e Cultura, Gabinete de Estudos e Planeamento.
(1986) Profissionalização em exercício. Um estudo de Avaliação. Lisboa, Ministério da Educação e Cultura, Gabinete de Estudos e Planeamento.
(1986) Sistemas de Formação de Professores. Contributo para a sua análise. Lisboa, Ministério da Educação e Cultura, Gabinete de Estudos e Planeamento.
Arruda, Lígia (1989) "Ensino de línguas Estrangeiras em Portugal", II Parte. Revista ICALP, n.os 16-17, 13-63.
Boreland-Vinas, Helen (1991) Teacher Mobility in the European Community: Initial Teacher Training - A comparative description. Brussels, EURYDICE.
FENPROF (1992) "Ser professor.construir a profissão. Documento Base da 2.a Conferência Nacional do Ensino Básico e Ensino Secundário", Suplemento ao Jornal da FENPROF, 85.
Fraústo da Silva, J.J.R. et al. (1987), Proposta de reorganização dos planos curriculares dos ensinos Básico e Secundário. Relatório Preliminar. Lisboa, Ministério da Educação.
Neves, Maria Natália (1994) "O ensino das línguas estrangeiras nos estabelecimentos de ensino da área territorial da Direcção Regional de Educação do Centro", in Judite Carecho e Hans-Werner Huneke (org.), Aprender e/a ensinar Alemão. Coimbra, FLUC, 13-32.
OCDE (1984) Exames das Políticas Nacionais de Educação. Lisboa, GEP/ME.
OECD (1993) Education at a Glance OECD Indicators/Regards sur l'éducation - Les indicateurs de l'OCDE. Paris.
Ribeiro, Marina (1995), "Literacia. Avaliar as competências da população adulta". Notícias da Educação, 18, Lisboa, Ministério da Educação, 12-13.
AGE |
SCHOOL YEARS |
STAGES OF EDUCATION |
LEVEL OF PROGRESS FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGES |
|||
FL1 (mandatory) |
FL2 (optional) |
|||||
| 18 | HIGHER EDUCATION |
|||||
| 17 16 15 |
12 11 10 |
SECONDARY EDUCATION |
FL8 or FL2 3 FL7 or FL2 2 FL6 or FL2 1 |
PROFESSIONAL BRANCH |
||
| 14 13 12 |
9 8 7 |
BASIC EDUCATION (COMPULSORY) |
3RD CYCLE |
FL1 5 FL1 4 FL1 3 |
(FL2 3) (FL2 2) (FL2 1) |
|
| 11 10 |
6 5 |
2ND CYCLE |
FL1 2 FL1 1 |
(extra-curricular FL2) |
||
| 9 8 7 6 |
4 3 2 1 |
1ST CYCLE (primary) |
(extra-curricular FL) |
|||
| 5 4 3 |
PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION (NOT COMPULSORY) |
|||||
FL1 - English/French/German
FL2 - English/French/German/Spanish/Italian
Choice of FL depends on the FLs each school is able to offer and on the number of pupils in a school year opting for the same FL (a minimum is required to form a class).
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