Rethinking bilingual pedagogy: The case of the Greek-German European State School of Berlin Alexia Giannakopoulou Hellenic Open University

The goal of the presentation With this presentation, I hope to contribute to a so far underdeveloped topic, the bilingual language development of Greek children in Germany and give an overview of the experience in the context of the European State School of Berlin. I will address the issues of communicative competence, language choice and identity, which lie at the heart of many theoretical arguments in favour of and against bilingual education programmes. The first part of my contribution provides a brief introduction to the contextual factors which have to be considered in the German case. The second part gives an overview of the results of a small-scale study carried out with students from the last two grades of the European School. The third part highlights some key issues linked to bilingual education.

The context Berlin presents an interesting case study because of the linguistic and cultural diversity. The co-presence of different ethnic groups fosters polylingual languaging. Some of these languages have a majority status (e.g. English, French) whereas others are minority languages. There are many different bilingual education models such as dual language programs (e.g. international schools offering the IB programme or the European State Schools). In the European State Schools (SESB), students with different first languages are taught bilingually in German and a partner language. Evaluation studies of these models are almost non-existent (Gogolin 2003).

Berlin’ s Europe schools (Staatliche Europa Schulen) These are schools with nine different language combinations: German together with English, French, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. They offer a fully bilingual curriculum. The courses are taught by native speakers. Both L1 and L2 are used as a medium of instruction with an integration of language and content learning. Maths, sciences, social sciences are taught in both languages. primary schoolssecondary schools

Bilingual education for Greek children in Berlin Greek afternoon classes are offered in two schools. In one of these schools Greek is integrated into the regular school schedule. At present about 90 students attend these classes. Teachers are seconded by the Greek Ministry of Education. About 160 students attend the secondary European State School. The dual language programme is subsidised by the German government. In the past few years, instruction in Greek dramatically lost in importance and a significant number of parents of Greek origin who live and work in Berlin opt for a German mainstream school for their children’s education.

The mission of Dual Language bilingual schools To produce bilingual, biliterate and multicultural children (Baker 2011). Other goals are: equality of educational opportunity for children from different language backgrounds a positive self-image for each child a community dedicated to the integration of all its children child-centered education building on the child’s existing language competence a family-like experience to produce multicultural children.

Background information The first German-Greek primary school, Homer, was founded The second German-Greek primary school, Athena, was founded The programme was extended in two secondary schools: Heinrich von Kleist (Gymnasium) and Hedwig- Dohm-Oberschule Berlin-Mitte (Integrierte Sekundarschule) The first undergraduates (Abiturienten) The German-Greek classes were hosted by Gymnasium Steglitz 2-3 Greek subjects can be assessed for university entrance exams (Greek, Biology, History, Political Sciences) This year Greek is centrally assessed.

The German-Greek European State School of Berlin (Gymnasium) It is a bilingual school where instruction is given in German and Greek and content matter is taught in both languages. Greek is used to teach History, Geography, Biology, Political Sciences. It generally follows the Berlin curriculum. In the Greek subjects, it borrows from the curricula of Greece. It leads to all the German state-approved educational qualifications, i.e. to the middle-level school leaving certificate after Year 10 (MSA) and to the higher-level school leaving certificate in Year 12 (Abitur). There is one dual language bilingual class in each grade within the regular German school. The books for the Greek subjects come from the Greek Ministry of Education.

The student population Generally children and youths who communicate with at least one parent in Greek and for whom Greek is a language of daily communication Children born in the diaspora Children of parents working in the Greek embassy or public organisations Children of economic immigrants For some Greek children the European School is the best, if not the only, option in view of an eventual smooth reintegration in the educational system of Greece when the parents return home In the past the school attracted children from the majority language (German) despite the fact that Greek is not considered a prestigious language

Empirical research on the effectiveness of the programme Questions that arise Is the specific model of bilingual education a promising and effective type of instruction conducive to the bilingual language development, academic achievement, the representation of culture and social integration of Greek children in Berlin? What challenges do the Greek students face in this school with regard to social integration, motivation and well being? What are their academic or vocational training routes when they finish school? How do the Greek teachers in this school view their professional identities? How do the German teachers in this school view the bilingual children?

Research questions What is the language choice of these children? How do they use L1 and L2? With whom, when and for what purpose? Do they use both languages to an equal extent? Do they have a stronger language depending on the social occasion? What is their reported (self-perceived) L1 and L2 linguistic behaviour (according to the youth’s opinion) What is their observed (perceived) linguistic behaviour (according to the teachers’ and the interviewer’s assessment) Which linguistic characteristics appear in their speech? Do they speak both languages like a monolingual? What are their attitudes towards L1 and L2 and towards their bilingualism? How do they identify themselves?

The method Data is harvested through a questionnaire with 26 Year 11 and 12 students (Oberstufe) and semi- structured individual interviews with 5 students, 3 teachers and 2 parents. What concerns this study is whether the competence and use of each of the two languages differs not only quantitatively but also qualitatively.

Most of the adolescents speak Greek with their parents

Interestingly they use both German and Greek to speak with their siblings, especially if they were born and brought up in Germany

They use Greek mostly or both languages to talk to their friends

They are proficient in both languages

Most of them describe their accuracy in Greek as high

More findings The results show, not astonishingly, that they have a better grade in Greek than in German. Their accuracy in German varies from person to person but most of them speak German well.

Skills development One can suppose from that the two languages are developing in similar ways but the students perceive to be far better at Greek in terms of speaking, listening, writing whereas they are equally good at both languages in terms of reading.

They recognise the value of both languages with German having priority over Greek

Ethnocultural identity Their national and cultural identity varies from person to person but they see themselves as Greek or German mostly (not Greek only or German only). This shows they still construct and negotiate their identity.

School ethos The use of Greek as a medium of instruction in a state-funded school system shows recognition and status on the language and its speakers (Cummins 2003). However it is difficult to achieve balanced bilingualism within the school.

Reasons for being in this school Linguistic and cultural diversity The strong importance attached by Greek parents to the German Abitur The quality of the educational curriculum of the European Schools The multicultural and European citizen spirit generated by the European Schools

Self-perceived and observed Communicative Competence They are conscious of their linguistic behaviour They have developed a high level of language competence Some of them arrive at a level of a monolingual learner The language they use is generally of high complexity The children who were born and brought up in Germany retain a German accent Diaspora varieties are developing (ekamne, me eipe)

Preferred language choice depending on social occasion They have a large L1 and L2 repertoire German does not replace Greek but is also strong They speak Greek or both languages with their friends, inside and outside of the classroom For children born in Germany, Greek is stronger when they speak with their friends or parents in public. This means they feel very comfortable speaking Greek in public places. Additive bilingualism is achieved

Identity and self-ascription They feel comfortable about their ethnic identity and have high self-esteem They do not classify themselves plainly as Greeks or Germans Their identity correlates positively with the language spoken predominantly with the mother The majority of Ss feel positive about being Greek but they also recognise their German side They are engaged in identity construction and negotiation. This means they presently ascribe themselves to one group but they also become associated with the culture of the other group. They are motivated to continue their studies in Germany

Multicultural understanding They gave a variety of reasons why they go to SESB. These include: I want to learn both Greek and German very well I want to be in a multicultural school I have many Greek friends in this school I want to make both Greek and German friends It's the only school that offers Greek subjects I want to study in Greece I want to study in Germany They have a deep understanding for inter-ethnic interaction settings The way they see their languages, cultures and their place in a multicultural society suggests they experience positive self- esteem and a sense of belonging in the dominant society

Conclusions The students responded positively to questions about language learning, cultural and self identities It seems that these children are “empowered” in Cummings’ words as a result of bilingual education and their interactions in this school They show similar communication patterns in inter- and intra-ethnic interaction It seems that the mission of the European school to empower students by creating positive self-identity and becoming full participants of a multicultural society is accomplished

Future evaluation research The EUROPE Study (EUROPA-Studie) will evaluate the European State Schools in Berlin (April 2014 – December 2016). Classes from Grades 4, 6 and 9 will be compared to classes from the same grades in regular schools. Achievement tests from the areas of reading, mathematics and natural sciences as well as basic cognitive skills will be held and they will be supplemented by a pupil questionnaire and a survey of both parents and teachers.