Schooling, Language and Teachers: Language Awareness and the Discourse of the Educational Reform in Catalonia

Abstract

This article explores the role of language awareness in the teaching/learning of languages within the framework of the Educational Reform in Spain. Three different types of discourse are compared: the official curriculum, teachers' views obtained in interviews and teachers' classroom practices. The study is centred around three main questions: (1) What is the degree of consistency between what secondary school teachers say and do about language awareness and the new curriculum proposals? (2) What is the educational/philosophical basis for a language awareness component in a 'constructivist' curriculum'? (3) How can the language awareness component in the curriculum be enriched? By combining ethnography and discourse analysis, the study constructs three teacher profiles which are based on their views of language, language teaching and language awareness, their classroom practices and the degree of consistency between teachers' views and practices on the one hand, and the curriculum on the other. The paper concludes with some suggestions about possible ways of improving the language awareness component in the curriculum.