What counts as ”knowledge” in foreign language teaching and learning practices today?

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this text is to describe and problematize possible didactic consequences for the communicative aspects of foreign language teaching and learning that the contemporary discussion at both national and transnational levels about ”knowledge” and ”accountability” in education may lead to. This discussion concerns, among other issues, various standardized measurements of pupils achievements and increasing demands on schools and teachers to deliver measurable and comparable results. What, then, counts as ”knowledge” in foreign language teaching and learning practices today? By undertaking a critical discourse analysis (Fairclough 1989) of the maybe most important transnational steering instrument for language teaching and learning practices in contemporary Europe, i.e.,The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Teaching,Learning and Assessment (CEFR) (2001) at least some answers to this questions may be clarified: The discourse of ”knowledge” in foreign language teaching and learning as expressed in CEFR is described by means of a typology of decontextualized ”competences” and ”skills”, cathegorized in specific domains and reference levels. One of the consequences for the communicative aspects of foreign language teaching and learning practices may be that a former democracy-oriented discussion about the aims and meaning of language communication in an increasingly heterogeneous and plurilingual world is lost. Key words: Communicative aspects of foreign language teaching and learning practices, ”Knowledge”, ”Accountability”, ”Competences and Skills”, CEFR, critical discourse analysis.