Review article
FOREIGN LANGUAGE CURRICULA IN HIGHER SECONDARY EDUCATION IN EUROPE – A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Martina Prpić
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb Centre for Educational Research and Development
Abstract
The paper compares secondary school curricula of nine European countries with the aim of presenting how communicative competence is operationalized in the foreign language section. Particular emphasis is placed on the conformity with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the language policy of the Council of Europe. Results have shown that the CEFR, or a communicative approach to language teaching and the corresponding recommendations of the Council of Europe, have been used as a point of reference in most of the analysed foreign language curricula. In the current Croatian secondary school curriculum for English as a foreign language there are no indicators of systematic use of the CEFR, although there are elements of a communicative approach to language teaching and the language policy of the Council of Europe. The author recommends that the CEFR be used when designing the new Croatian foreign language curriculum for secondary schools, particularly in defi ning communicative competence and the levels of knowledge, and that special emphasis be placed on educating teachers, who will work according to that curriculum. The Slovenian model could provide a good example in designing the curriculum as it consistently implements the abovementioned elements.
Keywords
communicative competence; the communicative approach to learning
Hrčak ID:
40820
URI
Publication date:
23.6.2009.
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