Appendix II.

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Subjects: MA Internship Organisation: University of Groningen Internship supervisor: Marcela I. Huilcán Herrera

University supervisor: Dr. Charlotte Gooskens

Internship period: 3/02/2020 to 30/06/2020 Date of submission: 12/07/2020

Student: Irina Makarova Student number: S4070216 Programme: Master in Multilingualism

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Introduction

The internship report gives an account of the work executed during a five-months placement (280 hours) at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen. The placement, as part of a combined internship-thesis project, was performed within the scope of the Erasmus+ LoCALL project: Local Linguistic Landscapes for global language education in the school context. One of the primary objectives of the project is to create a bridge between pupils’ plurilingual backgrounds and their multilingual learning paths at school (secondary school students and teachers).

To begin with, the first section of the report will present a description of the organisation and the Erasmus+ LoCALL project on which I was working on. In the second section, I will describe the tasks that I carried out during my internship divided as development of multimodal modules and digital training week. In the third section, I will present an evaluation of the placement to reflect on the goals and outcomes expected at the beginning of the placement, alongside with perceptions about the internship as a whole and the supervision received. Finally, I draw some conclusions.

1. Description of organization and project

This section contains the description of both the University of Groningen and the Erasmus+

LoCALL project.

1.1 University of Groningen

The University of Groningen is an institution with top quality in education. Having a long academic tradition since 1614, it is the second oldest University in the Netherlands (“Top 100 University | University of Groningen,” n.d.). Moreover, in 2019, the University of Groningen was in 65th place in the ranking by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU Shanghai Ranking; “Top 100 University | University of Groningen”,n.d. ). The Faculty of Arts offers 16 Bachelor programmes and 40 Master’s tracks. The fields that the faculty covers are Cultural Studies, Language and Literary Studies, Archaeology, Journalism, History, International Relations, Journalism, and Linguistics (“Faculty of Arts | University of Groningen”, n.d.).

In this institution, I had a working place in campus Fryslân, where I spent two days a week.

However, due to COVID-19, since March, I started to work remotely. My work was conducted individually with the supervision of Marcela Huilcan.

1.2. The Erasmus+ LoCALL project

The main objective of the project ‘Local Linguistic Landscapes for global language education in the school context’ (LoCALL) is to construct a bridge between pupils’ plurilingual backgrounds and their multilingual learning paths at school (secondary school students and teachers). This is a three-year project (2019-2022) that includes five partner institutions: Université de Strasbourg (France), University of Hamburg (Germany), Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal), Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain), and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (The Netherlands) (“Training week: Linguistic landscapes in the context of multilingual education”, 2020).

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The project intends to integrate pupils’ experiences and educational resources into the learning procedure in linguistically diverse environments for the learners' benefit. Furthermore, educational modules were created on the basis of a collaborative analysis of local Linguistic Landscapes in order to be integrated into the language classroom tackling pupils' and teachers' education needs.

Additionally, the project aims to provide conditions to reflect on the integration and presence of linguistic minorities and construct translanguaging spaces.

2. Student tasks

As it was mentioned in previous sections, this project LoCALL aims initially to construct a bridge between pupils’ plurilingual backgrounds and their multilingual learning paths at school (secondary school students and teachers) and entails creation of multimodal modules. During the internship placement period, I mainly worked on:

2.1. Creation/development of MM and Implementation 2.2. Organisation of (virtual) Training Week.

2.3. Relevant bibliography to the project.

2.1. Creation/development of MM and Implementation 2.1.1. Module 1.

As it was mentioned in previous sections, the project LoCALL aims initially to construct a bridge between pupils’ plurilingual backgrounds and their multilingual learning paths at school (secondary school students and teachers) and involves the creation of multimodal modules on Linguistic Landscapes for education. In order to start implementing the modules, each university partner sought for secondary school teachers who would like to become part of the project. In the case of the province of Fryslan, two schoolteachers in Leeuwarden expressed their willingness and enthusiasm to collaborate with the LoCALL project team. Besides, my thesis work was developed in the scope of the LoCALL project providing me the possibility to conduct surveys during the first classes at schools. The following schools were used for further implementation of the activities:

1. Piter Jelles Impulse 2. Comenius

Piter Jelles Impulse

Impulse was the first school where we started implementing the module. The average age of the students was 12-13 years old. The main learning outcomes were aimed to develop and strengthen secondary school pupils’ abilities in Spanish and Frisian while becoming an expert in multilingualism and raise their awareness of the linguistic diversity in other countries with the specific focus on the linguistically diverse regions where multiple languages are spoken In those sessions, pupils aimed to:

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1. engage with general information on multilingualism at a global, European and regional scale.

2. turn into explorers and investigate the linguistic landscape in the area of their choice hence critically reflecting on the current presence of Frisian in public places.

Firstly, four sessions were created (90 minutes each) and discussed with the teacher beforehand.

The subject of the class was Frisian and Spanish. During the sessions, we designed presentations, quizzes and activities. For the final outcome, we created the research project: Linguistic Landscapes in the city (see the link to the presentations:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12hIvywREgucGobzqTsSqjLla53lv2hXx/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BwF6LecktxvxPqcXkDG-30Fe6WoVtk_A/view?usp=sharing). I was responsible for creating several presentations and delivering it to the pupils. Besides, I interacted with pupils during the classes, in case they needed any assistance while completing the activities. For example, during the multilingual quiz, I assisted them by guiding through the questions and explaining some words which they did not know. Additionally, during the first session I conducted a survey with pupils for my thesis work. Unfortunately, the last session could not be carried out since the day was the day after the government announced that school had to close due to the corona crisis. As a solution, the last task was adjusted and transformed into

“Homescapes”, and the pupils were asked to explore the linguistic landscape at their home. We created a google classroom with all the instructions where the pupils could upload their work and receive the feedback from the teacher.

Comenius

The module in Comenius was mainly focused on Frisian with the aim to raise pupils’ awareness and foster positive attitudes towards languages in general and specifically, Frisian as a minority language of the region. Four sessions (similar to the ones to Impulse) were planned to be implemented with four classes. Unfortunately, due to the corona crisis, only two sessions were completed. However, we tried to contact the teacher to propose to adjust the project and move it to the digital format, but it was unsuccessful.

2.1.2. Module 2.

During the intellectual lockdown, we designed a mini-module related to the linguistic landscapes called “Coronascapes'' which could be completed in a safe environment like home. I was responsible for creating instructions and recording a short video example of my Coronascapes and collecting videos from other members of the LoCALL team as well. (see the link to the presentation:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FlGFH_TQU_iCE3_TMo5y4x4vAeiwsL5m/view?usp=sharing) 2.1.3. Module 3.

During the internship, we worked on the creation of different multimodal modules related to the Linguistic Landscapes and Language Awareness. Therefore, as one of the tasks, I created a module called “Exploring Schoolscapes: Make a Difference” which could be further implemented by the secondary school teachers into the class. I designed a collaborative project between Primary and

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Secondary school teachers in the province of Friesland containing 4 sessions. The main purpose of the lessons was to let pupils turn into language explorers and investigate and compare Linguistic Landscapes in the school settings. As the final outcome of the project, pupils aim to improve the linguistic landscape at their own schools and create a digital newspaper “Make a Difference” (see Appendix I).

Regarding Module 1, 2 & 3 I worked on the following tasks:

● editing and adjusting the multilingual quiz and creating its version in Google Form.

● creating and presenting a PPT for reflection purpose after the multilingual quiz.

● codeveloping and presenting the research project and instructions “Linguistic Landscapes in the city”.

● creating an example of the poster for pupils and example of MEMEs

● developing a Google classroom for both Comenius and Impulse schools

● creating instructions on how to enter the Google classroom.

● attending and assisting all the sessions with pupils (except one)

● creating Coronascapes video and instructions for pupils

● developing multimodal modules to be implemented at school

● providing feedback to NHL students on their modules

2.2. Organisation of (virtual) Training Week

“Linguistic landscapes in the context of multilingual education”

Besides creating modules for schools, the LoCALL team intended to organise a Multiplier Event for teachers or people interested in multilingual education. This training week was planned to take place in Leeuwarden. However, due to the corona crisis, original plans could not be accomplished, and the decision was made to adjust to new circumstances and still hold the training week but in a digital format. The training week was carried out from the 8th to 12th June 2020 via Google Classroom and organised by our LoCALL team from the University of Groningen | Campus Fryslân in mutual collaboration with the partner universities. During the early stages, I was asked to work on the event proposal and create a google classroom which could be the main online platform for the event. Additionally, I was responsible for selecting the bibliography list for the participants related to translanguaging/language awareness/linguistic landscapes.

In order to provide a general idea about the week’s topic, the designed programme included tasks which participants had to complete before the start of the training week. Also, at the beginning of the week, the participants were provided with the content related to the approaches that guided the LoCALL project’s work while working with schools. One of the main objectives of the training week was to familiarise the participants with research on the linguistic landscapes and its application in the school settings. Besides, our design of curriculum during the event provided an opportunity for the participants to reflect on the implementation of the linguistic landscapes’

modules as a method to integrate pupils’ multilingual repertoires into the learning process.

Additionally, we demonstrated how different online tools could complement and diversify classroom activities (e.g. Kahoot, Menti, Google Classroom). Throughout the week, I was responsible for any technical issues, contacting participants and webinar guest speakers by helping them to enter the online platform.

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Regarding the training week, I worked on the following tasks:

● codeveloping the proposal for the Training Week

● creating an online platform such as Google Classroom

● designing the invitation poster for the Training week (see Appendix II)

● designing the Webinar poster (see Appendix II)

● selecting a bibliography list on language awareness/translanguaging/linguistic landscapes

● participating and being responsible for the technical assistance during live sessions

● mailing guest speakers/potential participants/LoCALL team partners

● monitoring the Google classroom and answering questions

● creating a video with all the participants’ created language biographies

● leading the quiz activities during the live session

2.3 Relevant bibliography to the project

One of my tasks was to draw on literature about linguistic landscapes/translanguaging/language awareness studies which could be further used by the LoCALL project, e.g. for the Virtual Training week. I created a list of relevant references and a short-annotated bibliography.

3. Evaluation of internship

This section aims to describe how I had the opportunity to work in this project, the contribution of the master’s courses and the learning outcomes.

3.1. Beginning of the placement

From the beginning of the master’s course, we were encouraged to start thinking about the internship options depending on whether we would like to acquire a practical work experience or do something related to the research project. As I already had an experience in teaching, I had some doubts about whether I would like to find an internship placement related to the educational field or look for something slightly different. However, when we started a multilingual school course, I got highly inspired by the topic of multilingual education because it allowed me to look at pedagogical approaches from a totally new perspective. When I asked our teacher of multilingual school course, Joanna Duarte, if she had any available projects for the internship, she proposed me to take part in one of the new projects Erasmus+ LoCALL, which perfectly served my interests. Afterwards, I was introduced to Marcela Huilcan (my future internship supervisor) to discuss the project in more detail and later on, we agreed on working together in this project with me as an intern.

The prospect of working with local teachers and pupils was fascinating to me since I was always willing to learn and broaden up my knowledge of different education systems and approaches.

Moreover, in this case, the schools were located in a minority language region with Frisian as a minority spoken language which was a great opportunity for me to observe and investigate pupils’

attitudes towards this language. Also, the concept of translanguaging and language awareness approaches were brand new to me, and it would give me the possibility to write my thesis on this

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topic. Additionally, I could have access to schools, particularly pupils, in order to collect the data for my thesis and at the same time, work for the project, which would make the perfect match.

3.2. Master’s courses and internship alignment

From my perspective, all the courses contributed to some certain extent during the placement.

However, I would like to highlight the multilingual school, multilingual community and CALL courses (computer-assisted language learning). The “multilingual community” course gave me an excellent background for theories on language ideologies and in-depth insight into the work of languages within society, discrimination based on language, reasons of language loss and the relationship between language and identity. The “multilingual school” course provided fundamental knowledge of multilingual approaches, which later on, some of them we implemented into the classrooms during my internship. The CALL course, which was an elective I chose besides doing the internship, helped me to learn more about how online technologies can complement and diversify classroom practices and make a learning process more effective. Afterwards, I applied the gained knowledge during the digital training week working with various online tools.

3.3. Learning goals and supervision

At the beginning of the internship, I created the following learning goals:

● to strengthen critical thinking by commenting on the work of others

● practice my public speech skills by giving presentations to pupils and leading activities

● design multimodal modules for schools during the project

● gain experience in organising events by working through all the steps starting from the event proposal to monitoring the whole process

● strengthen my organisational and multitasking skills by working on several things at the same time

● improve communication and collaborative skills by working with people from different countries

I believe I reached all of these goals to a different extent. I was eager to learn and communicate by asking questions whenever I felt I needed some extra explanation. The gained knowledge at the university allowed me to add value to the project. My experience of teaching in the past was beneficial on several occasions when we worked with pupils at school, and when I had to provide feedback on multimodal modules created by NHL Stenden students who were also part of the team. Furthermore, acquired knowledge and skills during the CALL course helped me to generate several ideas of using online technologies for our project during the corona crisis when all the schools had to close. Regarding the digital training week, I was able not only to be part of the organisational team of the event but also develop my skills in designing invitation, webinar posters for the event. Lastly, the valuable feedback provided by my supervisor helped a lot to improve my professional skills.

While the university and schools were open, I met with my supervisor each week, where we could always discuss in detail all the working moments. Even after all the internship was moved to the digital format since March, we still kept in contact, and my supervisor always supported me and provided help if needed throughout all the internship.

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Conclusion

Over the past five months, I have learnt about different multilingual approaches and practices in the school settings. I gained not only theoretical knowledge but also learnt how the implementation of such approaches could possibly improve pupils’ language attitudes and enhance their motivation to learn languages on the example of a minority language region. It was a perfect match between the theory and practice. Valuable feedback and support of my supervisor helped to keep positive attitudes during the internship placement, even in a time when we were faced certain challenges due to the corona crisis. Besides, working in such an international project with experts from different countries was a valuable and inspiring experience.

I would like to persuade my further career in multilingual education, preferably as a part of a team working on projects related to multilingualism in minority language regions. The obtained courses at the university and experience during the internship gave me the best of two worlds to be prepared for further career steps.

References

Top 100 University | University of Groningen. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2020, from https://www.rug.nl/

Faculty of Arts | University of Groningen. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2020, from https://www.rug.nl/let/

Training week: Linguistic landscapes in the context of multilingual education. (2020). Retrieved July 12, 2020, from https://locallproject.eu/2020/06/15/training-week-linguistic-landscapes-in- the-context-of-multilingual-education/

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Appendix I.

Example of the created multimodal module related to linguistic landscapes at school

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Appendix II.

Examples of the webinar and invitations posters

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Appendix II.

Table of contents

Introduction

Conclusion

Appendix I.

Appendix II.

Examples of the webinar and invitations posters

Appendix III.

Internship photos