Modern Languages and the Making of ‘Citizens of the World’: Recapturing the Values of a Discipline at Odds with Current Political and Educational Contexts’ Talk by Marion Krauthaker

By Dr. Marion Krauthaker

In this seminar, Marion will present the early findings of an ongoing pedagogical research project on Modern Foreign Languages. Looking back at the roots of MFL teaching in the UK has enabled me to retrace its original mission and to better pinpoint the disconnections between its founding values, its current perception and the Western educational context. In the UK, the discipline has already been and continues to be greatly affected by recent market-driven and neo-liberal educational policies and I suggest that one of the responses to this worrying situation is to recapture and raise awareness on the mission of the discipline. Looking at MFL curricula in the UK, MFL stands out through its crucial contribution to the education of future citizens; in addition to linguistic skills, MFL does indeed provide students with a variety of skills that may not be on the current educational neoliberal agenda, but are nevertheless fundamental to the development of rounded and reflective citizens and professionals. I will present the key elements that seem to make MFL the ideal locus where students develop an awareness on questions of diversity, equality and inclusion and are equipped with essential critical tools to become ‘citizens of the world’. The presentation will be followed by some time for a collective discussion to develop some of the key points and compare the findings with the Irish context.

All welcome!