Acquisition et gestion des compétences en langues secondes

Abstract

One of the most burning political and educational issues in Switzerland today is the choice and the place of foreign languages in the school curriculum. The key challenges are both of a utilitarian nature (which language, French/German or English is most efficient from an economic or professional point of view ?) and of a cultural nature regarding identity (what would be the national identity if the Swiss from the various linguistic regions of the country communicate with one another in English?). This debate is even more impassioned since it is based on several implicit assumptions, such as: • What happens at the level of compulsory education, in particular at the lower secondary level (which languages, at which stage? how many lessons, etc.) determines the level of competence attained in adult life; • Mastery of one or several foreign languages is essential for your professional career and meets the demands of employers; • Knowing and using one or more foreign language strongly influences cultural configurations and individual and collective identities. These implicit assumptions are being addressed in the national research project 56, on which this article is based.