Organic and Sustainable Language Learning at School

Abstract

The publication of the Common European Framework of Languages (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolios (ELP) has led to the creation of new outcomes-based curricula in many European countries. However, many secondary school teachers still struggle with this shift of paradigm and do not really know how they could foster their learners language competence in a foreign language. Since teachers cant know what they dont know, they need a map in order to walk new paths and a reflection tool which helps them recognise which aspects they need to pay more attention to in their teaching. Based on a wealth of literature in the fields of second language acquisition, language teaching methodology and evidence-based research, I came to the conclusion that language learning needs to be both, organic and sustainable to be successful and that there are 11 essential factors which language teachers need to pay attention to.