El uso de la prensa diaria en la docencia de la biblioteconomía: una propuesta interdisciplinar

En la Diplomatura de Biblioteconomia i Documentació de la Facultat de Biblioteconomia i Documentació de la Universitat de Barcelona, desde las asignaturas impartidas en el primer semestre del tercer curso, Classificació i Indexació en Ciències Socials (optativa) y Recursos i Serveis en Unitats d¿Informació (obligatoria), realizamos durante los cursos 2003-2004/2005-2006 una actividad interdisciplinar a partir de la prensa. La elección de ambas asignaturas respondió, primero, al hecho de que el trabajo conjunto refuerza en el alumno una concepción global de la biblioteconomía. En segundo lugar, porque había una mayoría de alumnos matriculados en ambas asignaturas. Y, en tercer lugar, porque la Gestión forma parte de las Ciencias Sociales. Nuestra propuesta consiste en la presentación del uso selectivo de la prensa diaria como recurso pedagógico de los contenidos teóricoprácticos. Así, una entrevista a un director de orquesta nos permite comparar la dirección orquestal con el liderazgo de una organización. La lectura obliga a un ejercicio de comprensión, análisis y síntesis que concluirá con la aplicación de los lenguajes documentales. Con esta actividad (individual o grupal) conseguimos diversos objetivos propuestos por el EEES: dominio del vocabulario básico de ambas asignaturas, las técnicas propias de éstas y la capacidad de interpretar situaciones y adaptar procesos. En lo que respecta a competencias transversales, se perfecciona la comunicación oral y escrita, la capacidad de análisis y síntesis y, también, la capacidad de razonar críticamente. En relación con las habilidades, se mejoran las operaciones de la gestión de la información y las técnicas de administración de centros y servicios.

Música a la Universitat: una eina per desenvolupar l'expressió creativa i la comunicació

Aquest article pretén exposar de quina manera la música, que comporta sempre una participació activa de l'alumne, constitueix un element formatiu de primer ordre, per raó de les seves característiques creatives i expressives. Informar i crear un corrent d'opinió favorable a la inclusió de la música com a matèria dins la Universitat, per aprofitar les seves qualitats i enriquir així la vida emocional i relacional dels joves, moltes vegades mancada d'unes pautes i d¿uns models basats en la creativitat, l'autenticitat, la solidaritat, la comprensió i la comunicació. També es proposen recursos per desenvolupar l'expressió creativa dels alumnes, a partir de la música.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

Cinema i educació (social). Tres mirades pedagògiques d'una mateixa pel·lícula. El cas de «Sleepers»

La verificació que la vida acadèmica està patint una revolució formal i de contingut obliga a recrear el discurs pedagògic introduint-hi elements molt heterogenis. Ressaltar els valors culturals dels diferents mitjans de comunicació ens permet destacar les potencialitats i l¿ús del cinema com a instrument docent facilitador dels aprenentatges dels alumnes. Fa molts anys que cadascú de nosaltres hem incorporat el cinema en el nostre treball docent. D¿acord amb els continguts que desenvolupem en les nostres assignatures, l¿utilitzem com a font analítica i documental per a la intervenció pedagògica i social. Els relats filmogràfics ens permeten introduir pràctiques formatives i professionalitzadores a partir de l¿anàlisi de casos, una eina de treball molt utilitzada en l¿àmbit socioeducatiu. Amb aquest article, presentem, doncs, tres visions diferents desenvolupades en el marc de tres assignatures dels ensenyaments de Pedagogia i Educació Social, i ho fem a partir d¿una mateixa pel·lícula, Sleepers, de Barry Levinson (1996), tot demostrant el caràcter transversal de la nostra proposta.

"When I have holidays": Influència entre llengües i producció escrita. Un estudi amb aprenents adults d'anglès com a llengua estrangera

En aquest article presentem una proposta de tipologia de la transferència lèxica en la producció escrita per tal d¿analitzar la incidència que té en adults aprenents d¿anglès com a llengua estrangera i veure les possibles relacions entre els tipus de transferència i el nivell de competència en anglès, així com les interrelacions entre les llengües prèvies (materna/es) i segones i l¿anglès. Els resultats mostren una influència important de la primera llengua en l¿aprenentatge de les altres i, en el cas dels aprenents bilingües que aprenen una tercera o quarta llengua, influències interessants entre totes les llengües.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

Les dones i la nova ciutadania: cap a una educació per a la igualtat des de la diferència

En aquest article es presenten els interrogants clau que avui dia planteja l'educació per a la ciutadania paritària. S'analitzen dues dicotomíes bàsiques en aquest camp: "àmbit públic/àmbit privat" i "igualtat/diferencia". Aquestes dicotomíes s'han construït sobre la diferenciació sexual entre home i dona. De tal forma que l'esfera d'allò públic, de la política, de la ciutadanía, se l'hi ha adjudicat a l'home, mentre que la dona ha quedat relegada a l'àmbit del privat, d'allò quotidià, de la família. S'aporten evidencies que posen de manifest en què moment estem. Així, se planteja la situació de les dones en diferents esferes: en el món educatiu i de la docència, en el món del treball i en els mitjans de comunicació. Per altra lloc, es recullen els principis i assumpcions bàsiques d'una educació per a la igualtat des de la diferència. Conclou l'article amb una sèrie de reptes que té pendent l'educació per a la ciutadanía paritària en aquest mil·lenni.

"Hem guanyat l"escola però hem perdut el pati?" Els usos lingüístics a les escoles catalanes

En aquest article es pretén donar resposta a una pregunta relacionada amb els usos lingüístics dels escolars: es pot afirmar, com han fet força comentaristes, que a Catalunya el català "ha guanyat l'escola però ha perdut el pati?". Per fer-ho, es parteix de la distinció entre dos tipus d'usos lingüístics: els institucionals (l'anàlisi dels quals permetrà determinar fins a quin punt el català "ha guanyat l'escola") i els interpersonals (mitjançant els quals es podrà conèixer si el català "ha perdut el pati"). A partir de dades procedents d'estudis macrosociolingüístics i de recerques etnogràfiques, l'autor arriba a la conclusió que, si per "guanyar l'escola" s'entén convertir el català en la llengua vehicular predominant (però no única) de la majoria d'escoles de Catalunya, l'afirmació és bàsicament adequada en relació amb l'educació primària, i força menys correcta per a la secundària. En canvi, la segona part de l'enunciat no és encertada i indueix a error de diagnòstic: ni el català ha desaparegut dels patis, ni se'n pot atribuir la reculada a un canvi sobtat i recent, ni es pot restringir aquesta reculada a l'escola. En resum, "s'ha avançat molt a l'escola, però no gaire al pati".

Titulats en Mestre d'Educació Musical a la Universitat de Barcelona dels cursos 2005 a 2008: estudi d'inserció laboral.

Aquest estudi pretén esbrinar la coherència de la formació rebuda pels mestres d'educació musical que han estudiat a la UB respecte als requeriments necessaris per a la seva inserció laboral. S'ha dut a terme un estudi descriptiu ex post facto per enquesta que ha donat com a resultats un perfil definit de titulat que indica un alt grau d'inserció laboral i un temps d'espera mínim, principalment a les escoles públiques i mitjançant oposicions o borses d'interins. Aquests mestres estan satisfets de la seva feina, i la motivació per aprendre, la capacitat de treball, la comunicació oral, la vocació, la responsabilitat o les habilitats socials són algunes de les competències professionals que creuen que han estat determinants a l'hora de ser contractats. Per tot això es conclou que les persones que han cursat els estudis de Mestre d'Educació Musical de la UB tenen un alt grau d'inserció i satisfacció laboral, i que la formació inicial coincideix en gran part amb les competències de la professió detectades en aquest estudi.

Titulats en Mestre d'Educació Musical de la Universitat de Barcelona

Aquest estudi pretén esbrinar la coherència de la formació rebuda pels mestres d'educació musical que han estudiat a la UB respecte als requeriments necessaris per a la seva inserció laboral. S'ha dut a terme un estudi descriptiu ex post facto per enquesta que ha donat com a resultats un perfil definit de titulat que indica un alt grau d'inserció laboral i un temps d'espera mínim, principalment a les escoles públiques i mitjançant oposicions o borses d'interins. Aquests mestres estan satisfets de la seva feina, i la motivació per aprendre, la capacitat de treball, la comunicació oral, la vocació, la responsabilitat o les habilitats socials són algunes de les competències professionals que creuen que han estat determinants a l'hora de ser contractats. Per tot això es conclou que les persones que han cursat els estudis de Mestre d'Educació Musical de la UB tenen un alt grau d'inserció i satisfacció laboral, i que la formació inicial coincideix en gran part amb les competències de la professió detectades en aquest estudi.

Educació política: democràcia i ciutadania

Educar ciutadans és una demanda present avui en els textos de convencions internacionals, en els discursos dels polítics, en les aportacions dels més reconeguts pedagogs, en les conclusions de molts treballs de sociòlegs i psicòlegs de l"educació, i també en els mitjans de comunicació. En aquest sentit, la institució educativa s"ha estat plantejant durant les últimes dècades la seva responsabilitat enfront d"aquesta demanda, encetant una nova línia de reflexió i d"acció a l"entorn dels valors de la ciutadania en una societat democràtica.

Evolució de la construcció del coneixement científic a l'educació primària

Aquest és un treball d'investigació sobre la construcció del coneixement científic, concretament del concepte de densitat a través de la flotabilitat. La investigació es basa en la teoria escrita i les idees prèvies dels alumnes d'una escola primària sobre aquest concepte. Aquest alumnes són una mostra representativa, 10 alumnes de 2n, 4t i 6è respectivament, per intentar reflectir les idees que tenen els alumnes al llarg de l'etapa de educació primària. Per a dur a terme aquesta investigació els alumnes han respost a dos qüestionaris on havien de predir el comportament de diferents materials dins l'aigua. També es van portar a terme unes activitats manipulatives sobre flotabilitat per poder recollir més dades. Finalment hi ha els resultats i comentaris que n'extrec sobre la teoria i les dades recollides.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

En torno a los efectos de la edad en el aprendizaje escolar de una lengua extrangera

The purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue, the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations, which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated by our data.Two of these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children, adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency. However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided. The design of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11 (EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200 (Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3). We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic information. The questions we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows: 1. "For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it more than adults."Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5% in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher, whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional goals. 2 ."Young children have more resources to learn languages." Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners' strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast, younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning. 3. "Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above, the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed. Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences) no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age) has no significant influence on the learning process. 4. "The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written language"This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all, we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and 8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of lexical fluency. In conclusion, the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear, then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction in other areas of the curriculum.

Referents de l'educació intercultural

La societat en què vivim cada cop és més diversa i complexa. Per això és essencial trobar uns paràmetres comuns que permetin la convivència i la comunicació intercultural entre les diverses cultures que conformen el teixit social actual en el territori de la Unió Europea. En la mesura en què aquestes persones provinents d'altres països tinguin garantits els drets civils essencials, com a ciutadans de ple dret, estarem posant les bases d'una futura convivència productiva per a tothom i estarem deixant un llegat de pau social imprescindible per al progrés de la nostra societat. Un dels pilars bàsics d'aquest accés a la plena ciutadania per part de tots els habitants dels estats europeus és l'educació. Sovint trasbalsada per múltiples canvis legislatius, l'educació ara per ara no té cap altre sortida que ser intercultural, com a reflex fidel d'allò que està passant en la societat. El repte és preparar els professionals i implicar-hi a tots els agents educatius i promoure el desenvolupament ple de totes les capacitats dels alumnes, alhora que els prepara per a una transició al món laboral el més fàcil possible.