Talking to the Whole Wide World: Integrated LOTE and intercultural studies for Australian primary school.

Harbon, Lesley

Talking to the Whole Wide World: Integrated LOTE and intercultural studies for Australian primary school, by Penny Vos, published by Bilby Publishing & Consulting.

Softcover, spiral bound, 202 pages, Audio CD-Rom included. RRP $99.00 online at http://www.mondeto.com/talking-to-the-whole-wide-world.html

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In framing this review of Penelope Vos' 2009 primary language teaching resource book it became clear that I needed to read critically in view of three particular notions embedded within it: Esperanto, intercultural and integration. My aim is therefore to share my perceptions not only of the value of the book in relation to its claims as a worthwhile resource for primary school teachers, but also to comment on how Esperanto is positioned and whether/how intercultural notions and integration are evident.

The book

The book is divided into 61 sections, of which the first fourteen are introductory in nature and provide advice to learner teachers about teaching languages in the primary school.

The following 40 sections are week by week chapters that contain resource material to progressively teach the program over four school terms. The pages are colourful and carefully formatted to ensure their suitability as master copies when photocopying (information regarding which pages may be legally photocopied is located on the inside front cover).

In each chapter the topics of that particular week are split into beginners' vocabulary and grammar exercises. There is a section comprised of 73 games at the back that are very suitable for language practice in the primary classroom. There is also a section on dictionary use, pen friends, competitions and website resources.

Teachers are encouraged to allow their students to explore, practise, sing, focus on vocabulary, spell, compare and learn the phrase of the week.

The audio CD is simple, but probably too fast for most teachers to learn and teach simultaneously without having listened to it beforehand. The songs could be played for the class to model, but the pronunciation sections' modelling of single words and phrases moves very quickly, and without much explanation. The book imitates the approach used by the ABC's well-known television program Playschool, where presenters relax and take risks with their singing and movement. Ultimately, however, Vos herself calls the CD 'imperfect', as the high speed and lack of instructions are those that so often accompany CD sets.

An ambitious vision

Internationally renowned Australian scholar Michael Clyne comments in his preface to the book that 'while unashamedly part of a strategy to advance the cause of Esperanto as our second/apprenticeship language, many of the techniques employed in the materials are superb primary school ideas which could be used for the teaching of other [Languages other than English]' (Vos, 2009, p. ii). Indeed, primary language teachers, or even primary teachers in general, could pick up many suitable ideas for language exploration in this book.

In the introduction to the book, Vos outlines her vision for 'nothing less than having every elementary school teacher being empowered to teach Esperanto as a first language other than English' (Vos, 2009, p. 2)--a truly admirable aim, since languages other than English programs are not yet offered in every Australian primary school.

Intercultural integration

As intercultural is becoming a more prevalent concept in our current context, Vos defines the intercultural aspect of language learning as how students examine the sociocultural notions and surface-level, visible aspects of the target culture. In fact, Vos clearly labels her knowledge of intercultural as based on the UN's official observances, fundamental aspects of culture, or more simply, topics to engage the curiosity of children. It should be noted that this is potentially confusing as her knowledge differs from the intercultural notions embedded in professional learning programs, such as the AFMLTA's ALPLP, ILTLP and PSP programs.

Located in green coloured boxes in each unit, students are asked to perform a variety of tasks ranging from investigating what holidays and festivals people celebrate to how environmental problems in a chosen country might be solved. It seems that much of Vos' intended pedagogy in using these coloured boxes is intercultural exploration, as she asks the learners to explore, notice, experiment, compare, predict and reflect.

Two key questions remain unanswered

Learners are told that Esperanto is used all over the world by 'doctors, teachers, writers, families, scientists, musicians, scouts, vegetarians, anarchists, homosexuals, feminists, cat-lovers, environmentalists, the blind ... youth ... Buddhists, Shintoists, Catholics, Quakers, Protestants, Mormons, Baha'is ...' (Vos, 2009, p. 18), however, nowhere does the volume address the question why. Disappointingly, Vos fails to address the key questions young learners may ask: where is Esperanto spoken and what is the culture of Esperanto speakers?

Okrent maintains

Language is not just a handy tool for packing up our thoughts and sending them along to others. It's an index to a set of experiences both shared and extremely personal. More than any other expression of our culture, it is the way we do things--the way we complain, argue, comfort others. We love our languages for this. They are the repositories of our very identities. Compared with them, Esperanto is an insult. It asks us to turn away from what makes our languages personal and unique and choose one that is generic and universal. It asks us to give up what distinguishes us from the rest of the world for something that makes everyone in the world the same. It's a threat to beauty: neutral, antiseptic, soulless. A Mao jacket. A concrete apartment block. (Okrent, 2010, pp. 111-112)

Okrent continues his critique wondering '[clan the thing that Esperantists share with each other really be called a culture?' (Okrent, 2010, p. 116). What aspects of the intercultural would learners be exploring if there is no Esperanto culture?

The second important question is simple. Why has Vos chosen to avoid entirely the word Esperanto in the title of her volume? There is a suggestion that Esperanto might be the language to save languages education from its crisis in Australia. I feel this is problematic--especially seeing the intended progress we can make with the developments for living languages in the Australian Curriculum Languages currently being shaped.

References

Okrent, A. (2010). In the Land of Invented Languages: A celebration of linguistic creativity, madness and genius. New York: Spiegel & Grau.

Review by Lesley Harbon, University of Sydney

Lesley Harbon has been involved in languages education in Australia for 30 years and has taught Indonesian at primary, secondary and tertiary levels in three States/Territories, She is now a language teacher educator in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at The University of Sydney,

lesley.harbon@sydney.edu.au