Chapter 1Language-Aware Subject Matter Instruction

PROFO - ARGUMENTATION IN LANGUAGE-CONSCIOUS TEACHING IN MULTILINGUAL SECONDARY SCHOOL CLASSES

What does democracy mean - in Solon's time and today? Why do women still earn less than men, and what prevents a global ban on child labor?

Socially controversial questions like these are the subject of much debate and discussion. But what language skills do students need to take part? Arguing is a key skill. The ProFo model for promoting students' argumentation skills provides materials for language-conscious teaching in multilingual classes in the subjects of Biology and Environmental Studies, History and Social Studies/Political Education, Economics and Career Orientation, and implements an innovative didactic approach to using students' multilingual resources in writing.

The ProFo model encourages intensive engagement with subject content while at the same time promoting students' attention to language. They learn about argumentation as an interdisciplinary language activity and find out how to use their multilingual resources when writing argumentative texts.

The ProFo model has been implemented in teaching materials for secondary schools on 10 topics:

Democracy
Migration
Women's work
Children's work
animal rights
Tax Harmonization
Gender issues
Creationism
Cell Phone Ban
School uniforms

In addition, the model is explained in detail in 4 modules for teacher professionalization, which contain information on both the theoretical background and the practical implementation of the materials and guide the development of new topics step by step. The modules are designed primarily for teacher training and development, but are also suitable for self-study.

The ProFo model was developed within the international Erasmus Plus project "MeLA: Multilingual Education and Language Awareness" at the University of Graz and tested in all relevant subjects at secondary level.

For more information, see also the homepage of the Didactic Center for German as a Second Language and Language Education of the University of Graz.