From left: Louise Crosby (education ministry), Jean-Jacques Weber (University of Luxembourg), Anne-Marie Reuter (Lycée Robert Schuman), Frank Schmit (Athénée de Luxembourg), Josiane Weis (Lycée Michel Rodange) and Agnès Prum (University of Luxembourg) Maison Moderne

From left: Louise Crosby (education ministry), Jean-Jacques Weber (University of Luxembourg), Anne-Marie Reuter (Lycée Robert Schuman), Frank Schmit (Athénée de Luxembourg), Josiane Weis (Lycée Michel Rodange) and Agnès Prum (University of Luxembourg) Maison Moderne

That and other questions were explored during a university roundtable event on Saturday which bookended the two-day “Mapping in English” conference, organised by the Institute of English Studies and the Institute of Luxembourgish Language and Literatures.

A panel of English teachers and a representative from the Education Ministry spoke broadly on the importance of English in preparing young people for the labour market.

With English composed of Germanic and French elements, for those Luxembourg students who have mastered French and German, gaining a mastery at secondary is not a great leap. But not all students thrive and some leave school with no English or only a basic grasp of it. “I think it’s an absolute scandal. We’re still of the idea that English is a luxury item reserved for a certain group of students and the better students. But it’s a global language that everyone needs to acquire,” Jean-Jacques Weber of the University of Luxembourg said.

Anne-Marie Reuter of the Lycée Robert Schuman pointed out a major advantage of English in schools--the communicative methodology, drawing on a “positive approach” and “caring attitude” towards students, inherent in the system, produced students who were more at ease and less confrontational. The difference was so marked, she said, that other teachers in the school had begun applying a similar methodology.

Lack of staff

Education ministry representative Louise Crosby pointed out that young people in Luxembourg were motivated to learn English, a trend that was driven largely by gaming, movies and TV. But teachers pointed out that this was not reflected in the number of Luxembourg students opting for English streams and the number of people applying to teach.

“I see a lack of staff in the future, and it’s not going to improve because a lot of students are discouraged by parents” from studying English sections, said Frank Schmit of the Athénée Luxembourg, adding that young people felt compelled to pursue more so-called “serious” sections such as law and science.

The discussion came around to Luxembourg’s lacklustre Pisa results, and members of the public questioned why it would not be possible to adopt English at primary level across the education system. This is already the case in the Ecole Internationale Differdange and will also be an option at Lycée Michel Lucius starting September 2017.

To implement such a change across the education system would require a huge reform, Crosby pointed out, which takes time and requires the support of all stakeholders. Furthermore, it was questioned whether such a shift would really bring the change needed to improve Pisa scores.

“It’s great to have grassroots, bottom up change but when the final evaluation is centralised assessment, this is what you’re going to get,” said Schmit, adding: “ The Chinese have proved everyone wrong. If you do cranial cramming, you do better in Pisa.”