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The Modern Foreign Languages Environment

The Modern Foreign Languages Environment (MFLE) is a new and exciting online service provided as a joint collaboration between Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (SCILT). Launched in September, the MFLE is designed to support primary and secondary language teachers who are looking for practical information and resources to extend their own continuing professional development.

For example, teachers can check out the site’s ‘weblog’, a noticeboard of diary-style entries concerning current developments in language teaching. The blog is ordered so that the most recent information is at the top of the list, allowing teachers to find the latest news quickly and easily. They can even leave comments, if they wish.

As well as reading the weblog, teachers can also download podcasts (digitally recorded mp3 sound files) and listen to them when they want on an mp3 player or on their computer. The first MFLE podcast concerns eTwinning and was recorded at the Scottish Learning Festival SETT 2005.

One poster on the MFLE weblog commented:

“Excellent sound quality listening on my laptop. I’ll have to ask Santa for an mp3 player. I think this is something the pupils will find great.”

For primary language teachers there is useful information and downloadable documents in the Primary zone concerning:

  • Training
  • Language Support
  • Immersion
  • Transition from Primary to Secondary
  • Inspections

The Creative teaching section of the website includes ICT-related advice on setting up links abroad (ePals, Global Gateway and eTwinning, Comenius projects with downloadable video case studies), blogging, organising webquests, using interactive whiteboards and developing drama in the classroom.

The interactive whiteboards subsection contains a number of useful documents on how to use different types of interactive whiteboard, as well as examples of downloadable PowerPoint files for presenting vocabulary and grammar. Under the Sharing activities heading, there are exemplars of good practice in Scottish schools. The MFLE website also links to further case studies of effective practice on the ICT in Education area of the LTScotland website, including such topics as:

  • Interactive games and activities for French
  • Creating cartoon stories using Kar2ouche
  • Interactive voting, Internet shopping and the euro
  • French time-telling lesson with Hot Potatoes
  • Videoconferencing in the advanced higher French class

Finally, back on the MFLE website, a Resources and images section offers a wealth of downloadable classroom resources and an online image bank.
Finally, guidance is given on careers with languages and how cinema and media can be useful in the modern languages classroom. Suitable DVDs, television programmes, podcasts, radio programmes and foreign newspapers are highlighted with their relevant web links provided.

Well worth a look.