Actas da - Xunta de Galicia

Trilingual Education & Language Minorities in Europe
which is finally placed in the class folder. This written version and its saving in
the records was produced at the specific request of the children.
One objective in TEO is to create situations where conditions naturally arise
for genuine oral communication. But in no way does diversity of levels of
competence inside the class represent a handicap (TEO Rapport 1995: 67). This
can be seen from the responses to questions on the use of TEO by the children.
When asked if they enjoyed working in small groups the following responses
were provided:
1. The others help me to talk and judge what I produce.
2. We can make things up together and you learn a lot from the others.
3. I like to talk with the others about how to do the work.
4. When I don’t know a word I can ask another child and I can get
something out of what the others know.
When asked if the group worked well in spite of mixed ability levels in French
few children talked about major difficulties. Some of their comments were
striking;
5. You can explain to the others who don’t understand very well.
6. When there are several of us we know more.
7. It’s not so difficult for everybody, somebody else knows how to say it.
8. If you work by yourself all you do is repeat the same thing.
When asked what they learnt from each other they gave responses like the
following;
9. Phrases and new words.
10. How to help the others.
As to why they felt they learnt this way, children said:
11. I can ask the others questions.
12. You talk about things and afterwards you understand.
13. I learn from the children who know more.
14. Sentences I don’t know, I get them anyway.
What these responses reveal is the breakthrough in creating situations where
conditions naturally arise for genuine negotiation.
In later grades written skills are activated based on TEO. Once oral capacities
have been built up the natural bridge to written skills has been prepared. After a
story has been produced children will use it in the writing workshop to turn it
into a written text. Here again there is much discussion, with the teacher and
amongst the children themselves, around the preparation of the final product.
The editing conference (conférence de rédaction ) is the key piece inside the
writing workshop - it is thanks to the editing conference that a genuine oral
communicative situation arises. Correction of texts only takes place just before
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