Teaching the Romanian Language in the Multilingual Context of European Schools

Following the entry of Romania into the European Union in 2007, the study of the Romanian language was introduced in the European Schools, a special type of school and quite diverse from other scholastic institutions. One of the fundamental characteristics of European Schools is that any of the official languages of the European Union's member countries can be taught as L1. Focusing on the role of the L1 in the European Schools, we risk simplifying the situation if we consider this didactic matter equivalent to the teaching of the native language in national schools. Though L1 in European Schools substitutes the mother tongue in national schools, these two issues cannot be considered equivalent, because of the substantially different pedagogical context; there are some special features involved (bilingualism, small groups of pupils, etc.) that cannot be ignored when exploring this educational situation. One of the main peculiarities of the European Schools is the permanent migration of pupils, which has a strong impact on the teaching process; for a teacher of Romanian language L1 it is almost impossible to track goals that are only achievable in the long term, as the class composition might change several times during the school year. Moreover, the students' scholastic background can be substantially different with the pedagogic consequence that students with differing levels of knowledge of Romanian sit in the same class and have to study together. Therefore, teachers need to differentiate the didactic work for lessons of L1 in European schools. Moreover, the L1 Romanian lessons in the intercultural context of the European Schools have a more complex and important role compared to a native-language course in a national school: to teach the pupils, to make them participate in their cultural rights and to prepare them for confronting intercultural communication. For this reason, in European Schools, Romanian, and any other native language, should be taught and studied by applying a communicative approach only.