The use of cross-linguistic mediation tasks in developing learners’ transversal competences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18192/olbij.v14i1.6927Keywords:
plurilingual repertoire, crosslinguistic mediation, transversal competences, mediation tasksAbstract
Cross-linguistic mediation, a competence introduced by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in 2001, knows a new momentum after the recent publication of the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR-CV), in 2020, which introduces new cando statements for the teaching and assessment of mediation. Situated within the framework of plurilingual and intercultural education, mediation is intended to directly contribute to the development not only of plurilingual and pluricultural competence but also of transversal competences which have recently come to the forefront in language education. This article discusses the role of cross-linguistic mediation tasks in developing learners’ transversal competences, including digital competences, intercultural understanding, organizational skills, global citizenship, social skills, media and information literacy, teamwork, and collaboration skills. This contribution aims at highlighting the link between mediation and transversal competences through the presentation and discussion of specific task examples, drawing upon the METLA project.
References
Andrade, A.I., Araújo e Sá,M.H., Bartolomeu, I.,Martins, F.,Melo, S., Santos, L., & S imões, A.R. (2003). Análise e construção da competência plurilingue—Alguns percursos didácticos [Analyzing and building plurilingual competence—Some pedagogical paths]. In A. Neto, J. Nico, J.C. Chouriço, P. Costa, & P. Mendes (Eds.), Didáctica e metodologias da educação—percursos e desafios (vol. 1, pp. 489–506). Universidade de Évora.
Araújo e Sá, Ma H., De Carlo, M., & Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2014). Acteurs et dynamiques de médiation dans une plateforme de formation à l’Intercompréhension. Revue canadienne des langues vivantes/Canadian Modern Language Review, 70(2), 133–157. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.2022
Araújo e Sá, M.H., & Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2021). Online plurilingual interaction: Identity construction and development of plurilingual competence in students and teachers: A focus on intercomprehension. In E. Piccardo, A. Germain-Rutherford, & G. Lawrence (Eds.), Routledge handbook of plurilingual language education (vol. 1, pp. 276–295). Routledge.
Binkley, M., Erstad, O., Herman, J., Raizen, S., Ripley, M., Miller-Ricci, M., & Rumble, M. (2012). Defining twenty-first century skills. In P. Griffin, B. McGaw, & E. Care (Eds.), Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills (pp. 17–66). Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2324-5_2
Candelier,M., Camilleri-Grima, A., Castellotti, V., de Pietro, J.-F., Lörincz, I.,Meißner, F.-J., Schröder-Sura, A., Noguerol, A., & Molinié, M. (2012). Le CARAP—Un cadre de référence pour les approches plurielles des langues et des cultures—Compétences et ressources. Conseil de l’Europe. http://carap.ecml.at/
Care, E., & Luo, R. (2016). Assessment of transversal competencies: Policy and practice in the Asia-Pacific region. UNESCO Office Bangkok. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000246590
Coste, D., & Cavalli, M. (2015). Education, mobility, otherness: The mediation functions of schools. Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/education-mobilityotherness-the-mediation-functions-of-schools/16807367ee
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge University Press.
Council of Europe. (2018). Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture. Vol. 1: Context, concepts and model. https://bit.ly/COE-2018-Competences-democratic-culture
Council of Europe. (2020). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment—Companion Volume. Education Policy Division. http://www.coe.int/lang-cefr
Council of Europe. (2021). Initiative: Transversal competences in language education. Background paper.
Council of the European Union. (2018). Recommendations of 22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning. Official Journal of the European Union, C189, 1–13. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018H0604(01)
Dendrinos, B. (2006). Mediation in communication, language teaching and testing. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 22, 9–35.
European Commission. (2006). Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reco/2006/962/oj
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. Routledge.
Gordon, J., Halasz, G., Krawczyk, M., Leney, T., Michel, A., Pepper, D., Putkiewitcz, E., & Wisniewski, J. (2009). Key competences in Europe: Opening doors for lifelong learners across the school curriculum and teacher education. CASE Network Report, No. 87. Center for Social and Economic Research, Warsaw. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/87621/1/613705459.pdf
Linell, P. (1998). Discourse across boundaries: On recontextualizations and the blending of voices in professional discourse. Text & Talk, 18, 143–158. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.1998.18.2.143
Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2014). Intercomprehension between Romance Languages and the role of English: A study of multilingual chat rooms. International Journal of Multilingualism, 11(1), 120–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2012.679276
Melo-Pfeifer, S.,& Schröder-Sura, A. (2018). Les tâches de médiation dans lesmanuels de Français Langue Étrangère en Allemagne. Recherches en Didactique des Langues et des Cultures [on-line], 15–3. http://journals.openedition.org/rdlc/3589
Muhidova, O.N. (2022). Transversal competences as a result of students’ modern world view formation. Current Research Journal of Pedagogics, 3(3), 64–69. https://doi.org/10.37547/pedagogics-crjp-03-03-12
North, B., & Piccardo, E. (2016), Developing illustrative descriptors of aspects of mediation for the CEFR. Education Policy Division, Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/168073ff31
North, B., Piccardo, E., Goodier, T., Fasoglio, D., Margonis-Pasinetti, R., & Rüschoff, B. (Eds.). (2022). Enriching 21st-century language education. The CEFR Companion volume in practice. Council of Europe. https://rm.coe.int/enriching-21stcentury-language-education-the-cefr-companion-volume-in/1680a68ed0
Organization for Economic Development. (2014). Core competency framework: Human resource management. https://www.oecd.org/careers/competency_framework_en.pdf
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2019). OECD future of education and skills 2030. Conceptual learning framework: Transformative competencies for 2030. https://bit.ly/oecd-2019-Transformative-competencies-2030
Piccardo, E. (2012). Médiation et apprentissage des langues: pourquoi est-il temps de réfléchir à cette notion? Études de linguistique appliquée, 167, 285–297. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-ela-2012-3-page-285?lang=fr
Piccardo, E. (2018). Plurilingualism: Vision, conceptualization, and practices. In P.P. Trifonas, & T. Aravossitas (Eds.), Handbook of research and practice in heritage language education (pp. 207–226). Springer.
Piccardo, E. (2019). “We are all (potential) plurilinguals”: Plurilingualism as an overarching, holistic concept. Cahiers de l’ILOB/OLBI Journal, 10, 183–204. https://doi.org/10.18192/olbiwp.v10i0.3825
Piccardo, E. (2022).Mediation and the plurilingual/pluricultural dimension in language education. Italiano LinguaDue, 14(2), 24–45. https://doi.org/10.54103/2037-3597/19568
Piccardo, E., & North, B. (2019). The action-oriented approach: A dynamic vision of language education. Multilingual Matters.
Reimann, D., & Rössler, A. (Eds.) (2013). Sprachmittlung im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Narr.
Stathopoulou, M. (2015). Cross-language mediation in foreign language teaching and testing. Multilingual Matters. Stathopoulou, M., Gauci, P., Liontou, M., & Melo-Pfeifer, S. (2023). Mediation in teaching, learning & assessment (METLA): A teaching guide for language educators. ECML, Council of Europe.
UNICEF. (2019). Global framework on transferable skills. https://www.unicef.org/media/64751/file/Global-framework-on-transferable-skills-2019.pdf
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Stathopoulou, Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with OLBI Journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the OLBI Journal (OLBIJ) right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in the OLBIJ.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the OLBIJ's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in the OLBIJ.
- Authors will not simultaneously submit the same piece of work for possible publication to more than one academic journal at a time.
