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Research at RCM

The activities at RCM focus on applied research in the area of schools, public administration and society. The projects are conducted on behalf of the federal government and are designed to develop foundational knowledge or provide a basis for decisions. In addition, synthesis reports on the current state of research in selected fields are prepared. RCM projects are often conducted in collaboration with research partners from all language regions in Switzerland.

This web page provides an overview of all RCM research projects, which can be searched using keywords or the names of participating researchers.

Click here for research projects that are not part of RCM.

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How much longer until a B2?

Linguistic and individual factors influencing the speed of learning an official language
Project management
Isabelle Udry, Raphael Berthele
Team
Jan Vanhove
The project “How much longer until a B2” investigates the time needed to attain a targeted level in a foreign language, with a specific focus on organisations associated with the Swiss federal government. These organisations generally require their staff in middle and senior management to have at least B2-level skills in two official languages.

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Enseignement et développement de la compétence de communication orale en FLE au Secondaire I (DISCO)

Project management
Simone Morehed, Anita Thomas
Team
Aline Siegenthaler
Le développement de la communication orale ainsi que de l’interaction (la participation à une conversation) est fortement valorisé dans les documents cadres de l’enseignement des langues étrangères que ce soit dans le CECR, les documents de la CDIP ou des plans d’études régionaux. Pourtant il semble que l’enseignement de cette compétence peine à obtenir le succès attendu. Traditionnellement l’enseignement des langues étrangères, et plus particulièrement du français, est centré sur...

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Littératie administrative plurilingue : la compréhension à l’épreuve des correspondances entre l’Etat et ses citoyen·nes

Project management
Philippe Humbert, Alexandre Duchêne
Toute personne habitant en Suisse est confrontée à des communications administratives écrites. Chaque citoyen·ne doit ainsi développer une « littératie administrative » parfois plurilingue, c’est-à-dire être capable d’interagir avec des milieux administratifs dans une ou plusieurs langues. Ce projet de recherche se concentre sur la compréhension et la rédaction de correspondances écrites avec les institutions liées aux assurances sociales (chômage, invalidité, AVS, allocations...

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"Studien zeigen, dass…" Autoritäten, Expertise und Evidenz in der Debatte über frühen Fremdsprachenunterricht in der Schweiz

Project management
Verena Tunger, Daniel Elmiger
Seit dem Beschluss der Schweizerischen Konferenz der kantonalen Erziehungsdirektoren (EDK) im Jahr 2004, den Fremdsprachenunterricht auf die Primarstufe vorzuverlegen, wurde der Fremdsprachenunterricht in den Kantonen ab dem Schuljahr 2006/2007 sukzessive angepasst. Diese Neuregelung löste intensive und vielschichtige Debatten aus, die sich auf verschiedene Quellen wie wissenschaftliche Studien, Fachliteratur und Expertisen stützen. Es werden unterschiedliche Aspekte des Fremdsprachenunterrichts...

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Family Language Policies and Language(s) Development in Underserved Communities

The Case of Sub-Saharan Families in Switzerland
Project management
Amelia Lambelet, Martina Zimmermann, Chiara Bemporad

Chiara Bemporad

Immigrant families need to make choices on which language(s) to favor in their everyday life. Those choices have been extensively investigated in recent decades under the label of family language policy (FLP). Early research has focused on explicit and overt language planning in Western middle-class families, a focus that has been criticized for being too elitist, while more recent research focuses on the role of FLP as a coping and defence mechanism, especially in contexts of trauma...

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Family language policies of Romansch-speaking families in German-speaking Switzerland

The role of “new speakers” and “child agency” in language transmission
Project management
Claudia Cathomas, Cordula Seger, Flurina Graf
This project builds on the foundational study “The diaspora rumantscha in German-speaking Switzerland”, which proposed further research in two areas: 1) the ways in which new speakers and parents with passive skills in Romansh influence family language policies and 2) how children and parent-child dynamics impact the languages spoken in a family and how fa

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Family Language Policy im Transitionsraum

Mehrsprachige Kinder und ihre Familien im Übergang ins formale Bildungssystem
Project management

Pascale Schaller, Larissa Trösch

Das Projekt erforscht, in welchem Zusammenhang die Family Language Policy (FLP) und der Sprachgebrauch von Kindern stehen und wie sich sowohl der kindliche Sprachgebrauch als auch die FLP in der Übergangsphase ins formale Bildungssystem verändern. Es zielt darauf ab, die FLP mehrsprachiger Familien vor und nach dem Übergang ihres ältesten Kindes in den Kindergarten oder die Basisstufe anhand des Instruments Mehrsprachen-Kontext (Ritterfeld & Lüke 2013) zu untersuchen.

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Anregung von Transfer und individuelle Lernprozesse in sprachenübergreifenden Schreibarrangements im Fremdsprachenunterricht in der 6. Klasse der Primarstufe

Project management

Mirjam Egli Cuenat (FHNW)
Ruth Trüb (FHNW)

Team

Marta Oliveira (FHNW)
Lea Hochuli-Schulthess (FHNW)

In der viersprachigen Schweiz ist der Unterricht von zwei Fremdsprachen ab der Primarstufe bis zum Ende der Sekundarstufe I obligatorisch. Die Schweizer Lehrpläne orientieren sich an einem mehrsprachigen Lehr-/Lernkonzept, welches das Transferpotenzial sprachenübergreifender Ressourcen nutzen soll. Die Umsetzung transferfördernder Massnahmen im Unterricht ist komplex, da es z. B. beim Transfer von Schreibstrategien zwischen den Sprachen grosse individuelle Unterschiede gibt und didaktische...

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Il trattamento dell’errore nella lingua straniera

Un confronto tra pratiche di correzione di testi scritti in francese, inglese, italiano, romancio e tedesco nella scuola primaria
Project management
Giulia Berchio
L’errore linguistico è comunemente definito, in glottodidattica, come un elemento discrepante rispetto a una norma data (ad es. regola grammaticale, ortografica, pragmatica). Il tema dell’errore genera molti dibattiti in ambito pedagogico; inoltre, nella ricerca, l’attenzione nei suoi confronti si è tradotta in numerosi studi sull’interlingua, sulla consapevolezza metalinguistica così come sull’efficacia della correzione sull’apprendimento linguistico.

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Représentations, attitudes et motivations dans l’apprentissage des langues.

Analyse de l’administration fédérale suisse (RAMAL)
Project management
François Grin
Le projet RAMAL étudie la diversité linguistique dans l’administration fédérale suisse (AF). Il porte sur le plurilinguisme des personnes au travers de leurs compétences individuelles ainsi que de la mise en œuvre de celles-ci dans leurs pratiques, mais il vise aussi à mieux comprendre le niveau collectif et à approfondir l’analyse du multilinguisme global de l’AF. Cette thématique présente un intérêt au plan tant scientifique que politique.

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Development of a tool for the individual promotion and diagnosis of phonological awareness in multilingual migrants: Alpha II

Project management
Marie-Anne Morand, Thomas Studer
Team
Alexis Feldmeier
The placement of learners in literacy courses according to skill level is often faulty, and the resulting heterogeneity in such classes poses difficulties for both teachers and learners; in addition, the inefficient use of government funds earmarked for integration is also problematic.

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The settling-in phase in day-care centres for children and parents with limited knowledge of the local language

International and Swiss studies alike have shown that early language promotion in the context of pre-school settings has a positive impact on a child’s scholastic success. In view of the current state of research and the various challenges facing professionals in early education, however, many questions remain unanswered and further research findings are needed. One question addresses the transition from the family to pre-school settings like day care centres.

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Synergien zwischen den Sprachen in der Schule: «SWIKO triple S»

Project management
Elisabeth Peyer, Thomas Studer
Team
Nina Selina Hicks
Seit Jahren wird eine stärkere Verbindung zwischen dem Schulsprachen- und dem Fremdsprachenunterricht gefordert, um mögliche Synergien zu nutzen. Bisher ist der Sprachenunterricht jedoch nach wie vor weitgehend einzelsprachlich ausgerichtet. Im Projekt «SWIKO triple S» wird deshalb der Frage nachgegangen, ob sich vorhandene Einflüsse zwischen Schul- und Fremdsprachen positiv nutzen lassen. Das Projekt interessiert sich insbesondere für konzeptuelle Aspekte von Texten, genauer für...

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Acquistion of reading and writing skills in adult migrants with differing levels of literacy

Project management
Marie-Anne Morand

Supervision
Thomas Studer

Team
Alexis Feldmeier

(Santi Guerrero Calle research manager till August 2021)
(Romeo Wasmer research assistant till January 2022)

Comparatively little research has been conducted on how adult migrants – both those with low literacy skills (non-literates) and those who have competence in a non-Latin alphabet (non-roman alphabet literates) – acquire reading and writing skills, and scholarly findings on the subject are correspondingly sparse. This condition is all the more surprising as specialist discourse on the topic of “literacy levels in adults” has long revealed that traditional differentiations between so-called...

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Assessment of speaking skills in German as a foreign language

Project management
Elisabeth Peyer

Supervision: Prof. Dr. Thomas Studer

Team
Gabriela Lüthi, Nadia Ravazzini
When asked about their goals, students learning a foreign language generally say they want to speak the language. Despite the value placed on speaking, however, various studies on the foreign language competence of Swiss school students reveal that many learners have difficulty in meeting the learning outcomes set for spoken language (Peyer et al. 2016, Wiedenkeller/Lenz 2019).

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Benefits of multilingualism for Switzerland

Individuals and society at large (APSIS)
Project management
François Grin
Team

Scientific partnership, regular consultation with: Federal Statistical Office (FSO); Institute for multilingualism (IOM)

Linguistic and cultural diversity is of particular importance to Switzerland and its residents, all the more because it is tightly bound with the long-term political, social and cultural history of the country. It is often referred to as an “asset” or even a “treasure”, with some going so far as to claim that it is essential to the very existence of the country.

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Swiss learner corpus SWIKO

Project management
Thomas Studer, Anita Thomas
Team
Nina Selina Hicks, Eva Wiedenkeller, Katharina Karges

(Eva Wiedenkeller and Katharina Karges till 2019)

SWIKO is a multilingual learner corpus describing learner language according to principles of corpus-linguistics. The corpus is an umbrella project developed during the 2016–2019 research period and being further developed in the 2021–2024 period. It incorporates data from other projects at the Research Centre on Multilingualism. SWIKO can currently be accessed via a request to the Institute of Multilingualism.

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Digital technology and vocabulary learning in vocational education

Project management
Raphael Berthele, Isabelle Udry
Team
Petra Buser, Cédric Diogo

Cédric Diogo (-06.2022)

Vocabulary is the basis for receptive and productive language use. Influential theories on second language acquisition and learning consider vocabulary and grammar to be complementary, rather than opposing elements of language. Vocabulary is viewed as an integral component of learner grammars that is worth promoting and consolidating in the foreign language classroom. In recent years, digitialisation has seen the development of many learning apps and platforms that provide new opportunities...

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Digital translation tools in foreign language teaching and learning

Project management
Raphael Berthele, Isabelle Udry
Team
Petra Buser, Cédric Diogo

(Cédric Diogo -06.22)

Digital translation tools and dictionaries have become an indispensable part of language use. DeepL, Leo and Co. are used extensively and for various purposes, however, their benefits for foreign language teaching and learning remain contested. Some consider these tools to be of educational value, while others express their doubts on the sustainability of their contribution to language learning. This project examines the advantages and limitations of digital translation aids with regards...

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Digitization and the development of oral interaction skills (DICOI)

Project management
Anita Thomas

 

Team
France Rousset

Didactic partnership: Centres de Formation Professionnelle de l'Etat de Fribourg (CD-CFP) 

The aim of the DiCoi project is on the one hand to produce teaching material from recordings of authentic conversations (spoken language corpora) and on the other hand to describe the longitudinal development of interaction skills (over 2 years) from recordings of free interactions. Spoken language corpora can be used as a resource for foreign language teaching with the aim of providing exposure to the authentically produced but contextualised target language.

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