L1. ACTIVITY 1.1

L1 - EU language policy & plurilingualism. CEFR for Languages and ELP

Activity 1.1

a) What do you think is the role of EU Policies on Education?

Each EU country is responsible for its own education and training systems. EU policy is designed to support national action and help address common challenges, such as ageing societies, skills deficits in the workforce, technological developments and global competition. Education and training 2020 (ET 2020) is the framework for cooperation in education and training.

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Council of Europe language education policies aim to promote:

- PLURILINGUALISM: all are entitled to develop a degree of communicative ability in a number of languages over their lifetime in accordance with their needs

- LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY: Europe is multilingual and all its languages are equally valuable modes of communication and expressions of identity; the right to use and to learn one’s language(s) is protected in Council of Europe Conventions.

- MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING: the opportunity to learn other languages is an essential condition for intercultural communication and acceptance of cultural differences

- DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP: participation in democratic and social processes in multilingual societies is facilitated by the plurilingual competence of individuals

- SOCIAL COHESION: equality of opportunity for personal development, education, employment, mobility, access to information and cultural enrichment depends on access to language learning throughout life.
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b) What do you understand by EU Language Policies?

As part of its efforts to promote mobility and intercultural understanding, the EU has designated language learning as an important priority, and funds numerous programmes and projects in this area. Multilingualism, in the EU’s view, is an important element in Europe’s competitiveness. One of the objectives of the EU’s language policy is therefore that every European citizen should master two other languages in addition to their mother tongue.
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c) Can you name any EU initiative related to Language Learning?
The 2008 Communication "Multilingualism - an asset for Europe and a shared commitment" outlines the Commission's activities in this area. Priorities include:

• helping EU countries develop new educational tools to ensure that school-leavers have better language skills;
• gathering data to monitor progress in language teaching and learning - to encourage mastery of more than one language as a way of improving job prospects and enabling people to move around within the EU;
• rewarding innovation in the language teaching and learning.

a. what are the main factors driving EU Language Policies? the main factors are to promote mobility and linguistic diversity (rights for minority languages, diversification in foreign language learning).

b. what factors make people want to learn a language? The main factor would be motivation in order to find a job, travel, get to know people from other countries, or just because they like languages.

c. what factors make people defend a specific Language Policy? People defend a specific Language Policy when they feel identified with it and also with their culture.