Waldemar Martyniuk Language Policy Division Council of Europe Strasbourg, France

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Waldemar Martyniuk Language Policy
DivisionCouncil of EuropeStrasbourg, France
Plurilingualism in Higher
Education Opportunities
and Challenges
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Council of Europe

• intergovernmental organisation
• set up 1949 by 10 member states
• in August 2005, the Council of Europe has 46
  member states
• based in Strasbourg, France
• main bodies
• Committee of Ministers
• Parliamentary Assembly
• Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of
  Europe
• European Court of Human Rights.

Guiding principles democracy, human rights and
rule of law.
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How it works?

• Dialogue between its main bodies
• Secretariat is divided into directorates covering
  main activities
• Results take many forms conventions,
  recommendations, conferences or reports

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Council of Europe and Education

• Directorate General IV Education, Culture and
  Heritage, Youth and Sport
• 2001 European Year of Languages
• 26 September European Day of Languages
• 2005 European Year of Citizenship through
  Education

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Council of Europe and Higher Education

• The European Higher Education Area (EHEA)
• Recognition of qualifications
• Higher Education governance
• Public responsibility for higher education
• Bilateral and regional cooperation

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Council of Europe and the EHEA

• European Cultural Convention of 1954 - adopted as
  geographical framework for the EHEA
• Lisbon Convention on the Recognition of
  Qualifications concerning Higher Education in
  European Region (1997)
• Consultative member of the Bologna Follow-Up
  Group
• a bridge between Bologna and non-Bologna
  countries

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Council of Europe and Languages

• 1971-1977 Unit-credit scheme
• Language for Communication 1981-1988
• 1989-1997 Language learning for European
  Citizenship
• 1998- Plurilingual Education in Europe
• European Charter for Regional and Minority
  Languages (1992)
• Language Policy Forum (2004) Global Approaches
  to Plurilingual Education

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Council of Europe Language Education Policies
aim to promote

• plurilingualism
• linguistic diversity
• mutual understanding
• democratic citizenship
• social cohesion

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Guiding principles for language
learning

• Language learning is for all
• Language learning is for the learner
• Language learning is for intercultural
  communication
• Language learning is for life

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Guiding principles for language teaching

• Language teaching is co-ordinated
• Language teaching is coherent and transparent
• Language learning and teaching are dynamic
  lifelong processes

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A plurilingual person living in a multilingual
society is able to draw on

• a repertoire of languages and language varieties
• competences of different kinds and levels within
  the repertoire

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Plurilingual education promotes

• An awareness of why and how one learns the
  language one has chosen
• An awareness of and the ability to use
  transferable skills in language learning
• A respect for the plurilingualism of others and
  the value of languages and varieties irrespective
  of their perceived status in society

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Plurilingual education promotes

• A respect for the cultures embodied in languages
  and the cultural identities of others
• An ability to perceive and mediate the
  relationships which exist among languages and
  cultures
• A global integrated approach to language
  education in the curriculum

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Recommendations to the member states (1998)

• Encourage all Europeans to achieve a degree of
  communicative ability in a number of languages
• Diversify the languages on offer and set
  objectives appropriate to each language
• Encourage teaching programmes at all levels that
  use flexible approach and give them appropriate
  recognition in national qualification systems

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Recommendations to the member states (1998)

• Encourage the use of foreign languages in the
  teaching of non-linguistic subjects
• Support the application of communication and
  information technologies to disseminate teaching
  and learning materials for all European national
  and regional languages

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Recommendations to the member states (1998)

• Support the development of links and exchanges
  with institutions and persons at all levels of
  education to offer the possibility of authentic
  experience of the language and culture of others
• Facilitate lifelong learning of languages

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Institutions

• Language Policy Division
• (Strasbourg, France)

• European Centre for Modern Languages
• (Graz, Austria)

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Policy instruments and initiatives

• Common European Framework of Reference for
  Languages (CEFR)
• Reference Level Descriptions for
  national/regional languages
• Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the
  CEFR
• European Language Portfolio (ELP)
• Guide for the Development of Language Education
  Policies studies
• Language Education Policy Profiles

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Implementing plurilingualism in Higher Education
means to

• Raise awareness of the value of being
  plurilingual in a multilingual European society
• Encourage all students and staff to learn
  languages
• Encourage students and staff to learn a variety
  of languages
• Use strategic planning and adopt a global,
  coherent language policy

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Implementing plurilingualism in Higher Education
means to

• Promote and support intercultural mobility of
  students and staff
• Attract and integrate international students
• Provide good quality CLIL in a variety of
  languages
• Encourage and educate both language teachers and
  language students to become plurilingual not
  just bi-lingual

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Implementing plurilingualism in Higher Education
means to

• Secure good quality of language instruction
• Increase the number of languages on offer
• Support independent learning
• Support co-operative learning
• Make wise use of technology and media

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Implementing plurilingualism in Higher Education
means to

• Cater for individual needs
• Adopt a positive, added value approach
• Integrate out-of-school experience and
  proficiency
• Teach how to learn languages
• Support learner autonomy

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Implementing plurilingualism in Higher Education
means to

• Provide fair and transparent assessment
• Secure comparability and compatibility of
  outcomes
• Use a common framework of reference
• Set clear and achievable objectives
• Value all linguistic and intercultural
  competences, even at modest level

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More information on the Council of Europe
language education policies, initiatives and
instruments www.coe.int/lang
www.coe.int/portfolio www.ecml.at

• Thank you for your kind attention!