News
08.05.2025
La Consejería de Educación (Cantabria, Spain) organises in collaboration with the European Centre for Modern Languages the workshop "Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies Teaching for Deeper Learning".
This training activity is designed for teachers, teacher educators and educational administrators, aiming to establish a new framework for plurilingual development programmes in European educational institutions. The concept of "pluriliteracies" opens a highly relevant new horizon for professional development, where all educational stakeholders can find a theoretical foundation based on academic research, significant initial theoretical proposals, and a set of high-quality materials to apply directly in their respective educational contexts.
The workshop explores the possibilities offered by a sound structuring of an educational programme; the adoption by teachers of an appropriate content and linguistic perspective; and, finally, the planning of evidence-based classroom activities that provide an effective framework for action in any educational context. The key to the success of this workshop lies in starting from a well-established model like CLIL and evolving towards a new approach (Pluriliteracies for Deeper Learning) in which the most validated and advanced pedagogical proposals give meaning to a new way of implementing our teaching practice.
Authors: Eduardo Obradó Mancholas & Javier Barbero Andrés (Education Administration, Cantabria, Spain)
ESPAÑOL
La Consejería de Educación de Cantabria organiza en colaboración con el Centro Europeo para las Lenguas Modernas el taller Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies Teaching for Deeper Learning.
El Centro Europeo para las Lenguas Modernas ofrece el taller Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies teaching for deeper learning. Esta actividad formativa está pensada para docentes, formadores y responsables de administraciones educativas y trata de establecer un nuevo marco de actuación para los programas de desarrollo plurilingüe en los centros educativos europeos. El concepto de “pluriliteracies” abre un nuevo horizonte de desarrollo profesional muy relevante en el que todos los agentes educativos pueden encontrar un refredo teórico basado en investigaciones académicas, unas propuestas teóricas de partida muy significativas y un conjunto de materiales de alta calidad para poder aplicar directamente en sus respectivos contextos educativos. El taller explora las posibilidades que ofrece la estructuración razonable de un programa educativo; la adopción, por parte de los docentes, de una perspectiva de contenido y lingüística adecuada; y, finalmente, la programación de actividades de aula basadas en evidencias que proporcionan un marco de actuación eficaz en cualquier contexto educativo. La clave del éxito de este taller consiste en partir de un modelo ya contrastado como es CLIL para evolucionar hacia un nuevo enfoque (Pluriliteracies for Deeper Learning) en el que las propuestas pedagógicas más contrastadas y avanzadas dan sentido a una nueva forma de implementar nuestra acción docente.
Autores: Eduardo Obradó Mancholas y Javier Barbero Andrés (Consejería de Educación, Cantabria)
27.07.2023
The ECML welcomes back Spain as a member State
Spain has become the 36th member state of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the European Centre for Modern Languages!
Following a formal decision taken by the Spanish Council of Ministers, Mr Juan Ignacio Morro, Spanish Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Council of Europe, notified the Secretary General, Marija Pejčinović Burić, of the country’s accession on 24 July – with the decision entering into force retroactively from 28 April 2023.
Spain was previously a member state of the ECML between 1999-2013.
Spanish language education professionals are welcome to submit project proposals for the Centre’s forthcoming “Language education at the heart of democracy” programme and will henceforth be able to fully participate in the Centre’s programme of activities.
Spain’s return comes at a particular auspicious time for the ECML, with the Centre presenting the initial results of its current programme at the “Inspiring innovation in language education” Conference on 13-14 December and embarking on a new four-year programme from January 2024.
06.11.2024
National training workshop: Supporting multilingual classrooms (22 – 23 October 2024, Madrid, Spain)
Local organiser: Lourdes Ballesteros Martín and Ana Isabel Díaz García, Ministry of Education
ECML experts: Katja Schnitzer (Germany), Mercè Bernaus (Spain)
Participants: 21 (administrators, school heads, educational advisers)
On 22-23 October 2024, the External Educational Action Unit (UAEE) hosted an enriching workshop on Multilingual Classrooms, given by experts from the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML), Katja Schnitzer and Mercè Bernaus. This event brought together educators and education professionals from various autonomous communities interested in promoting inclusion and learning in multilingual contexts.
The workshop, part of the cooperation between the ECML and the European Commission, focused on the development of learning environments that value and use linguistic diversity as a pedagogical resource. During the sessions, Mrs Schnitzer and Mrs Bernaus presented practical approaches to designing activities that encourage the active participation of learners, regardless of their mother tongue.
Among the topics discussed were the importance of inclusive methodologies, the role of language in students' cultural identity and the need to create a climate of respect and appreciation for all languages. Participants also explored teaching tools and resources that facilitate teaching in multilingual contexts, as well as strategies for involving families and the community in the educational process.
This workshop not only served to analyse and provide materials to the participants, but also to foster a space for dialogue and reflection on the challenges and opportunities presented by multilingual classrooms in the current educational context.
With this event, the UAEE reaffirms its commitment to the training of professionals who advocate for inclusive education and who recognise linguistic diversity as a fundamental pillar for the learning and integral development of students.
Lourdes Ballesteros Martín and Ana Isabel Díaz García, local coordinators, 5 November 2024
ECML project website: Supporting multilingual classrooms, ECML-EC cooperation agreement 2024 "Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning"
18.09.2021
ECML VITbox project “CEFR Companion Volume Implementation Toolbox”: workshop during ACLES Conference (17 September 2021, Murcia, Spain)
On 17 September 2021, the VITbox team ran a workshop on “The VITbox menu, a truly linguistic experience!” during the biennal conference of the Asociación de Centros de Lenguas en la Enseñanza Superior (ACLES) in Murcia (Spain). Participants were introduced to the VITbox resources and were invited to comment on the usefulness of the materials as well as reflect upon how they could adapt and apply them in their individual contexts.
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The ECML VITbox project (2020-2023) is developing tools in various languages to help teacher educators use and disseminate the ideas of the CEFR Companion Volume. It will provide digital documents and examples of inspiring practice in the implementation of the Companion Volume in language learning, teaching and assessment at university and in vocational training.
17.07.2017
News from Language for Work (LfW): Quick guide: How to help adult migrants develop work-related language skills – COMBI Multipliers’ event
by Matilde Grünhage Monetti, coordinator of Language for Work (LfW) (http://languageforwork.ecml.at)
At initiative of Petra Elser, LfW-Network member, I was invited to participate in a multiplier event for the COMBI project in Donostia, in the Basque region of Spain, on 6th and 7th June.
The project Communication competences for migrants and disadvantaged background learners in bilingual work environments is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. COMBI partners are acting in various officially bilingual regions in Europe. The once dominant languages of these regions have been minoritised through the hegemonic language policy of the nation-states – I prefer to speak of “minoritised” languages and not “minority” languages. In this sense the COMBI languages (Basque, Welsh, Frisian, Swedish in parts of Finland and the Sicilian dialects) are representative of many more in Europe.
The issue of these minoritised languages is particularly relevant in today’s context of migration, demographic change and the shortage of local staff in health and social care. Health and social care sectors across Europe have become heavily dependent on migrant staff. In bilingual regions these migrant workers face the double challenge of having to learn to at least a certain degree of proficiency both languages of the host country. It is to be expected that the older people they care for, in particular people with dementia, may react better to the language of their childhood: Basque, Welsh, dialect, etc., while other interlocutors and the environment in general may speak predominantly the “national” language.
The COMBI project therefore wants to provide vocational teachers in the health care sector and minority language teachers with innovative tools aiming at developing the language skills in the minority language migrants need for working in the health care sector (www.combiproject.eu).
For the event in Donostia I chose to present the Quick guide, since it encourages reflection on the essentials of L2 learning and offers advice and practical tips, how to support migrants develop work-related language skills. Each statement was illustrated with mini case-studies provided by Network members from all over Europe (http://languageforwork.ecml.at/Portals).
The meeting was held in Basque and in the project language, English. From the partners’ contributions emerged the different status of the minoritised language in the various countries due to historical developments. In the fields of policies next to the very functional approach of Finland with its focus on individuals as workforce, the Basque provider KABIA brought humanistic dimensions into the discussion talking about principles of care, linguistic equality, responsibility and social justice.
In the discussions the same issue emerged which was discussed at the Network Meeting in Graz (1st and 2nd June): language and communication as shared responsibility of all actors involved. To echo the title of a manual produced by the Swedish colleagues of ArbetSam: Better language means better care and therefore higher quality, which is an asset for the whole society (http://www.aldrecentrum.se/......pdf).
Another common theme was the shift of focus from teaching to learning and a growing interest for non-formal and informal arrangements, equally discussed in Graz. Another commonality is the growing interest for reflective and affective dimensions of learning. Particularly effective were the practical examples by other guest speakers: Cathrin Thomas, Arbeiterwohlfahrt, Bielfeld, Germany, presented some of her phonetic exercises and two French-Basque colleagues, Etcharry Formation Dévelopment, Ustaritz, illustrated their holistic training approach. Finally the concept of translanguaging was vividly illustrated by the practical examples of the methodology used by Banaiz Bagara Elkartea in their Basque language courses, which is particularly effective in bilingual situations. The aim is not to train two monolinguals in one person, but language users who can draw on their entire linguistic repertoire: The languages in question are not treated as separate entities; the transition from one to the other is fluid.
A remarkable sociological insight on the employment rate of migrants in the Basque countries was presented at the conference: The number of women in work is higher than the number of men. Most of these women come from South America and work as domestic help in private households without social insurance.
The event itself was a good example of translanguaging with fluid transition between Basque, English, Castillian, and many more European languages!
I would like to close with an homage to the great Sicilian poet, Ignazio Buttitta (1899-1997), who has often written on the loss of his native “minoritized” language:
e sugnu povirucellule
haiu i dinari
e non li pozzu spènniri,
i giuielli
e non li pozzu rigalari;
u cantu,
nta gaggia
cu l'ali tagghati
|
and I am poor
I have money
but I cannot spend it,
jewels
and I cannot make presents of them;
(my) song
in the throat
with wings clipped.
|
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Download this news in PDF version: English - French
03.11.2016
European Language Gazette : enjoy the latest issue!
The European Language Gazette, the ECML's e-newsletter, provides up-to-date news about the ECML (events, projects, resources), the Language Policy Unit and other relevant sectors of the Council of Europe, as well as our partners. It focuses on national developments in the field of language education in the member states and beyond.
Issue no. 33 (September - October 2016): available in English and in French.
18.08.2016
Conference to promote the learning of German in Spanish schools (Madrid, 23-24 June 2016)
On 23-24 June the German Embassy in Madrid, together with the Universidad Complutense and the Spanish Association of Teachers of German, FAGE, organised a 2-day conference to promote the learning of German in Spanish schools. German teachers from across Spain were treated to a plethora of keynote speeches covering a broad range of topics from how the brain learns languages through the professional development opportunities for teachers afforded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission to the study opportunities for school pupils outside Germany via the Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen, ZfA. But teachers did much more than simply listen – they were able to engage actively in round table discussions and in working groups to discuss solutions to the common challenges they face. On the evening of the 23rd all participants were invited to a reception hosted by the German Ambassador to Spain, Mr. Peter Tempel.
On the second day, discussions continued with representatives from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and from seven of the regional educational authorities. In her keynote delivered in Spanish, Sarah Breslin, Executive Director of the ECML, widened the discussion on German to the value of all languages and to the contribution of the ECML to quality language education. Teachers and decision-makers present gave their overwhelming support to the idea of Spain returning to the ECML. In the meantime, Sarah encouraged them to delve into the ECML’s treasure trove of resources, many of which she presented in detail.
The ECML was invited to take part in this event by Mr. Peter Platte, Counsellor for Education and Culture, German Embassy, Spain.
Sarah Breslin, Executive Director of the ECML
Peter Platte, Counsellor for Education and Culture, German Embassy, Spain
Reception at the residence of the German Ambassador to Spain
Photo credits: @ German Embassy, Spain
08.08.2016
Fostering student teachers´ autonomy with reflective portfolios: EPOSTL and PEPELINO
13.06.2016
Fostering student teachers´ autonomy with reflective portfolios: EPOSTL and PEPELINO