European Language Gazette no. 63

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European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe
Promoting excellence in language education
Centre européen pour les langues vivantes du Conseil de l´Europe
Pour l’excellence dans l’éducation aux langues

Nikolaiplatz 4
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E-mail: information@ecml.at
www.ecml.at

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The Hessisches Zentrum für alltagsorientierte Sprachförderung (HeZaS) is an important actor in the programme MitSprache Deutsch4U which enables non-profit organisations in Hesse to implement German classes for a diverse target group. It is affiliated with the Technical University of Darmstadt and offers scientific expertise and networking for practitioners facing a high level of linguistic, social, and cultural diversity in class. Without obligatory curricula and tests, learners’ lifeworlds can be strongly integrated in class, thus contributing to a flourishing learning environment.

Author: Oliver Delto, Fachgebiet Mehrsprachigkeit, HeZaS, Darmstadt, Germany

ECML web pages dedicated to Germany

The European Centre for Modern Languages is launching a series of 48 national training and consultancy workshops (including 25 with the support of the European Commission). The workshops which are hosted in member states offer a wide range of European expertise in language education and are adapted to concrete needs and specific contexts within the respective host countries. This year represents the highest ever number of events organised according to this format by the ECML and reflects the increasing popularity of the Centre’s training and consultancy activities.

Full news item

The project workshop held on 7 and 8 February 2023 brought together 27 participants from ECML member States and Canada. The event provided an opportunity to highlight the importance of languages and plurilingual/intercultural competences in vocational training and cross-border working environments, to present the main ideas of the project and its first results, and to discuss and to suggest contributions to the planned Manual for teachers, teacher educators, instructors and decision makers. The final year of the project will focus on completing the manual, in dialogue with the different target groups.

Full news item including voices from workshop participants

Project website (English, French)

On the occasion of the 2023 International Mother Language Day (IMLD), UNESCO organised an event on “Multilingual education – a necessity to transform education” on 21 February 2023 to discuss the potential role of multilingualism to transform education from a lifelong learning perspective and in different contexts, including in Small Island Developing States, crisis and emergency situations, and to promote gender equality.

IMLD website

Full ECML news item

In June 2022, the ECML launched a series of 4 webinars on Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)1 on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for a culture of democracy, which was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in February 2022.

In this third webinar in the series, Professor Mirjam Egli Cuenat, focused on the importance that Recommendation places on teacher education: what are the specific recommendations with regard to initial and in-service teacher education? What are their implications for training programmes? How can they be implemented in practice? These questions were addressed using concrete examples from teacher education for different target levels.

Languages: French and English.

Description and link recording

Recommendation currently available in English, Estonian, French, Norwegian (Bokmål, Nynorsk), and Slovene

The event organised by the Flemish ministry of Education and Training was attended by 95 participants. The participants had the opportunity to look at a variety of challenges teachers have experienced with CLIL and Pluriliteracies teaching in their classroom, the pedagogical practices they tried to put into place and the impact they had on their teaching and their students’ learning. They focused on some of the difficulties CLIL students often encounter with content, communication, cognition and culture and with the different disciplinary literacies. They also took part in practical and easily adaptable CLIL activities that can help their students.

Full news item

ECML resource website: CIL and beyond – Pluriliteracies for deeper learning

Bayraktaroğlu Sinan, Yabancı Dil Öğretmeni Yetiştirme: Mesleki Bilgi, Beceri ve Yeterliliklerin Kazanımı (Training foreign language teachers: Acquiring the professional knowledge, skill, and competence), İnkılâp Kitabevi Yayın Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, Istanbul, 2022, ISBN: 978-975-10-4082-4.
Related ECML reference work: EPOSTL – A reflection tool for language teacher education (largely translated into Turkish as part of this publication)

Candelier Michel et al., FREPA – Referenčný rámec pre pluralitné prístupy jazykov a kultúr – kompetencie a zdroje, 2012 (original version).
Slovak version of the FREPA descriptors (2023) – Translator: Jana Birová
All language versions
Related resource website: A framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures (FREPA)

The ECML inventory of freely available online tools and open educational resources for language teaching and learning currently contains 204 tools that have been evaluated with specific criteria in mind, such as the potential for achieving learning objectives, for adaption to specific teaching contexts and the potential for communication and collaboration amongst learners. New resources are continually added to the database. Discover just some of the latest ones:

• ARTE is a well-designed, easy-to-use and freely accessible streaming service with quality content and interesting topics (including documentaries, films, and series in six European languages).
• Analyze My Writing is an online text content and readability analyser. By copying a text into the homepage, users can visualise relevant information about the text (word and character counts, word and sentence lengths, readability of a text, etc.).
• LanguageDrops is a gamified language-learning app that helps users learn vocabulary in different languages in a quick and entertaining way. It can be used to learn many languages (such as German, Spanish and Ukrainian).
• Pons software offers different linguistic tools such as translation (currently available in 27 languages), spell-checking, dictionaries, conjugation tools and vocabulary and grammar trainers.

The Professional Network Forum of the ECML is comprised of international associations and institutions that share common values and have overlapping expertise in the field of language education and assessment. Under the auspices of the ECML, the members of the Forum share their know-how and work together on areas of common interest in the service of language education.

Members of the Forum: ACTFL, AILA, ALTE, CEL/ELC, CercleS, EALTA, EAQUALS, ECSPM, ECML/Council of Europe, EDiLiC, EFNIL, EPA, EUNIC, FIPLV, IAM, ICC, OLBI.

• Upcoming events of the network members
• Dedicated ECML web pages

Latest newsletter issues:
No. 189 (December 2022)
No. 190 (February 2023)
No. 191 (March 2023)

Website

Erasmus+ School Education: The impact of mobility projects on the professional development of staff

• fill a gap within the school which enhances the education offer to their students;
• provide learning opportunities which are not available in Ireland;
• enhance the knowledge, skills and competences of staff to address current or future challenges;
• upskill or expand skills or remain up-to-date on the latest developments in teaching and learning in ICT and digital skills and to investigate creative learning and teaching approaches;
• connect and create European partnerships and collaborative activities.

#ThinkLanguages Week 2023 (27 November – 1 December 2023)

The Languages Connect awareness campaign is being delivered by Post Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI) in partnership with a growing number of partners. It is part of Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026.

ECML web pages dedicated to Ireland

LISEO highlights the work and resources of the ECML and national language policies in Europe

LISEO, the documentary portal of France Éducation International, is specialised in education, teaching and the dissemination of French throughout the world. A new section dedicated to the ECML provides:

• highlights of ECML actions in France and Europe and focuses on the latest developments in the European institutions in the field of languages;
• a presentation of ECML projects carried out by French coordinators, with experiences from the field;
• an insight into national language policies in different European countries, through interviews with ECML national contact points (currently from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia);
• a selection of ECML publications and resources for language teaching professionals.

To stay informed of new developments, subscribe to LISEO’s monthly selection of publications, resources and conferences.

World Language Barometer 2022 – launch of the 4th edition

The Barometer was produced by Alain Calvet, Doctor of Science, and Louis-Jean Calvet, Doctor of Letters and Humanities, Professor of Linguistics, with the support of the Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France. This barometer is based on thirteen factors, both intrinsic to the language and contextual, describing the influence of languages in the world.

Dedicated web page (available in French)

ECML web pages dedicated to France

On the 13 March 2023 the Council of Europe Education Department launched consultations with the Steering Committee for Education (CDEDU) members, observer organisations and key experts. The discussions focused on:

• the preparation of the 26th session of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education (Strasbourg, 28-29 September 2023) and its three overarching themes: renewal of the civic mission of education; education in times of crisis and emergency; harnessing the potential of digital transformation in and through education; and
• the Council of Europe Draft Education Strategy 2024-2030.

Boeckmann K.-B., “Mit Sprache(n) an Bildung teilhaben. Deutsch und andere Sprachen als kulturelles Kapital in Österreich”, ÖDaF-Mitteilungen 38(1–2), July 2022, pp. 31-46.
Related ECML reference work: A roadmap for schools to support the language(s) of schooling

Boeckmann K.-B., “'Sprachenfreundlich' aber monolingual? Zur Bildungssprachenpolitik in Österreich”, in Ausgesprochen? Noch lange nicht! Eine Festschrift für Thomas Fritz, Edition Volkshochschule, September 2022, pp. 107-119.
Related ECML reference work: Learning environments where modern languages flourish

Gerwers V., Gauci P., Melo-Pfeifer S. and Stathopoulou M., “Teachers’ beliefs about cross-linguistic mediation tasks: An empirical study within the framework of the METLA project”, in LEND – Lingua E Nuova Didattica, Special issue on “L’insegnante di lingue: formazione, azione, cognizione”, 2022, pp. 159-173.
Related ECML reference work: Mediation in teaching, learning and assessment

Ollivier C., “Empowerment : contraintes socio-interactionnelles et stratégies – Pour le développement d’une littératie actionnelle critique en didactique des langues”, Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures, 2022.
Related ECML reference work: Digital citizenship through language education (e-lang citizen)

Stathopoulou M., “Cross-linguistic mediation and foreign Language teaching in Europe: The case of the METLA Project” (Chapter 4), in Papadopoulos I. and Chiper S. (eds.), International current trends in applied linguistics and pedagogy, Nova Publishers, 2022.
Related ECML reference work: Mediation in teaching, learning and assessment

Stathopoulou M., Liontou M., Gauci P. and Melo-Pfeifer S., “On the role of assessment in cross-linguistic mediation: Insights from the METLA project”, in Vogt K. and Antia B., edited selection, 2022.
Related ECML reference work: Mediation in teaching, learning and assessment

The conference will give teachers of languages and others interested in this theme an opportunity to evaluate the past, re-evaluate the present and consider the future of languages, language learning and teaching, as well as policy making – specifically in the Baltic and Nordic regions.

Main themes:
Future of languages:

• The roles of systematic language learning and teaching?
• Means to promote language learning and cultural literacy?
• Language teaching methodology / to whom / where and when?
• What are our challenges / strengths?
• How can language teachers and/or their associations contribute to society / community / humanity?

Conference website
FIPLV Newsletter
Contact: sylvia.velikova@gmail.com

“Developing CEFR-based assessment rubrics and rating scales for interaction and production” (1 December 2022)
Facilitated by Claudia Harsh, Professor at the University of Bremen
The workshop focused on developing rating scales and rubrics for assessing productive and integrated skills. Based on an overview of different scale types, the participants examined in which ways the categories and levels of the CEFR Companion volume can inform the development of assessment criteria and descriptors suitable for rating purposes. They also covered formative assessment and self-assessment checklists.

CEFR related news and events

Enriching 21st century language education – The CEFR Companion volume in practice (2022)
Description
Free download
Complementary materials

Autobiography of intercultural encounters (2022)
This updated and revised edition of the original AIE, which supports learners’ reflections on face-to-face intercultural encounters, has been fully aligned with the Council of Europe’s Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture and may be used by educators and learners in primary, secondary and higher education and in non-formal and informal education.

Autobiography of intercultural encounters – Context, concepts and theories (2022)
A tool for developing intercultural competence and facilitating the emergence of intercultural citizenship in those who use it.

Autobiography of intercultural encounters through visual media (2022)
A guide to help analyse a specific image encountered in the media (e.g. on television, in a book, on the internet) that shows a person (or people) from another culture.

Autobiography of intercultural encounters through the internet (2022)
A guide to help you analyse a specific encounter you had with one or more people from another culture through an online interaction (for example, in a social network, forum or blog).

European Year of Skills 2023

2023 has been declared the European Year of Skills. It focuses on helping people to attain the right skills for quality jobs and helping companies, and on addressing skills shortages in the EU. It aims to showcase skills development opportunities and activities across Europe, foster easier recognition of qualifications across borders, encourage organisations and people to share their experiences, and set out how EU initiatives and funding possibilities can help.

Campaign website

Focus On: What skills do Europeans need?

Recent EU resources

Languages, our living history (2022)

Education interventions supporting newly arrived migrant and displaced children in their language learning needs (2022)

Pathways to school success: Commission staff working document, accompanying the document Proposal for a Council recommendation on pathways to school success (2022)

Teaching and learning in schools in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic: 2020/2021 (2022)

Estonia: action plan approved for transition to Estonian-language education (article published in December 2022)

How blended learning can make education more inclusive (2023) [Thematic report and factsheet]

This special issue welcomes reviews and empirical studies drawing on diverse methodologies focused on multiculturalism in higher education.

Submission guidelines

The European Commission’s international competition for the coveted European Language Label is taking place once again this year! The competition is open to all Austrian educational institutions, youth organisations, associations, non-profit organisations, communities and also for Erasmus+ projects completed in 2022 that have an emphasis on languages.

The ÖSZ (Österreichisches Sprachen-Kompetenz-Zentrum) runs the competition every two years on behalf of the OeAD, Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation, and the Ministry of Education (BMBWF).

Projects can be entered in the Language Label database of the ÖSZ before 8 May 2023. Further details are available here.

More information about the competition for the European Language Label in Austria 2023

ECML web pages dedicated to Austria

This colloquium is aimed at all researchers and actors in the field of teaching and learning (policy makers, school directors, social workers) who wish to place the issue of multilingualism at the heart of research, professionalization and political action and to participate in a joint reflection on the art of combining conceptualisations and professional experiences.

Colloquium website (available in English, French and Spanish

New handbook “31 basic activities”

The handbook “31 basic activities” is a resource for all who work in the field of inclusion. It addresses the challenges of receiving students with refugee background in schools, and is developed for educators and professionals in the field. It features 31 activities for the inclusion of refugees in classrooms, schools, and communities.

"How does Artificial Intelligence influence the way teachers teach and students learn to live in a democracy?" – Webinar recorded on 7 February 2023

During this webinar, EWC presented the curriculum it has developed for primary school children about the impact of AI on society. You will learn some general approaches, as well as practical activities to address these concepts in the classroom.

The teaching module consists of five units of teaching materials that are aimed at secondary school pupils (age 10 to 18). They offer ready-to-use materials on a variety of topics related to global citizenship and multilingualism, like linguistic diversity and inclusion, ecoliteracy, visual literacy, and critical reading. They are provided in English, Dutch, Frisian, Italian, and German. In addition, there are some adaptations of materials (available in the core languages of the project) offered as suggestions for specific school subjects such as geography, math, arts, history, and biology.

The Global Citizenship and Multilingual Competences project (GCMC) is co-funded by Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

The 2020-2021 Annual Report of the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) details key accomplishments for the period covered and provides insights into some of the remarkable work across the Institute’s various sectors. These highlights include for example naming Canadian experts to participate in the European Centre for Modern Languages' projects and the online CCERBAL conference on the theme “Bilingualism and beyond: Advancing the thinking on pedagogies, policies and practices” in spring 2021 was one of the highlights.

The activities are rooted in the vision and strategic aspirations of the University of Ottawa. They demonstrate OLBI’s ongoing commitment to transformative learning, cutting-edge research, and the strengthening of partnerships, both in Canada and abroad, while continuing to promote excellence and innovation in the fields of language education and language policy.

As per the Memorandum of Cooperation and Liaison with the ECML, OLBI acts as the Contact Point to disseminate the ECML’s work in Canada, and also as the National Coordinator to propose Canadian experts to take part in the ECML projects and activities.

ECML web pages dedicated to Canada

The 10th EDiLiC Conference will focus on the topic “From early childhood to adulthood: Transitions, continuity, and disruptions in plurilingual education”. It will provide a forum for dialogue between all those engaged in research and practice in plurilingual education, pluricultural education, in content and language integrated learning, and the intersections between these fields. A particular focus will be put on spaces of transitions, continuity, and disruptions across educational levels and learning contexts from early childhood to adulthood.

Registration until 1st May 2023.

Conference website

ICC Conference “The integration of 21st century skills in the language classroom” (Belgrade, Serbia, 13-14 May 2023): call for proposals until 31 March

ICC is particularly interested in proposals that address the following topics:

• 21st century skills with regard to language teaching and learning;
• Achieving well-being and student engagement in language learning and in the language classroom;
• Diversity and inclusivity in language learning and intercultural communication;
• The future of online teaching and hybrid classrooms after Covid-19;
• The role of plurilingualism and translingual teaching in the classroom and in teaching materials;
• Language teaching and teacher training for refugees: key principles and good practice
• Developments in online testing of language learning ability.

Conference website

ICC Journal: articles on the work of the ECML

The ICC Journal is published three times a year. It contains articles on theory and practice in language education, and more practical content such as new ideas for lesson development, teacher development materials, technology tools, new books, etc.
Volume 4 – Issue 3 (Winter 2022) includes two articles on the work of the ECML:

• “Reflecting practice: Supporting work-related German development by low-literate migrant workers at work and through work” by Matilde Grünhage-Monetti, pp. 6-22;
• “After COVID: How online language teaching has changed the profession” by Ursula Stickler, pp. 68-75.

New YouTube channel

You can also subscribe to the recently launched ICC YouTube channel and (re)watch the recordings of previous webinars.

ICC website

Thanks to the support of the Goethe Institut (Germany) a number of ECML project flyers have been translated into German. The resource flyers can be used to support teaching in schools, in the teacher initial and ongoing training, and in school development or language education research.

The Austrian Language Competence Centre (ÖSZ) has recently produced two information sheets focusing on selected resources and projects of the ECML:

• Overview of the wide range of ECML materials on offer;
• Language education priorities of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture and relevant ECML projects and materials that can support their implementation.
  
  View details

Volume 3 (2022): Living languages at museums

The Eaquals webinar series offers monthly online training on a variety of topics within the language teaching sector relevant for language teachers, teacher trainers, academic managers and researchers. The next webinars are:

• Ian Johnstone: Digital education, solved: delivering your own, flexible digital programmes (9 May 2023, 11am – 11:45am CET)
• David Moxon: La educación digital, resuelta: programas digitales propios y flexibles (16 May 2023, 11am – 11:45am CET)
• Maria Lombardi: Teaching online (23 May 2023, 11am – 11:45am CET)
• Carsten Booth: What if teaching kids and teens online could be even more efficient than in person? (6 June 2023, 11am – 11:45am CET)
• Nadine Hartley: Lösungen für digitale Bildung: Erstellen Sie Ihre eigenen, flexiblen digitalen Programme (13 June 2023, 11am – 11:45am CET)

“The role of education in an interconnected world”
Webinar recording (9 March 2023)

“Equity and inclusion in education – finding strength through diversity”
Webinar recording (7 February 2023)
Publication (2023)

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities. Together with the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities it constitutes the Council of Europe's commitment to the protection of national minorities.

Follow the newsroom

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is celebrating its 25th anniversary

Check out the new anniversary webpage, featuring, inter alia, a statement from the Chair of the Committee of Experts, Aleksandra Oszmiańska-Pagett, facts and figures about the Language Charter and a fun quiz.

Recent reports

The use of Frisian, Limburgish and Low Saxon, and support Romanes and Yiddish in the Netherlands

Call on Sweden to include language as a ground for discrimination in the legislation

EDL t-shirt 2023

The winner of the 2023 EDL t-shirt contest is Alžbeta Šáleková from the Slovak Republic. We would like to thank all of the entrants for taking part. With so many excellent designs among over 2 000 entries received, it proved a difficult task to select just one winner this year! Some of the 2023 contest entries can be found here.

To purchase the EDL t-shirt 2023

EDL t-shirt contest 2024

You can send your design,image or graphic for the contest until 31 December 2023.

Information about the competition

The multidisciplinary peer-reviewed Journal of International Mobility, published by PUF and led by Agence Erasmus+ France / Éducation Formation, brings together scientific papers related to all aspects of international mobility in the context of education and training in Europe and around the world.

Call for papers: articles can be submitted in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.

Archived issues

The opening of the symposium on multilingualism featured an electronic address from Katrin Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, who addressed the importance of languages and their instruction, as well as the difficulties and value of maintaining one's own language in a tiny country like Iceland.

The Symposium was organised by the European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism (ECSPM) – a member of the Professional Network Forum of the ECML, under the patronage of the Council of Europe’s General Secretary, Marija Pejčinović Burić and sponsored by the Education Department, Directorate of Democratic Participation, Council of Europe. Hosted by the University of Strasbourg, it was supported by the Groupe d’études orientales, slaves en néo-helléniques and the Strasbourg University International Relations Office.

• Symposium website
• Programme, abstracts of presentations, contributors’ bionotes

It is with great sadness that we learned of the recent passing of our dear colleagues Evangelia Moussouri and Tony Fitzpatrick.

Evangelia was a member of the ECML project “CLIL in languages other than English – Successful transitions across educational stages”.

Tony was the founding father of the ICC – the International Language Association, former chair of ICC and the coordinator of the ECML’s first ever workshop back in 1995. He went on to coordinate several projects at the ECML on the area of ICT and vocationally oriented language learning.

We will remember them for their high commitment to quality language education, and their energy, warmth and generosity.

Launch event of the ECML Call for proposals for the 2024-27 programme, 15 May 2023

The European Centre for Modern Languages’ Call for Proposals for its 2024-27 programme will be published on 15 May and open until 31 August 2023.

The launch webinar for the Call be held on 15 May: 16:00-17:00 CET.

An online workshop for potential proposal writers will take place on 12 June: 15:00-17:00 CET.

Further details to follow.

ECML Summer Academy, Graz, 3-7 July 2023

The European Centre for Modern Languages’ summer academy ‘Inspiring Innovation in European Language Teacher Education’ will held at the ECML premises in Graz on 3-7 July. The event is carried out in cooperation with the European Commission.

The call for the second Summer academy is now open to ECML member states and additional member states of the European Union until 5 May 2023. Interested teacher educators working in the field of languages are invited to take up contact with the ECML National Nominating Authority in their respective country so that they can be considered for participation.

Website: www.ecml.at/summeracademy