ECML webinars

Migration is increasingly shaping European societies, including the experiences of deaf learners with refugee and migration backgrounds. These learners often face barriers to accessing appropriate sign language education, which can limit their participation in education and society. Greater awareness of their diverse needs and more inclusive language policies are therefore essential.

This webinar presents practical approaches to supporting these learners, including the work of the ECML’s project “ DeafSign” and DIMA (Switzerland) as a good practice example. The following aspects will be addressed:

• diversity and specific needs of deaf sign language learners
• institutional frameworks and funding models
• teaching and mediation strategies
• sign language certification
• learning experiences of participants

The webinar offers insights into inclusive language education and opportunities for reflection and exchange.

Target audience: Sign language teachers, researchers, and policy makers in the educational sector.

Presenters: DeafSign team and DIMA (Switzerland)

Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nno-8i5by_0

This webinar introduces participants to the concept of mediation and its role in language teaching, learning, and assessment in primary and secondary schools, with a focus on the objectives of the METLA project and the Teaching Guide (including its potential use in teacher training). Using practical examples of mediation tasks in various languages for both primary and secondary classrooms, participants will explore the METLA databank and discover how it can support teachers in designing materials that foster and assess learners’ mediation skills. The session will provide concrete strategies for teachers to:

• adapt tasks across languages, proficiency levels, and learner groups;
• draw on learners’ heritage and home languages;
• integrate pluricultural components into multilingual activities;
• nurture intercultural understanding, openness, and respect for diversity;
• assess mediation performance, with a focus on formative assessment approaches.

Target groups: This webinar is designed primarily for teachers and teacher trainers at primary and secondary level. It may also be of interest to educational authorities involved in foreign language teacher training programmes, as well as decision makers such as school leaders, curriculum planners, and materials developers.

Speakers: Maria STATHOPOULOU, Greece and Magdalini LIONTOU, Finland

Recorded 13 November 2025

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6wRpcbs6o8
Webinar in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr1HtyIiIEY
Download: Powerpoint presentation

• Are you committed to the inclusion and integration of ALL your learners in schools and classrooms, regardless of their background?
• Are you experiencing increasing numbers of children coming to school with languages other than the main language used in the school?
• Do teachers, teacher trainers, policymakers and other colleagues involved in the education of 0–19-year-olds need to learn about new and effective, research-informed approaches to learning and teaching in increasingly multilingual classrooms in your context?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, then the webinar Supporting multilingual classrooms is of interest to you.

The webinar focuses on ‘Supporting multilingual classrooms’, an initiative of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) and the European Commission which has, to date, conducted 81 training workshops to different target groups in 30 Member States of the European Union and the ECML on relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the CEFR in a valid and reliable way.

The long-term objective of our workshops is to enable learners with a migrant background – whether recently migrated or from long-established communities – to be better integrated into national education systems, leading to better educational achievement, which in turn will contribute to improved self-esteem, better employment prospects and a more cohesive and democratic society. The workshops enable member States to support the ambitious, inclusive approaches addressed in Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)1 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture, as well as in the European Council’s Recommendation (2019) on a comprehensive approach to the teaching and learning of languages

The webinar, as with the workshops, is not just aimed at language teachers. It involves a more holistic approach, addressing:

• whole-school policies and strategies to support the integration of plurilingual learners
• holistic approaches to language learning and teaching including the language of schooling, the language of schooling as a second language, foreign languages, home languages, regional/minority languages
• challenges facing non-language teachers and how to adapt pedagogical approaches in all subjects to meet the needs of migrant learners 

The webinar provides insights into the ‘Supporting Multilingual Classrooms’ workshops with inputs provided by the team as well as national representatives. We explore the motivations for member States to host our workshops and how they have made a key contribution to curriculum and policy development and achieved impact in their various contexts.

Recorded 16 October 2025

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp5j78KkVig
Webinar in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ovq_DNe3OA

Migration is now a significant feature of most European countries. Most migrants are adults of working age. Work is a top priority for them and the country of immigration. Many lack the language skills they need to find a job corresponding to their qualifications, trapping them in low-skilled, low-paid jobs (Braddell & Miller 2017). This is a loss for individuals and economy (Stirling 2015), leading the OECD to recommend language education for adult migrants that supports sustainable labour market and civic integration (OECD 2023). 

In response to this challenge, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers across Europe are exploring how best to help migrants gain work-related language skills. This webinar offers them support.

Which aspects will be covered? 
This webinar will cover key insights and share tested practical solutions of the Language for Work Network (LfW) on effective approaches to language education for sustainable and fair labour market integration.

What is special about this webinar? 
This webinar reviews key insights gained by the LfW team in over 20 years engagement in supporting work-related L2 development by migrant workers across Europe. It highlights some of the most effective practices that have emerged. It offers participants an opportunity to reflect on the language learning needs of migrants in their region, and how those needs might most effectively be met. Finally, the webinar offers opportunities for networking. 

Which benefits/outcomes are envisaged? 
Colleagues already working or planning to work in the field gain an overview of structural, and didactic-methodological understandings and effective practices. This constitutes a practical resource for the development of coherent, sustainable systems of support for language learning that promotes and enables labour market integration, sustainable employment, and skills development. VET colleagues with growing numbers of learners from a migration background will find practical tips how to integrate subject content with L2 teaching and learning.

Target groups: learning providers (including teachers), researchers, and decision-makers working in the areas of migrant integration (including labour market integration), language education, workforce development.

Presenters: Alex Braddell, Matilde Grünhage-Monetti, Annemarie Nuwenhoud, Christophe Portefin, and Kerstin Sjösvärd

Recorded 9 September 2025

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQd6TewKQys
Webinar in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKWGy7F_MPg
Download: Powerpoint presentation

• Why is it relevant to assess home language competences of migrant pupils?
• How do you assess language competences not learned at school?
• How do we get started? How to encourage learners? How to get involved as a teacher, parent or pupil?

Join us for a dynamic webinar introducing the ECML's RECOLANG resources designed to support the assessment of migrant pupils’ home language competences. Discover how these tools respond to challenges in plurilingual education, in particular regarding the reception and schooling of allophone pupils, and promote inclusive practices in today’s rapidly evolving European contexts. 

Learn how to put the ECML’s RECOLANG tools into practice and contribute to more equitable language education for all.

Target groups: Language teachers, teacher trainers, education, assessment and policy professionals involved in receiving and educating migrant pupils.

Presenters: Isabelle Audras, France; Ildikó Lőrincz, Hungary; Filomena Martins, Portugal

Recorded 4 June 2025

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/live/iSl_aDXveWU
Webinar in French: https://www.youtube.com/live/fU1xh3qiIsw
Download: Powerpoint presentation

Artificial intelligence has entered our daily lives and is changing our relationship to others and the way we consider the world in profound and lasting ways. What is the impact on education and in particular on language education? As technology continues to evolve, what kind of adaptation and transformation is required?

In response to these challenges and to help language professionals embrace what this means for plurilingual and intercultural education, the ECML is launching a series of webinars focusing on AI. 

In this first webinar, Jonas Erin, ECML expert from the French Ministry of National Education, will take a critical look at the landscape of AI in education and will outline both the opportunities and challenges for language education in its endeavours to strengthen democratic culture.

With the support of Council of Europe/ECML tools, the webinar will include: 

• Navigating the magma of AI tools
• Understanding and mitigating the impact of AI on language
• Adapting and transforming language teaching and learning
• Exploring the future

Recorded 4 February 2025

Webinar in English: https://youtube.com/live/byO8nno1jmk
Webinar in French: https://youtube.com/live/Z-FtmjB9VBk
Download: powerpoint presentation

• Are you enthusiastic about integrating ICT in language teaching in order to enhance student engagement and learning? 
• Would you like guidance on how to select appropriate online tools and how to design pedagogically sound learning activities using these, without spending too much time?
• Do you think that teachers’ professional development is more effective if they share their experiences and work together? 

If the answer to these questions is yes, then this webinar should be of interest to you.

The webinar showcases the work of ICT-REV, an initiative of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) and the European Commission, which has, to date, offered over 60 training workshops to language educators throughout Europe and beyond.  

The challenges and opportunities provided by the use of ICT and digital learning are  highlighted during the webinar, along with details of the ICT-REV workshops and the hands-on activities carried out before, during and after each event, which aim to develop the competences and confidence of language teachers. 

The webinar also presents the ICT-REV Inventory of ICT tools and open educational resources,  developed as part of the ICT-REV project. The Inventory contains over 200 freely available online tools, including applications that use AI, which support language teaching and learning. It is a resource developed from teachers’ suggestions and evaluated by ICT-REV team members. 

The webinar  incorporates the use of tools and activities that teachers might choose to use with their students. 

Recorded 11 Dec 2024

Webinar in English: https://youtube.com/live/JR31oYwVgeA
Webinar in French: https://youtube.com/live/C467jnz6zLE
Webinar in German: https://youtube.com/live/2vgIKEUDj2Q

• Are you involved/interested in the process of reforming foreign language curricula?
• Has Covid made you work with alternative forms of assessment?
• Plurilingual and pluricultural skills are an essential part of the CEFR and its Companion Volume – Are they impacting on curricula and examinations in your context? If not, do you think they should?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then the webinar Aligning to the CEFRCV: a continuous process is likely to be of interest to you. 

The webinar is based on “Relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference” (RELANG), an initiative of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) and the European Commission which has, to date, conducted training workshops to different target groups in over 30 Member States of the European Union and the ECML on relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the CEFR in a valid and reliable way. 

RELANG workshops offer support for reform processes envisaged in the Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)1 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture as well as Recommendation (2019) of the Council of the European Union on a comprehensive approach to the teaching and learning of languages.

The webinar will share the experiences gained by the RELANG team from operating in a wide variety of countries and contexts with a particular focus on plurilingual and pluricultural skills  and alternative forms of assessment. National representatives will also comment on how workshops have made a key contribution to reform processes and achieved impact in their respective countries and outline challenges for the future in this dynamic area.

The webinar will also offer the opportunity to interact with the moderators through posting questions in a chat function.

Recorded 19 September 2024

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/live/5xslG-J7NTw
Download: powerpoint presentation

Action research communities (ARC) (www.ecml.at/actionresearch) webinar with
Dr. Jane O’Toole (Teacher (Scoil Chrónáin Senior National School, Dublin www.stcronanssns.ie) CARN Coordinating Group Member (Collaborative Action Research Network www.carn.org.uk) Researcher (www.researchgate.net/profile/Jane-Otoole-3))

As a follow-up event to the European Centre for Modern Languages ARC Trainings and Consultancies, the ARC-Network is inviting you to participate in our interactive webinar which will explore the potential of action research in language education.

• Why action research?
• How does an action research methodology support language education both in terms of research and practice?
• What are the opportunities and challenges that arise in conducting action research in the sphere of language education?
• How might I go about integrating action research into my practice as a language educator?

These are just some of the questions to be unpacked as we examine both local and global contexts of language education. The webinar will be presented by Dr. Jane O'Toole, a practising schoolteacher in Ireland with a special interest in both language education and action research. The discussion will include insights into the Irish language context which will serve to illuminate the opportunities and challenges of action research in endangered language contexts in addition to inviting participants to share perspectives on their own local and global understandings of language education.

Target groups: The webinar which is moderated by the ARC team is open to everyone. It is likely to be of particular interest to participants in the Action research Communities’ Training and Consultancy workshops (and those registered for 2024 events) as well as to members of the CARN Network.

Recorded 21 May 2024

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwp5ySlfhVA
Download: powerpoint presentation

The Recommendation CM/Rec (2022) on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture is the first holistic recommendation on language education to be published by the Council of Europe. Its scope extends beyond formal education, recognising that successful implementation requires a shift in societal attitudes to language and culture. In the fourth webinar in the series, Terry Lamb (Professor of Languages and Interdisciplinary Pedagogy, University of Westminster; President FIPLV) will explore the ways in which a wide range of stakeholder groups and partners in civil society can collaborate with educational institutions to contribute to this broad and ambitious agenda for change.

Background

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.

The first webinar focused on the main messages for decision-makers and first steps for implementation. In the second, David Little provided an analysis of the definition of plurilingual and intercultural education that forms the basis of the Recommendation, while examining the educational and societal challenges that the Recommendation aims to address. The third webinar in the series, featuring Mirjam Egli Cuenat, focused on the importance that the Recommendation places on teacher education. This fourth webinar with Terry Lamb on challenging societal attitudes towards language and culture concludes the series.

Recorded 22 February 2024

Webinar in English: https://youtube.com/live/gDYobGiEItY
Webinar in French: https://youtube.com/live/vrkk7IiPY1Q
Download: powerpoint presentation

With over 200 indigenous languages in Europe, as well as many languages brought to the continent through immigration, many regional and minority languages (RMLs) find themselves in competition with Europe’s more dominant and economically powerful languages. When a language ceases to be used by all generations and in all aspects of life and instead becomes limited to certain age groups and/or certain domains of society – there is a danger that it enters a spiral of decline which can eventually lead to extinction.

This event will look at examples relating to the promotion of regional and minority languages from around Europe. A series of short presentations will focus specifically on  educational practice in contexts where regional and minority languages (RMLs)  are prevalent and are part of the curriculum and/or a language of schooling.These will cover a wide range of languages, locations and educational settings and will highlight examples of practice which are potentially transferable/adaptable to other contexts.

The presentations will address the following issues. 

• Implementation of the Council of Europe’s Romani-Plurilingual Policy Experimentation (Slovakia)
• Promoting the Romansh language to different target groups (Switzerland)
• Policy and innovative practice in teaching Walloon language (Belgium)
• RMLs within the public education system in France 
• Curriculum, examinations, and assessment for RMLs in Norway - challenges and solutions  
• How ECML publications can be used in promoting RMLs
• Innovative teaching practices to foster student motivation in the Basque and Friulian contexts 
• Minority education regulation in Slovenia with best practices from the bilingual area of Prekmurje

The event will also look at the further support required by the professional community in this area. 

Target audience:  Language education professionals working with regional and minority languages at any educational level and Educational administrators /policy makers who are involved with RMLs in national education systems 

This event is organised within the framework of the European Centre for Modern Languages’ 2023 cooperation action with the European Commission. It will involve representatives from the 38 member states of the ECML and the European Union, as well as key networks and associations active in the area of RMLs.

Recorded 7 November 2023

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE-4nu2BcLA
Webinar in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quonz1QhqPk
Website: www.ecml.at/rmlcolloquium
Programme: See full programme of the colloquium (NB: the morning session only will be livestreamed)

This initiative is carried out within the framework of a cooperation agreement between the European Centre for Modern Languages and the European Commission, entitled  Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning

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. 

The first webinar focused on the main messages for decision-makers and first steps for implementation. In the second webinar, Professor David Little provided an analysis of the definition of plurilingual and intercultural education that forms the basis of the Recommendation, while examining the educational and societal challenges that the Recommendation aims to address. 

In this third webinar in the series, Professor Mirjam Egli Cuenat, will focus on the importance that Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)1 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 will be addressed using concrete examples from teacher education for different target levels.

The final webinar in the series will then focus on societal engagement for successful implementation of the Recommendation.

Recorded 29 March 2023

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPia_5wiDHA
Webinar in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx3lxsMDOYU
Download: Powerpoint presentation (in French)

Digital citizenship education represents both a societal need and a priority of the Council of Europe. If you wish to discover ways this dimension can be explored in language teaching and learning, then this webinar is for you.

The European Centre for Modern Languages e-lang citizen project team will present the main tenets of their pedagogical approach, as well as concrete tasks to be adapted to various teaching and learning environments. The objective of these tasks is to develop both language skills and digital citizenship.

The webinar will provide an opportunity to showcase the latest project developments and productions.

Target group: language teachers and teacher trainers.

Recorded 10 November 2022

Webinar in English and French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM7p90QkOac 
Download: Powerpoint presentation

In June this year the ECML launched a series of webinars on Recommendation R(2022)1 on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture, adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in February 2022. The first webinar, which can be viewed here, explained the background to the Recommendation, focused on key messages for decision-makers and offered suggestions for awareness-raising activities and for first steps towards implementation. 

In this second webinar, Professor David Little will analyse the definition of plurilingual and intercultural education on which the Recommendation is based. He will consider the educational and societal challenges the Recommendation is designed to address, and outline what he believes to be its principal implications for curricula and pedagogy.

Subsequent webinars in the series will focus on the importance of both teacher education and societal engagement for successful implementation of the Recommendation. 

Target group: curriculum planners; school leaders; teachers of all subjects

Recorded 23 September 2022 

Video in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-Dp470joM 
Video in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyBcuQdnUgs
Download: Powerpoint presentation

In February this year, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the first comprehensive Recommendation in the field of languages - Recommendation R(2022)1 on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture.

This webinar explains the background to this Recommendation - where it came from, how it is structured, and why it was adopted.  It begins by focusing on key messages and on what these mean for decision-makers, before drawing on elements of the official text and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum which can be used for awareness-raising and as first steps towards implementation.  It concludes by outlining the series of follow-up events planned for the academic year 2022-2023 that will explore specific aspects of the Recommendation and their implications for different target groups. 

Target group: education decision-makers at national/regional or institutional levels

Recorded 14 June 2022

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7b_e4h6ps0
Webinar in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trfiauFQA5g
Download:powerpoint presentation

Would you like to find out more about our initiative - "The future of language education in the light of Covid"?  Would you be interested in helping us understand how learners’ experienced language learning and teaching during the pandemic so that together we can build a more promising future for language education? 

This webinar will provide an overview of the initiative, present the initial findings from a pilot project based on classroom activities to elicit learners’ voices and invite participating teachers to take part in the next stage.

Target group: language teachers (all levels)

The initiative is coordinated by the ECML’s Professional Network Forum and takes place in cooperation with the European Commission.

Recorded 17 May 2022

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswVU_3liBs
Download: powerpoint presentation

Has your school opened its doors to refugees from Ukraine? What impact has this had on learning and teaching?  Do you feel confident in supporting learners who struggle to understand you or to make themselves understood?  Do you have access to appropriate resources?  

This webinar will provide you with guidance and teaching resources to address these new challenges and ensure a welcoming atmosphere, conducive to learning. You will discover how best to value this linguistic diversity in your classroom in ways that also foster the development of the language of schooling. 

Target group: pre-primary, primary and secondary teachers (of languages and other subjects)

Recorded 12 May 2022

Webinar in English: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Wa1lU2PWY
Download: powerpoint presentation

moderated by Angela-Gallagher-Brett, Larisa Kasumagic-Kafedzic and Christine Lechner

• How can Action Research support language education?
• What have your experiences with Action Research been?
• What are the tools developed by the Action Research Communities project and how can you use them in your context?

We will address these questions, based on the experiences of the European Centre for Modern Languages’ ARC project with action research - also taking into account the effects of the pandemic.

During the webinar we will introduce the ARC project, which was based upon the conviction that teachers are at the heart of the quality process in the language learning classroom. We set out to support teachers in European classrooms using action research as an essential tool for the development of reflective classroom practice highlighting ways in which teachers can enhance their self-confidence and professionalism.

We will then dip into the ARC Spiral as a basis for discussions, as well as showing tools that the ARC-Community has built for teacher education and telling you about some of the amazing action research projects that participants of the original project and the ECML training and consultancy workshops from 2020 and 2021 have been engaged in and how you can get involved in the future.

Target audience:  all language teachers from primary to university level and also to action researchers from other fields who would like to learn more about language education.

Recorded 8 March 2022

Webinar in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH1qAN_xeUI 
Webinar in German: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFRM1NuCUTI