Plurilingual and intercultural approaches
A didactic tool for integrated plurilingual and intercultural education

The European Centre for Modern Languages is launching a series of 48 national training and consultancy workshops . The workshops which are hosted in member states offer a wide range of European expertise in language education and are adapted to the concrete needs and specific contexts within individual 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.

25 of the events will take place within the framework of the “Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning” cooperation action between the ECML and the European Commission. These activities, covering member states of the ECML and the European Union, focus on Relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference (RELANG), Supporting Multilingual Classrooms and Use of ICT in support of language teaching and learning

The other 23 events targeting the member states of the ECML focus on the following areas: Action research communities, CLIL and beyond – pluriliteracies, Language for work, Language of schooling in subject learning, Plurilingual and intercultural approaches (CARAP/FREPA), The ROADMAP – a self-assessment tool to foster school development, Setting up learning environments where modern languages flourish.

The events combine professional input from the ECML and expertise in the member state to initiate quality developments – the workshops can assist in change processes in language education at local, regional and national levels. The first of the events, a RELANG workshop, will take place at the Lithuanian National Agency for Education in Vilnius on 7-9 March.

The ECML offers its member states European expertise in language education adapted to the concrete needs and specific contexts within individual countries.

On 26 January 2023, seven training and consultancy (TaC) teams exchanged their experience in the field of:

• Action research communities,
• CLIL and beyond – pluriliteracies,
• Language for work,
• Language of schooling in subject learning,
• Plurilingual and intercultural approaches (CARAP/FREPA),
• The ROADMAP - a self-assessment tool to foster school development,
• Setting up learning environments where modern languages flourish (online presentation),

focusing on highlights, challenges and learning opportunities, and conclusions for 2023 activities.

The network meeting with the local organisers from Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Slovak Republic and Slovenia took place on 27 January. The participants got an overview of the TaC offers and their benefits from previous experience, national contexts and needs, and the ECML support provided. Individual meetings took place for local organisers with the TaC teams to discuss the organisation and arrangements of their national events planned this year.

In 2023 the ECML will conduct 23 training events in 17 member states:

In addition, up to 25 workshops will be organised in ECML and EU member states through the Centre’s cooperation action with the European Commission – these will be announced shortly.

• More information on the ECML training and consultancy offer

Photo gallery

Venue: INSPE of Reims, France
Local organisers: Frédéric Bablon and Magali Censier, Rectorat de l'Académie de Reims, France
ECML experts: Béatrice Leonforte (Switzerland), Anna Schröder-Sura (Germany), Michel Candelier (France)
Participants: 110 Inspectors, technical advisors, primary and secondary school teachers, educational advisors, trainers

From 29 November to 1 December 2021, an academic seminar was held on pluralistic approaches to languages. This seminar is a continuation of and complementary to a previous one dedicated to the awakening to languages, in 2019.

The large-scale event was organised  jointly by the European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz (Austria) and the academic authorities (Ia-Dasen de l'Aube, IA-IPR de langues vivantes, DAREIC) with the support of the Grand Est Region, and benefitted  from the national FPEU label (French Presidency of the European Union).

International experts in pluralistic approaches to languages were invited to present their research findings.

The speakers were :

• Michel Candelier, professor emeritus at the University of Le Mans, coordinator of several European projects including the EVLANG project (Awakening to languages in primary schools) and the CARAP/FREPA project (Framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures) developed at the ECML (Council of Europe, Graz, Austria), where he is a prominent collaborator;
• Béatrice Leonforte, trainer at the Haute Ecole Pédagogique of Locarno and scientific advisor to the Working Group for compulsory school programmes in the canton of Ticino (Switzerland), specialist in plurilingualism, in particular for language awareness in primary school and integrated didactics at secondary level;
• Anna Schröder-Sura, teacher and trainer in the didactics of Romance languages, specialist in the didactics of plurilingualism at the University of Rostock (Germany) and working with the ECML in particular on the elaboration and dissemination of CARAP;
• Anne-Marie Voise, trainer in language teaching at the INSPEs of Versailles, Dijon and Créteil and teacher-researcher at the UPEC;
• Véronique Lemoine-Bresson, teacher-researcher at the University of Lorraine, at the ATILF laboratory (CNRS) in the language didactics and sociolinguistics team; she also teaches in the Masters MEEF programme at the INSPE in Lorraine.

A seminar in two parts:

The first half-day was reserved for managers from the academy, inspectors and educational advisors from various disciplines. The action carried out by the Academy of Reims on language awareness and integrated language teaching (1st and 2nd level) was presented, followed by keynotes by Michel Candelier (From languages as learning objects to “language” as a vector for disciplinary learning. Building synergies) and Anna Schröder-Sura (Teacher competences for the use of pluralistic approaches: an overview of an ongoing project at the ECML, Council of Europe. A general discussion on the principles of synergy, their implementation, foreseeable obstacles, objectives, teaching skills.

After the welcome speech by the director of INSPE Reims, the second day was an opportunity for Olivier Brandouy, rector of the academy, in his talk on “the importance of the language dimension for all educational processes, “to affirm his conviction that “the response to the challenges of language can only be global, involving everyone, whether a language specialist or not, in a coordinated manner”, and to reaffirm his “commitment to reinforce the essential position given to the development of language at nursery school”, to “continue the action intended to develop the linguistic awareness of our pupils to prepare them in a more sustainable way for the learning of modern foreign languages” and to understand the importance of developing and cultivating  intercultural competence among our pupils”. Finally, he recalled the innovative work accomplished over the last four years in the field of languages within the academy.

The invited experts and 17 academic facilitators (IEN 1er degré, CPD langues, secondary school teachers and school teachers) then offered the large audience an in-depth discussion and workshops on practical application and feedback on experiments which demonstrated and promoted  the research actions already in operation within the academy.

These concrete approaches illustrating “what exists” aroused great interest. Many of those present said that they were keen to promote and use them in their professional practice and to disseminate them within their respective schools.

The day ended with a plenary lecture by Béatrice Leonforte who presented the different aspects of the implementation of pluralistic approaches (integrated in the school curriculum) in the canton of Ticino.

This seminar was therefore rich in theoretical insights, and provided exchanges opening up new perspectives for consideration – which have already prove effective in the academy - of the pluralistic approach to languages and the beginning of a more transversal and global reflection on French as an academic language.

Thank you to our partners, the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe, the Inspé de Reims and the Région Grand Est!

Frédéric Bablon, Michel Candelier, Magali Censier, Yvan Jacquemin

• FREPA: A framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures
• More information about the training and consultancy offer of the ECML for member states “Plurilingual and intercultural approaches - A didactic tool for integrated plurilingual and intercultural education”

Dates: 14 and 21 November 2020
Format: online event
Local organisation: Doina SPITA, Vice-President of the International Federation of Teachers of French (Fédération internationale des professeurs de français, FIPF), Iasi, Romania
ECML experts: Ildikó Lőrincz (Hungary), Jean-François de Pietro (Switzerland)
23 participants: 14 secondary school teachers of French as a foreign language, 3 subject teachers teaching in French, 3 students - future teachers of French as a foreign language, 3 university professors (Romania)

Language teachers in the 21st century need the knowledge and know-how to set up working arrangements that help learners to become aware of their plurilingual potential and then to develop it in multilingual communication situations, which are so frequent in both the real and virtual world.

However, it must be acknowledged that such an innovative methodology, adapted to the new challenges of language teaching and learning in the context of plurilingualism, occupies a very modest place in the initial and in-service training programmes of most countries. This is why it is a priority to involve the various teachers and future teachers of and in French in such a training module.

The workshop « Pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures in French as a foreign language and non-linguistic subjects in the French classroom (« Les approches plurielles des langues et des cultures en classe de français langue étrangère (FLE) et de disciplines non linguistiques (DNL) en français ») perfectly met these objectives. At the end of the event, the participants showed that they had understood the challenges of the new methodology, had integrated the opportunities of the Framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures (FREPA) and were even able to design specific autonomous modules and thus to enhance the value of pluralistic approaches and digital technology as a vector of learning motivation.

Doina SPITA, coordinatrice locale de la formation

• FREPA: A framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures
• More information about the training and consultancy offer of the ECML for member states "Plurilingual and intercultural approaches - A didactic tool for integrated plurilingual and intercultural education"
• Programme of the FREPA online training event (published in French on the Facebook of the University Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iasi, Romania)
• Follow the news of the International Federation of Teachers of French (Fédération internationale des professeurs de français, FIPF) (website)

Romanian version

Ca profesori de limbi ai secolului XXI, avem nevoie să știm să concepem dispozitive de lucru care să-i ajute pe elevi/studenți să-și descopere și conștientizeze potențialul plurilingv pentru a-l putea mai apoi valorifica în situațiile de comunicare multilingvă, atât de frecvente în lumea reală ca și în cea virtuală.

Trebuie să recunoaștem că o asemenea metodologie inovatoare, adaptată noilor provocări ale predării-învățării limbilor în contextul plurilingvismului, ocupă un loc foarte modest în programele de formare inițială și continuă din majoritatea țărilor. Acesta este motivul pentru care considerăm că a-i antrena pe profesorii sau viitorii profesori de franceză sau de DNL în franceză să participe la o asemenea formare reprezintă o prioritate.

Atelierul  Les approches plurielles des langues et des cultures en classe de FLE et de DNL en français a răspuns perfect acestor deziderate. La terminarea sa, participanții au putut dovedi că au înțeles provocările noii metodologii, că au integrat oportunitățile CARAP-ului și că sunt capabili să conceapă module specifice autonome valorificând astfel beneficiile abordărilor pluraliste și ale digitalizării ca vectori de motivare a învățării.

Date: 7 and 8 October 2019
Venue: Canopé de la Marne, Reims, France
Organisation: Rectorate of the Academy of Reims, France
ECML experts: Michel Candelier, France; Jean François de Pietro, Switzerland
Participants:  the academy's education executives and decision-makers (7 October);  teachers and trainers involved in language awareness projects in their schools (8 October)

Pluralistic approaches - in particular language awareness and integrated language didactics - are included in the new curricula in France (2015 and 2016). At the instigation of the Rector of the Academy of Reims, a project aimed at the progressive integration of these approaches in the classroom has been developed and has benefited from the assistance of Michel Candelier and Francis Goullier in its definition.

The seminar supported by the ECML made it possible to draw up a progress report with a view to gradually extending the experiment. This seminar contributed to :

• offering additional training for people who had taken part in the experiments, including  practical presentations, cross presentations of the work carried out, giving rise to a critical review (progress made and problems encountered) (one day, plenary sessions and workshops);
• to offer guidance and advice, with the participation of the educational managers who followed up the experiments, in the presence of the Rector;
• to sensitize new staff to these issues;
• to promote the Academy's action among its partners (local authorities);
• to bring together European actors involved in this same dynamic.

All the resources are available on the Padlet « Éveil à la diversité linguistique » ("Awakening to linguistic diversity"), accessible at: https://fr.padlet.com/eric_hornewer/zu1x174rdxbp.

Related links

• FREPA: A framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures
• More information about the training and consultancy offer of the ECML for member states "Plurilingual and intercultural approaches - A didactic tool for integrated plurilingual and intercultural education"