The CertiLingua Label of Excellence is awarded to pupils who attain high levels in at least two foreign languages, experience one of those languages as the medium of instruction through CLIL, and who can demonstrate knowledge of Europe and intercultural competences, usually gained through an international cooperation project.  By helping pupils engage confidently with linguistic and cultural diversity, CertiLingua prepares them to participate actively in an interconnected democratic Europe, in line with Council of Europe values.

This year’s annual conference, which took place on 30 September and 1 October, was hosted by the Ministry of Education of Rhineland-Palatinate in Mainz, Germany and brought together representatives of member countries and participating schools to share expertise and discuss the further development of the label.

Following an invitation from Silke Hinz, Chair of the CertiLingua Steering Committee and a representative for Germany on the Governing Board of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML), the Council of Europe was represented by Sarah Breslin, Executive Director of the ECML and Head of Language Policy and Arzu Burcu Tuner, Programme Manager, Education Department. Sarah delivered the keynote presentation “Plurilingual and intercultural education – a lever for sustaining motivation in language learning and teaching?”, followed by questions and answers. Her presentation gave participants an opportunity to critically engage with the complexities of plurilingual and intercultural education and to become familiar with CM/Rec (2022)1 on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture. Reflection moments during the presentation allowed the audience to consider the implications for the CertiLingua initiative.

Sarah also led the workshop “Plurilingual and intercultural education – Making it work for you” with support from Arzu Burcu Tuner where participants were invited to discover a wide range of ECML and language policy resources, including the ECML’s recently published “Motivation and language teacher education: a call to action” through a series of tailored tasks directly linked to CertiLingua.

The remarkable commitment of CertiLingua schools to excellence in language and intercultural education, despite structural and financial constraints and at a time when language learning overall is in decline, is truly impressive and will be showcased as an example of good practice at the next ECML Governing Board.