Handbook on good practice that servesto motivate language learners

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Table of conTenT

Introduction 1. Introduction: Motivating language learners through innovative teaching and learning practices

1.1. Anexampleofearlylanguageteaching (KaunasPanemunePrimarySchool)1.2. UsingblogstomotivatethelearningofFrenchinIreland (St.Michael’s,LoretoSecondarySchool)1.3.MovingtowardsapolyglotmindsetinAndalusia (UniversidadPablodeOlavide)1.4. EPOS–ane-portfolioforthreesectorsofeducation (FremdsprachenzentrumderHochschulenimLandBremen)

2. Introduction: Motivating language learners through language policy

2.1. MultilingualprimaryeducationinBrussels (VrijeUniversiteitBrussels)2.2. Motivationtolearnlanguagesbreaksdownculturalbarriers inLondon(WalthamstowSchoolforGirls)2.3. TheUniversityofWarsawsystemofLanguageProvision– languagesforallUniversityofWarsaw

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3. Introduction: cooperation with other partners and stakeholders

3.1. RegionalActionPlanforthePromotionofMultilingualism UniversidadedoMinho3.2. FrenchforStudentsofAerospaceEngineeringCILT, theNationalCentreforLanguages3.3. LanguagelearningasasteptowardEuropeanCitizenship– EnhancesstudentexchangeCampusEuropae3.4. Languagelearningatprimaryschoolthrough etwinninginitiativeÈcolepubliquemixtedeFromont3.5. Outsidein:bringingthecommunityintoschool– motivationforlanguagesEscolaSecundáriade TomasCabreira

4. Introduction: Motivation through integration, accreditation and certification

4.1. Improvingmultilingualcompetenceofstudentsby theallocationofECTSFreieUniversitätBerlin4.2.MotivatingStudentsbymeansoffeeexemptionand theawardofECTSUniversitédesLausanne4.3.MotivationthroughcertificationBabes-Bolyai UniversityofCluj

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Introduction

TheHandbookisoneofthemainoutputsofthethree-yearMOLANnet-workproject(December2007-November20101),fundedbytheEuro-peanCommissionundertheLifelongLearningProgramme(LLP),KeyActivity2–Languages.TheMOLANnetworkiscomprisedof38partnersbasedin18participatingcountriesandinSwitzerland–schools,univer-sities,organisationsandauthoritiesthatsharetheUnion’sfirmbeliefthatcommunicationinanumberofforeignlanguagesisakeycompetenceforlifelonglearning,andthatinstitutionsinformaleducationhaveaspecialresponsibilityinthisrespect.Partnersarealsoconvincedthatschoolsanduniversitiesshouldco-operateinthisendeavour.Inotherwords,MOLANisfirmlyrootedintheUnion’smultilingualismpolicy,whichtookshapeintheearlyninetiesandreacheditsclimaxwiththeappointmentofMrLeonardOrbanasCommissionerforMultilingualism.Thepartner-shipgreatlybenefitedfromtheparticipationofsubcontractors–expertsinthefieldfrom9educationalinstitutionsfromacrossEurope.

ThegrantapplicationfortheMOLANnetworkprojectwaspreparedinresponsetooneofsixstrategicprioritiessetoutforKA2Networksinthe2007LLPCall–“Networksofgoodpracticethatservetomotivatelanguagelearners”.Thisparticularstrategicprioritywasnotaccidental.Inthosedays,motivationforlanguagelearningwasoneofthemainitemsontheEU’smultilingualismagenda.Afterall,theCommission’sHighLevelGrouponMultilingualism(HLGM)(2006-7)cametothecon-clusionthat“motivationisakey,ifnotthekey,tosuccessfullanguagelearning.Enhancinglearnermotivationisthecrucialelementinachie-vingthedesiredbreakthroughinlanguagelearningacrossEurope.”AmongtherecommendationsmadebytheHLGMwasthefollowing:“ThereisawealthofexperienceavailableacrosstheUnionregardingstrategiesrelevanttoinitiatingandsustainingmotivationforthelearningoflanguages.TheCommissionshouldsupportprojectsdesignedtomakesuccessfulstrategiesforinitiatingandsustaininglearnermotivati-onknowntostakeholdersacrossEurope,andtopromotethedevelop-mentofinnovativestrategies.”

1In response to an application submitted by the co-ordinator, the MOLAN network project eligibility period was eventually extended by three months.

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• extracurricularactivities• languagelearningandlanguageuselinkedtoICT;• independentandcollaborativelearning;• ContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning(CLIL).

However,whatalsobecameclearduringthecourseoftheprojectwasthatexamplesofsuccessfulpracticehavetobeseenandplacedincontext;whatispossibleinonecontextmaynotbefeasibleinanothercontext;inotherwords,nosizefitsall;

• examplescannotjustbecopied;theymaybeadapted toalignthemtodifferentcontexts;• welivein(a)rapidlychangingenvironment(s);forexample, migrantlanguagesarebecomingincreasinglyimportant;• withoutadequatefinancialsupport,eventhemostpromising initiativesmaycometonaught–andthisisthemessagethat becameevermoreclearduringthecourseoftheprojectasa resultofthefinancialcrisis;• thecontext-specificlocalfeaturesofeachuniversity/school tendtodeterminehowlanguagepoliciesaredevisedandimple- mented,ratherthananynationalorregionalstrategy–inother words,evenschoolscandesigntheirownpolicies,strategies andpractices(PSPs).

Aboveall,however,theexecutivesummariesconveyapositivemessage.TheyshowthatrelevantactioncanbetakenatEuropean,regionalandinstitutionallevel–provideddecision-andpolicy-makersaremotivated.

Theexecutivesummariesalsopointtothefuture.Infuture,oneofourmainchallengeswillbetodealwithheterogeneouslearnergroups.Howcanwearousemotivationinsituationswherelearnersarede-motivatedbecauselanguage-wisetheyareaheadoftheirpeersorbecausetheyarebehindtheirpeers?Inotherwords,theMOLANHandbookdoesnotprovideready-madeanswers;itisdesignedtoencouragepolicy-makersanddecision-makerstoreflectonwhatneedstobedoneandtotakeappropriateaction.ThecasestudiespreparedintheMOLANprojectprovideevidenceofthefactthatmultilingualcompetenceisnotjustadream–giventherightPSPs,itcanbecomereality.

AndthisiswhereMOLANcamein.MOLANpartnerswerekeentoiden-tify,describeandanalyseinnovativepolicies,strategies,andpracticesthatcouldbeshowntohaveledtoincreasedlearnermotivation.

Inthefirstone-and-a-halfyearsofthenetworkproject,partnersandsub-contractorspreparedandrevisedmorethan80casestudiesofsuccessfulpractice,focusingonthedescriptionofthesuccessstoriesidentified,theirbackgrounds,successfactors,successindicators,andbroaderimplicationsandtransferability.Inreviewingthecasestudies,partnerswerekeentoidentifysuccessstoriesthatschoolsanduniver-sitiesacrossEuropemightfindinspiringinthesensethattheymightbeencouragedtoswingintoaction.AndthisledstraighttotheHandbook.Weselected15casestudiesandrequestedtheoriginalauthorstopre-pareexecutivesummariesofthesestudies,whichwerethendiscussedinpeerreviewsessionsataprojectconferenceheldinThessalonikiin2009.Inthisexercise,successfactorsturnedouttobeofparamountimportance.MOLANpartnersidentifiedfourbroadcategories:

• Motivatinglanguagelearnersthroughinnovative teaching and learning practices;• Motivatinglanguagelearnersthoughlanguage policy;• Motivationoflanguagelearnersasaresultofco-operation with other partners and stakeholders;• Motivatinglanguagelearnersthrough integration, accreditation and certification of language learning.

AsthefourintroductorysectionsoftheHandbookmakeclear,eachofthesecategoriesiscomprisedofanumberofsub-categories.Thethe-maticcategoriesrepresentclustersofsuccessfactors.AsalsobecamecleartousinThessaloniki,theinitiativesdescribedintheexecutivesummariesnormallyfeatureseveralsuccessfactors,beitintermsofsub-categoriesbelongingtothesamecategory,beitintermsofsub-categoriesbelongingtomorethanonebroadcategory.

Interestingly,amajorityofexecutivesummariesfeatureoneformofco-operationoranotherasasuccessfactor–co-operationwithininstitutions,betweeninstitutionsinthesamesector,trans-sectoralco-operation,trans-Europeanco-operation.Othertransversalsuccessfactorsinclude

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1. Motivating language learners through innovative teaching and learning practices

Whenexploringthemanyfactorsthatcanhelptoenhancesecondlanguagelearnermotivation,manylessonscanbelearnedfromthewaywebecomeproficientinourownmothertongue.

Theearliestfactorinacquiringalanguageistheneedtorelatetootherpeople,firstwithourparentsandsiblings,thenwithourpeersandotheradultsintheeducationsystem,atworkandinotherspheres.Aswegrowolder,theneedtointeractwithothersinallkindsofcircumstancesencouragesustousenewwordsandphrasesandtoexperimentwithnewregistersoflanguage.

Someoftheprogresswemakeinmasteringourfirstlanguagewillbebasedoninformalorformaltuitionwithinthefamilycircleortheeducationalsystem.Buttoalargeextentourlanguageskillswillbeacquiredthroughourownexperienceandthroughautonomouslearning,themainmotivatingfactorbeingthedesiretobecomemoreindepen-dentinourinteractionwiththewiderworld.

Finally,asweprogressthroughtheschoolsystemandthenpossibly,moveintohighereducation,ourcompetenceinthemainstreamlangua-geofeducationbecomesaprimefactorinfacilitatingouracquisitionofnewknowledge,byenablingustoattendclasses,takenotes,readandwriteassignmentsandcontributetoclassesandseminars.Wethereforebecomeawareveryearlyonintheeducationalsystemofhowimportantourfirstlanguageskillsareinhelpingusthroughthesystem,orconver-sely,ofhowmuchofahandicappoorlanguageskillscanprovetobe.

TheexamplesofinnovativeforeignlanguageteachingandlearningpracticesdescribedinthissectionoftheMOLANHandbookmirrorthethreefactorsoutlinedabove.

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peersfromforeigncountriesandinthiswaytheirlanguagecompetenceiseasilyimproved.Connectingwiththe‘realworld’throughtheuseofanotherlanguagedoesnotnecessarilyinvolveactivecommunicationwithpeersinanothercountry:theinitiativedescribedbySt.Michael’sLoretoSecondarySchoolinIreland(Casestudyn°2)showshowthesimplefactofwritingabloginaforeignlanguageandmakingitpubliclyavailableviatheinternetcanbeamotivatingfactor.Again,languageskillsarecombinedwitharangeofotherskillsandprofessionalcompetences,fromICTtoproofreading,organizingandmeetingdeadlines.

EvenwhenlanguagelearninginschoolshasstronginstitutionalsupportandispartofanambitiousPlurilingualismpromotionplan(Casestudyn°3:MovingtowardsapolyglotmindsetinAndalusia),extracurricularactivitiesareagainhighlightedasbeingfundamentalinmaintainingmo-tivationthroughparticipationinlanguageweeks,festivalsandexchangeprogrammes.

Culturaleventsaregenerallyseenasawayofcomplementingandraisinginterestinlanguagelearning,especiallyatmoreadvancedlevelsintheeducationsystem.Inthisrespect,cooperationwithembassiesandsuchculturalinstitutesasGoetheInstitut,theInstitutoCervantes,ortheBritishCouncilisoftenseenasacrucialfactorestablishingthelinkbetweenthelanguageanditsuseinthewiderworldoutsidetheclassroomorlecturehall.Theseinstitutionshelpuniversitiesandschoolstoimproveknowledgeofotherculturesbyprovidingbooksforlanguagelearning,scholarshipsforsummerlanguagecourses,byholdingseminarsandworkshops,andinvitingthepublictomeetingsandlectures.

Asregardshighereducationinstitutions,anumberofcasestudies(VytautasMagnusUniversity(LT),UniversitätWien(AT),UniversitätFrei-burg(DE),UniversitéLibredeBruxelles(BE),amongothers)reportthepresenceofmobilityprogrammesandworkplacementsasasuccessfactorservingtoraiselearners’awarenessoftherelevanceoflanguageskills.Thus,studentsareprovidedwithopportunitiestogaininternatio-nalexperienceandlearnanextralanguageoroptimizetheircommuni-cativecompetenceinthetargetlanguageandmakesureofitseffective-nessintheinterculturalacademicenvironment.

connecting with the ‚real world‘ through extracurricular activities

Alllanguageteachersknowthatoneofthekeystoeffectivelearningistheteacher‘sabilitytoshowstudentsofanyagehowtheirnewlyac-quiredlanguageskillsrelatetotheirimmediateorfutureneeds,whetherthesebewritingafewsimplewordstoapupilinanothercountry,buyingapacketofcrispsduringaschooltrip,holdingasimpleconversationwithapeerduringaschoolexchange,phoningasupplier,beingabletounderstandanimportantarticlepublishedinaforeignjournalorpreparingaPowerPointpresentationforamajorconference.Learningasecondlanguageshouldfirstandforemostbeaboutexploringthemanywaysinwhichlanguageconnectswiththerealworld.Thisiswhy„extracurricu-lar“activitiesareinfactattheheartofthelanguagelearningprocess.

Bydefinition,extracurricularactivitiesintheareaoflanguagelearningcoveraverywiderangeofexperiencesandpractices.Theyrangefromwritingapersonalblogintheforeignlanguage,ore-Twinningactivitieslinkingtwoormoreschoolstointernationalworkplacementsandmobi-lityprogrammesatuniversitylevel.

AnumberofMOLANcasestudies(OrivedenKeskuskoulu(FI),Sint-Janscollege(BE),EcolepubliquemixtedeFromont/StAndrews,Orkney(FR/UK))highlighte-Twinningasaverysuccessfulmeansofmotivatingschoollearners,bothintheuseofthelanguageforcommunicationpur-posesandinenhancingpupils’understandingandknowledgeofdiffer-entEuropeancountriesandcultures.Inaddition,e-TwinningnecessarilycombineslanguageusewithICTskills,thusreinforcingtheideathatlan-guageskillsarenottobelearnedandpracticedinisolationfromotherfieldsofcompetence.Moreover,successfulproject-relatedactivitiesbasedoncommunicatingwithpeersfromprojectpartnerinstitutions,performedonlineinthecomputerlabclassroom,canbeextendedoutofschoolwiththesupportofparentsandteachers.KaunasPanemunePrimarySchoolinLithuania(Casestudyn°1below)illustrateshowthiskindofextendedactivitycanenhancelanguagelearning.Itispointedoutinanumberofcasestudiesthatthelanguageusedasthemediumofcommunicationcanbethemothertongueofoneoftheprojectpart-nerschoolsoracommonthirdlanguage.Thesuccessoftheinitiativeliesinthefactthatpupilsaremotivatedbyrealcommunicationwiththeir

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weredstudentsatalllevelstotakeautonomousdecisionsandtoexplo-retheirownpathwaysinaccessinginformationandcommunicatingwiththeirpeers.Youngpeopleliketolearninpeer-groups,eitherinformalandinformalcontexts:tandem-learning,participationindiscussionforumsandInternetchatsandotherinformalactivitiesmakelearningcaptivatingandfun.

Externalfactorslikeastimulatinglearningenvironment,e.g.aself-accesslanguage-learningcentrewithhelpfulassistance,alsoplayanimportantpartinmotivatinglanguagelearning.Learninginaself-accessmultimediacentreorsurfingonsitesofpersonalinterestathomeismuchmoreattractiveandmotivatingthansittinginaclassroomwherethelevel,thetopics,thepacearebasedonaveragelearnersandwheregiftedlearnerscannotreachtheirfullpotentialandlesstalentedlearnersstruggleandfallfartherbehind.

ManyoftheMOLANcasestudies,particularlythoserelatingtoHigherEducation,refertotheimportanceofindependence,autonomyorselfdi-rectioninmotivatinglanguagelearners.Atschoollevel,languagelearn-ingstillremainsmuchmoreteacher-orientated.Independentlearningandlearnerautonomyareprincipallyimplementedthroughautonomousextracurricularactivitiessuchasthosedescribedabove,self-directedlearningspacesandtheuseofresearchbrowsersandICTingeneral.InHigherEducation,independentlanguagelearningisnowanessentialfactorinexpandinglanguagetake-up.Ittakesplacemostlyinlanguagecentreswithself-accessareas.Itisalsooftencombinedwithformalclassroomlearning(blendedlearning).Allcasestudiesmentiontheparamountroleoftutorialsupportseenasakeytoamoreself-directedwayoflanguagelearning,tothedevelopmentoflanguageawarenessandtotheenhancementoflearningstrategies.Anotherimportantpointmentionedinrelationtoautonomouslearningisitsrelevancetolifelonglearning.

empowering students to learn: independent language learning

Independent,autonomousorself-directedlearninghasalwaysplayedalargepartinacquiringforeignlanguageskills.However,theexponentialdevelopmentofICTandwebcommunicationhavegiventhisformoflearninganewdimensionandturneditintoanimportantmotivationalfactorinthedevelopmentoflanguagecompetence.

Thedegreeofindependenceorautonomyoutsidetheclassroomorlecturehallliesofcoursesomewherealongacontinuumbetweenfullyselfdirectedlearningwiththeaidofself-studylanguagebooksordigitalprogrammesatoneendandteacher-directedcourseswherethelearner’sindependencewillconsistonlyinpossibleextrawebbrowsingorreading.Inbetweenthereisamultitudeofdegreesanddifferentkindsofautonomouslearningthatcantakeplaceinavarietyofsettings(classroom,multimedialanguagecentre,athome,etc.)andinvolvedifferentpractices(self-access,learnertraining,etc.)andmodesoflearning(distancelearning,selfinstruction,etc.).Astheteachergradu-allytransfershis/hercontrolofdecisionmakingtolearners,thelatterincreasestep-by-stepcontrolovertheirlearningwithgrowingmaturityandunderstanding.Atthesametime,theroleoftheteacherchangesintooneoflearningadvisor.

AusefultooltopromotelearnerautonomyisprovidedbytheEuropeanLanguagePortfolio(ELP)whosemainaimisthepromotionofpluriling-ualismandpluriculturalism.InthePrinciplesandGuidelinespublishedbytheCouncilofEurope(http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Linguistic/Sour-ce/Guidelines_EN.pdf),theELPisseenasenhancingthecapacityforindependentlanguagelearning,withadualfunction:„bothapedagogicfunctiontoguideandsupportthelearnerintheprocessoflanguagelearningandareportingfunctiontorecordproficienciesinlanguages“,asithelpslearnerstoplan,monitorandassesstheirlearningprocess.Thelinkbetweenindependentlearningandmotivationinlanguagelearninghasbecomeincreasinglyapparent.Sincemotivationinlangua-gelearningisprincipallyaninternallyregulatedprocess,independentlanguagelearnerswhoareawareoftheirownneeds,interestsandgoalsandareabletomakeuseoflearningstrategiesaremuchmoremotiva-tedthanpassivelearners.Inrecentyears,thespreadofICThasempo-

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ThecasestudydevotedtotheFremdsprachenzentrumderHochschulenimLandeBremen(CaseStudyn°4below)highlightsthemotivationalroleofdiversifiedtutorialprogrammesandtheimplementationofEPOS,awebbasedlanguagelearningandcommunicationplatformwithanintegratedelectronicportfoliointheformoftheELPoftheEuropeanLanguageCouncil.Thissystemofferslanguagelearnersaflexiblelan-guage-learningprogramme,whichprovidesanoverviewofthelearner‘scompetenceandenhanceshis/herlearningautonomy.

acquiring knowledge through the medium of the foreign language (clIl)

Accesstoknowledge(asopposedtoinformation)throughthemediumofaforeignlanguageliesattheheartoftheEuropeanstudentexchangeandmobilityexperience,asstudentsfromothercountriesattendlectu-resandseminarsinhostuniversitiesgiveninthemainstreamlanguageofthecountryorregionconcerned.Atschoollevel,ContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning(CLIL)coversmanydifferenteducationalmodels,whichhavebeenintroducedwithvaryingdegreesofsuccess.SomeEuropeancountrieshavehadmanyyearsofexperienceusingCLIL,inothersalmostnone.Despitethesevariations,therationalesandgoalsthataregivenfortheimplementati-onofCLILhaveagreatdealincommon.The2006EurydiceSurveyonContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning(CLIL)atSchoolinEurope,analysesthesituationin30Europeancountries,wheredifferentcontextsandmodelsco-exist,dependingonvariablessuchasthestatusofthelanguage,startingage,andtheintensityanddurationoftheprogram-mes.Allinall,therearemorethan200typesofCLILprogrammesandmorethan40labelsco-existtodescribetheintegrationofcontent-learningwithlanguagelearning.However,irrespectiveofmodelorlabel,CLILisregardedasakeyinstrumentinenhancinglanguagelearningandlanguagediversityvaluesinEurope.ThisisreflectedinEUsupportgiventoanumberofCLILprojects,studies,organisationsandexperi-mentalinitiativesasanintegralpartofforeignlanguageteaching.

AlthoughnospecificcasestudyillustratingtheimplementationofCLILisincludedinthishandbook,theconceptappearsasastrongmotivati-onalfactorinanumberofthecasestudiesbelow,notablythoserela-tingtoregionsandcommunitieswithwell-definedandpro-activeearlylanguagelearningpolicies(seeCaseStudyn°3belowontheLlanesMiddleSchoolinAndalusiaandCaseStudyn°5inthenextsection:MultilingualeducationinprimaryschoolsinBrussels).

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1.1. An example of early language teaching

PrimaryeducationinLithuaniaisof4yearsdurationfromtheageof7to11beforechildrentransfertothesecondarysector.Thelearningofaforeignlanguageiscompulsoryonlyinthelastyearofprimaryeducationattheageof10.Howevertherealwayshavebeensomeinterestingexperimentswithearlylanguageteachingandnowthere’squiteawidenationalnetworkofschoolscarryingthisforward,mainlyintheteachingofEnglish.

TheKaunasPanemunePrimarySchoolispartandtheleaderofthisnationalnetworkandcollaborateswiththeTeacherProfessionalDevelop-mentCentresinKaunasandVilniusintheoperationofthislanguageprogramme,whichisinnovativeaschildrenbeginlearningtheforeignlanguageattheageof8.Englishhasbeenchosenbecauseofitsglobaluseandotherlanguagesmaybeexploredinthefuture.

TheschoolhasalonghistoryofinvolvementininternationalandEuro-peanprojectsstretchingbackto1994.Thisincludes4Comeniuspro-jectsandinvolvementinSpringdays,EuropeDayandtheEuropeanDayofLanguages.

Theaimofthelanguageinitiativeistogivepupilsthenecessarybasic(primary)communicativeskillsforproficiencyinspeaking,reading,liste-ningandwritingaswellasasenseofbeingpartoftheEuropeanCom-munity.PupilsintheschoolstarttheirEnglishlessonsattheageof8,with3lessonsaweekinclasstimeaswellashavingtheopportunitytotakepartinextra-curricularactivitiesduringtheafternoonfreetime.

Withpupilmotivationinmindtheteachingstrategyisbasedonacom-municativeteachingapproachwhereenhancingmotivationandfoster-ingapositiveattitudetolanguagelearningisparamount.Aplentifulsupplyofvisualaidsisavailableandlanguageistaughtthroughmakingmusic,singing,gamesanddrama.Theschoollibrary,besideshousingastockofbooksinEnglishwhichthepupilslovetoread,isalsoequippedwithaninteractivewhiteboardlinkedto14desktopcomputerslinkedtotheschoolnetworkandothermedia.Projectworkisfrequentlycarried

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TherangeoflearningpossibilitiessuchasICT,Englishbooksandthecombinationofformalandinformallearningoptionshaveenhancedmotivationandensuredgoodprogress.Moreoverspecialarrangementsareinplacetoensuresmallerclassgroupsforthelanguageprogram-me.TheuseofICT,interactivewhiteboardsandonlinelearningenablechildrentolearnmoreeasilyandinafunenvironment.Theintegrationoflanguagelearninginotherschoolactivitiesalsomotivatespupilstousetheirlanguageoutsidetheclassroom.ParticipationinthePublicSpeakingChampionshipgivespupilstheopportunitytopracticetheirspeakingskillsinaninnovativeandengagingcontextandallowsthemtodeveloptheirconfidenceandproficiencyintheEnglishlanguageaswellastheirsocialskills.

Finally,participationininternationalprojectshasbeenbeneficialinthatteachershavebeengiventheopportunitytosharegoodpracticewithteachersfromothercountriesandpupilshavealsohadthehighlymotivatingexperienceofusingaforeignlanguageinarealsituation.

Success indicators

TheresultsofaquestionnairesentouttopupilsandparentsinthespringeachyearrevealthatthereisconsiderablesatisfactionwiththeinitiativeandwiththeprogressbeingmadeinEnglish.

Theresultsalsorevealthatattitudestowardslanguagelearning,toothersubjectsandtoschoollifeingeneralhaveimprovedsincethelaunchoftheinitiative.

Thepupilshavedevelopedahighstandardofcommunicativeskillsthroughthemethodsusedintheinitiative:theyareabletointeractwithvisitorstotheschoolandcanmakepresentationsinconfidentandcor-rectEnglish.

ItisapositiveindicatorthatpupilschooseactivitiessuchastheEnglishClub,whichisoptionalandintheirowntime,asignoftheirgeneralinte-restintheinitiative.

outanditisdisplayedontheclassroomwallsandaroundtheschool.Thebestprojectsarerecognizedbybeingpresentedatschoolassem-bliesinfrontofthewholeschoolcommunity,includingtheparents.Thiswholeschoolapproachgreatlyenhancesthemotivationofpupils.

Teaching approaches

Teachersuseinteractivemethodsandteaching/learningstrategieswhichmaketheprocessoflearningattractive.UseofICT,includingwhiteboards,e-learningandacross-curricularapproachenablechildrentolearnmoreeasilyandenjoytheexperience.Pupilsenjoytheopportu-nityofusingtheInternetforlanguagelearning.

ThemostpopularclassactivityispreparationfortheEnglishPublicSpeakingChampionship.FourtimesayearpupilspreparePowerPointpresentationsontheirfavouritetopic.Theysearchmaterialonthein-ternet,insertpicturesandphotos,andusedifferentelementsofsound,musicandvideowhichtheyfilmthemselves.Thesereportsarethenpre-sentedtotheclass.Inspringthewinnersofthefourroundsintroducetheirreportstotheschoolcommunity.TheschoolinvitesotherschoolstoparticipateinthefinalroundoftheChampionshipwhichisusuallyheldonSpringdayinEuropeanschools.Parentsarealsoinvited.Intheschool,thecompilations(ofeveryyearsince2005)ofpupils’presenta-tionsatthefinalroundoftheseChampionshipsarearchived.

Success factors

Theschoolhasadaptedawholeschoolapproachandallpartnersinthewiderschoolcommunity(pupils,teachingstaff,schoolmanagement,parents)areactivelyinvolvedinthepromotionofthelanguagelearningprogramme.Thiswholeschoolapproachisessentialintheimplemen-tationofanearlystartprogrammeandensuresthattheprojectattractstheappropriatefinancefromlocalandnationalauthorities.

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TeachersarealsochoosingtoparticipateinEuropeanprojectswhichallowthemtodevelopprofessionallyandfeedthatexperiencebackintotheirteaching.

SinceSeptember2009,followingthenumerousexamplesofachievinggoodresults,theprocessofearlyforeignlanguagelearningwillstartinallschoolsinLithuaniaattheageof8.

lessons to be learned

Theoveralllessontobelearnedfromtheexperienceofthepastfewye-arsisthatstartingtheteachingandlearningofaforeignlanguageatageseven/eightisinvaluableandthattheimaginativeuseofICTtodevelopanappropriatelyauthenticenvironmentandenablingthechildrentoparticipateininternationalactivitiesenhancestheirmotivation.

future plans

Inthefuture,theschoolwillexploreapossibleextensionoftheproject,whichcouldincludeotherlanguages,suchasGermanorFrench.

contact informationCountry:LithuaniaNameofschool:KaunoPanemunespradinemokykla(KaunasPanemunePrimarySchool)Address:Kariunupl.5,LT-45432Kaunas,LithuaniaEmail:panemun@panemune.kaunas.lm.ltContactperson:VirginijaRupainiene,HeadTeacherTelephone:+37061573123,Tel./Fax.+37037345881

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1.2. Using blogs to motivatethe learning of French in Ireland

SetupbyDeirdreMcCarthy,ateacherofFrenchattheSt.Michael´sLoretoSecondarySchool,acatholicschoolforgirlsaged12to18inNavan,acommutertowntothenorthwestofDublin,thisinitiativeinvol-vesthecreationofblogsinFrenchbyfifthyearpupils(16years)incollaborationwiththeICTdepartment.TheobjectiveoftheexperienceistoenhancethelearningofFrenchbythesepupilswhoarewellversedintheuseoftheuseofblogs.

Basedontheattractiontobloggingenjoyedbypupils,theFrenchteachersetupthisprojectwiththehelpoftheICTdepartment.TheaimistoenhancethelearningofFrenchamongpupilswhilemakinguseoftheiralreadyacquiredICTskills.32computersareavailableattheschool,allowingeachstudenttohavetheirownworkplace.StudentscanasktheirteacherforlinguisticsupportortheICTdepartmentfortechnicalhelp.

Theaimofthisprojectistoincreasestudents‘motivationtolearnFrenchthroughatechnologywithwhichtheyarealreadyfamiliar;toincreasepupilautonomy;andtocreatealanguagelearningexperiencethatcouldpotentiallybesharedwithcountlessmembersoftheon-linecommunity.

Thefollowingsuccessindicatorsaretobenoted:-thestudentswerehighlymotivatedbythefactthatanyinternetsurfercouldreadtheirblog.Thisledthemtodotheirbestinwritingtheblog,carefullyexpressingtheirpersonalopinionsaboutthetopicdiscussed,aswellastakingcarewiththeoverallappearanceoftheirblog.-theinitiativewonanawardintheannualEuropeanLanguagesAwardschemeinIrelandforbeingan“extremelyinnovativeandfunwayforthestudentstodeveloptheirskillsinthetargetlanguage”.

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Acombinationofdifferentfactorshascontributedtothesuccessoftheinitiative;amongthemthecommitmentoftheFrenchteacher,thesup-portoftheschoolauthoritiesandthecooperationwiththeICTdepart-ment.Also,educationalbloggingprovesitselftobeamostacceptablemethodologyforlanguagelearningforbothteachersandstudents,whofeelitmoreinaccordancewiththedemandsoftoday‘stechnologicalsocietythanmoretraditionalmethods.Anothersuccessfactorhasbeentheusefulnessandrelevanceofthislanguagelearningexperienceforpupils´futureemployability.

contact informationCountry:IrelandNameofschool:St.Michael’s,LoretoSecondarySchool.Address:Navan,MeathWebsitehttp://www.stmichaels.eircom.netTypeofschool:Catholicgirls‘secondaryschoolEmail:office@loretonavan.ieContactperson:DeirdreMcCarthyemail:deirdremccarthy@iol.ieTelephone:0876818733

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1.3. Moving towards a polyglot mindsetin Andalusia

WehavesurveyedIESLlanes(Sevilla,Spain),ahighschoolwhichtakespartinthePlurilingualismpromotionplanofAndalusia(henceforththePlan).ThisisanambitiousregionalpolicydocumentoftheJuntadeAndalucíaand3yearsafteritsimplementationwecanshowitsbenefits.IESLlanesisoneofthe400centersthatformanetworkofbilingualschoolsataregionallevel.DeeplyrootedinEuropeanplurilingualideology,thePlan(availableinFrench,English,SpanishandGermanat:http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/impe/web/portadaEntidad?pag=/contenidos/B/InnovacionEInvestigacion/Proyec-tosInnovadores/Plurilinguismo/&vE=mE7)setsanexampleforresourcemanagementefficiencyandmotivationandlanguagelearningincreaseinrecordtime.

Andalusiaisamonolingualregion,afeaturethatmightseriouslycompromisefuturedevelopment.Asaresult,authoritieshavestartedtofocusonthepromotionofL2/L3competencesasvitalformodernizationandprosperity;arationalethathasalreadyfosteredsuccessfullanguageplanningandeducationalpoliciesinotherregionsbothwithinandbey-ondtheEuropeanborders.

IESLlanesusesCLILmethodologyinEnglishandFrenchinthefol-lowingsubjects:Geography,History,Maths,Science(ChemistryandPhysics)andTechnology.Furthermore,IESLlanesisanICTcenter,whichmeansthatitisatechnologically-enhancedcenterwitharatioofonecomputerforeverytwopupilsandwithanovellearningproject.Thedidacticapproachisnotthetraditionalone:“cando”attitudeisboos-ted.

Extracurricularactivitiesarefundamentalforthestudents’motivation:languageweeks,festivals,andexchangeprogrammeswithBritishcen-tersareheld.IESLlanestakespartin“SchoolpartnershipsinEurope”(see:http://www.etwinning.net/es/pub/index.htm),thetwincenterisMAESYRYRFAinWales(UnitedKingdom).

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-TeachershavestartedlosingsightoftheirtextbookastheonlyormainsourceofmaterialsandhavestartedcreatingtheirownL2andL3textsandactivities(seehttp://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averro-es/~41700117/ingles/bilingual.html).-Anexternalevaluationprocedurewasconducted.UniversidadPablodeOlavidewastaskedwithrunningtheevaluationforall400centers.Afullreportiscurrentlybeingprepared.Basedonthisevaluation,secondaryschoolstudentsaged13whohadbeenpartofthebilingualset-upfortwoyearsreachedB1CEFRlevelinEnglishandsimilarlevelsinFrench.Twokeyfactorsarenoteworthyhere:firstly,theselanguagecompetencelevels,althoughmeagrebyotherstandards,areoutstandingifnationallevelsareconsidered(seeEurobarometer2006forSpain);secondly,thecompetencelevelattestedwasreachedonlyafteroneandahalfyearsofinstruction.Thisallowsustoharbourhighhopesforfuturecompetencelevelswhenthisschemewillhavebeensustainedforalongertime.Furthermore,thereareanumberofexperimentalcentersinAndalusiafoundedtenyearsagothatwerelaunchedwiththeaidofAllianceFrancaise.Thestudentsofthesecentershavebeenshowntohavereachedfunctionalbilinguallevels(basedonDALFandDELFresults)aftertenyearsofinstruction.

Anoveralllessonisthatjointinterventionsofuniversities,administration,andteachersdepartmentscanworktogetherforfruitfulresults,howeverharditmaybetomakeallpartsagreeonproceduresandgoals.

contact informationCountry:SpainUniversity:UniversidadPablodeOlavideAddress:Crta.deUtrera,km.1;41013(Sevilla,España)School:InstitutodeEducacionLlanes(LlanesMiddleSchool)Address:EscultorFranciscoBuizas/n,410008SevillaEmail:www.iesllanes.netSchoolauthority:ConsejeríadeEducación(JuntadeAndalucía)

Moreover,continuoustrainingisnecessaryforteachers.Tothispurpose,UniversidadPablodeOlavideoffersamaster’sdegreeinbilingualteaching.

Themaingoalsoftheinitiativearetopromotebilingualism;mobilityandmutualknowledgebetweenstudentsandteachersfromdifferentcoun-triesinEurope,andemployability.Anumberofsuccessfactorswerevitalinordertoachievethesepurposes:theJuntadeAndaluciahasfi-nancedthePlanwith140millioneuros(2005-2008period);thePlanandthelocalAdministrationaskedAndalusianuniversitiesfortechnicalsup-portandadvice(jointresearchgroupsareupandrunningonanumberofkeyareas:Languageacrossthecurriculum,ICTandlanguagelear-ning,CLIL...);ahugenumberofwell-plannedinitiativespresentedasasinglepackweredeveloped,andwereawardedtheEuropeanLabelforLanguageInitiativesoftheEuropeanCommissionin2004,and,finally,newimaginativestrategiestohireteachingassistants(TA)weredevised(theadministrationhasfocusedonyounggraduateAmericanandEras-musuniversitystudents,whoteachtheirmothertongueasTAswhiletheygetthebenefitoftakingSpanishcoursesand,moreimportantly,ofenjoyingfullsocializationinSpanishcenters).

Thefollowingindicatorsshowthattheprogramissuccessful:-Thereisahighdemandforbilingualschoolplacesfromparents(parentssetahighvalueonthewholeprogramandkeepdemandingfurtherplaces);surveysshowtotalcommitmentbyallpartswiththenewlanguageschoolstructure.Avirtuouscyclehasbeeninitiated:parentsthinkteachersarebetterprofessionals;teachershavehigherself-esteemandstrivehardertomakethemorecomplicatedschemeasuccess;andstudentsnoticemorevariedmethodsandactivitiesandaremorecommitted.Thusthereisaninfectiouscultureofsuccessamongteachers,pupilsandparents,whoallworktogethertoimprovemethodologyandtocopewithproblemswhichariseinthemorecomplicatedpartsoftheinitiative.Thesuccessachievedcreatesgreaterself-esteemamongteachersandthisrubsoffonthepupilswhosepositiveattitudetowardslanguagelearningisnoticedbyparents.

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1.4. EPOS – an e-portfolio for three sectors of education

EPOSwasdevelopedatthe„Fremdsprachenzentrum“(FZHB)andatthe„LandesinstitutfürSchule“inBremen,asacommonweb-basedplatformforlanguagelearninginschools,universitiesandfurtheredu-cation.ItcontainsthedescriptorsoftheELC-ELPandoffersallpartsoftheELPineducationallystructuredlearningenvironments.Ithasbeenwelcomedbyallprominentpoliticalandeconomicinstitutions(intheregion/Europe?)asameansofenhancingplurilingualismandencoura-gingautonomouslanguagelearning.TheELPhasbeenusedinclassesandwithinautonomouslanguagelearningintheSelf-accessCentreoftheFZHBforabouteightyears.WechangedtotheEPOSplatformfouryearsago;sincethewintersemesterof2007/08,EPOShasbeenusedinthetutorialprogramoftheFZHBaswell.

EPOShasbeendevelopedincooperationwithpartnersinthesectorsofeducation,furthereducationandadulteducationinBremen.Allthesesectorsformthe„RunderTischSprachenBremen“ortheRoundTableofLanguagesinBremen.FoundermembersofthisRoundTablewillalsoconstitutethe„SprachenratBremen“whichwasofficiallylaunchedon26September2009.Inadditiontomembersoftheabove-mentionededucationalsectors,theSprachenratBremenconsistsofrepresentati-vesfromthepoliticalandeconomicsectors,andthepeopleofBremen.ThisgroupingofallavailableresourcesenhancesMultilingualisminthesenseofemployabilityandEuropeanmobility.Thiscollaborationonins-titutionallevelisoneoftheoverallsuccessfactors.

OneprojectwhichusesEPOSasacoreinstrumentisthetutorialprogramattheForeignLanguagesCentreofUniversitiesinBremenorFremd-sprachenzentrum(FZHB).ThetutorialprogramwasimplementedattheFZHBinOctober2007toenhanceplurilingualismandtoencourageau-tonomouslanguagelearning.Thisprogramaimsatcombininglanguageclasses,autonomouslanguagelearningwithEPOS,tutorialadvisoryservice,expertadvisoryserviceandfeedbackaswellaspeer-andpro-jectbasedlearning.Thelearninginthetutorialprogramisclass-indepen-dent.Studentscanregisterforanylanguageforwhichclassesareoffe-redattheFZHBorforwhichlearningmaterialinelectronicorbookformisavailable.

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Furthermore,studentsareencouragedtotakepartintheTANDEMpro-gramofouruniversity.Theprogramisfreeofcharge.TheLanguageCentreoffersallthematerialanditisuptothestudentshowmuchwork-loadtheywouldliketo“invest”intheprogram.Thisautonomyfostersmotivationquitealotandcontributestothesuccessstoryoftheprogram.

InallcasesEPOSplaysanimportantrole.Itservesasaplatformforlearning,reflectionsonlearningandcommunicationbetweenlearnerandtutor,providingthepropertiesoftheELP.ThecharacteristictoolsoftheplatformarethepartsoftheELP–biography,dossierandpassportand,furthermore,alearningagreementandanonlinelearningjournal.Studentscanuploadanyfilestothedossier:texts,videos,audio-files,pictures,etc.

StudentsareexpectedtousethevariouspartsofEPOSthroughouttheirlearningprogram.WhenusingEPOS,studentshavetoreflectontheirlearningprocess,theirsuccessandthegapbetweentheiraimsandtheircurrentproficiency.Whilepeer-to-peerandproject-basedlear-ningareintegraltothelanguagecourse,thetutorialprogramservesthecognitiveandtheaffectivelearningfieldsaswellandbringsinacollabo-rativeaspect.

Thetaskoftutoringisperformedbyskilledstudentswhoofteneitherfromthelanguageorthelanguageareteachingdepartment.Wealsoac-ceptstudentswhospeakmorethanoneforeignlanguageandwhohavealreadygainedexperienceinreflectingontheirlanguagelearningawareness.Theyaretrainedinseveralworkshopsbyexpertsaswellasbyseniortutorsfortheirjob.Additionally,thereisaweeklymeetingwithalltutorsforsupervisionanddevelopmentofconcepts.Thecoordinatorisbothcoachandsupervisorforthetutorsandtutees.

Thetutorialprogramaimsatprovidingstudentswithtransferablecommunicationskillsrelevanttomobility,employability,academiclifeingeneralandthespecificrequirementsoftheiruniversitycourses.Morestudentsnowhavethechancetolearnanotherforeignlanguageandtherebyincreasetheirchancesinthejob-marketofaknowledge-basedsociety.

Furthermore,evaluationpapers,posters,powerpoint-presentations,stage-Cervuniversities–SciencesofBremenandBremerhavenBremenaswell.12ationconductedbytheFZHBhasshownthatautonomouslearningisafunwayoflearninglanguageandassuchisextremelymo-tivatingforstudents.Eachtutorialprogramendsinacelebratorymoodwherestudents’projectworkispresentedintheformofplays,etc.

TheFZHBhasestablishedacollaborationwiththeUniversityofOlden-burg,the(private)JacobsUniversityBremenandthethreegreatEuro-peanCulturalInstitutes:GoetheInstitut,InstitutoCervantesandInsti-tuteFrançais.EPOSisusedasatoolforblendedlearningintheseinstitutions,and,additionally,fortutorialprogramsinFZHB’smembertheUniversityofBremen,theUniversitiesofAppliedavenandtheUni-versityoftheArtsaswell.

Thetutorialprogramisofferedduringthesemesterandinthesemesterbreaks.IntheperiodfromOctober2007uptoMarch2008,220stu-dentsregisteredforthetutorialprogramattheuniversity.Thenumberisincreasingsteadily.Thefollowingdiagramshowsthedistributionoflanguagesandstudentsinthelastsemester,2008/2009.

languages and students

English

German

Spanish

French

Turkish

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Therangeoflanguagesbeinglearntdiffersineachprogramrun.Al-together,wehavehad18differentlanguagesthathavebeenstudied,amongothersAfrikaans,Arabic,Chinese,Dutch,English,French,Ger-man,Hungarian,Italian,Japanese,Norwegian,Portuguese,Russian,SwedishandTurkish.ThelevelsrangefrombeginnertoadvancedC1withasuccessrateofnearly90%.Evaluationhasshownthatover80%oftheparticipantswouldrecommendtheprogramandaresatisfiedwiththeirtutors.85%thinkthatthequalityofthematerialisrathergoodandabout65%thinkthatproject-basedlearningwithpeersisquitesuppor-tive.

Sincethelanguageclassesofthewintersemesterof2008/09,auto-nomouslanguagelearning,thetutorialprogramandatutorprogramhavebeenlinkedinamodulatedsystematthedepartmentofGeneralStudies.Studentscannowgain9ECTSECTS(teachereducation)or15(excludingstudentsoflanguagesciencesandteachereducation).Parti-cipationisfreeofchargewhencombinedwithasemesterabroad.Wehavethereforesucceededinbridgingagapinmeetingstudents‘needs:establishingpedagogicaltoolsinelectroniclearningenvironments.Autonomouslanguagelearninghasthusbecomeattractiveandmanageable.

contact informationCountry:GermanyNameofinstitution:FremdsprachenzentrumBremen,c/oUniversitätBremenAddress:GW2,RaumA3190,Bibliothekstr.Website:http://www.fremdsprachenzentrumEmail:bkuehn@uni-bremen.deContactperson:Dr.BärbelKühnTelephone:0421/218-61962Fax:0421/218-98-61962

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2. Motivating language learners through language policy

Formanyyears,“foreign”languagelearningwasviewedbymanyschoolpupilsasaboringandtransitoryimpositiontobeendured,ratherthanenjoyed,fortheshortesttimepossible.Thesubjectwasdefinitelycon-finedtosecondaryschooling,as“grammar”and“textanalysis”weredeemedtobetoocomplexandserioustobeapproachedatanear-lierage.Therangeoflanguagesstudiedwaslimitedandsoweretheteachingmethodsandmaterialsused.Atuniversity,“language”lear-ningofanykindwasoftenviewedwithdisdainbyacademics,asbeingdistinctlynonacademic(asopposedtolearningaboutlanguagesandcultures)andthereforenotworthyoffeaturinginthemainstreamcurri-culum.

WithintheEuropeanUnion,thesituationhasevolvedradicallyoverthepasttwentyyears,assecondorthirdlanguagelearninghasgraduallybecomethenormthroughoutmanyeducationalsystems,frominfantschoolsrightuptopostgraduatelevel,aslanguageteachingandlear-ningmethodsandtechniqueshaveundergoneaseachangeandasotherworldlanguagesandcultureshavegraduallymadeinroadswhereFrench,GermanandSpanishusedtorulesupreme(Englishbeinginacategoryofitsown).

However,introducinglanguagetuitionatanearlyageorofferingmorediverselanguageoptionstoadvancedstudentsdoesnotinitselfgua-ranteelearnermotivation:thewaylanguagelearningisimplemented,whetherwithintheschoolcurriculumorwithinauniversitylanguagepo-licy,remainsthekeytosuccessfullanguagelearning.Inthissection,welookatsomeofthewaysinwhichthe“languageoffer”inschoolsanduniversitieshasbeenusedtomotivatelanguagelearners.

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Minority language initiatives

Increasinglearnermotivationbytakingintoaccountthediversityofthestudents’immediatelinguisticandculturalenvironment,isnowsome-thingwhichmany(butbynomeansall)schoolsand/oreducationalau-thoritieshavetakenonboardwhendefininglanguagepolicyforschools.CaseStudy5illustrateshowawellthoughtoutearlylanguagelearningpolicycanhelpbridgethegapbetweenlanguagecommunitieswhileen-hancinglearningachievement.AsimilarstoryistoldinCaseStudyn°6:“Breakingdownculturalbarriers:teachingUrduininnercityLondon”.Thecasestudyshowshowtheintroductionofalesstaughtcommunitylanguage,Urdu,alongsideFrenchandSpanish,inamulticulturalschooltypicalofinnercityLondon,helpednotonlyovercomeadversecultu-ralstereotypesamongstudentsfromnonAsianbackgrounds,butalsoincreasedtheoverallleveloflanguagetake-upandlearnermotivation,resultinginimprovedall-roundlanguagecompetence.

University language policies

Eversincethe2001EuropeanYearofLanguages,theideaof‘languagesforall’hasgraduallypermeatedtheEuropeanHigherEducationArea.Tertiaryeducationinstitutionsnowseemtoagreethatplurilingualismandpluriculturalismareassetsthatstudentsmustpossessuponcom-pletingtheirdegreesiftheyaretobefullyequippedforsuccessfulpro-fessionalcareers.Thesehavethusbecomestrategictargetswhenplan-ningnewdegreesundertheBolognaprocess.Asaresult,languagepo-liciesatuniversitylevelarebecomingtheruleratherthantheexceptionandhavemadelanguagesvisibleandvaluable.

TheEuropeanstrategyonmultilingualismclearlyseemstohavemadebigadvancesattertiarylevel.Agrowingnumberofhighereducationinstitutionsappeartobeawareofthepotentialreturnstobeexpectedofincreasedfinancialandacademicinvestmentinlanguagelearning.Students,inturn,arealsopreparedtoinvestmoretime,intellectualef-fortand,insomecases,money,inlearningmorelanguagesandlearningaboutdifferentcultures,intheknowledgethatthiswillstandthemingoodsteadinacompetitivelabourmarket.

early language learning

Muchresearchhasbeendevotedinthepasttwodecadestothepro-cessesoflanguagelearningamongyounginfants.Thefindingsovertheyearsincludethefactthatevenbabiesareabletodistinguishrhythmpatternsbetweenlanguages,thatinfantscandiscriminatebetweenthesoundsoflanguagestheyhavebeenexposedto,andthatseven-montholdbilingualinfantshaveacognitiveaddedvalueovermonolingu-alsinrespondingtovisualcues.Clearly,evenininfants,learninglangua-gesisbeneficial.

Thisprocessdoesnotcometoanendonceinschool.LongbeforeEuropestarteditsmultilingualpolicyanAmericanreportshowedtheaddedvalueofearlylanguagelearning.Whencomparedtomonolingu-alsthebilingualgroupinvariablyhasbetterscoresontestsaswellasonschoolperformance(cf.WilburnRobinson1992).ThesameresultswerefoundbyEuropeanresearchers(cf.Jäppinen2005,VandeCraenetal.2007).

Asaresult,thecurrentEuropeanlanguagepolicystronglypromotingearlylanguagelearningreachesoutbeyondlanguages.Thereisnodoubtthatearlylanguagelearningbooststhelearnerinthesensethather/hislearningaptitudegetsstrengthened.Thismeansthatifproperlyimplemented,earlylanguagelearningcanbecomeanimportantmotivationalfactorintheoveralleducationalprocess.

Severalofthecasestudiesinthishandbookrelatetoearlylanguagelearninginitiatives:twohavealreadybeenlistedintheprevioussection,whileanother,onaFranco-Scottishe-twinninginitiative,featuresinthesectiondevotedtocooperationwithotherstakeholdersandpartners(Section3,CaseStudyn°).Thissectionfeaturesacaseinpoint:theSTIMOBinitiative(StimulatingMultilingualEducationinBrussels)describedinCaseStudyn°5:“MultilingualprimaryeducationinBrus-sels”.Thecaseillustrateshowaproactivelanguagepolicy,combiningmultilingualeducationandCLIL,canhelpimprovenotonlythestudents’languageskillsinbothofthelanguagesconcerned(inthiscaseFlemishandFrench)butalsooverallperformanceinothersubjects,notfor-gettingtheboostgiventotheirfutureemploymentprospectsinamulti-lingualenvironment,thusprovidingapowerfulincentivetostudentstomakethemostoftheopportunitiesprovided.

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Asregardsthelanguagesonoffer,thereseemstobeaconnectionbet-weentherangeoflanguagesprovidedandthesociolinguisticfeaturesofthelocalcommunity,whethermonolingual,bilingualormultilingual,andthepresenceofalargeundergraduateinternationalstudentpopula-tion.Therangeoflanguagesonoffercanthusvaryfromahandfulto50orso.Studentchoicealsovaries,fromtotallyoptionalsystemsbasedentirelyonincentiveandmotivation,tooneswheremandatorylangua-geprovisionwithonedominantsecondlanguage(usuallyEnglish)iscombinedwithoptionalthirdorfourthlanguagelearning.Asforlearningformats,theyincludeeverykindofapproach,fromconventionalclass-roomsituationstoblendedlearning,tandempractice,consultations,andonlinelearning,allinvolvingvaryingdegreesoflearnerautonomy(seeCaseStudyn°4intheprevioussection).Studentlanguageportfolios,EuropeanDiplomaSupplements,accre-ditationand/orcertificationonthebasisoflocal,nationalorinternatio-nalschemes,areallnowpartoftheoverallpictureandallcontributetoenhancinglanguagetake-upandlearnermotivationamongstudents(seeinparticularCasestudiesn°13and14inthefourthsectionofthishand-book).

Intermsoflanguagepractice,self-learningcentreswithnativespeakertutoring,languageclubsandvariousformsoftandemlearninginvolvingnativespeakersarenowanintegralpartofthelanguagelearningexpe-rienceinmostHigherEducationinstitutions,especiallythosewithlargenumbersofforeignstudents(seeCaseStudy14“ABVlanguagemodulesattheFUB”insection4below).Thiskindof‘insitu’experiencewillthenoftenenhancethestudent’smotivationinwantingtotakepartinmobilityprogrammesandseekingforeignworkplacements,eitheraspartoforasacomplementtotheirdegreeprogramme.

Theimplementationofalanguagepolicywhichwillenhancelearnermotivationrequiresafirmfinancialcommitmentonthepartoftheuni-versity,asitimpliesadditionalexpenditureonteachingresourcesandequipmentcomparedtoexistinglanguageprovision.However,itcanalsobeausefulassettoputforwardwhenapproachinglocal,centralgovern-mentorEuropeanfundingsources,asitmaybeaprerequisiteforreceiv-ingfinancialsupport.Asregardsstudentcontributions,approachesvaryfromfreeprovisionforanystudentenrolledinadegreecourse,totheintroductionofasmalladditionalcontribution,orinsomecases,fee-payingcourses.

Alanguagepolicyalsorequiresaclearorganizationalandspatialcom-mitmentonthepartoftheinstitution,insettingupspecificstructures(languagecentres)andsettingasidededicatedareasforlanguageteach-ingandlearningactivities.Theseareallessentialfactorsinenhancingbothteacherandstudentmotivation.

InHigherEducation,thecontext-specific,localfeaturesofeachuniver-sitytendtodeterminehowlanguagepoliciesaredevisedandimplemen-ted,ratherthananynationalorregionalstrategy.TheMOLANcasestudieshaverevealedawealthofequallyinterestingapproachesgearedtowardsmotivatingstudentstolearnlanguages.Tovaryingdegrees,alloftheminvolveincreasingthenumberandvarietyoflanguagesonoffer,offeringagreatervarietyoflearningformats,implementingnewclassroomandautonomouslearningenvironments,usingstandardcompetencerefe-renceframeworkstodefineentranceandexitlevels,andimplementingaccreditationsystems.Casestudyn°7below:“Languagesforall:theUniversityofWarsawSystemofLanguageProvision”providesamoredetailedoutlineofonesuchapproach.

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2.1. Multilingual primary educationin Brussels

Theproject,STIMOB(StimulatingMultilingualEducationinBrussels),startedinthreeDutch-speakingschoolsinBrusselsintheacademicyear2001/2002.TheinitiativeisbasedonCLILmethod;thechosenlanguageofinstructionisFrench.Theprogrammewaslaunchedineachschoolinoneformatatime.About20%ofthecurriculumisdevotedtoFrench.Inthefirsttwoclassesarepetitiveapproachischosen;partlyduetothelocallanguagelaws.Ontheotherhanditguaranteesthatthemessagecomesacrosseffortlessly.Itgraduallychangesfromthethirdformon.Thesubjectsinvolvedintheinitiativearearithmetic,environ-mentalstudiesandarts.(IldikóSzabó)

Amongthestrategicgoalsoftheinitiativeanewteachingapproachandcreatingapleasantlearningatmosphereareacrucialones.Changingthecurrentteachingmethodswasthechallengeteachershadtomeet.Thefactthatlanguageteachingwasbuiltonimplicitmethodsandlessattentionwaspaidtogrammarisanimportantaspect.Nevertheless,passiveskillsarenottobeneglectedorabandoned.Communicativeap-proachisakeyelementintheteachingpracticeoftheinitiative.Basedontheanalysisoftheresults,knowledgeofthetargetlanguageisbetterthancomparedwiththeresultsoftraditionalteachingmethods.Besi-des,teachers’entusiasmanddevotionareessentialtomaketheprojectsuccessful.

TheSTIMOBinitiativeistodiminishalanguagegapbetweenthelan-guageofthehomeandthatoftheschoolbycreatinganenvironmentwhereimmersionrules.InDutch-speakingschoolsinBrusselsteacherstendtodisregardthehomelanguagesofthepupils,namelyFrench.Needlesstosaythatthisattitudedoesnotcreateafeelingofwellbeing.ThelanguageinvolvedintheprojectwasFrenchbecauseofhistoricalandpoliticalreasons,however,manydiscussionsaboutthedesirabilityofotherlanguageswereheld.Althoughthenumberoflanguagesinvol-vedinCLILapproachhasnotchanged,afterfiveyearsofSTIMOBandrealisingthepotentialoftheapproach,theschooldecidedenthusiasti-callytoaddanumberoflessonsofEnglishtotheDutch-Frenchcurri-culum.InJanuary2008theFlemishMinistryofEducationitselftookthe

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initiativetocarryoutaCLILexperimentinninesecondaryschoolsnotlocatedintheBrusselsareaorinitsperiphery.AlthoughthisexperimentisnotpartofSTIMOBinitiative,itspositiveresultscouldhaveinfluencededucationalpolicymakers.

Theinitiativehasbenefittedallthestudentshavingdifferentsociolin-guisticbackground:Dutchstudents’multilingualismisstrengthened,Frenchstudentsreceivesuppoertintheirmothertonguewherebytheirsubjectmatterlearningisboostedandspeakersofotherlanguagesreceiveinstructionintwoofficiallanguageswhichwillhelpintheirfu-turecareer.ThiswaytheEuropeanlanguagepolicyrecommending2+1languagesisfollowed.

Creatingpositiveattitudesandenhancingmotivationwereamongthegoalsoftheinitiative.Itiswellknownthatpositiveattitudestowardsthelanguageenhancemotivation.Itwasfeltthatlearningthroughalanguageenhancesbothattitudesandmotivation.

Thouroughandcontinuousanalysisofthesituation,feedbackonthecompletedtasksareimportant.Ananalysisfromwithinhasthemeritsofbeingrecognizedbytheprotagonists,inthiscasetheteachers.

Learninginanotherlanguagehasapositiveeffectonthecognitivedevelopmentofyounglearners.Interestinglyenough,knowledgeofmothertonguedidnotdecline,quitethecontrary.Subjectmatterknow-ledgeremainsthesameorevenimproves.Accordingtoresultsofco-gnitivetests,pupilsshowedbetterresultsinadministeringcalibratedmathstestsevenifarithmeticwasnotthesubjectmattertaughtinthesecondlanguage.Whenitcomestothebrain,itwasshownthatmul-tilingualbrainsaredifferentfrommonolingualbrains;bilingualschoolbrainsevolveinthesamewayasbilingualbrains.Althoughthenumberofthestudentsinvolvedhasnotincreased,thelevelsofachivementoftheinvolvedoneshave.

Stronginstitutionalsupportisessentialforasuccessfullanguageinitiative.Schoolautoritiesarethekeyfactorswhenitcomestochange.Colla-borationbetweenschoolsanduniversities,researchcentres,practitio-nersandschoolcounsellingboardsisveryimportant.Thisprojectde-monstratesthatuniversitiescanreachschoolsandspreadEurpoeanlanguagepolicies.Althoughcooperationbetweenuniversitiesandschoolsisnoteasy,universtitesshouldcommunicateasmuchastheycanandthereforetheinterface,whereallthepartnerscaninteractanddecisionmakingrelatedtotheprojectcantakeplace,isaninterestingtool.Resultsofthefollowupshouldberegularlydistributedamongteachers.

Whenitcomestolearning,continuityisoneofthemostimportantthings.Althoughitseemstobecommonsense,teachersandparentstendtoforgetaboutit.Emphasizingcontinuitybyteachersandschoolauthoritiesisthewayforward.Thisprojecthastakenthisintoaccountanditisoneofitssuccessfactors.

TheSTIMOBprojecthasprovedthatearlylanguagelearningisapo-werfullearningtool,especiallywhenusingCLILasthemethod.Sofartheresultssurpassanyotherapproachandoutclassanumberofwellmeantbutrarelysustainedinitiatives.AdditionalyCLILinitiativesdonotcostalotandcanbeeasilyimplemented.ThelanguagepedagogicalimplicationsoftheSTIMOBprojectnotonlyrefertolanguagelearningandteachingbutalsorefertoinnovativelearningpractices,changeineducationandtheEuropeanlanguagepolicy.

contact informationCountry:BelgiumNameofuniversity:TheVrijeUniversiteit(DutchlanguageUniversity)inBrusselsContactperson:PietVandeCraenEmail:pdvcraen@vub.ac.be

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2.2. Motivation to learn languages breaks down cultural barriers in London

Intheirquestformotivatingstudentstolearnforeignlanguages,aLondonschoolsucceededincreatingacohesiveschoolcommunityinaculturallydiverse1andsocio-economically2deprivedneighbourhood.HeadTeacherRachelMacfarlaneandherstaffintroducedfar-reachingchangestotheirsyllabusinanattempttomotivatepupilstostudythreeforeignlanguages.Theintroductionofone-termcompulsorytastersforFrench,SpanishandUrduatWalthamstowSecondarySchoolforGirlsprovokedconflictingopinionsatfirstbutinthelongrunthismovehascontributedtoachangeintheeducationalandsocialcharacteroftheschool.

Thechangesinpolicyinvolveddesigningafirstyearcurriculumwhichallowedfortheintroductionofacompulsoryone-termlanguagetasterforFrench,SpanishandUrduforallentrantsfromlocalprimaryschools.FrenchiswidelytaughtaspartofthesecondaryschoolcurriculumintheUKandSpanishisverypopularbutnotusuallytaught.Theintroduc-tionofUrdu,acommunitylanguage,wastheresultofawell-thoughtoutstrategytopromotethecreationofabondandasenseofunityamongtheculturallydiverseAsian,African,Caribbeanandwhiteoriginstudents3.Urduwasdeliberatelychosenwiththeobjectiveofdemystify-ingitsculturewithintheBritishenvironmentinwhichthestudentsstudyandlive.

ThepedagogicalplanbehindthecompulsorytastersforFrench,Spa-nishandUrduwastomotivatestudentstocontinuelearningtheselan-guagesuptoGeneralCertificateofEducation(GCSE)alevelthatmarkstheendofobligatoryschoolexamination(age15-16intheUK).ThisledeventuallytoUrdubeingoffereduptoAdvancedSubsidiary(AS)orAd-vanced2(A2)level.Astheseareadvancedexaminationsforuniversityentrancetheaimbehindthemwastomotivatestudentstopursuetheir

1 45% of the intake comes from the Asian community served by the school. For the most part the pupils are from the Muslim community and wear the hijab and trousers in the school colours, green.2 22% of students are eligible for free school meals because of the poor economic situation of their parents.

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However,ofalltheabovefactorsperhapsthemostinterestingaspectoftheinitiativeisthesuccessfulintroductionofacompulsorynon-Europeanlanguagetoallentrantsforatermintheirfirstyear.Thisdecisionhasproducedtwoimportantsocialconsequences,firstly,togiveUrduparityofesteemwithEuropeanlanguageslikeFrenchandSpanish,and,secondly,toestablishacommonlinguisticandculturallinkamongstthediverseethnicgroupswithintheinstitution.ItcanbesafelysaidthatinthiscasethesuccessfulmotivationtolearnlanguageshasbrokendowntheculturalbarriersinthisLondoncom-munityschool.

contact informationCountry:UnitedKingdomNameofschool:WalthamstowSchoolforGirlsAddress:ChurchHill,Walthamstow,E179RZ,North-EastLondonWebsite:www.wsfg.waltham.sch.ukContactpersons:RachelMacfarlane(HeadTeacher),GeoffSaunders(HeadofLanguages)Email:Rachel.Macfarlane@sch.walthamforest.gov.uk;Gsaunders@sch.walthamforest.gov.ukTelephone:0044(0)2085099446

languagebeyondsecondaryschool.Thisplanentailedallocatingdedi-catedfinancestohumanandmaterialresourcessuchashiringlangua-geassistantsandnativelanguageteachers;organizingtripsabroadforculturalimmersion;andprovidinglanguageICTsupport.Itisimportanttonotethattheinstitutionalandcivilsocietyhaveconsistentlysupportedthisinitiative.Thesocialawareness,motivation,andencouragementofthemembersofstaffhavecontributedtocreategoodrelationsatalllevelsofthecommunitypreventingthecreationofclosedracialorreligiousgroupingsintheestablishment.Thebackingoftheschoolgovernorscommittee4hasbeenparticularlyimportantintheintroductionoftheseinnovativechangesintheschool.Itisalsoworthnotingthatatfirstthelocalschool’sadviseropposedtheideaonlingu-isticgroundsbuteventuallygavehisfullsupporttotheinitiative.

Statisticsshowthattheprogrammehassucceededinsustainingthestudents’motivationtolearnlanguages.Thenumberofstudentswishingtocontinuelearningforeignlanguagesbeyondtheageof14,increasedtoaround60%in2008.Furthermore,notonlydidtheschoolmanagetoexpandthelearningofforeignlanguagestomorethanhalfofthestudentpopulationbutalsotheresultsinthelanguageexamina-tionshavebeenconsistentlyhighstandardandwellabovethenationalaverageforgirlsintheUK.Anexternalaccoladefortheprogrammewasthemostrecentreportin2007oftheOfficeforStandardsinEducation(OFSTED)thatdescribedtheschoolas‚outstanding‘andstatedthat‚theperformanceofPakistani,whiteBritishandCaribbeanstudentsisparticularlyhigh’inallareas.Anindicationoftheschool’saccomplish-mentisthatithasbecomeverypopularwithlocalparentsandinmostyearsisheavilyoversubscribed.

WalthamstowSecondarySchoolforGirls’successcanbeputdowntoacombinationoffactors:achangeinthecurriculumtomotivatepupilstolearnthreelanguages;theintroductionofacompulsorynon-Europeanlanguage;thesupportofmembersofstaff;andtheconsistentinstitutio-nalandcivilsocietysupportforalanguage-basedinitiative.

3 four out of every five girls in the school are from ethnic minority groups4An example of civil society; the school Governors body is a group of voluntary people from the community who work with the school to influence educational policies and the decision making process.

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2.3. The University of Warsaw System of Language Provision – languages for all

TheUniversityofWarsawSystemofLanguageProvision(USLP)isasystemfinancedfromtheUniversitybudgetwherebyallstudentsofthefirstcyclestudyprogrammeslearnalanguage/schoosingfromanofferingofconventional,blendedandon-linecoursesatA1–C2levelsinca50languages.Studentsareoffered240hoursoftuitionfreeofchargeandmaytakeadvantageofconsultations.Studentswithdisabi-litiesareentitledto2additionalhoursofconsultationsaweek.BylawoncompletionofthefirstcyclestudentsmustdemonstrateB2levelofproficiencyinonelanguage.Universitycertificationsystemservesthispurpose.Alternativelystudentsmayproducealanguagecertificatefromarecognisedcertificationcentre.Secondandthirdcyclestudentsmayattendfee-payingcourses.The following constitute success factorsforlanguageprovisionattheUniversityofWarsaw:languagepolicyoftheUniversityrespondingtotheneedsandthestatutoryrequirementssupportedbyadequatefundingfromtheUniversitybudget,apossibilityoffreechoicefromavariedandbroadofferingofcoursesandtypesofprovisionmatchingdifferentstudents’needs,cooperationbetweendifferentUniversityunitsinlanguageteaching,andcertificationoflanguagecompetences.

language policy and funding:

TheaimofthereformoftheUniversitysystemoflanguageprovisionundertakenin2001wastoensurethatallfirstcyclestudentshaveequalaccesstoaswideofferingoflanguagecoursesaspossibleatthesametimeattemptingtorationalisetheUniversityspendingonlanguagepro-visionandtoensuretheconditionsoftransparency,opennessandcom-parabilityofcriteriaandlearningoutcomesbyreferencetothestan-dardsofCEFR.ThecoincidenceoftheinitiativewiththeEuropeanYearofLanguagesandimplementationoftheBolognaProcesscastnewlightontheim-portanceoflanguageeducationandthesignificanceoflinguisticandinterculturalcompetencesofthestudentsandgraduatesforacademicandprofessionalmobilityandemployabilityinEurope.

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TheUniversityofWarsawdeterminedtobeanactivepartofEHEAiscommittedtothepromotionofmultilingualismandinterculturalcom-petences,toenhancementofmobilityandemployabilityofitsstaff,studentsandgraduates,aswellastopromotionofEuropeanidentityanddemocraticvalues.Withoutadequatelanguageprovisionallthesecannotbereached.InternationalisationstrategyoftheUniversityin-cludeslanguagepolicyandallocationofsizeablefundingforitsimple-mentation.TheUSLPhasbecomeadurableelementoftheUniversitylandscape.Theinnovativesystemoflanguageprovisionfundingwhichdependsonthenumberofstudentstaughtwasintroducedwherebythemoneygoestothelanguagecoursesprovidersintheproportiontothenumberofstudentsattractedtothecoursesonoffer,hasstabilised.

cooperation and coordination

Toensurethebroadestchoiceoflanguagecoursesaconsortiumofproviderswasformedconsistingof:FacultiesofAppliedLinguistics,ModernLanguages,PolishStudies,OrientalStudies,andLanguageCentre,CentreforOpenandMultimediaEducation,CentreforForeignLanguageTeacherTrainingandEuropeanEducation.ToensuresmoothimplementationofthereformandcoordinationaRector’sDeputyforlanguageprovisionwasnominatedatthecentrallevel,andfacultycoor-dinatorsattherespectiveunits’level.

broad and varied offering, students’ choice

Theultimateaimistomakesurethateachfirst-cyclestudentdemons-tratesB2leveloflanguageproficiencyoncompletionofstudiesandifhe/sheisabletodemonstrateitonentrancetotheUniversitytoencou-ragehim/hertolearnanother,takingadvantageoftheofferingoffreeofcharge,creditedcourses,andtakeacertificationexamination.Thesystemoflanguageprovisioncomprises:-centralon-lineregistrationforclassesandexaminations-on-linediagnostictestingcoupledwiththeregistrationsystem-frameworkprogrammesofteachingbasedonCEFR

-conventional,blendedandon-linecoursesinca50languages(levelsA1–C2)(generalandforacademicandspecialpurposes)Thefollowinglanguagesaretaught:Albanian,Arabic,Armenian,Azeri,Basque,Belorussian,Bulgarian,Catalan,Chechen,Chinese,Coptic,Croatian,Czech,Dutch,English,Estonian,Finnish,French,Galician,Georgian,German,Greek,Hausa,Hebrew,Hindi,Hungarian,Italian,Japanese,Kazakh,Korean,Kyrgyz,Latvian,Lithuanian,Malayalam,Mongolian,Norwegian,Persian,Portuguese,Romanian,Russian,Sanskrit,Serbian,Slovak,Slovenian,Spanish,Suahili,Swedish,Tibetan,Turkish,Ukrainian,Vietnamese,andPolishasaforeignlanguageandPolishSignlanguage.Studentsarefreetochoosealanguagecourseandthelanguageoftheircertificationexamination.

certification

AnotherelementoftheSystemisconstitutedbycentrallyadministeredlanguagecertificationexaminationsbyUniversityCertificationBoardindependentofthelanguageofferingproviders.StudentswhohavepassedtheexaminationareofferedtheUniversityLanguageCertificate.TheCertificateisrecognisedintheRegulationofthePrimeMinisterof2009asadocumentcertifyinglanguagecompetencesofcivilservants.LanguagecoursesandexaminationsallocatedECTScredits,indicatedintranscriptsofrecordsandDiplomaSupplements,constituteanobligatorycomponentofthestudyprogrammes.On-lineplacementtestsareavailableforsixmostpopularlanguages.TheuseofDIALANGforplacementandself-assessment(formative)purposesisrecommended.AtthebeginningofUSLPover50%ofstudentslearnedEnglish;thenumberisslowly,butsteadilydecreasingwiththeoverallnumberoflearnersstillgrowing(presentlyca13000peryear.)Mostofthestudentsuseallthe240languagetokens,althoughtheirstu-dyprogrammesobligethemtotakepartin120or180hoursoftuition,andlearnmorethanonelanguage(inclusiveoflesswidelytaughtlan-guages);moreandmorestudentstakecertificationexamsinlesswidelyusedlanguages.

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In-comingstudentstakelanguagecourses(Polishasaforeignlangua-ge,increasinglyotherse.g.Russian)seeingitasarareopportunitynotnecessarilyofferedbytheirhomeinstitution.Thefollowinghavebeenperceivedasmotivatingfactors:1.CEFRasastandardensuringcomparabilityandtransparency;2.AllocationofcreditsalsoincaseoflanguagecertificatesacquiredinexternalcertificationinstitutionswhichencouragesstudentstolearnanotherlanguageattheUniversity;3.TheProgrammeBoardoftheLanguageCentre,composedofstakeholders,electedstudentsandfaculty,ensuresconnectionwiththeUniversitymainstreamandanintegratingfactor;collaborationbetweentheCentreandstudentsandstaff;thesameroleincaseofotherprovi-dersisplayedbytheFacultyBoards;4.CertificationprovidedbyUniversityCertificationBoard,actinginawaylikeanexternalexaminerinrelationtothecourseproviders,whichenhancesthequalityofprovision;5.Co-ordinationofthesystemensuringconsistencyoftheoffering,respondingtotheneeds;linkswiththehighestauthoritiesoftheUniver-sity;6.Universityqualityassurancesystem:students’surveys(eachyeareachcourseissurveyed);staffdevelopmentandmotivationsystem;Erasmusstaffdevelopmentvisits;7.Mobilityprogrammes(academicandplacements);8.useofICT(on-lineandblendedlearningcoursesbasedonMoodle)9.USOS–UniversitySupportSystemofStudies–on-lineregistrationforcoursesandexaminations,ECTSrecords,trackingstudents’achievements;10.fairlypromptresponsivenesstotheneeds.

contact informationCountry:PolandNameofuniversity:UniversityofWarsawAddress:Warsaw,ul.KrakowskiePrzedmiescie26/28Contactperson:JolantaUrbanikowaEmail:Jolanta.Urbanik@adm.uw.edu.plTelephone:+48225521402Fax:+48225521401

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3. cooperation with other partners and stakeholders

Sections1and2lookedathowthemotivationtolearnotherlanguagescanbeenhancedinternallythroughmoreinnovativeteachingandlear-ningpracticesandbydiversifyingandimprovingthelanguageofferwithinschoolsanduniversitiesthroughforward-lookinglanguagepoli-cies.However,inaworldwhereconnectivityandcommunicationarethekeystosuccessfuldevelopment,schoolsanduniversitiesneveroperateinisolation:theyareincreasinglydependentonsettingupandmaintai-ningpartnershipswithotherestablishmentsandstakeholdersfromtheirownspherewithintheeducationalsystem,fromotherlevelsinthesys-tem,andfromstakeholdersoutsidethesystem.Studentmotivationinpursuingthelearningofalanguageordiscoveringnewlanguagesoftendependsonthequalityofsuchpartnershipsandventures.Thissectionwillthereforedescribethemanyavenuesexploredbyschoolsandhigh-ereducationalinstitutionsinattemptingtoenhancelearnermotivationthroughcooperation.

cooperation between higher educational institutions

Cooperationbetweendifferenthighereducationalinstitutionswithinthesamecountryorinothercountriesprovidesnewopportunitiestoex-changeideasonlanguagepolicyandplanning,teachingandlearning,currentresearchandgoodpracticemodels.Inturnthestudentsbenefitfromimprovedteachingstandards.

TheMOLANcasestudiesofferseveralconcreteexamplesofhowco-operationbetweenhighereducationalinstitutionsataregional,nationalandinternationallevelcanbenefitalltheparticipantsinvolved.

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cooperation between schools

Cooperationbetweenschoolsisoneofthesuccessfactorsinmotivatinglanguagelearning.Inparticular,ithelpsspreadandenhancemotivationamongalltheactorsintheprocess(pupils/students,teachersanddepartment/schoolleaders).Inordertocooperate,schoolsneedfirstofalltoknowthemselvesandtolearnabouttheirpartners.Thefirststepisthereforetoencourageselfknowledgeandevaluationofallthepracticeslinkedtolanguagelearning(curriculum,methodologies,strategies,evaluation,numberoflanguages,teachertraining,etc).Havingclearideasabouttheaimsofalanguageteaching/learningpolicy,thesettingofnewaimsandthepreparationofprojects,makescooperationsomucheasier.Asanactionplanisbuilt,thecriteriainlookingforpartnersareestablished.

Therearetwomaintypesoffactorswhichdeterminesuccessfulcooperation:a)breakingtheisolationthatschoolsalltoooftenfindthemselvesin;andb)sharingexperiences,goodpractices,etc.Cooperationwithothershelpsschoolsovercomegeographicalisolationand/orisolationfromotheractorswithintheeducationalsystem.Byestablishingcooperationandpartnerships,theycanbemadetofeelpartofthewiderworldbeyondtheconfinesoftheplayground.Thisaspectisessentialinmotivatingalltheplayersinvolvedinlanguagelearning.Schoolauthoritiesandlanguageteacherswillfeelmoreconfi-dentintheirdecisions;andstudentsandparentswillinterpretthefactthatothers,somewhereintheworld,arestudyingthesame(ordifferent)languages,asastimulusandanincentive.

Beingintegratedinaprojectoranetwork,schoolscansharetheprob-lemsandsuccessesoftheirpracticesandbuildnewstrategiestomo-

TheInstitutodeLetraseCienciasHumanas,UniversidadedoMinhoinPortugal(CaseStudyn°8)illustrateshowcooperationataregionallevelcanbringtogetherinstitutionsfromdifferentlevelswithintheeducatio-nalsystem.StaffmembersoftheFacultyforArts&Humanitieshavecreatedanon-hierarchicalnetworkcombinedwithbilateralinstitutionalagreements.Partnersaredrawnfromvariousdifferentbackgrounds:regionalschools,nationalinstitutionsintheareaofpolitics,cultureandeconomics,localandregionalinstitutionsinvolvedinmultilingualism,andtheNationalAdministrationDirectoryforprimaryandsecondaryschools.Multilingualismandinterculturalskillsaresupportedbythisinitiative,launchedundertheumbrellaofAPPEAL,atrans-institutionalactionplantoinvestigatemultilingualpoliciesinaregionalcontext.

TheCILTCaseStudyontheUniversityofBristol’s“FrenchforAerospaceEngineeringstudents”programme(CaseStudyn°9)providesastimu-latingexampleofhowcooperationbetweendifferentuniversitiesinthesamecountry,andbetweenlanguagedepartmentsandvocational(engineeringandbuiltenvironment)departmentscanleadtothedeve-lopmentofhighlymotivatingprogrammesandmaterials.Thepurposeofthepartnershipbetweenfourdifferentuniversities,skillscouncils,pro-fessionalbodiesandemployerswastodesignanddeliveraninnovativeFrenchlanguagecourseforaerospaceengineeringstudents,incorpo-ratingastrongvocationaldimension.Giventhenatureoftheindustryinvolved,thecontextualizedlanguagecurriculumwasseenasakeyfactorinenhancingtheemployabilityofthestudents,andthereforetheirmotivationinwantingtoacquireandimprovetheirlanguageskills.

Attheinternationallevel,theEuropeanUniversityFoundation’sCampusEuropaeinitiative(Casestudyn°10)showstheimportanceofclosecooperationinensuringthesuccessofanintegratedstudentexchangenetworkacrossborders.Thisinter-universityprogrammeallowsstu-dentsfrompartnerinstitutionstospendtwoyearsoftheirstudypro-grammeininstitutionsoutsideoftheirhomecountry.TheintegrationbetweenlocalandincomingstudentsispromotedbytheassistanceofthesocalledBuddyNetwork,localstudentshelpingtheincomingstudentstoimprovelanguageskillsafterregularclassesbyorganizingleisureactivities.

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Insomeprojects,suchastheintroductionofUrduinaninner-cityLon-donschool(Casestudyn°7),thesupportoftheschool’sgovernorswasinstrumentalinpromotingtheteachingofless-taughtcommunitylanguagesandembeddingtheselanguagesintheschool’ssyllabus,atfirst,againsttheopinionofthelocalschoolinspector.Theseactionshavegreatlyincreasedthenumberofstudentstakingandcontinuingthelearningofaforeignlanguage.Twowelcomeresultsofthisinitiativehavebeenthehigh-standardlanguageexamsresultswellabovethenationalaverageandtheemergenceofaunitedmultiethniccommunityintheschoolcommunity.

Projectsofaninternationalnature,suchasthee-twinningbetweenaschoolinFranceandaschoolinScotland,haveshowntheinvolvementofcivicassociationsfromtwodifferentcountriesinsupportingajointlanguagelearninginitiative.ThisisaninterestingexampleofthepowergeneratedbythecooperationbetweeneducationandcivilsocietywhichhasgivenchildrenfromisolatedcommunitiesliketheOrkneyIslandsandFromonttheopportunitytogettoknowaforeignculturebyusingmotivatingnewtechnologieslikevideo-conferencing.Thissuccessstoryrelateshowstudentswhowouldhaveneverotherwisetravelledabroadcannowinteractwiththeirpartnersandtheirenvironmentasiftheythemselveswerethere.Allthestudentsparticipatingintheprojecthavecontinuedwiththeirlanguagestohigherlevels.Finally,CaseStudyn°12:“Outsidein:bringingthecommunityintoschool”,showshowexternalstakeholdersinvitedintotheclassroom,cantransformtheattitudesoflanguagelearnersatschool.Thissimpleinitiative,takenatthelocallevelofasecondaryschoolinsouthernPor-tugal,consistsininvitingpotentialemployersandemployeesworkingforcompanieswithforeigncustomers,toaddressstudents(inEnglish)andexplainwhyforeignlanguagecompetenceisimportantintheirbusi-nesscontext.Ithasresultednotonlyinincreasedinterestinlanguagelearningbuthasprovidedadditionalincentivetosucceedintheirvoca-tionalcourses.

tivateexistinglanguagelearningandthelearningofmorelanguages.Informationandcommunicationtechnologies,bytheircontactfacili-ties,allowthebuildingofvirtuallearningcommunities.Thewallsofthelanguageclassroomcanbebrokendownasstudentsandteachersofdifferentschoolsinteractandshareeverythinginrealtime.Cooperationactivitieswherestudentsarethemainactors(aswithe-twinningpro-jects)willalsoawaketheircuriosityandwishtolearn,asCaseStudyn°11(“EarlyLanguageLearninginFranceandScotland:ane-twinninginitiative”)amplydemonstrates.

cooperation with civil society

AkeymotivationalfactorunderlyingmanyofthecasestudiesdescribedundertheMOLANprojectisthesuccessofcooperationbetweenedu-cationprovidersandsocietyatlarge.AnumberofMOLANcasestudiesshowcivilsocietygroupssuchasparents’associations,schoolgovernors,communityassociations,networks,professionalorganizationsandcompaniestakinganacti-vepartinprojectsthathavebeensuccessfulinthedisseminationandmotivationoflanguagelearning.Inthesecasesthecivilsocietygroupshavebecomeserviceproviders,innovators,informedcriticsandadvo-catesofeducationalissueswhohavereached,mobilized,trainedandengagedpeople.

Playersfromoutsidetheeducationalsystemcancontributetothesuc-cessoflanguagelearningthroughtheflexibilitywithwhichtheycanre-spondtolanguageeducationissues;theclosenesstograssrootsandculturesespeciallyinthecaseofhighlydiversecommunities;thesupportforinnovativepoliciesandstructures;thebreakingdownofsocialandgeographicalboundaries;andthecreationofvoluntarynon-hierarchicalnetworks.

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3.1. Regional Action Plan for the Promotion of Multilingualism

TheMinhoUniversity(UniversidadedoMinho-UM)createdanumbrellainitiativecalledAPPEAL(Acção/PlanoparaaPromoçãodoEnsinoedaAprendizagemdasLínguas)fortheNorthernregionofPortugal,deve-lopedsince2007.Thepromotionofmultilingualismthrougharegionalactionplanofpolicy-makingbyinitiativeofauniversityisinnovativeforPortugal.Itgivesnewqualitytoactorsthatinthepastoftenoperatedinahierarchical,isolatedanddiscontinuousway.APPEALaimsatcreatingsynergiesbyefficientcommunicationandsharedactivitieswithinandacrossinstitutionsthroughamulti-lateralnetworkbasedonpluriannualagreementsbetweenuniversityandschools,withannualdefinitionsofmotivatingprojectsforteachingandlearninglanguages.

The aPPeal-approach

IntheabsenceofanationalframeworkthatputsintopracticeEUmultilingualismpolicy,andgiventheBolognasystemchangeofpre-ser-viceteachertrainingcoincidentwithexceedingschoolteacherstaffandtherecentreformofsecondaryeducation(2004),thatreducestheroleofforeignlanguageswithincurriculaandnarrowstheirvariety(givingpreferencetoEnglishandSpanish;GermanandFrenchwithdwindlingnumbers),thereisaurgentneedforpromotingmultilingualismasanoverallconcept.Thereforeitwasimportanttoincludeprimaryandsecondaryschoolsintothedevelopmentofinterface-strategiesthatjoininitiativesoflanguageteachersatschoolandatuniversitywithinare-gionalcontext.APPEALfocusesthequantitativeandqualitativeimpro-vementofcommunicativeandcooperativestructures,reachingoutforMunicipalCouncils(libraries,museums,theatres)andlocalassociations.

APPEALstartedat2007byinitiativeoftheFacultyofArts&Humanities(InstitutodeLetraseCiênciasHumanas–ILCH)andinvolvedprogressivelyotherunitsofUM,aboveall:departmentsoftheFacultyofPedagogy(InstitutodaEducação–IE)dedicatedtoteachertraining;thePublicRe-lationsBureauthatdevelopedalogisticframeforparticipationinschool

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eventsandforschoolsvisitingUM(alsotheannual«SummeratUniver-sity»);theBureauforInternationalRelations,promotingmultilingualismbytestimonyofErasmus-studentsandthroughtheprogramofEras-mus-student-tutorship.Initiativesonlysucceedwhensupportedbypersonalitiesandstructuresofdecision-making.ThereforeAPPEALfocuseseffectivecommunicationbetweenandwithininstitutionsinordertodevelopandrealizetransver-salactivitiesthatelicitandsustainmotivationforlanguagelearning,lin-kingittoauthenticcontexts(useindifferentareasofknowledge:CLIL)andyouthleisureculture(music,sports,media).Forexample,visitsofschoolgroupstothecampuson‘Opendays’witharangeofshortwork-shop-activitiesdedicatedtodifferentlanguages(andcultures),thatcanbelearnedattheUM(includingRussian,Chinese,JapaneseandArab),havebeenhighlymotivating,aswellasparticipationofschoolsinKa-raokeshowsinEnglish,FrenchandGerman(involvingartsandmusicteachers)orinstory-tellingeventsusinginputfromdifferentlanguagesandenhancingspeakingbeforesmallaudienceineverydaycontexts(e.g.onthebus).Onthelevelofteaching,therehavebeenworkshop-in-itiativesofin-serviceteachertrainingthatfocusspeakingcompetencesandtheuseofnewtechnologies.Insteadofremainingonarandombasisofcontactsbetweenlanguageteachersatschoolanduniversity,APPEALaimsatestablishingongoingandstablecooperationbetweenuniversityunits(ILCH/IE)andthoseschoolsthatdevelopmultilingualpolicies(projectsthatinvolvelanguageareacoordinatorsandotherareas,e.g.throughparticipationinComeni-usprojects).

Forthispurposethereareusedtwomaininstruments:1)pluriannualbilateralinstitutionalagreementsbetweenuniversityandaschoolor‘school-cluster’[agrupamento],partlyrenewingtraditionalrelationsthathaveexistedinaveryformalizedwayovertheyearswithinthepre-Bolognamodelofteachertraining.2)awebpagewithpartlyopen/reservedaccess(partners),hostedattheUM-website(www.uminho.pt),creatinganin-groupeffectofcommunicativeandcooperativestructures,alsousefulforlaunchingnewideasandprojects.

TheactualconfigurationofanAPPEAL-networksharedby19schools(in2008-09)includesinteractionwithinstitutionsand(teacher)associa-tionsonanationallevel,aswellasonaregionalandlocallevelthroughtheirpartners.

learning outcomes

APPEALpromotesanintegrativeconceptofmultilingualisminsteadofa‘competition’betweenmoreorlessprestigious(oreasilylearned)languages.Bybringingtogetherteachersfordifferentlanguagesandpartnersfromdifferentsectorsofeducation,itispossibletostriveforavarietyoflanguagelearningandalsoforacoherentandefficientcontinuouslearningprocessintheprimaryandsecondaryschoolthroughtohighereducation;thisincludestheuseofappealingteachingmethods(speaking,newtechnologies),thepromotionof(self-)evalua-tionand(self-)assessmentbyparametersdefinedwithintheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages(CEFRL),thusaimingatareallyprogressivetransitionfromoneeducationalsectortoanother.Focusingtheinterfacebetweensecondaryandhighereducation,theoverallaimistogetbetter-qualifiedandmotivatedcandidates,indepen-dentfromtheirspecificchoiceofacademicstudies:itisexpectedtoreachatleastB2(English)andB1(1-2otherlanguages)competencesbeforeenteringuniversity;anenhancedlearnerautonomyandknow-ledgeaboutthedocumentsortemplates(Europass)abletoassessandcertifycompetenceswithintheCEFRL.

Recent initiatives

Amongrecentnewinitiativesarethefollowing.(i)CollaborationwithTecMinho(collaborationbetweentheUniversity,andlocalindustryandbusinessassociations)intheareaofin-servicetrainingforlanguageteachers,withspecialemphasisontechnologicalapplicationsinlanguageteachingandlearning;

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(ii)creationofajointworkinggrouptolookintothepossibilityofreinte-gratinglanguagelearningintoselectundergraduatestudyprogrammes(forexample,InternationalRelations;CommunicationScience/Jour-nalism),focussingonRomancelanguages(usingtheInter-comprehen-sionapproach).Anotherworkinggroup,whichincludesrepresentativesofthreeschools,istryingtofindwaysofstoppingthedeclineofFrenchinsecondaryschools;(iii)creationofjointworkinggroupsonPortugueseasaforeignlangua-gewithaviewtointegratingchildrenwithamigrantbackgroundintoschools,andonthequestionofAcademicStandardLanguageacquisi-tion;(iv)establishmentofalinkbetweentheAPPEALnetworkandanetworkof«pilotschools»setupbytheGoetheInstitutePortugalatnationallevelwithaviewtostimulatingmotivationforthelearningofGerman.

lessons to be learned

SincethelaunchoftheAPPEAL-initiative-decision-makersatuniversityandschoolsoftheregionbecomeincreasinglyawareofmultilingualismastransversalkeycompetence(motivationtogobeyondEnglish;continuouslearningprocess)andofthenecessitytoacquirespecificskillsrelatedtoacademiclifeandemployabilitywithinalife-long-learningperspective;-schoolsparticipateincreasinglyinactivitiespromotedbyuniversityandviceversa;-moreschoolsarewillingtojointheAPPEAL-network(10schoolsin2010);-localandregionalmediagivemoreimportancetotheinitiativespro-motedwithinthenetwork,enhancingtherelevanceofmultilingualismforsocietyandeducation.APPEALfocusesontheimprovementofinter-andintra-institutionalcommunicationandonthedisseminationofactivitiesthatarenormallyconfinedtoabilateralorlocallyisolatedscope.Thenetworkdynamicsdependonthecontinuousandefficientworkdonebylogisticandopi-nionleadersatuniversityandatschools.Thereforeperiodicalmeetingsareofutmostimportanceinordertoassurecohesion,fosterin-groupeffectsandconvinceothers.

Therehastobearealisticunderstandingofwhatispossibleandsustainableintermsofinteractionandactivities.Onlylong-termplan-ningaswellasacertainroutineofactivitiesandperiodicityofeventsleadstothefullsocialrecognitionofAPPEAL.Thisisoneofthemostimportantsuccessfactorsofthisumbrella-initiative,becauseitgivesprestigetothepartnersinvolvedandenhancestherelevanceofmulti-lingualismwithinaconcreteregionalcontext.

contact informationCountry:PortugalNameofuniversity:UniversidadedoMinho/InstitutodeLetraseCiênciasHumanas(ILCH)Address:CampusdeGualtar,4710–057BragaContactpersons:Prof.OrlandoGrossegesse,MarieManuelleCostaSilvaEmail:ogro@ilch.uminho.pt;mmcsilva@ilch.uminho.ptTelephone:00351-253-604190

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3.2. French for Students of Aerospace Engineering

FourBritishUniversities,Bristol,Loughborough,KingstonandSalford,eachdesignedandpilotedlanguagemoduleslinkedtoEngineeringandBuiltEnvironmentDegrees.WithineachUniversity,alanguageexpertworkscloselywithavocationalexperttodesignthemodulesinconsultationwithemployersandprofessionalbodies.Aspartofthisproject,BristolUniversitydevelopeda20hourcourseinFrenchtobetaughtover10weekswithinthecontextoftheaerospaceindustry.Theprojectinvolvedsuccessfulcollaborationwithanimportantlocalemplo-yer,AirbusUKandtheappropriateprofessionalbody,theEngineeringCounciloftheUnitedKingdom.

TheLanguageGatewaysintotheProfessionsprojectisaninnovativepartnershipprojectcoordinatedbyCILT,theNationalCentreforLang-uagesandwasfundedbyDIUS,theDepartmentofInnovation,Univer-sitiesandSkills.Partnersintheprojectincludethemodernlanguagesdepartmentsandvocational(engineeringorbuiltenvironment)depart-mentswithintheUniversitiesofBristol,Kingston,LoughboroughandSalford,workingincollaborationwithsectorskillscouncils,professionalbodiesandemployerstodesignanddelivercontextualisedlanguagecoursestostudentsonengineeringandbuiltenvironmentdegrees.

Aspartofthisproject,academicsatBristolUniversity,workingwithalo-calemployer,AirbusUKaswellastheEngineeringCounciloftheUnitedKingdom(ECUK),developeda20hourcourseinFrench,tobetaughtover10weeks,forundergraduatestudentsofaerospaceandavionicsengineeringwithanentrylevelofFrenchAlevelorequivalent.Theuniversitydevelopedacontextualisedlanguagecurriculumincludingthehistoryofavionics,specialistterminology,interviewswithindustryprofessionals,businessFrench,vocabularyandgrammarexercises,plusinformationandlinkstocareersinaerospaceandavionics.Fiveon-linepackageshavebeendevelopedusingCourseGenieauthorwareanddeliveredontheUniversity’svirtuallearningenvironment(VLE)Blackboard.Withintheinstitutiontheprojectrequiredcollaborationbetweenthelanguageandengineeringdepartmentsaswellastheca-reersadviceservice,whosetaskistoimprovegraduateemployability,whichincludespromotinglanguageandinterculturalskills.

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Elevenstudentsenrolledinthefirstyearanddisplayedanenthusiasticresponsetothecourse,whichtheyallcompleted.Therewaspositivefeedback,notonlyfromthestudents,butalsofromtheemployerandthefaculty.TheUniversityconsideredtheprojecttobeasuccessanddemonstrateditsrecognitionbytheissueofapressrelease,whiletheVice-Chancellorhaspersonallycomplementedthelanguageandengineeringdepartmentonthecourseandissupportiveoffuturedevelopments.

Theprojectorganisersconsiderthatthesuccessfuloutcomeoftheprojectisbasedonthestronginstitutionalsupportforsuchalanguageinitiative,theinternationalenvironmentwithintheinstitution,goodin-terdepartmentalcollaborationandtheexcellentrelationshipdevelopedwithAirbusUK.Bylinkinglanguagelearningtostudents’employabilityaswellasintegratingthiswithstudent’smainstreamacademicsubject,thestudentswerehighlymotivatedtolearnalanguagewithinacon-textthattheyhadalreadymastered.FormativeevaluationandsupportprovidedbyCILThasbeendevelopedanddeliveredinordertosupporttheteamsandenablethesharingofbestpracticeatkeystagesintheproject,whilefundingfromDIUScreatedaspaceandopportunitytodevelopmaterials,enhancethecurriculumandteachthecourse.Thedecisiontoexpandandenhanceanalreadyaccreditedcoursewiththeproductionofadditional,contextualisedmaterialsprovidedasolidfoun-dationfortheproject.

Inconsideringhowtoencouragestudentstopursuefurtherlanguagestudyinasituationwherethereisfreechoice,thequestionofimprovingemployabilityisacknowledgedascrucialintoday‘senvironment.Thiswasrecognisedinthestatedaimsofthecourse,whichspeakofinfor-mingthenextgenerationofaerospaceengineersabouttheimportanceofdevelopinglanguageandinterculturalskillsfortheirfuturecareersandtomaketheacquisitionoftheseskillsrelevanttotheaerospaceindustry.

Thiswouldbeachievedbybuildingonlanguagecompetencesacquiredatsecondaryschoolthroughthecreationofanintegratedapproachtolanguagelearning,therebyenablingstudentstogainaccesstospecia-listmaterialinthetargetlanguage.Thestudentspracticedmakingpresentationsandwritingarticles,anddevelopedworkplacerelatedcommunicativeskills.Awarenessofinterculturallearningandskillsandtheirimportanceforprofessionaldevelopmentisaimedtopromotegraduates’employabilityandprofessionalmobility,whilemotivatingstudentstoundertakefurtherlanguagelearning.

Awiderangeofmaterialsweredevelopedincollaborationwiththeemployer,AirbusUK,andarecurrentlyavailableontheuniversity‘sVLE.ThesematerialsareintheprocessofbeingformattedinordertobemadeavailableviaCILT’sVirtualLanguageResourceBankforgeneralusebyotherinstitutions.Theproductionoftailor-madematerialswasseenascrucialtothesuccessofacoursewhichbuildsuponexistinglanguagecompetenceandmovesittoahigherlevel.

Aftercompletingthecourse,oneofthestudentssaid:‘TheLanguageGatewayisanengagingwayoflearningandputtingintocontextFrenchforaerospaceengineering.Itcatersforreading,listeningandwritinginanenjoyablemanner.IfounditeasiertolearntechnicalvocabularyusingtheGatewayasitisinteractive.Iparticularlylikethesectionthatprovidesyouwithlinkstofurtherinformationonthetopicstheexercisesdealtwith.’

contact informationCountry:UnitedKingdomNameoforganisation:CILT,theNationalCentreforLanguagesAddress:3rdFloor,111WestminsterBridgeRoad,LondonSE17HRContactperson:SteveCushion,HigherEducationAdviserEmail:info@cilt.org.ukTelephone:00442076333300

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3.3. Language learning as a step toward European Citizenship – Enhances student exchange

InCampusEuropae(CE)studentsfromavarietyofacademicdisciplinesareencouragedtospendtwoyearsintwouniversities,eachlocatedinadifferentEuropeanlinguisticcommunity(anexceptionisgrantedforLuxembourgishstudents).Whilstpursuingtheirregularcourseofstudystudentsarelearningthelanguageoftheirhostuniversity.Thelearningprocessissupportedbyaselectedsetofsupportingtools.Priortodeparturestudentsareparticipatinginanintroductorye-learninglanguagecourse,followedbyintensivefourweekslanguageprogramsuponarrivalatthehostinstitution.Accompanying,year-longlanguagecoursessupplementthelearningprocess.Individualmentorsandtheopportunitytopursueandinternshipatalocalcompanyorotherinstitu-tionfurtherfacilitateintegrationintothesocial,culturalandacademicenvironment.Anemphasisisputontheacquisitionofthelesser-taughtlanguagesofEuropealearningprocesswhichallowsforaslowbutsteadyimmersionintothelocallinguisticculture.

TheEuropeanUniversityFoundation–CampusEuropae(EUF-CE)isanetworkofnow20Europeanuniversities,whichengageinenhancedstudentexchange.Fieldsofcooperationwithinthenetworkarelangua-gelearningandcoordinationofacademicrecognition.StudentsspendaminimumofoneyearatanotherEuropeanUniversityandcanoptforaseconduniversitywithinthenetwork.Bothuniversitiesmusthaveadifferentlinguisticbackground.

Theimmediateaimsareforthestudentmoverstoachievesufficientproficiencyinthehostlanguageinordertobeabletoattendclassesatthehostuniversity.Inthemid-termtheyareexpectedtoacquireinter-culturalcompetencesandgetacquaintedtothecultureandsocietyofthehostcountry.Thelong-termgoalisforthemtobecomeemployableontheEuropeanlabormarketbybeingabletomasteratleasttwo–inanoptimalcase–otherlanguagesthantheirmothertonguewithsustai-nedexperienceofmobilityandagoodunderstandingofinterculturalinteraction.

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language learning

Althoughsomememberuniversitiesarelocatedincountriesofferingmorewidelyspokenlanguages,thenetworkfocusesonlessertaught–thoughnotnecessarilyspoken–languages.TherangeoflanguagestaughtwithinthenetworkincludesFinnish,French,German,Italian,Latvian,Lithuanian,Portuguese,Polish,Russian,Serbian,SpanishandTurkish.

Languagelearningtakesplaceinthreestages.BeforedepartureCam-pusEuropaeofferse-languagecoursesforallstudents,whichwerede-velopedwiththememberuniversitiesaspartoftheEU-financedHookUp!project.ThesecoursescontainactiveandinteractiveelementsandareaimedatbringingthestudentatleasttoanA1leveloftheCom-monEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages(CEFRL).Stu-dentsarestronglyencouragedtoparticipateinthee-learningmodulesassomeuniversities,asaresultofthisoffer,donotofferA1beginnercourseanymore.Inthefuturethee-learningmodulescanbedevelopedtosupplementtheface-tofacecourses.

Uponarrivalatthehostuniversitystudentsareofferedintensivelangua-gecoursesforaminimumoffourweeks(onexceptionwithinthenet-work,whichonlyacceptsstudentswithalevelofB1uponarrival)andatleast5hourslanguagecoursesperday.Thepurposeofthesecoursesistoimprovethelanguageproficiencyandsupporttheprocessofimmer-sionintothenewlanguageandenvironment.Attheendofthecoursestheparticipantsshouldbeabletolistentolecturesinthelanguageofthehostuniversity.PartnerUniversitiesareabletoapplytotheEUF–CECampusEuropaeforfinancialsupporttoorganizeintensivelanguagecourses;anumberofuniversitieshaveavailedofthisofferwhichcanbeanimportantin-centivetofurtherimprovethequalityofthosecourses.

Throughouttheacademicyearstudentsvisitlanguagecourseswithalesserintensitytofurtherimprovetheirlanguageskills.AttheendoftheirstaytheyshouldhaveachievedalanguageproficiencylevelofB1undertheCEFRL.

Institutional support

UniversitiesareencouragedtooffercoursesinEnglish,atleastforthefirstsemester,howevernotallinstitutionshavethecapacity,andsome-timesstudentsarenotabletofollowcourseinEnglishduetoalackofproficiencyinthelanguage.Inanycaseprofessorsareaskedtoholdexaminationsinotherlanguagesthanthatofthehostuniversityandemploydifferentexaminationmodes.

EspeciallyinthebeginningCEmoversaresidedwithaCE-buddy,alocalstudentwhoassistsinheintegrationatthehomeuniversityandisreadytoanswerpracticalquestionsandhelpwithadministrativeproce-dures.

AnotherperspectivecanbeopenedbyLearningEmployabilityPlaces(LEPs),whichareorganizedincooperationwithlocalentrepreneursandotherinstitutions.Suchinternships,whichhaveaworkvolumeofabout10hoursperweekandrunthroughouttheyear,cangivestudentsaglimpseofaprofessionalenvironmentinthehostcountry.However,LEPscannotbeofferedtoallstudentsasallocationheavilydependsonthequalificationoftherespectivestudentandavailabilityofLEPsattheuniversitycity.

academic cooperation

InordertopaytributetothechangingstructureofacademicprogramsCEpaysincreasedattentiontotheissueofacademicrecognition.Duetofinancialconstraintsstudentsonlyagreetobemobileiftherecog-nitionoftheiracademicachievementscanbeguaranteed.Therefore,teachersfromalluniversitiesregularlymeetinseveralSubjectCommit-teesfortherespectiveacademicfields(Business&Economics,Engi-neering,Humanities,Law,Medicine,NaturalSciences,TeacherTraining)todevelopasystemofex-anterecognition,whichshouldfacilitatethedraftingoflearningagreementsandsafeguardthattheyarerespected.TheSubjectCommitteesinteraliadiscusslanguageissuesagainstthebackgroundoftheiracademicfields.SomeuniversitiesgranttherecognitionofthelanguagecoursescompletedduringCEexchange.

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certification

StudentswhofulfilltheacademicrequirementsoftheirCEyearandinadditioncomplywithcertainlanguagerequirementsarerewardedwithaCE-certificateafteronCEyear.ThiscertificateconfirmsthatthestudenthasfulfilledthecriteriaincollectingaminimumnumberofECTScreditsinhisorheracademicfield,whichwillbedulyrecognizedbythehomeuniversityandthatheorshehasfulfilledthelanguagerequirementsinmeetingtheB1levelofthelanguageofthehostuniversity.StudentswhodoafullCEcycleinthecourseoftheirundergraduateandgraduatestudies(orequivalent),thusspendingtwoyearsattwodifferentuniversities,andmeetthecriteriaforthecertificatebothtimes,areawardedaCD-Degree,whichisanacademicdegreeawardedunderLuxembourglawbytheEUF-CE,inadditiontotheirnationaldegree.Thedegreecertifiesacademicexcellence,linguisticskillsinthreelangu-agesandinterculturalcompetence.

Development of the program

From2004-2010morethan550studentshaveparticipatedintheCEexchangeprogram.DesignedasanexperimentalprogramCEhasbecomeatangibleassetintheinternationalportfolioofthememberuniversities.WhereasCEcannotescapetheuncertaintiesofstudentexchangeasregardspracticalimplementation,anumberofsuccessfactorsandproblematicissuescanbeisolatedbasedontheexperiencegathered.

Throughouttheyearsandimbalanceinmoverdistributioncanbeobserved,ageneraltrendfromeasttowestisonlycounteredbystrongbilateralrelationsbetweencertainuniversities,e.gUniversityofAveiro(Portugal)andUniversityofNoviSad(Serbia).ThetraditionalErasmusdestinationsuchasItaly,GermanyandSpainstillhostthemajorityofCEmovers.Nevertheless,othercountriesdohaveafairshareofinco-mingmovers.GoodexamplesareLatvia,SerbiaandPoland.CEmoverscoverthefullrangeofacademicdisciplines,mirroringtheSubjectCom-mittees.ThemajoritysofarcomesformBusiness&economics,trailedbyTeacherTraining.Especiallytheformerischaracterizedbyawide

offerofEnglishliteratureeasilyavailableandEnglishasanaturalwor-kinglanguage.Incontrast,Lawasasubjectrelyingonadvancedlingu-isticskillsonlyattractsasmallnumberofstudentstoatypicalexchangedestinations.ThosestudentswhofollowthelanguagelearningpathwaysusuallysucceedinattainingaB1level(orhigher)oftherespectivelanguageandconfirmabetterunderstandingoftheirhostcountry.Acertaindegreeoflanguageproficiencygoeshandinhandwithacademicsuccess.Thelanguagelearningprocesscanbesupplementedbyanumberofpractices,e.g.strategicplacementofforeignstudentswithlocalstu-dentsinstudentdormitoriesinordertoincreasetheexposuretotheforeignlanguageandavoidincreasedexposuretoEnglish.Astablestartinglevelofthelocallanguagefurtherseemstomotivatestudentstoapplytheirknowledgeanddecreasesinitialhesitationandfear.Asuccessfulexperienceinthefirstyearstimulatesstudentstogoforanotheryear–toadifferentuniversityinadifferentcountry;subjecti-vegoodpracticesserveasmotivation.

CampusEuropaehashadconsiderablesuccessinencouragingstu-dentstomovetocountrieswhoselanguagesarelessfrequentlytaughtandinenablingtheacquisitionofworkinglevelsofbothgeneralandprofessionallyrelatedlinguisticcompetenceinthetargetlanguages.TheexperienceofstudyingintwohostenvironmentsaswellaswithingroupsofstudentsfromdifferentnationalitiesallowsthoseconcernedtoacquireanunderstandingofthediversityofEuropeanculturesandbe-comebetterequippedforacareerinamulticultural,multilingualEurope.

contact informationCountry:LuxemburgNameoforganizationCampusEuropaeWebsite:www.campuseuropae.orgContactperson:BerndJustinJütteEmail:berndjustin.juette@campuseuropae.org

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3.4. Language learning at primary school through e-twinning initiative

Twoprimaryschoolslocatedinisolated,ruralsurroundings,oneinFrance,theotherinScotland,establishedane-twinninglinkthroughvideoconferencing,soastointroduceFrenchlessonstotheScottishpupilsandEnglishlanguagelearningtotheFrenchstudents.Theseearlylanguageclassesweretaughttopupilsof9-11yearsold.TheScottishandFrenchchildrenseenonthescreenintheclassroomswereauthenticandtheteacherswereveryenthusiasticabouttheresultstheinitiativeachieved:thestudentsweremotivatedtointroducethemsel-ves,toplaygamesandtocommunicateeffectively.

ThelearningofEnglishandFrenchisbasedontheuseoflivevideoconferencingactingasastimulustomotivatethelearnersandthroughtheuseoflanguagebynativespeakersasamodelforthelearners.

Inbothcasestheforeignlanguageisorganizedandtaughtbytheheadteachertoallpupilsinthefinaltwoyearsofprimaryschool.IntheFrenchschoolonlyEnglishistaughtintwosessionsperweek.TheScottishschoolteachesFrenchandalsoGermantothesameyeargroups.Languageteachinginbothgroupsisassociatedwiththelear-ningofothersubjects.

Thelinkbetweentheschoolswasestablishedthroughacontactsemi-narheldbytheBritishCouncilinParisandbothschoolsbenefitfromtheassistanceofe-twinninginitiativeinBrussels.Thelinkismaintainedthroughtheuseofvideoconferencing(equippedwithMarratechfaci-lities)andbothschoolsareequippedtoreceiveandsendclassroomscenestotheothertoenablethepupilstocarryoutliveconversationswiththeirpartners.InthecaseoftheFrenchchildren(totalof26),languagelessonstakeplaceintheregularclass,andintheScottishschoolthepupils(totalof18)areeitherdrawnfromtheirregularclassesandfollowlessonsatlunchtimewhenvideoconferencingistakingplace,oratothertimesincooperationwiththeclassteacher.

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-Thepositiveexperienceoflearningalanguageinfluencestheirdesiretocontinuestudyinglanguagesinthesecondaryschoolandtotakeuplearninganewlanguage.-Thefirstcohortofpupilshasreachedsecondaryschoolandhasbeencomplimentedontheiruseofthelanguageandtheirenthusiasmforlearning.-Thereisaclearspin-offontothelearningofothersubjectsandthepupils’wholeattitudetoschoollife,whichismorepositiveasaresultofthisexperience.-Thelinkwasrunner-upintheNationale-twinningawardsin2008inScotlandandachievedtheintermediateinternationalawardin2007.

contact informationCountry:FranceNameofschool:ÉcolepubliquemixtedeFromontAddress:3placedel‘Eglise,77760Fromont.FranceContactperson:MarieRössler,DirectriceEmail:ecole@fromont.comCountry:ScotlandNameofschool:StAndrew´sPrimarySchoolAddress:Toab,Orkney,Scotland.KW17ZQUContactperson:AnnGilmour,FormerHeadTeacherEmail:eanngilmour@btopenworld.comTelephone:00441856861256

Apartfromintroductionsintheotherlanguage,gamesandbasicphra-ses,thepupilsalsoexchangenewsitems,weatherforecasts,anddra-wings.Theysingsongstoeachotherandtheyhavecarriedoutastudyonthearchitectureofbothvillages.Thismeansthatabasicstockoflanguageismemorizedthroughtheseactivities.

TheScottishHeadteacheremphasisedthat“theimportanceofteachingFrenchintheprimaryschoolistodevelopenthusiasmandaninterestinthelivesofchildreninFrance”.TheHeadoftheFrenchschoolsummeduphergroup’sobjectivesinsimilarterms.

Acombinationoffactorsseemstopointtothesuccessoftheinitiative:-theuseoftechnologyisattractivetochildrenofthisageandtheyenjoyshowingtheirskillswhenhandlingthevideoconferencing.-Theyalsolovethecompetitivenessofthevideoconferencinggames.-Thelinkwiththeschoolintheothercountryisthekeytothechildren’sobviousenjoyment.-TheScottishandFrenchchildrentheyseeonthescreenintheirclassroomsarerealandspeakwithauthenticaccentsofOrcadianandFrenchchildren.-Bondshavebeencreatedbetweenthechildrenandthismotivatesthemtolearntocommunicate.-Thecommunitiesinwhichtheyliveshareacertainsenseofisolationandthisexperienceopensawindowontheoutsideworld.Successindicatorsarealsoseveral:-TheenthusiasmofthepupilsfortheirEnglishclassisthemostnotableone;theyarekeentoparticipateandinteractandthereisnolackofvolunteerstoanswerandaskquestionsinbothschools.-IntheScottishschoolthechildrenaresoenthusiastictheytaketheinitiativetocompilephotostoriesingroupsorontheirown,-Inbothschoolstheyarewillingtogiveuppartoftheirlunchbreaktovideoconferencewiththeotherschool.-Thepupilsspeakinwholesentenceswhenrequiredanddosowithareasonablyauthenticaccent.AlllessonstakepartinEnglishinFranceandinFrenchintheOrkneysandatthisstagepupilsarenotexposedtowrittenEnglishorFrench,justspoken.

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3.5. Outside in: bringing the communityinto school – motivation for languages

EscolaSecundáriadeTomásCabreiraisacentenarysecondaryschoolwithalargeexperienceinvocationalandprofessionalcourses.ForthatreasonFilomenaConceição,aslanguageteacherandasCoordinatoroftheLanguageDepartment,preparesanoriginalandwellsucceededcasestudy.Sheorganizesdifferentvisitsofstakeholderstocomeintotheclassroomtoexplaintheneedforforeignlanguagesondifferentprofessionalactivitiesaroundschool.Thesevisitorsmadetheirpresentationsandledallthediscussionswiththestudentsinforeignlanguages.Thisisanexampleofgoodpracticetoincreasemotivationinlanguagelearning.

Evenifschooldoesnothavethelegalpossibilitytodevelopitsownpoliciesinthecurriculumstructure,thecreationandthepromotionofappropriatestrategiestoenhancestudents’competencesisitsspecificmission.Inthevocationalarea,inwhichthecoredisciplinesofthecurriculumarefromfieldsaselectricity,accountancy,tourism,renewab-leenergies,mechatronics,chemistryetc,motivatingstudentstoforeignlanguageleaningcan,inseveralcases,beahugechallenge.

Theauthorinvitessome(onceayear)externalstakeholdersoftheregiontoaddressstudents(inEnglish)andtoexplainthemtheneedofforeignlanguagesatwork,intheregion.Thestakeholdersarefrommul-tinationalornationalenterprisesthathaveascostumersalargenumberofforeigners.Theentireregionalcontextisdeeplydependentontou-rismmobilityandtourismrelatedactivities.Externalemployeeswereinvitedtoexplaintheiractivitiesandhowtheyaredependentongoodcompetencesinlanguagesandincommunication.TheyemphasizehowEnglishisimportantbutalsohowitisnotenough.Theinterculturalcom-municationconstraintswerestressed.

Thiscasestudypresentsanexampleofanefforttoincreasetheinterestinforeignlanguagelearningandtheawarenessoflanguagesrelevanceintheirfuturecareers.Withthisinitiativestudentsarealsosupposed:a)tolinklanguagestovocationalactivitiescreatinganintegratedap-proachtolanguageleaningwithintheprofessionalcontext,developing

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Cabreira(bothledbytheauthorofthecasestudy).Oneoftheexternalparticipantsofthefirstyearoftheinitiativehasbecomeamemberoftheschoolcouncil.That’sasignthatthiscasestudynotonlymotiva-tesstudentstolearnlanguagesbutalsostakeholderstoparticipateinschoollife.Thesetwoevidencesjustifythetitleofthecasestudy“Out-sidein:bringingthecommunityintoschool–motivationforlanguages”.

contact informationCountry:PortugalNameofschool:EscolaSecundáriadeTomásCabreiraAddress:RuaManuelArriaga,8000FaroContactperson:FilomenaConceição,LanguagesDepartementCoordinatorEmail:filomena.conceicao@es-tc.net

communicativeskills,promotingmultilingualismandtheawarenessoftherealityoutsideschool;b)tobeawareofrealcommunicationsitua-tionsintheirprofessionalfieldswithspecificterminology,specificcultu-ralandprofessionalcharacteristics.Finally,thisinitiativeaimsatpromo-tingthecreationofplacesforinternshipsand/orforworkplacements,aswell.Asresultsoftheinitiative,whichoccuronceayearwhenbet-ween3and5ofthepotentialemployersvisittheschool,arealincreaseofinterestcanbeobservedandstudentsaremoremotivatedtoreadabouttheirvocationalsubjects.Theyseemtounderstandbettertheroleandthevalueofthelinguisticandcommunicativecompetencesintheirfutureprofessionaldevelopment.Studentsbecomemoreselfconfidentinforeignlanguageafterusingittoaskinformationabouttheworldofworkandtodiscusswiththestakeholders;theyenhance,thisway,also,theirperformanceinoralactivitiesinclassanditinfluencesglobalassessment,andmotivation.Inthenon-linguisticdisciplines,teachersnoticedabetterperformanceandmoreinterestofstudents.Itseemsthatwiththisinitiative,wheretheyhavebeenexposedtotheirpossiblecontextofworkinaforeignlanguage,theinterestabouttheirvocationalcourseincreases.Itisclearthatanhigherlevelofachievementinlan-guagetasksinclassandinactivitiesinsomeothersubjectsisreal.Thisopportunityofsharingknowledgeisanimportantspin-offontolearningofothersubjects/contextsandthechangingofwholestudents’attitudeisthebestsignoftheirmotivation.

Theenhancementofmotivationmentionedabovecanbejustifiedbydifferentfactorslinkedtotheinnovationoftheinitiativewhichis,insomeway,anopenofawindowtotheoutsideworldandabondwiththeworkcontext.ThestrongsupportoftheHeadofschoolandthecommitmentofalltheparticipantsastheavailabilityofthestakeholderswhicharekeenonparticipatingandinteractinginaforeignlanguagecanbeseenintheenthusiasmofparticipants.Theinformaldisseminationoftheresultsofthisinitiativehashadastrongimpactonthemotivationofotherteachingstaff.Anevidenceofthisimpactonschoollifeisthefactthat,sincethefirstyearoftheiniti-ative,theincreasinnumberofstudents(fromvocationalandnon-voca-tionalcourses)whowanttoparticipateinthenationalcontest(promotedbytheministryofeducation)“AsLínguasabremcaminhos”(Languagesopenways).Thefirstandthesecondnationalprizesofthe2008/2009editionwerewonbygroupsofstudentsofEscolaSecundáriadeTomás

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4. Motivating through integration, accreditation and certification

Amajorfactorintheenhancementofstudentmotivationinexpandingtheirmultilingualandmulticulturalcompetenceathighereducationlevelistheintegrationoflanguagelearning(optionalormandatory)intothestudyprogrammesofalldisciplines.Alanguagepolicybasedonthepromotionofmultilingualism(implyingtheofferofabroadpaletteoflanguagesandallowingfreechoiceoflanguagesforstudents)andprovidingforrecognitionofthetimeandeffortinvestedbystudentsinlanguagelearning,combinedwiththedefinitionoflearningoutcomesrelatedtothespecificcommunicativeneedsofstudentsandgraduates,canmakeamajorcontributioninencouragingmorestudentstolearnmorelanguages.

TheMOLANHigherEducationcasestudiesshowthattherearemanypathwaystoachievingtheintegrationoflanguagelearninginstudyprogrammes.InsomecountrieswithnationalregulatoryframeworksforHE(asinFrance),secondorthirdlanguagelearningmaybemandatoryfortheawardingofBachelororMaster‘sDegrees.Inothers(suchasPo-land),nationalregulationsgovernthelevelofcompetenceteachersareexpectedtoenablestudentstoachieveattheendoftheirfirstcyclede-gree(seeCaseStudyn°7insection2above).Incaseswhereprogram-mesandobjectivesareentirelydeterminedatuniversitylevel,provisionrangesfromthemandatorytotheentirelyoptional,butinthelattercase,varyingdegreesofincentiveareprovidedtoencouragestudentstotakeupandpursuelanguagelearningwithintheircourseofstudies.Thespectacularincreasesinthetake-upoftheABVlanguagemodulesatFreieUniversitätBerlin(CaseStudyn°13)orofthoseofferedbytheUniversityofLausanneLanguageCentre(CaseStudyn°14)showhowaflexibleapproachtointegrationwithinthecurriculumcanbeapowerfultoolforenhancingstudentmotivation.

Acommonfeatureofsuccessfullyintegratedlanguagemodulesistherecognitionofstudentengagementthroughaccreditation.WithintheframeworkoftheEuropeanHigherEducationArea(EHEA)thismeanstheattributionofECTScredits.Thesecreditsrelatelearningactivitiestotheworkloadofstudents(1creditforaworkloadof25-30hours)and

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Certificationmaybeusedsimplyasanoptional„bonus“incentiveforstudentstoachieveagivenlevelofcompetenceatvariousstagesoftheirstudyprogramme,orasamandatoryrequirementvalidatingagiventargetlevelsetinordertobeawardedadegree(e.g.theWarsawCaseStudyabove).

Howevereachoftheaboveincentivesisactuallyimplemented,theirsuccessinmotivatingstudentstotakeupmorelanguagesandtoim-provetheiroveralllanguagecompetenceisheavilydependentonalltheotherfactorsdescribedintheprevioussectionsofthishandbook:cer-tificationortestingonlymakesenseiftheyenablestudentstomeasureprogressmadeinintegratedlanguagemoduleorcoursetakenaspartoftheircurriculum,withintheframeworkofaclearlydefined,administeredandsupportedlanguagepolicy;themoduleorcoursewillonlybebene-ficialiftheyaimtoachieveclearlearningoutcomesandiftheyinvolvestimulatingteachingandlearningmethodsandmaterials;andfinallynoneofthecompetencesacquiredwillmakesenseiftheyarenotputtouseinanacademicorprofessionalcontextbyinteractingwithotherlanguageusers.Hopefully,thisiswhatallthecasestudiesinthisHand-bookamplydemonstrate.

thedefinitionoflearningoutcomesintermsofcompetencesasdefinedintheCouncilofEurope‘sCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages(CEFR).Theyarethuseasilycomprehensibleataninternationallevelandtoanon-specialistpublic.Theyalsotakeintoaccountstakeholders‘needsandarethusrelevantforacademicstudy,futurecareerandemployabilityandformobilityandsocialintegration.AlltheHigherEducationcasesincludedinthishandbook,whetherinWarsaw,Berlin,Bremen,orLausanne,featuretheawardingofECTScreditsforthesuccessfulcompletionoflanguagemodules.

Inalife-longlearningprocesswhereprofessionalcompetencesareconstantlyreassessedandcanoftenbevalidatedwithinthecontextoffurtherorcontinuingeducation,languagecertificationhasbecomeanincreasinglyimportantelementofstudentmotivation.Tobeofusetothestudent,certificationmustofcoursebefoundedonaclearandinternationallyrecognisedreferenceframeworkofcompetence.ThisisnowgenerallythecasewithintheEuropeanHigherEducationArea,withthealignmentofmanymainstreamlanguagecertificationsontheCEFR.ManyUniversityLanguageCentresnowofferstudentstheopportunitytoobtaininternationallanguagecertificatessuchasthoseadministeredbyCambridgeESOL,theGoetheInstitut,InstitutoCervantesortheCen-treinternationald‘étudespédagogiques,ortest“scores”suchasthoseprovidedbytheIELTS-andETS-administeredtests.Alongsidethecertificationsandtestsadministeredbytheseinternationalbodies,agrowingnumberofFrenchuniversitiesalsodelivertheCLES(Certificatdelanguesdel‘enseignementsupérieur),anationalcertificateofcom-petenceawardedtostudentsachievingaB2levelinasecondorthirdlanguageduringthecourseofadegreeprogramme(CaseStudyn°15?).LocallydesignedandadministeredCEFR-basedlanguagecertificatescanalsobefoundinanumberofuniversities,asforexampleatBabes-BolyaiUniversityCluj-Napoca(Romania)(CaseStudyn°15).

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4.1. Improving multilingual competence of students by the allocation of ECTS

Inordertopromotemultilingualcompetence,students’mobilityandemployability,lifelonglearningandlanguagediversityinEurope,theLanguageCentreoftheFreieUniversitätBerlin(FUB)implementedin2005languagesmodulesforBachelorstudentsofotheracademicdisciplineswhocompleteageneralpreparationforprofessionallife(AB-VAllgemeineBerufsvorbereitung)withintheircurriculumframework.12languages,amongthemless-taughtlanguageslikeArabic,Chinese,Dutch,Portuguese,RussianandTurkishareconcernedbythisinitiative.StudentscanlearnalanguagestartingfromanylevelandreachvariousCEFRlevelsfromA2.1toC1.2.EachlanguagemoduleiscreditedbyanallocationofECTS.

TheBachelorstructureplansthatstudentscompleteageneralprepa-rationforprofessionallife(ABV)whoseaimistoprovidestudentswithrelevantskillsandabilitiesontheEuropeanlabourmarket.ApartoftheABVisdedicatedtolanguages,forwhichstudentsget5ECTSforeachmoduleandcanreachupto15ECTSfor3semestersofstudy.

TheLanguageCentre,asthecentralserviceinchargeofthelanguagetrainingforFUBstudents,tookthechallengetodesignanewmodularcurriculumforalltaughtlanguages.ThelearningoutcomesoftheABVlanguagesmodulesarebasedontheStudyRegulationsoftheUniver-sitywhichdescribeforeachcompetencethelearningoutcomesandtargetedlevels.Theyaimononehandtoprovidestudentswithtransfe-rablecommunicativeskillsrelevanttoemployability,mobilityandacade-miclife;andontheotherhandtopromotelearners´autonomyinordertoendowstudentswithlearningcompetence.InthecaseofSpanishlanguage,thishasledtoaninstitutionalcooperationwiththeInstitutoCervantesBerlin.

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After8semestersofimplementation,successindicatorsshowthattheABVlanguagesmodulesinitiativeisturningintoasuccessstory.Thegeneralnumberofstudentstakingpartinlanguagesmodulesincrea-sesconstantly,from130studentsinthewintersemester2005/2006to755in2007/2008,suchasthenumberofstudentswhostartlearningalanguagefrombeginners´level.Furthermore,theopportunitytolearnless-taughtlanguagesatabeginners´levellikeArabic,Chinese,Dutch,Portuguese,RussianandTurkishaswellaslanguagessuchasEnglish,French,GermanasaForeignLanguage,Italian,Polish,andSpanishseemstomotivatestudentstotakeacourse.Thenumberofstudentsstartingfrombeginners´levelArabiccoursesreached95inthewintersemester2007/2008.Besidesthis,weobserveagrowingpartofstudentswholearnasecondorathirdlanguageinsideoroutsidethesamelinguisticfamily,showingthattheABVframeisausefultooltopromotelanguagediversityandmultilingualcompetence.Apartfromtheseindicatorsconcerningtheincreasednumberofstu-dentstakinglanguagescoursesinarangeof12languages,thetranspa-rencyofgainsinlanguagecompetenceendowsstudentswithobjectivecommunicativeskills,aswellasenhancingprofessionalqualificationsandinternationalmobility.TakingtheexampleoflanguagessuchasFrench,Italian,PortugueseandSpanish,studentsstartingfrombegin-ners´levelcanachievelevelA2.1

ThesuccessoftheintroductionofABVlanguagesmodulesiscertainlyduetoacombinationoffactorswhichallactinsynergy.Firstly,weshouldmentiontheallocationofECTSwhichgiveslanguagesanequalstatuswithothersubjectsandplaysabigpartinthemotivationofstudentstotakelanguagescourses.Thefactthatlanguagescoursesaretuitionfreecanalsobeseenasadeterminantfactorformotivation.ThestronginstitutionalsupportthattheLanguageCentrebenefitsfrommakesitalsopossibletouseICTandnewlearningenvironmentineverycourse.Theflexibilityofthecourseformatgivesthestudentsthechoicebetweenextensiveorintensivecoursesandadaptstostudentsneedsandavailability.Theteacher´squalifications,motivationandsenseofinnovationplayabigpartinmakingthecoursesattractiveandthelear-ningsuccessful.

Lastbutnotleast,amajoremphasisshouldbeputonthecontributionoftheIndependentLanguageLearningCentre(ILLC).ThiscentremakesuppartoftheLanguagecentreandplaysacrucialroleinsupportingthelearningofalanguageinsideandoutsideoftheclassroom.TheILLCprovidesserviceslikelanguageadvice,workshops,organisesTandemprojectsandgathersresourcesandmaterialswhichareintegratedintothelanguagecourses.AdedicatedspaceforFrenchlanguage,“Espacefrançais”hasbeenimplementedanddevelopsprojectstosustainandpromoteFrenchlearning.Thewebsite(http://www.sprachenzentrum.fuberlin.de/slz/index.html)proposesanonlinecatalogueandlinksforlearninglanguages.AllthistogethermakestheLanguageCentrealearningspacededicatedtolearninglanguagesinacitythatalsohasastrongmultilingualprofile.

Aswe´veseen,thelessonsthatcanbelearntfromthisongoingandsuccessfulinitiative,isthatfactorssuchasallocationofECTS,awideofferinginlanguages,stronginstitutionalsupport,transparentandverifiablelearningoutcomescombinedwiththeintegrationofICTandalocallinguisticenvironmenthaveadefiniteeffectonstudents´motivationtolearnlanguages.ItalsoincreaseslearningcompetenceandpromotesamultilingualprofileforthenextgenerationofEuropeancitizens.

contact informationCountry:GermanyNameofuniversity:FreieUniversitätBerlin,ZESprachenzentrumAddress:HabelschwerdterAllee45,14195BerlinWebsite:http://www.sprachenzentrum.fu-berlin.de/Contactperson:IsabelleOrtizEmail:Isabelle.ortiz@fu-berlin.deTelephone+493083855680

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4.2. Motivating students by means of fee exemption and the award of ECTS

In2005,theLanguageCentreofLausanneUniversitychangedfromafeebasedandentirelyoptionalsystemoflanguagelearningtoanon-feeapproachcombinedwithstructuralintegrationintothestudyprogram-mes.Thishasprovedtobeamajormotivatingfactorformorestudentstoengageseriouslyincontinuingtoexpandtheirmultilingualandmul-ticulturalcompetencebycontinuingtolearnorlearningnewlanguagesduringtheirstudies.AnumberoffacultiesoftheUniversitynowofferthepossibilityintheirBachelorandMastercyclestovalidatethroughtheattributionofECTScreditsthelanguagelearningeffortsundertakenintheLanguageCentre.

Soastopromoteindividualmultilingualism,alllanguagelearningforstudentsattheLanguageCentreisfreeofchargeandpotentiallycredit-bearing(providedthatpredefinedassessmentcriteriaarefulfilled).Studentscanchooseanyofthesevenlanguagesavailableattheirownstartinglevelandcanthusenlargetheirmultilingualandmulticulturalprofileinrelationtotheirneeds,interests,priorcompetencesandbymeansofindividuallearningpaths.Thiscreatesthemanydifferentheterogeneousmultilingualprofilesnecessaryforsociety,asopposedtodevelopingonlyonelanguageatahomogeneouslevel,andthusrepresentsapowerfulaspectofmotivationforlearningmoreandnewlanguages.

TheLanguageCentreoffersapluralityofextensiveandintensivelear-ningpossibilitiesduringthewholeacademicyear,includinganim-portantintegrationofnewlearningenvironments(newtechnologies,Tandemlearning,tutoring,etc.)andindividualisedlearning.ThustheCentreisabletoovercometimeconstraintsandaccommodateindividu-alpreferences.Fromapedagogicalpointofview,allmodulesapplyanaction-orientedapproach,takingintoconsiderationthespecificcom-municationneedsofthestudentsandfutureprofessionals,consciouslydevelopinginterculturalcompetenceandpromotinglearners’abilitytolearnindependently,inordertoencourageandequipstudentsforcon-tinuedlanguagelearningduringandaftertheirstudies.TheCentrealsotriestoraiseawarenesslevelsamongstudentsoftheroleandimpor-

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Secondly,withthecreationoftheEHEAasaleverandthenecessityforuniversitiestoengageininternationalisationstrategies,theattitudeoftheadministrationoftheUniversitytolanguagelearninghaschanged.Withregardtothenewchallenges,anincreasedawarenessofthecen-tralroleofanappropriatemultilingualandmulticulturalprofileforeverystudenthasarisen.Thishasledtomoresupportforandengagementwiththeprojectonthepartoftheuniversityadministration,andinparti-culartosupplementarybudgetallocationandinstitutionalsupport,parti-cularlythroughtheLanguagePolicyCommissionoftheRectorate.Thiscommissioniscomposedofmembersofallfaculties,students,langua-gespecialistsandotherbodies,allowingontheonehandthesettingupofaprojectofaninstitutionallanguagepolicyasauniversity-widequestionratherthanonlyafaculty-levelconcern,andontheothertheopportunitytodemonstratethebenefitsofthechange.

Otherimportantfactorsinthesuccessoftheprojectaretheabilitytoemploywell-trainedandcommittedstaffwithappropriateworkingconditionsandongoingin-servicetraining;thedefinitionofqualitycrite-riainlinewiththerequirementsofBolognaforlanguagelearningmo-dules;thepresenceofhigh-qualitysupportstructuresforindependentlearningfacilitiesandtheexistenceofaqualitycultureandareflectiveapproachwithintheCentre’steam.Otheraspectsconcernappropriateinfrastructuresandcoursemodalities(e.g.smallgroups,flexibletimetables);astudent-centred,interactiveapproachrelatedtostudents’needsandintegratingprovenmethodsplusthelatestinnovationsandmostrecentresearchfindings;andtheconstantkeepinginmindhowbesttodevelopstudents’multilingualandmulticulturalcompetence.

contact informationCountry:SwitzerlandNameofuniversity:UniversitédeLausanneCentredelangues,BâtimentAnthropoleAddress:1015LausanneWebsite:http://www.unil.ch/cdlContactperson:Dr.BrigitteForsterVosickiEmail:Brigitte.ForsterVosicki@unil.chTelephone:+41216922921

tanceoflanguagelearningforacademicneeds,employabilityandsocialintegration.

ExpectedlearningoutcomesaredefinedinaccordancewiththerequirementsofBologna,expressedintermsofcompetencesandrelatedtothereferencelevelsofthe„CommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferenceforLanguages“oftheCouncilofEuropebymeansofthesystematicuseoftheEuropeanLanguagePortfolio(ELP)forHigherEducationoftheEuropeanLanguageCouncil(ELC/CEL).Thisallowstransparencyandcomparabilityataninternationallevelandthecoher-entdocumentationofthestudents‘multilingualandmulticulturalcom-petencefromthepointofviewofthelifelonglearningparadigm.Multipleandalternativeformsofassessmentallowtheevaluationofthevariousaspectsofmultilingualandmulticulturalcompetenceandthecapacitytolearn.

FeeexemptionandtherecognitionoflanguagelearningeffortsthroughtheawardofECTShaveledtoanotableincreaseinthenumberofparticipantsenrolledintheLanguageCentre(approximately2,500studentsperyearcannowbenefitfromthisopportunity,asopposedtoaround750studentsbeforethechanges).Positivestudentfeed-backisanothersourceshowingtheincreaseinstudent‘smotivationforcontinu-edlanguagelearningasaresultoftheseimprovements.

Thisstructuralchangetookplacethanksacombinationofdifferentfac-tors.Firstamongthesewastheperseveranceoftheinitiatorsofthepro-jectwiththeirclearvision,continuouslyactingatmultiplelevels,suchascommissionwork,congresses,round-tablediscussions,researchpro-jects,presentations,invitationofinternationalexpertstodemonstrateexamplesofbestpractice,etc.,andinvolvingrelevantstakeholderssuchasuniversitydecisionmakers,students,facultymembers.Thisinordertodemonstrateanddeepenunderstandingofwhythesemeasu-resarecrucialinrelationtotherealisationoftheobjectivesofBologna,toshowtherelevanceandbenefitsoftheprojectandtostimulatere-flectiononimplementationstrategies.Anotheraspectofthisconstantadvocacyistheneedtochangebeliefsandrepresentationsconcerninglanguagesandlanguagelearningandtocircumventnumerousformsofresistance.

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4.3. Motivation through certification

The2001languagepolicyoftheBabes-BolyaiUniversityofCluj(BBU)setsclearlanguageproficiencystandardsandintroduceslanguagecertificationaccordingtoCEFRlevelsaspartofuniversitydegrees.Itwasimplementedinthecontextofagovernmentalrecommendationofintroducingalanguagecomponenttouniversitydegrees.Twolanguagecentreshavebeensetuptodevelopandprovidelanguagetestingandcertificationservicesataffordableprices.Studentsaremotivatedtocheckandimprovetheirlanguageproficiencylevel,becomemoreauto-nomouslearners,andfamiliarisethemselveswiththeCEFR.Thelan-guagepolicymayproveausefultooltopromoteinternationalmobility,employability,andregionalplurilingualism.

ThedocumentTowardaEuropeanLanguagePolicyinBBUwasadop-tedbytheSenateofBBUinDecember2001.Itstipulatestheimplemen-tationofa1+2languagepolicyforallstudentsoftheuniversity:afirstlanguageAandtwosecondlanguagesBandC.StudentscanselectlanguageBfromamongsixlanguages:English,French,German,Itali-an,Spanish,andRussian.LanguageCmaybeanynon-nativemodernlanguageonofferinfacultiesandlanguagecentres.WhilelanguageBisobligatoryinthefirstyearofdegreecourses,languageCishighlyre-commended,butnotimposed.

Theinitiativeissetagainstthebackgroundofexperienceshowingthatthemajorityofstudentsconsideredlanguagelearningaslessimportantthantheirotheracademicpursuits.Itaimstoraisestudents’awarenessofthesignificanceoflinguisticcompetence,inparticularforemployabili-ty,andthusimprovetheirmotivationtolearnlanguages.TheadaptationoflanguageteachingandassessmenttotheCEFRistoensurethatthelanguagecomponentofBBUdegreesismeasuredaccordingtoEuro-peanqualitystandards;thatBBUgraduatesmeetthelanguageprofici-encystandardssetbytheuniversity;thattheymeetemployabilitycrite-ria;thattheyhaveaccesstoacademicandprofessionalresourcesandareabletocooperatescientificallyandprofessionallyinaninternationalcontext.

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Inordertoensurethatqualitylanguagelearningstandardsareachieved,theinitiativeintroducedoneforeignlanguagecertificationaccordingtotheCEFRasapartofBachelor,Masteranddoctoraldegrees.TheinitialtargetwasforstudentstoachieveB2levelofproficiencyinonelangua-geBasaconditiontogainaccesstoBachelordegreeexaminationsorenrolinMasterordoctoralprogrammes.However,asthisrequirementprovedtobetooambitiousforaboutathirdofthestudents,thepolicywasamendedin2004,introducinganoncompulsoryexitlanguagetestattheendofBachelorprogrammes.

TheALPHALanguageCentre,affiliatedtotheFacultyofLetters,wassetupin2002.TogetherwiththeLINGUALanguageCentre,affiliatedtotheFacultyofEconomics,itofferscoursesandcertificationinawiderangeoflanguages:inadditiontothesixlanguagesmentionedabove,therearecoursesofregionalandotherEuropeanlanguagesaswellasnon-Europeanlanguagesofglobaleconomicimportance.Certificationisnotfree,butpricesareverylowforstudentsandstaff.Certificationisalsoavailabletothegeneralpublic;theprofitmadefromthisallowsthelanguagecentrestobefinanciallysustainable.

Thesuccessoftheinitiativeisindicatedbyanumberoffacts.Evenafterthe2004policychange,whichmadelanguagecertificationnolongerobligatoryinBachelordegrees,certificationisstillsoughtbyatleast70%offuturegraduates.Asignificantnumberofcandidatesachieveautonomyaslanguagelearners:in2007,38%purchasedthePrepara-toryGuidetotheALPHACertificateTest,whichoffersanintroductiontoboththeALPHAlanguagetestandtotheCEFR.Inthesameyear,7.8%ofthecandidatesattendedpreparatorycoursestargetingB2level;thisfactshowsthemotivationofstudentstoreachthequalitystandardssetbyBBU.

Anumberofsuccessfactorsexplainthestudents’motivation.OneofthemisthattheydecidetoobtaincertificationatalowpriceduringtheirBachelordegreeincasetheydecidetoenrolinaMasterprogrammelater,wherelanguageproficiencywillberequired.ALPHAlanguagecertificationhasgainedprestigeamongotheracademicinstitutionsandemployers.BBU’slanguagepolicyhasraisedstudents’awarenessoftheimportanceoflinguisticcompetenceforemployability.Thelanguagecentresprovidehighqualityservicesataffordableprices;whatismore,asCEFR-calibratedcertificationhelpsstudentsidentifytheirstrengthsandweaknessesandsetgoals,theyaremotivatedtolearnlanguagesevenoutsidethecurriculum.Moreover,highlevelsofproficiencyinlan-guagesareappreciatedinTransylvaniansociety–moststudentsachie-veB2levelorabove,whichmakeslanguagecertificationarewardingexperience.

However,experiencehasshownthatwhilestudentsachieveincrea-singlyhighlevelsofproficiencyinEnglish,otherlanguagesarenotinequallyhighdemand.The2008BBUlanguagepolicytriestoleadstu-dentstowardsplurilingualismmoresuccessfullybypromotingthestu-dyofregionallanguages:inMasterdegreeslanguageCatB1levelisrequiredatgraduation.Itisexpectedthatasignificantnumberofstu-dentswillchooseregionallanguagestomeetthisrequirement,andthusincreasetheprestigeofanddemandforlanguagesfromthemultiethniccontextinTransylvania.

contact informationCountry:RomaniaNameofuniversity:Babes-BolyaiUniversityofClujAddress:Str.HoreaNr.31,400202,Cluj-NapocaContactperson:AdrianaTodeaEmail:atodea@yahoo.comTelephone:+40264434164

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Molan partner institutions and organisations

country institution / organisation individual contributors

DE FreieUniversitätBerlin– WolfgangMackiewicz co-ordinatinginstitution IsabelleOrtiz LiljaSauter MariaGiovannaTassinariAT UniversitätWien ArthurMettinger FlorianFeldbauer Sanda-MonicaMelegaBE Conseileuropéenpour WolfgangMackiewicz leslangues/ EuropeanLanguageCouncilBE UniversitéLibredeBruxelles IanTudorBE VrijeUniversiteitBrussel PietvandeCraen EvaMigomBE HendrikConscienceschool DidiervandeGucht BrusselBE HogeschoolUniversiteit ErikUytterhoeven Brussel LudoTeeuwen BE EUNPartnershipAISBL– MarcDurando „EuropeanSchoolnet“ SilviaBinger PaddyCarpenter (consultant) AnneGilleran NathalieScheeckCH UniversitédeLausanne Anne-ClaudeBerthoud BrigitteForsterVosickiCY PanepistimioKipru PavlosPavlouDE Albert-Ludwigs-Universität JaninaCünnen Freiburg SonjaDierks FrankReiserDE Europa-UniversitätViadrina ThomasVogel Frankfurt/Oder AndreasBahrDE Friedrich-List-SchuleBerlin RainerJahn

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DK AarhusUniversitet/ KarenM.Lauridsen AarhusUniversity BusinessandSocialSciencesDK HandelshøjskoleniKøbenhavnOleHelmersenES UniversidadPompeuFabra CarmenPérezVidal Barcelona MireiaCalmNovellasES UniversidadPablode FranciscoLorenzo OlavideSevilla VirginadeAlbaQuinonesFR UniversitéCharles-de-Gaulle– SophieBabault Lille3 MartineBenoit RodicaCalciuFR UniversitéRennes2 DanielToudicGR AristotelioPanepistimio AngelikiKiliari Thessalonikis Anna-MariaHatzitheodorouHU KodolányiJánosF_iskola CsillaSárdi Székesfehérvár KiszelyZoltánIE InstitiúidTeicneolaíochta KristinBrogan TráLi(Tralee)IT UniversitàdeglistudidiTorino AnneChiarloni StefanKatherLT KaunoTechnologijos AudroneDaubariene Universitetas ReginaPetrylaite IlonaRinkevicieneLT VytautoDid_iojouniversitetas InetaDabasinskiene NemiraMacianskiene NataljaMazeikieneLU EuropeanUniversity BerndJustinJütte Foundation(EUF) KrzystofKaluznyPL UniwersytetWarszawski JolantaUrbanokowaPT UniversidadedoAlgarveFaro ManuelCélioConceição MariaConceiçãoBravoPT UniversidadedoMinhoBraga OrlandoGrossegesse MarieManuelleSilva AgrupamentodeEscolas DiamantinoMartins D.AfonsoIIIFaro

country institution / organisation individual contributors

PT DirecçãoRegionalde MariadoCarmoGonçalves EducaçãodoAlgarvePT EscolaSecundáriade FilomenaConceição TomásCabreiraFaroPT DirecçãoRegionalde MariadoCarmoGonçalves EducaçãodoAlgarveRO UniversitateaBabe_- AdrianaTodea BolyaiCluj-NapocaSI UniverzavLjubljani, Neva_libar FilozofskafakultetaTR HacettepeÜniversitesiAnkara AyferAltay ElifErsozlu OrhunYakinUK TheNationalCentrefor TeresaBirks Languages–CILTLondon SteveCushion GeoffSwinnUK UniversityofUlster ElisabethLillie VictoriaRiosCastano GregoryTonerUK UniversityofWolverhampton HenriettaHarnisch

country institution / organisation individual contributors

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external experts

DE AdrianBröking Friedrich-Ebert-Oberschule BerlinDE AstridBuschmann-Göbels Fremdsprachenzentrum derHochschulenimLand BremenDE DorisGebert UniversitätPotsdamDE BärbelKühn Fremdsprachenzentrum derHochschulenimLand BremenDE MalgorzataMajewska-Meyers MalgorzataMajewska- MeyersDE HeidrunPeters Ernst-Moritz-Arndt- UniversitätGreifswaldES YolandaRuizdeZarobe EuskalHerriko UnibertsitateaHU IldikóSzábo KecskemétiF_iskolaIE TanyaFlanagan KildareEducationCentreIS Oddn_Sverrisdóttir HáskóliÍslandsIT MargritWetter Universitàdeglistudidi Roma„LaSapienza“UK AnnaCallahan UniversityofEssexUK GladisGarcia UniversityofEssex

evaluation board

IT-chair MaurizioViezzi UniversitàdieTriesteBE BrianFox EuropeanCommission,DG InterpretationBEBE RegisRitz EuropeanUniversity Association,BrusselsBEFR AnnieLhérété Ministèredel‘Education nationale,ParisFRUK RichardWhewell UniversityofStrathclyde

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Management committee

DE WolfgangMackiewicz, FreieUniversitätBerlin Co-ordinator BE MarcDurando, EUNPartnershipAISBL– Deputyco-ordinator „EuropeanSchoolnet“AT ArthurMettinger UniversitätWienCH Anne-ClaudeBerthoud UniversitédeLausanneES CarmenPérezVidal UniversidadPompeu FabraBarcelonaFR DanielToudic UniversitéRennes2LT InetaDabasinskiene VytautoDid_iojouniversitetas

Project manager

DE DieterJirmann-Heidl FreieUniversitätBerlin

GratefulthanksarealsoduetothemanyteachersthroughoutEuropewhowillinglyprovidedinformationabouttheirlanguageteachinginitiativefromwhichthecasestudieswerecompiled.

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contributing schools

Ensemblescolaire Nancy FranceSaintLéonIX. Ecolepubliquemixte Fromont FrancedeFromontStAndrewsPrimarySchoolToab OrkneyIslands ScotlandHässelbygårdsskolan Hässelby SwedenSiegerland– Berlin GermanyGrundschuleWildernSchool Southampton UnitedKingdomCollègeInternational Fontainebleau FranceIstitutoTecnico Verona ItalyIndustriale(ITIS)Marconi LycéeFulbert Chartres FranceTheMidlandsCurriculumCentrefor WestMidlands UnitedKingdomLanguages,UniversityofWolverhampton Lycéeprofessionnel Montbard FranceEugèneGuillaume OrivedenKeskuskoulu Orivesi Finland1stExperimental Athens GreeceLyceumofAthens Sint-Janscollege Poperinge BelgiumLiceoScientifico Livorno Italy„FrancescoCecioni“ MaloreesJunior London UKNorthTown Taunton UKPrimarySchool SeduvaGymnasium Seduva LithuaniaKedainiaiLanguage LithuaniaSchool L’écolesecondaire Alytus LithuaniaDzukijad’Alytus St.Michael’s,Loreto Navan IrelandSecondarySchool

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St.Laurence‘sNational Greystones, IrelandSchool WicklowHucknallNationalC Hucknall UKofEPrimarySchool EscolaSecundária Faro PortugaldePinheiroeRosa WhitehouseCommon WestMidlands UKPrimarySchool SabhalMòrOstaig IsleofSkye ScotlandPortmarnock Portmarnock IrelandCommunitySchool I.I.S.S.Vivante-Pitagora Bari ItalyBradleyCE Ashbourne UKPrimarySchool ZespolSzkol Zawiercie PolandGimnazjumiSzkolaPodstawowanr13 Brentfield London UKPrimarySchool Göztepe_hsanKur_ Göztepe Turkeyuno_luAnadoluLisesi(HighSchool) WalthamstowSchool Walthamstow UKforGirlsOnze-Lieve- Poperinge BelgiumVrouwe-instituut KarinthyFrigyes Budapest HungaryGimnázium

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Editedby

DanielToudicUniversitéRennes21,PlaceduRecteurH.leMoalFR-35043Rennes

and

WolfgangMackiewiczFreieUniversitätBerlinZESprachenzentrumHabelschwerdterAllee45DE-14195Berlin

Gestaltung:elsner.elsnerDatum:Juni2011Auflage:1000Stück

WiththesupportoftheLifelongLearningProgrammeoftheEuropeanUnion