1. GUIDE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION POLICIES IN EUROPE
Chapter 5: Creating a culture of plurilingualism
ENSEMBLE workshop
ECML, Graz, December 2005
IUFM d’Alsace
Groupe d’Etudes sur le Plurilinguisme Européen, Laboratoire LILPA (EA1339),
Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France

2. Why create a culture of plurilingualism?
To manage cultural diversity
To balance universalist standardisation and identity-centred isolationism
To recognise the value of languages, despite differences in status
To promote linguistic tolerance

3. Creating a culture of plurilingualism
How can we
promote plurilingual education?
show its political, social and educational relevance?
make it feasible?
No need to start from scratch
But need to rethink teaching objectives

4. Goals of plurilingual education
Developing speaker awareness of own repertoire
Education for plurilingual awareness, mutual comprehension, increased motivation and curiosity about language

5. Developing a plurilingual repertoire
Make speakers aware of their own repertoire (mother tongue, standard, regional/standard variety, foreign/second language etc.)
Demonstrate intrinsic equal dignity of all varieties (appropriate to functions)
Demonstrate their changing nature
Increase competences, levels of proficiency, numbers of varieties known
Develop transversal competences

6. Why education for plurilingual awareness
Development of language skills ->
X change speakers’ attitudes
X curious about languages
X respectful of other communities
< possibility to develop plurilingual repertoire, > education for plurilingual awareness
> dominant the language(s) taught, > place of language education in the curriculum

7. Pluricultural awareness & intercultural communication
Plurilingual +/- pluricultural
Move away from prejudice, stereotypes and ethnocentrism
Need to develop
education in cultural differences, accepting other ways of behaving or doing things
capacity for critical distance, to decentre or detach self from own culture
intercultural competence, being able to adapt to other cultures
cross-curricular approach: history, geography, philosophy, literature, citizenship education

8. Transforming curricula
Decompartmentalise languages (mother tongues, national, regional, minority, foreign & other)
Concerted language policy, greater coordination, in parallel
Structure according to competences & proficiency
Homogenous, diversified education on language & languages (cf educazione linguistica, Italy; Language Awareness, UK 1980s; European EVLANG project; Education et Ouverture aux Langues à l’Ecole, Switzerland, 2003)
Gradual process, transforming curricula & mentalities

9. Explaining plurilingualism
Not the dominant representation of language education
Not the direct experience of many European citizens (often monolingual vision)
Need to challenge common misconceptions such as:
one language hinders acquisition of another
you have to be gifted to learn languages
it takes a long time to learn a language (perfection)
you have to learn language young
Needs to be explained

10. European citizenship education
The formation of public space in which everyone may play a part and be recognised as belonging to this community of citizens
Rights and duties which are identical for everyone, common values
Recognising and accepting the diversity of all speakers
Common linguistic ideal, a shared culture of languages

11. Social cohesion
Adapting language education to increasingly multilingual & multicultural European society
Enabling both majorities and minorities to have a better understanding of the nature of their relationships
Feeling of common belonging to a political & cultural space, inclusive
Combating racism, education for tolerance

12. Raising awareness of stakeholders
Identify opinions on language issues (teachers, heads, parents’ associations, local government representatives, members of municipal councils, education authorities…)
Convince them of validity of plurilingualism
Recognise & capitalise on linguistic varieties learners already speak or hear around them (at home, at school, in the local environment)
Show their roles in the formation of identity
Introduce early language learning in primary
Learn to think about language

13. On the road to plurilingualism
European language portfolio
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
Increased student and teacher mobility thanks to European programmes
The Guide
State education establishments play a crucial role in creating linguistic affiliation to a community broader than national, regional or ethnic community