Here you can find an overwiew about the projects that have been carried out in collaboration with the CEL/ELC in the last years.
CELAN
Language Strategies for Competitiveness and Employability
The CELAN project is the culmination of a long period of development of language policies at EU level. Its direct origin is the Business Platform for Multilingualism.
The platform was initiated in September 2009 by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture. Stakeholders in business, industry representatives, companies, associations, trade unions, language industry representatives and others in this group meet on a regular basis to discuss the need for an enhanced awareness of the importance of languages in business.
From these discussions stems the core idea of CELAN: to create a network that provides language services to business stakeholders. The CELAN project, a network under LLP KA2 “Languages”, started officially on 1 January 2011, and will run for two years.
For more information, please visit the project website
Aims and Objectives
The project’s principal objective is to facilitate a dialogue in the language field between the business community and language practitioners.
The project activities include:
– Research on linguistic needs of European companies/SMEs in different sectors
– Analysis of existing language-related services and tools
– Development of on-line applications to support the language needs of business users
– A strong and broad consortium – all members of the Business Platform for Multilingualism or linked to a member – will engage in dissemination and awareness-raising activities to guarantee a Europe-wide reach.
Partners
Conseil européen pour les langues / European Language Council project coordinator
Freie Universität Berlin
The International Information Centre for Terminology
Universität Wien
Confédération des Associations Nationales de Tanneurs et Mégissieurs de la Communauté Européenne
European Association of Institutions in Higher Education
Space European Network for Business Studies and Languages
European University College Association
Copenhagen Business School
Observatoire européen du plurilinguisme
Fondazione Aldini Valeriani
The Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs
EMF – the Forum of e-Excellence
Research and Results
– Language Needs Questionnaire: a tool to collect information that identifies the needs of companies.
– Business Sector Reports: three reports have been prepared following the analysis of data collected from the questionnaire.
– Case Studies: a vademecum that will select if-then scenarios to highlight the advantages of adopting a needs-driven approach to language policy development in businesses, and case studies that show successful application of these formula.
– Policy Recommendations: a policy brief that will present recommendations for the further development and implementation of the EU’s multilingualism policy, and for education training programmes.
DIALANG
The DIALANG project for the development of diagnostic language tests
The DIALANG project for the development of diagnostic language tests in 14 European languages on the Internet was carried out with the support of the European of the European Communities (Socrates-Lingua 2) in the period December 1996 – June 2004. The DIALANG system, which can be downloaded from the DIALANG Web site www.dialang.org, was officially launched in March 2004.
The DIALANG system, which is based on the proficiency scales of the Council of Europeís Common European Framework of Reference, offers tests in reading, writing, listening, vocabulary and grammar. DIALANGís 14 languages are Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.
Since December 2002, a number of initiatives have been started designed to ensure the survival and further development of the system.
EBCL
European Benchmarking Chinese Language Project
The European Benchmarking Chinese Language (EBCL) project has been running for the last two years. A symposium was held on 19-20 October, 2012, in Brussels (BE) to share the outcomes of the project with stakeholders and professionals committed to the development of Chinese language learning and teaching programs in Europe.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. Website
ENLU
European Network for the promotion of Language learning among all Undergraduates
Background
ENLU was the first major project contracted by the CEL/ELC and was coordinated by the Freie Universität Berlin. It was one of the seven projects selected in the frame of the European Commission’s Call for proposals EAC/45/03, issued in preparation of the Commission’s Action Plan Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity (2004-2006).
ENLU was driven by the vision that all graduates in Europe should:
– be able to communicate in at least two languages other than their mother tongue;
– know how to learn new languages effectively;
– have the confidence to learn a new language when the need or opportunity arises;
– have first-hand experience in working and learning in other countries and in collaborating with other countries; and
– be familiar with other cultures and intercultural skills.
Aims and Objectives
The main objective of the two-year project was the creation of a European network of higher education institutions and other stakeholder organisations designed to achieve a breakthrough in the area of “languages for all”. ENLU represents the CEL/ELC’s response to the linguistic and cultural challenges posed by the creation of the European higher education and research areas, and by the Lisbon Strategy.
Calendar
The closing conference of the ENLU project was held in the presence of Commissioner Ján Figel in Nancy on 7-8 April 2006.
The reports of the various Nancy workshops can be found in the left-hand margin. All other documents are available on the project website under “documents” or in our archive. Website
MAGICC
Modularising Multilingual and Multicultural Academic Communication Competence
The project’s principal objective is to integrate multilingual and multicultural academic communication competences as graduate learning outcomes at BA and MA level.
The first part of the project concentrates on structuring research into existing practices, tools and concepts and their classification and analysis (WP 1) and the elaboration of the conceptual framework, including consultation of key stakeholders (WP 2). It will be the basis for the main outputs, which are created as online resources (ICT-based pedagogy) and will apply a highly innovative multilingual and multicultural approach.
It will design, within an academic ePortfolio structure (WP3), a European transversal module composed of a set of curricular scenarios for developing students’ multilingual and multicultural core communication competences relevant to academic and professional communication needs (WP4). The module of scenarios will be accompanied by tools to improve transnational transparency and comparability (WP 5) aimed at rendering them acknowledgeable for internal and external stakeholders. WP 6 and 7 are dedicated to dissemination and exploitation through the development of a project website, the organisation of dissemination events, executive summaries allowing customization as well concrete testing, implementation and agreements with faculties. WP 8 and 9 are concerned with specific activities for project management and quality assurance.
The project will enable a systematic and informed integration of these competences into study programmes and its assessment on a criterion-based, multidimensional, reflective and shared basis.
Please visit the project website for more information.
MOLAN
Network for the exchange of information about good practices that serve to motivate language learners
The MOLAN network project was funded under the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) Key Activity 2 – Languages. The project’s principal aim was to bring about a positive attitude among young Europeans in formal education towards the learning of foreign languages, and towards other peoples and cultures.
There were clear indications that neither the principle of linguistic diversity nor the notion of lifelong language learning were widely accepted by young people and by educational authorities and institutions across Europe. MOLAN aimed to change this situation by identifying and disseminating institutional and system-based policies, strategies and practices which would enhance the motivation of young people in formal education to learn and continue learning foreign languages.
MOLAN strived to encourage
– the learning of a second or further foreign language(s)
– the learning of less widely used and taught languages
– cooperation between schools and universities
Multilingual Communication (Project)
Multicom was a joint cooperation project between five European universities. Building on work undertaken in three successive Thematic Network Projects devoted to enhancing the relevance of Higher Education language programmes, the Multicom project aimed to develop and implement new curricula in the area of multilingual communication for first cycle language students.
The programmes were designed to help graduates in the arts and humanities sector across Europe broaden their career prospects and access a wider range of Master’s Degree programmes. The aim was to produce the next generation of highly-skilled multilingual experts needed to operate effectively at the European and international level as both mediators and organisers in industry, local and regional government, NGOs and other international organisations.
Professionally-oriented multilingual communication competences and intercultural competence involve the ability to produce, organise and disseminate information in three or more languages, using different media and to adapt content to readers and audiences from different backgrounds in different countries. It also involves mediation skills, i.e. the ability to organise multilingual meetings and effectively and rapidly produce minutes and conclusions in one or several languages, to draft summaries and synopses of multilingual documents, to assess translation or localisation needs for multilingual documentation and to interface with external language service industries on behalf of organisations.es
On the basis of updated needs analyses and constant dialogue and feedback from practising professionals in the areas concerned, learning outcomes for multilingual professional communication competences were defined and a curriculum framework was developed for the implementation of new first cycle language programmes. Learning materials were developed in English and in the five other languages of the consortium (French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian), and were made
available via an online resource platform.
The partner institutions implemented new courses based on the curriculum framework according to their own timeline and within their specific insitutional and regulatory context. A joint European degree was also suggested by the partner universities and by other interested other partners as a follow-on to the Multicom project
SIGMA
Scientific Committee on Languages
The SIGMA Scientific Committee on Languages, which was part of the wider SIGMA Project designed to prepare the ground for the Socrates-Erasmus Thematic Network projects, was made up of sixteen leading experts drawn from universities in fourteen Member States, Norway, and Switzerland. In addition, there were representatives from CIUTI (Conférence international permanente d’instituts universitaires pour la Formation Traducteurs et d’Interprètes, ESSE (European Society for the Study of English), from the SIGMA Executive Committee, and the European Commission. The chairperson, Wolfgang Mackiewicz, was nominated by UNICA, one of the six institutional networks forming the SIGMA consortium.
The experts on the Committee came from different backgrounds, ranging from ltierature to linguistics, applied linguistics, language teaching methodology, and applied language studies.
The committee, which first met in December 1995, undertook three major tasks:
– It produced National Reports for the sixteen countries represented, written by sixteen national experts. The reports describe the status quo of Language Studies in the sixteen countries, thereby for the first time providing a comprehensive and coordinated overview of the immensely complex area of Language Studies in higher education. In addition, they identify new needs, taking into consideration the development of Language Studies, professional requirements, and the demands which will result from the creation of a united Europe. Finally, they propose concrete measures to be taken to satisfy the needs identified.
– The Committee undertook an evaluation of past inter-university co-operation in the area of Languages. The report, prepared by a junior researcher, forms the basis of the ERASMUS Report presented as Part One of the Final Report.
– The Committee planned and staged jointly with Stockholm University and the European Commission (DG XXII) an Erasmus Evaluation Conference, which was held at Stockholm University on 9-10 June 1995. The Conference accomplished four tasks: it reviewed the current state of Language Studies in higher education in Europe on the basis of the respective synthesis of the National Reports of short presentations by the rapporteurs in working groups; it evaluated the activities, under ERASMUS, in the area of Languages; it provided information on and discussed new types of action foreseen under the SOCRATES Programme, particularly in the area of Languages; and it formulated, against the background of the needs identified and the new measures proposed in the National Reports, recommendations, which have been incorporated into the Conference report (Part Two, Section 3 of the Final Report).
The Introduction, Erasmus Report, and full Synthesis report can be found here. In addition, you can read the Introduction to the National Reports and find all of the reports below:
Austria (AT)
Belgium (BE)
Switzerland (CH)
Germany (DE)
Denmark (DK)
Spain (ES)
France (FR)
Finland (FI)
Greece (GR)
Italy (IT)
Ireland (IE)
Netherlands (NL)
Norway (NO)
Portugal (PT)
Sweden (SE)
United Kingdom (GB)
TNP Language Projects
Following the SIGMA pilot project (1994-1995), a total of five Thematic Network projects were launched with the support of the European Commission:
TNP 1: Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages
TNP D: Project for the exploitation and dissemination of the results of the TNP in the Area of Languages
TNP 2: Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages II
TNP 3: Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages III
TNP 3D: Network project for the decentralised and centralised dissemination of TNP3 results and outcomes
To access the documents related to these various projects, please consult the Archive.
Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages I (TNP1)
The Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages was launched in September 1996 and came to an end in August 1999. In its third and final year it involved 123 partner organisations – 115 universities and 8 academic and professional associations – in the EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. The project was structured into nine sub-projects, each dedicated to a key issue from the large and complex area of languages. These includedtransversal issues, such as Multilingualism and the less widely used and less taught languages, Intercultural communication, New technologies and language learning, and Postgraduate studies;
issues linked to specific professions, such as Language teacher training, Translation and interpreting, including the training of trainers, and the all-important issue of Language studies for students of other disciplines; issues linked to ‘traditional’ sub-disciplines, such as Dictionaries and Testing.
The principal aim of the Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages was to respond to the challenges posed to Higher Education by a multilingual and multicultural Europe. It did so by developing recommendations and proposals for language and language-related programmes designed to meet the demands in the professional, economic and social environments. The idea was to encourage universities to implement the recommendations and to support the proposals.
The projects results and outcomes are organized under the various sub project headings:
SP1: Multilingualism and the less widely used and less taught languages
SP2: Intercultural communication
SP3: New technologies and language learning
SP4: Postgraduate studies
SP6: Language teacher training and bilingual education
SP7: Translation and Interpreting, including the “training of trainers” strand
SP8: Language studies for students of other disciplinesReport on the Organisation of Language Teaching for Students of Other Disciplines in Institutions of Higher Education in Europe
SP9: Dictionaries
SP10: Testing/AssessmentAssessing the Language Proficiency of Modern Language (Under)
TNP-D
The project in brief: The products and results of the three-year Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages (1996-1999) include recommendations, course profiles, project proposals and evaluations of surveys.
The project for the exploitation and dissemination of the results of the TNP in the Area of Languages (TNP-D) will synthesize these results under a number of themes and sub-themes.
The synthesised results will be disseminated in the form of a major document, provisionally entitled Language studies in higher education in Europe – 2000-2005. The document will be presented for final discussion at a European conference, which will be held in Brussels (BE) on 23 and 24 September 2000.
TNP2
The principal aim of the second Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages (TNP2 for short), which started on 1 September 2000, is to develop proposals for improvements and innovations in higher education programmes in the area of languages.
Structure of the project: Project coordinator / project manager / Central Coordination Unit:Project co-ordinator: Wolfgang Mackiewicz,in his capacity as project co-ordinator, has ultimate responsibility for the scientific co-ordination and the management of the entire TNP. He prepares, together with the PM and the CCU, and chairs the meetings of the Co-ordinating Committee and is responsible for the dissemination of the results. Virginia Moukouli, in her capacity as project manager, reports to the Co-ordinator and to the Co-ordinating Committee. She directs the CCU. Assisted by a team of young graduates and a number of permanent staff at FUB’s Language Institute, she is responsible for the management of the project. She monitors the progress of project activities and regularly liaises with the Co-ordinators of the sub-projects. She administers the Commission grant and accounts for money spent. The members of the Central Co-ordination Unit – most of them young graduates with an international background – perform specific tasks on a contract basis.
Coordinating Committee: The Co-ordinating Committee, comprised of the project co-ordinator, the project manager, the sub-project co-ordinators and their deputies, and three three experts who have been involved in previous projects (SIGMA, TNP1, TNP-D) and are thoroughly familiar both with the subject area and with the approach adopted within the project, is responsible for the overall planning and co-ordination of project activities. It evaluates the project and monitors its impact. See the members
Steering Committee: The members of the sub-project Steering Committees have a strategic role in the sub-projects. They are responsible for assessing the activities undertaken and the outcomes achieved and for revising sub-project workplans in the light of the results of the assessment carried out. They prepare the synthesis reports in year one, the workshop reports in year two and the finalised recommendations etc. in year three. They take a leading role in the preparation and launch of European projects.
Scientific Committees: The members of the Scientific Committees prepare national reports. They participate in the drafting and revising of recommendations, projects proposals, and course outlines. They identify and liaise with target-group organisations, thereby contributing to the creation of a dynamic network of organisations with a stake in languages. They read draft reports prepared by other members of their own Committee and by members of the other Committees with a view of commenting on and adding to the reports. They participate in the preparation of questionnaires to be circulated and in the responses received; they are, in particular, responsible for the preparation, conducting, and evaluation of the needs analyses envisaged for year two. They prepare, organise, and evaluate the workshops to be conducted over the entire three-year period. They participate in the preparation and launch of European projects. There are three scientific committees focusing on Curriculum innovation, New learning environments – the European learning space and Quality enhancement in language.
Partners: A total of 75 institutions of higher education from all the participating countries and 8 academic associations operating at the European level were partners in this project.
TNP3
The Thematic Network Project in the Area of Languages III (TNP3) constitutes the first determined effort at European level to arrange a structured, comprehensive and continuous dialogue between higher education institutions and other stakeholders about changing and future linguistic and intercultural needs on the European labour market.
The overarching objective of TNP3 is to bring about a clear understanding on the part of all stakeholders of the linguistic and language-related needs arising from European integration and globalisation both in higher education itself and in the non-academic environments as well as a willingness on the part of universities to gear the content, learning outcomes, and quantity of provision to the needs identified.
TNP-3D
TNP3 was a network project about the role and relevance of foreign language skills for European higher education graduates. In the context of the changing linguistic and intercultural needs of Europe, we set about building bridges between higher education institutions, institutions and authorities in the other sectors of education, and the world of work.
The outcomes and results of TNP3 are now being disseminated through the
TNP3 Dissemination Network (TNP3-D)
This website, which forms part of the dissemination effort, specifically addresseslanguage specialists in all the sectors of education
– university senior management
– decision-makers in university language departments, schools of translation and interpretation, and language centres
– decision-makers in the school sector
– student organisations
– companies in the language industries
– employers in the private and public sectors
– academic and professional organisations and networks
VALE!
Valorising Language Expertise
The Vale! project comprises three actions to exploit and enhance the rich heritage of research into individual multilingual competence and experience:
to create a searchable catalogue that highlights potential or successful systems based on different approaches to the valorisation of language expertise (e.g. the Europass Language Passport or the European Language Portfolio)
to further develop technological resources to facilitate the presentation of language skills, and to integrate portfolio features into language valorisation systems
dissemination events to present and demonstrate successful practice and innovative technology to relevant stakeholders
LANQUA
Language Network for Quality Assurance
LANQUA was a three-year ERASMUS Network project (which ran from 2007-2010) funded under the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP). It aimed to build on emerging European networks concerned with languages, bringing a wide range of providers and stakeholders together to produce a European quality benchmark for the area of languages, which should enable institutions and stakeholders to assure and enhance the quality of provision in higher education.
LANQUA had five sub-projects devoted to specific sub-themes: Intercultural communication, language teacher education, content and language integrated learning (CLIL), literature and culture, and language learning.