Staff

Joanna McPake (Scottish CILT) Teresa Tinsley (CILT – the National Centre for Languages) Peter Broeder and Rian Aarts (University of Tilburg) Sirkku Latomaa (University of Tampere) Waldemar Martyniuk (Jagiellonian University, Krakow) Laura Mijares (Autonomous University of Madrid)

Funding

European Centre for Modern Languages

Amount

€90 000

Timescale

2004-2007

Description

Linguistic diversity is a valuable asset. Europe's community languages, like the various national languages of Europe, represent a rich resource both for the communities which speak them and for Europe as a whole. The project aims to raise awareness of this resource, and of the potential to capitalise on it in intellectual, cultural, economic, social, citizenship and rights contexts.

The aims of the study are :

1. to map formal and informal provision enabling children of school age in member states to acquire enhanced language skills, most notably literacy skills, in the community languages of significance to them;
2. to present a snapshot of the outcomes for those who have had access to such provision;
3. to identify some of the characteristics of good practice and areas where further support is needed;
4. to make recommendations to enhance provision in future.

The report of the study will include a map of formal and informal provision across Europe, a snapshot of the outcomes of provision, identification of characteristics of good practice and of areas where further support is needed, and recommendations for good practice for community language teachers and service providers

Project website : http://www.ecml.at/mtp2/VALEUR

Outputs

McPake, J., Martyniuk, W., Aarts, R., Broeder, P., Latomaa, S., Mijares, L. and Tinsley, T. (2004). Promoting linguistic diversity? Local, National and Europe-wide Support for Community Languages. Paper presented at the Language and the Future of Europe: Ideologies, Policies and Practices Conference, Southampton (July)

Completed

No