Encouraging European citizens to learn two foreign languages should be the basis of the EU's new multilingualism strategy

Wed Feb 20 15:43:51 UTC 2008

http://www.euractiv.com/en/culture/eu-multilingualism-strategy-focus-language-learning/article-170364
Published: Tuesday 19 February 2008

Encouraging European citizens to learn two foreign languages should be
the basis of the EU's new multilingualism strategy due in September,
concluded a ministerial conference last Friday (15 February).

Background:

The conference gathered government ministers from a wide variety of EU
member states and took place under the joint chairmanship of the
European Commission and the Slovenian EU Presidency. It was the first
time ministers have convened specifically to discuss multilingualism
policy at EU level.

A starting point for the debate was the final report  of the
independent High Level Group on Multilingualism – comprising a diverse
range of figures including writers and philosophers – presented by
Lebanese author Amin Maalouf.

Language policy is a sensitive subject at EU level because it is
strongly linked to national identity and infringes upon education
policy, which is primarily a national competence. Moreover,
multilingualism policy is currently worth €1.1bn or 1% of the EU
budget.

Multilingualism is seen as a means of promoting inter-religious
dialogue and cultural understanding among EU citizens in the context
of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID ) 2008.

The conference was set up to "identify areas where further action on
languages is needed at both national and EU levels" and aimed to
define common actions to be taken over the next three to five years.
The Commission expects to use the results of the conference as "the
basis for its Communication to the Parliament and the Council
proposing a comprehensive language policy to be published during
2008."

Two aspects to upcoming EU strategy

The new strategy will have a "management" aspect whereby the challenge
would be to address the "sustainability" of EU language policy
following the 2004 enlargement, Commissioner Orban's spokesperson
Pietro Petrucci told EurActiv.

Petrucci indicated that the bulk of the funding for the
multilingualism portfolio went on translation and interpreting, with
15% available for the commissioner's own policies. But this was "the
cost of democracy," as using and being understood in your own language
was an EU right, he said.

Moreover, the new strategy would have a political aspect whereby the
Commission would attempt to bring cultural, national identity and
business issues - as well as those related to the integration of
migrants - together into a "comprehensive" policy, Petrucci said.

Personal adoptive language

Meanwhile, Commissioner Orban supported a 'personal adoptive language'
proposal contained in the report of the High Level Group on
Multilingualism and reiterated that speaking two foreign languages in
addition to the mother tongue should be the goal for EU citizens.

A second, 'personal adoptive' foreign language could be a means of
discovering the culture, history and literature of the country in
which the language is spoken, he said. This view was echoed by Slovene
Education Minister Milan Zver, who declared that the personal adoptive
language idea was "the concept of the future".

The second foreign language would complement a first one most likely
acquired for professional reasons. The conference also emphasised a
lifelong learning aspect, identifying holidaying retired people and
skilled workers as sections of the population who would benefit from
an increased emphasis on language learning outside of formal
educational settings.

Business still to be convinced

But the business world is yet to be fully convinced of the
practicality of this. Viscount Etienne Davignon, chairman of the
Business Forum, warned that it was important to "strike the right
balance" in promoting multiple languages as it was "simply a fact"
that a single language benefits EU business.

Although business does not believe that all Europe's problems would be
solved by speaking one language, "English helps in a number of areas"
and particularly "internally in businesses", Davignon explained, and
thus "it is one of the languages that we have to master".

Language and cultural identity

Ministers emphasised the central role played by the mother tongue in
preserving the cultural identity of ethnic minorities and immigrants,
and that of the host language in promoting societal integration.
Commissioner Orban said that preserving the mother tongue "enhances
the self-image" of young immigrants in the host country.

Asked whether the proposal to learn a second adoptive language could
be seen by citizens as a "dilution of national identity", Orban
conceded that languages were occasionally used as "weapons" because
multilingualism is a "very sensitive" and "very political" subject.

The ideas put forward at the conference would be included in the
conclusions on multilingualism to be adopted by ministers during May's
Council meeting, said Zver.

Positions:
Stressing the "independent" nature of the high-level group's report
and recalling that education was a national competence whereby the
subsidiarity principle must be respected, Commissioner Orban
nevertheless said there were EU institutional issues surrounding
multilingualism and highlighted the need "to engage member states in
the process."

Slovene Education Minister Milan Zver said that multilingualism was
not only a means of improving "business excellence" but had an
"intercultural role to play" in facilitating the "co-existence of
people".

Greek MEP Katerina Batzeli, chairwoman of Parliament's committee on
culture and education, said that "multilingualism must be a tool and
an instrument in the daily lives of all European citizens," bringing
together "all cultural groups." Congratulating Mr. Orban and Slovene
Presidency for taking the initiative on multilingualism, she said that
Community programmes on the mobility of workers, Lifelong Learning and
Youth in Action needed a greater focus on language learning.

Business Forum Chairman Viscount Etienne Davignon said that the
business world could only implement EU policies if it could be done
"quickly" and explained "in practical terms." Calling for networks to
be established to allow businesses to exchange experience, Davignon
cautioned that "a policy without an example is a castle in the sky."

Calling for "a new approach to education", Lebanese author Amin
Maalouf, chairman of the Group of Intellectuals on Multilingualism,
said that languages could not be ranked in order of importance as they
were not just tools for communication. "Belonging to a particular
language" could be a basis of cultural identity, he said.

Asked why the press conference convened to discuss the multilingualism
event could only take place in English, French, Romanian and Slovenian
without any interpretation, a Commission spokesperson said that to do
otherwise was "too complicated" within the time constraints of a press
briefing.

Next steps:
21 Feb. 2008:  Council of Europe / UNESCO workshop on multilingualism in Paris.
15 April 2008: Public hearing on multilingualism.
21-22 May 2008: Education, Youth and Culture Council to adopt
conclusions on multilingualism.
Sept. 2008: Commission to publish new multilingualism strategy.

http://www.euractiv.com/en/culture/eu-multilingualism-strategy-focus-language-learning/article-170364

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