[lg policy] European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) - an overview

Wed Dec 8 16:48:14 UTC 2010

The ECML - an overview

The European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML), a Council of Europe
Partial Agreement based in Graz, Austria, has been serving the
community of language education professionals in its 34 member states
for over 15 years. This unique intergovernmental centre – integrated
within the Council of Europe’s Department of Language Education and
Policy  offers concrete approaches to dealing with issues and
challenges facing Europe’s multicultural societies in a period of
unparalleled change and mobility. The ECML seeks to make a positive
difference to language education in Europe by supporting the
implementation of Council of Europe language education policies
through:

    * advancing the quality of teaching and learning languages;
    * promoting innovative approaches;
    * fostering dialogue between language education researchers,
practitioners and decision makers.

The ECML works in direct cooperation with its member states,
collaborating in particular with three instances at national level:
the Governing Board, the National Nominating Authorities and the
National Contact Points. For further information on these instances
see section 5.

For more information and the contact details of national
representatives see: www.ecml.at/aboutus/members.asp

The Centre has successfully completed two large-scale medium-term
programmes of activities comprising more than 50 projects coordinated
by international teams of experts and directly involving over six
thousand language professionals in Europe and beyond, with the impact
reaching as afield as Canada and Japan. Empowering language
professionals is the overarching objective of the current, 3rd,
programme of ECML activities to be concluded in 2011. At this moment
(November 2010), 23 international project teams established by the
Centre are finalising their work on developing practical approaches
and tools for language education.

The ECML was set up in Graz, Austria, in 1994, as an Enlarged Partial
Agreement of the Council of Europe . The Austrian authorities fund the
infrastructure of the Centre and put at its disposal modern premises
in Graz where the secretariat is based and where the great majority of
ECML events are held.

Through its medium-term programmes consisting of projects, workshops
and conferences to which participants from the member states are
invited, the ECML provides a platform for cooperation with experts,
associations and institutions involved in enhancing European standards
in language education. It also maintains Europe-wide networks for
teacher trainers, researchers and educational administrators.

The ECML works in synergy and coherence with other units of the
Council operating in related areas. The activities within the new
medium-term programme will be built upon the results of the ECML work
delivered under the previous programmes and will also assist member
states in implementing policy recommendations and reference
instruments developed by the Language Policy Division, and address the
relevant aspects of the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages (a Council of Europe monitoring instrument) relating to
language education.

For more information on the ECML see: www.ecml.at
For more information on the Language Policy Division see: www.coe.int/lang
For more information on the European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages see: www.coe.int/minlang

The hallmark of the ECML is the organisation of international language
education projects. Coordinated by teams of experts, these projects
primarily target multipliers in language education such as teacher
trainers, textbook authors and experts in the area of the development
of curricula, educational standards, evaluation/assessment and
certification.

A characteristic feature of Council of Europe projects (in Strasbourg
and in Graz) is the vision of an overall concept of language
education, integrating all languages rather than focusing on the
teaching and learning of individual languages. This vision is promoted
by the Language Policy Division through its Language Education Policy
Profile activity, the Guide for the Development of Language Education
Policies in Europe, and its recent Guide for the Development and
Implementation of Curricula for Plurilingual and Intercultural
Education (Council of Europe / Language Policy Division 2010a). This
approach has proved to be highly effective in the work of the Division
and the ECML creating synergies between different linguistic and
educational cultures and communities. In addition, this working
concept promotes plurilingualism by addressing overall features of
language education responding to linguistic and cultural diversity.

The Centre’s projects are organised within a four-year programme. The
second medium-term programme (2004–2007) grouped 22 projects under the
title Languages for social cohesion – language education in a
multilingual and multicultural Europe. The projects covered a wide
range of themes under four general headings:

    * Coping with linguistic and social diversity
    * Communication in a multicultural society
    * Professional development and reference tools
    * Innovative approaches and new technologies

For more information on the projects of the second medium-term
programme see: www.ecml.at/socialcohesion

The Centre’s third medium-term programme (2008-2011) entitled
Empowering language professionals: Competences – Networks – Impact –
Quality encompasses 23 different projects and addresses the following
four thematic areas:

A. Evaluation
B. Continuity in language learning
C. Content and language education
D. Plurilingual education

The third medium-term programme of the ECML will come to a conclusion
in September 2011 with a large-scale international conference in Graz.
This event will serve to present and disseminate the outcomes of the
programme to a wide professional public in Europe.

The results of the conference – as with all the publications, reports
and CD-Roms resulting from the ECML’s activities – will be available
on the ECML website and will be distributed by the Communication,
Documentation and Resource Centre via the ECML’s networks. More
information about these two essential services, which are at the
disposal of ECML projects and participants, can be found on
www.ecml.at.

For more information on the ECML projects within its third medium-term
programme see: www.ecml.at/empowerment

-- http://call.ecml.at/Calldocument/Appendices/AppendixI/tabid/2290/language/en-GB/Default.aspx
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