European Language Gazette no. 56

A new secret agent’s language challenge app

Following the success of the language challenges handbook (now available in 29 languages) and a first version of an app last year, version ‘2.007’ of the app will be much more interactive, with budding secret agents able to compete with their counterparts. There are a series of levels to sort out the Inspector Gadgets from the true top agents!

A quiz currently being developed together with the European Commission will form part of this app. The new version will be available for download for both Android and Apple phones as well as for Chromebooks from early September.

A journey across Europe’s languages

This downloadable booklet seeks to encourage interest in Europe’s rich tapestry of languages from an early age. Children can accompany Lara on her journey to discover the different languages spoken across the continent. Sets of stickers and sound files covering the respective languages are also available for this resource which will be available in English in July with translations/adaptions into other languages following shortly afterwards: see https://edl.ecml.at/languagejourney.

• An initiative for the Day: We are suggesting two challenges to celebrate the 20th anniversary that could be included within (almost) any event being organised (with further details to be posted in July on the homepage):
• In how many different languages can you say/sing ‘Happy Birthday’ in 20 seconds?
• To whet your appetite… Bake a cake for the 20th anniversary and/or help others by sending a recipe of your cake to create a multilingual recipe book.
• As we are not over the pandemic yet, a list of (20!) ideas for organising events which respect social distancing will be unveiled in July.

Event organisers who enter their events in the EDL calendar can spice up their event with a range of promotional items from their National EDL Relay.

• EDL wristbands made from fabric;
• a special 20th anniversary ‘limited’ edition of ‘Talk to me’ stickers;
• EDL language journey sheets of stickers linked to the booklet with ‘Hello’, ‘How are you?’, ‘Thank you’ in over 40 languages;
• the ‘Write with me’ pencils in 7 different language sets and colours.

We hope that from among these resources and initiatives there will be something to help everyone to make it a very special day!

The e-lang citizen project will offer a free bilingual (English and French) webinar on Tuesday 22 June 2021, from 17:00 – 18:15 (CEST).

• What is a digital citizen?
• How does digital citizenship education link up with language education?
• What type of digital language tasks can support learners to become digital citizens?

If you have ever asked or tried to answer any of these questions, this webinar, which takes place within the activities of the current European Centre for Modern Languages’ project “Digital citizenship through language education” (e-lang citizen), will be of interest to you.

Primarily targeted at language teachers and teacher trainers, the webinar will propose a profile of a digital citizen as a user of languages and digital technology, based on the analysis of around one hundred recently published texts containing a definition of the “digital citizen” or identifying elements constituting digital citizenship. 

The links between digital citizenship education and language education – social interaction and communication skills, plurilingual competences and mediation – will be explored during the event.

Within the project, the coordinating team, from 5 different countries, aims to establish a database, providing concrete and practical learning activities and tasks for developing digital citizenship in the language classroom. The webinar will offer a look into the initial materials created. Participants will find also out how they can further engage with the project.

Please register here by 21 June 2021.

The RECOLANG team (Resources for assessing the home language competences of migrant pupils) is carrying out a European survey on the place of home languages at school, particularly within different education programmes or curricula involving migrant adolescents aged 11-18. This survey focuses on the practices of assessing home language skills and their role in different European education systems. The survey is made up of two complementary sections targeting different target audiences:

• A section aimed at pupils aged between 11 and 18 (or their families), who are from a migrant background and with one or more home languages other than the language(s) of the school. This section is available in Arabic, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Persian (Dari/Farsi), Portuguese and Turkish: https://surveyforlearners.questionpro.com.
• A section for schools and educational institutions, teaching and supervisory staff in schools, reception centres and organisations involved in initial and further professional development of teachers working with this age group (11-18 years). This section is available in English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian and Portuguese: https://enqueteinstitutionseducatives.questionpro.com.

The survey will be online until the end of 2022. More detailed information on the survey can be found on the ECML website.

The Centre for Foreign Language Teaching, University of Warsaw, will hold the 1st (free) International MiLLaT Conference – “Mediation in Language Learning and Teaching” under the honorary patronage of the Polish Association of Modern Languages (PTN). The event is designed for language teachers, teacher trainers, educators, who are interested in mediation, mediation activities and strategies, multilingualism, innovative tasks in language education, technology-mediated teaching tools, and good practices in language learning. Its aim is to create a forum for discussions and to broaden the current perspectives on mediation, language learning, teaching, and developing modern materials and tools.

Maria Stathopoulou, Adjunct Lecturer at the Hellenic Open University and at the National Technical University of Athens, and coordinator of the ECML project “Mediation in Τeaching, Learning and Αssessment” (ME.T.L.A.) (2020-2021), will deliver a keynote speech at the event.

300 people participated in the CCERBAL online conference this year (29 April – 1st&nbps;May) whose theme was “Bilingualism and beyond: Advancing the thinking on pedagogies, policies and practices”. The next edition of this event is planned in 2023.
Watch the recordings of the some of the conferences on OLBI’s YouTube channel.

Vigdís launches Lexía, a new Icelandic-French online dictionary

Lexía has been developed by two university institutions in Reykjavík: the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies (AMI) and the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages (VFI). Lexía is modelled on an another online dictionary based at AMI: ISLEX, a multilingual dictionary between Icelandic and six Scandinavian target languages. With 50 000 lemmas, Lexía’s vocabulary is mainly contemporary Icelandic but many words from the older stages of the language are also included.
The target groups are Icelanders who need to look up words in French, translators, learners and teachers of Icelandic in French speaking countries, and learners and teachers of French in Iceland.

• More information
• Access the dictionary for free

Conference announcements

Nordic Intercultural Communication Conference: “Changing regional identities and intercultural communication” (Reykjavík, 25-27 November 2021)
More information

15th Conference on Nordic languages as a second language, NORDAND 15 (Reykjavík, 25-27 May 2022)
The conference covers Nordic languages as a second or a foreign language as well as plurilingualism in the Nordic countries.
More information

The Professional Network Forum of the ECML is comprised of international associations and institutions that share common values and have overlapping expertise in the field of language education and assessment. Under the auspices of the ECML, the members of the Forum share their know-how and work together on areas of common interest in the service of language education.

Members of the Forum: ACTFL, AILA, ALTE, CEL/ELC, CercleS, EALTA, EAQUALS, ECSPM, ECML/Council of Europe, EDiLiC, EFNIL, EPA, EUNIC, FIPLV, IAM, ICC, OLBI.

• Upcoming events of the network members
• Dedicated ECML web pages

The event is hosted by the Department of Linguistics and the Centre for Multilingualism of the University of Konstanz, Germany, as well as by the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA) which is funded by the EU.
Members of the CURUM constituency of the ECSPM will discuss the issue of monolingualism and the role of English in Higher Education, linked to the internationalisation of universities. Invited speakers with research and academic experiences in Europe and other continents will present their views and research results regarding the monolingual ethos and colonisation of curricular knowledge in HE but will also move to constructive proposals.

• Symposium website of ECSPM, the European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities. Together with the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities it constitutes the Council of Europe's commitment to the protection of national minorities.

The application of the ECRML 2018-2020: 10th report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

The report highlights the improvements that were made to the Charter’s monitoring mechanism in 2018 and implemented by the relevant stakeholders since then. In addition, it describes how the challenges raised in the context of the public health crisis have been addressed to promote the equal rights of speakers of languages traditionally spoken in Europe. It outlines what the Council of Europe has been doing to contribute to the development of anti-discrimination policies and practices in line with the standards of the Organisation.

• Read the news item

Just published :
Promising practices for protecting and promoting minority languages – transfer of knowledge across Europe

• Follow the newsroom

A democratic renewal for Europe - Annual Report by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities – Collected texts (9th edition)

Educating for a video game culture – A map for teachers and parents

The 27 winners of Juvenes Translatores, the annual translation contest for schools organised by the European Commission, have been celebrated on 18 June.

• More information on the EC website
• (Re)watch the online award ceremony on YouTube

The V-PAL community has been developed by a partnership of six partners from Denmark, Germany, Spain, Romania and Cyprus, and is cofunded by the Erasmus+ Programme. The aim of V-PAL is to increase the quality of adult education language teaching by enhancing teachers’ opportunities for continuing education and creating professional development. The dedicated platform provides the opportunity to get inspiration for your language teaching, discuss and reflect on your own and other teachers’ practices, and share you own practice by video.

• Latest videos (free registration): Using Padlet for an online reading circle; Mobil-bingo; Online collaboration with padlet; QR codes; Picture dictation; Disappearing lines: online; Online: What’s hiding?; Subjects for new videos?
• Follow V-PAL on Facebook

Manual for developing intercultural competencies: story circles

Lastest newsletter issues: no. 172 (May) - no. 173 (June)