The ECML offers its member states European expertise in language education adapted to the concrete needs and specific contexts within individual countries. This bilateral support in a range of key areas helps strengthen the cooperation between member states and the ECML by taking the expertise gained from ECML projects directly into member states. ECML experts work with national authorities and local experts to devise and implement in-country activities, tailored to the particular context and target audience.  For 2025 a number of new areas are on offer which  build on the results of projects run within the Inspiring innovation in language education programme (2020-23). Please note that activities offered in cooperation with the European Commission are subject to a separate Call for requests which will be issued in late November.

The  following  ECML training and consultancy activities are on offer for 2025:

• Plurilingual and intercultural education: teacher and learner competences
• Steps towards implementing plurilingual and intercultural education
• Plurilingual and intercultural education in early language learning
• The CEFR Companion Volume: Mediation and other key concepts – Focus: teacher and learner competences  
• The CEFR Companion Volume: Mediation and other key concepts – Focus: curriculum and evaluation
• Learning environments where languages flourish – Focus: Plurilingual and intercultural education
• Learning environments where languages flourish – Focus: Early language learning
• Action research communities for language teachers
• Fostering digital citizenship through language education
• Language for work – Work-related second language learning for adult migrants and ethnic minorities
• Beyond CLIL – Pluriliteracies teaching for deeper learning
• A roadmap for schools to support the language(s) of schooling

Details of the proposed activities, practical information and the application form can be found here: www.ecml.at/Trainingandconsultancy.

Requests for a Training and consultancy activity must be submitted via the national ECML representative in the Governing Board. Educational professionals interested in a particular activity should therefore contact their national representative.

The application deadline for 2025 is 15 November 2024.

Date and venue: 11 April 2024, Grenoble-Alpes University, France
Local organisation: Academic Steering Committee for Modern Languages and Academic School for Continuing Education
ECML experts: Béatrice Leonforte (Switzerland) and Michel Candelier (France)
Participants: 120 - supervisory staff and trainers from primary and secondary schools

In the presence of ECML experts (Michel Candelier and Béatrice Leonforte) and academics from the Lidilem laboratory at Grenoble Alpes University, a seminar on pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures was attended by 120 managers and trainers from the Grenoble education authority. This seminar, which took a resolutely cross-curricular approach, enabled primary and secondary school teachers to become aware of the work already underway in the field of pluralistic approaches to languages, as well as benefiting from high-level scientific contributions, discovering numerous examples of activities and acquiring new resources.

This workshop, organised with the strong support of the ECML, consolidated what already exists and opened up fruitful avenues of work for the future – in particular by outlining prospects for work in nursery schools, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) classes, mathematics, vocational training or as part of bilanguage continuity classes (classes of 6ème pupils who have benefited from the teaching of two modern languages at primary level). The participants appreciated this time for taking a step back, exchanging ideas and reflecting, which gave them the desire to go further in developing the plurilingual and pluricultural skills promoted by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Frédéric Bablon, Diana-Lee Simon, Jean-Christophe Larbaud

• FREPA: A framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures
• More information about the training and consultancy offer of the ECML for member states: “Plurilingual and intercultural approaches – A didactic tool for integrated plurilingual and intercultural education”

“Inspiring innovation in language education: changing contexts, evolving competences” – Join the livestream!

The conference represents the culmination of the four years of work of the ECML’s “Inspiring innovation in language education: changing contexts, evolving competences”  programme, involving, among others, 9projects, 1think tank, 12offers of training and consultancy (TaC) and a series of initiatives developed with the support of the European Commission.

The conference is aimed at all language education professionals and in particular at ECML stakeholders, policy makers and persons with a professional focus on the practice of language education (curriculum development, teacher education, material design…).

The programme involves plenary presentations, speeches, a round table, a series of smaller workshops for the presentation and discussion of programme outputs and outcomes as well as envisaged links to activities in the 2024-2027 programme.

The workshops on the second day of the conference will be organised thematically:

• Language teacher and learner competences,
• Transversal dimension of language education / Competences for life and work,
• Plurilingual and intercultural education,
• Languages of schooling; language in subjects.

Within each given theme there will be a focus on the completed project resources and related TaC activities from the current programme. Presenters will focus on the inspiring and innovative aspects of their TaC activity/new resources and will consider how the different approaches and materials presented in their thematic session complement one other.

This will also be an excellent opportunity to get a preview of the new ECML programme “Language education at the heart of democracy” (2024-2027).

In order to ensure access to a wider audience, the event will be streamed in both working languages (English and French) and the recordings made available on the ECML website.

Conference web page: English – French

Conference programme: English – French

Join the live streaming here – no registration required: English – French

#ECMLCELVconf2023