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LANGUAGE
COMPETENCES IN
SUPPORT OF MOBILITY
AND EMPLOYABILITY
The contribution of the Lifelong
Learning Programme and of the
European Language Label 2007-2013
Dipartimento per la programmazione e la gestione
delle risorse umane, finanziarie e strumentali
Direzione Generale per gli Affari Internazionali
Label europeo delle lingue
Isfol is a national research institute operating in the eld of vocational training, employment and social
policies, contributing to employment growth, development of competences, social inclusion and local deve-
lopment. Isfol activities are implemented under the supervision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies.
Isfol carries out and promotes surveys, research studies, testing, documentation and information activities
on training, lifelong learning, labour market and social inclusion systems and policies. It provides expert
advice to the Italian Parliament, several Ministries, in particular the Ministry of Labour, as well as technical
assistance (TA) to regional and local Authorities.
Isfol is a member of the National statistical system and it works with several EU institutions. Isfol provides
TA for the implementation of the European Social Fund Systems Actions, and it is the National Agency for
the Lifelong Learning - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme.
President: Pier Antonio Varesi
Director General: Paola Nicastro
Contact details
Corso dItalia, 33
00198 Roma
Tel. + 39 06854471
Web: www.isfol.it
LANGUAGE
COMPETENCES IN
SUPPORT OF MOBILITY
AND EMPLOYABILITY
The contribution of the Lifelong
Learning Programme and of the
European Language Label 2007-2013
LLP National Agency
Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
Dipartimento per la programmazione e la gestione
delle risorse umane, finanziarie e strumentali
Direzione Generale per gli Affari Internazionali
Label europeo delle lingue
ISFOL
The publication Language Competences in Support of Mobility and Employability. The contribution of the
Lifelong Learning Programme and of the European Language Label 2007-2013 was carried out within the
2013 work programme of the LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme, funded by
Isfol, the European Commission - Directorate General Education and Culture, the Ministry of Labour and
Social Policies - Directorate General for Active and Passive Labour Policies and the Ministry of Education,
University and Research - Directorate General for International Affairs.
Director of the LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme: Anna Sveva Balduini.
Coordinator of the Working Group: Natalia Guido.
Working Group of the LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme: Simona Alfei, Rossano
Arenare, Anna Butteroni, Francesca Carta, Tito Giustozzi, Marilise Varricchio, Michela Volpi.
Publication edited by: Natalia Guido.
Authors:
Anna Sveva Balduini (Preface); Rossano Arenare (Ch. 1.3; Bibliografy; Annex 1; Annex 2); Carmen Ar-
gondizzo (Ch. 2.2); Paola Berbeglia (Ch. 1.11); Anna Butteroni (Ch. 1.4; Bibliography; Annex 1; Annex 2);
Francesca Carta (Ch. 1.2; Annex 1; Annex 2; Annex 3; Annex 4); Giuseppe DAngelo (Ch. 1.13); Elisabetta
Delle Donne (Ch. 2.3); Fabrizio Faraco (Ch. 1.7); Natalia Guido (Analysis Methodology; Ch. 2.1; Conclusion;
Annex 1; Annex 2; Annex 5); Mike Hammersley (Ch. 1.8); Lorenzo Mari (Ch. 1.1); Silvia Minardi (Ch. 1.9);
Cristiana Porcarelli (Ch. 1.6); Federica Sguotti (Ch. 1.12); Lorenza Venturi (Ch. 1.5); Andrea Villarini (Ch.
1.10); Michela Volpi (Ch. 2.1; Annex 1; Annex 2; Annex 5).
Data collection and elaboration for the surveys was carried out by: Tito Giustozzi.
Data collection, normalizing and processing was carried out by: Simona Alfei, Tito Giustozzi e Marilise
Varricchio.
Publication closed in: December 2013.
Editorial coordination of the publication:
Servizio per la comunicazione e divulgazione scientica (Pierangela Ghezzo).
Copyright (C) [2013] [Isfol]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share your work with
4.0 Italy License.
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
ISBN: 978-88-543-0220-4
This work reects the views of the authors only and do not necessarily reect the position of the Institution
Printed in February 2014
from Rubbettino print - 88049 Soveria Mannelli (Catanzaro) - www.rubbettinoprint.it
Index
FOREWORD 7
INTRODUCTION 9
ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY 13
PART 1
1.1 Multilingualism, mobility and employability: introduction to the topic 21
1.2 How can promoting and developing language competences foster mobility ,
employability and growth 29
1.3 Languages for employability in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme 42
1.4 Languages for mobility in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme 54
1.5 Foreign languages in the process of lifelong learning: CLIL as a winning
approach 67
1.6 Non formal and informal learning: recognition of language competences
gained in non formal and informal contexts 74
1.7 Internationalization and multilingualism in SMEs 81
1.8 Impacts of ITC on language learning and assessment 89
1.9 What language teacher education do we need? 93
1.10 L2 Italian for professional purposes 99
1.11 An example of disadvantage and language competences 104
1.12 An example of cultural-linguistic mobility and diversity 109
1.13 The contribution of regional governments to the creation of a language
policy for vocational purposes 114
PART 2
2.1 The European Language Label in Italy in the 2007-2013 programming period .
Some of the outcomes in the vocational training eld 129
2.2 The Label of Label award to CMC_E project . A successful experience at
European level 140
2.3 The Implementation of the European Language Label , a Transnational
Analysis carried out by the NELLIP Network 145
CONCLUSIONS 151
BIBLIOGRAFY 159
ANNEX
Annex 1. Questionnaire template on languages for mobility and employability
addressed to stakeholders
Survey on languages for mobility and employability 175
Annex 2. Questionnaire template addressed to European Language Label awarded
projects - vocational training eld (2010-2011-2012)
Survey on the European Language Label 179
Annex 3. Results of survey on languages for mobility and employability addressed
to stakeholders
Charts and Tables - Survey on languages for mobility and employability 182
Annex 4. Results of the survey on the European language Label awarded projects -
vocational training eld (2010-2011-2012)
Charts and Tables - Survey on the European language Label (2010-2011-2012) 202
Annex 5. Synoptic Tables of the 2007-2013 projects awarded the European
Language Label in the eld of vocational training 213
AUTHORS PROFILES 247
7 Foreword
Foreword
The modernisation of education and training systems represents a key challenge that
Europe and Member States are facing in order to nd out innovative ways to ensure
relevant investment in education and training.
As stated in the communication of the European Commission Rethinking Education:
Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes, supporting the development
of knowledge and key competences to provide citizens with more learning and job op-
portunities by enhancing, above all, mobility in Europe to study, work and live abroad,
represents an innovative way to promote growth and competitiveness in the Member
States as well as to increase the productivity of European enterprises. The demand for
high-level competences, in line with developments at global level, necessarily requires
a further investment in education and training systems as well as a greater focus on
the development of strategic skills.
Improving the knowledge and developing the use of foreign languages - in a continent
unique for its multilingualism and where the right to citizenship besides the respect of
different cultures represent crucial elements in the creation of a European identity - is
at the centre of a lively debate today. More than a decade after the Barcelona Euro-
pean Council which set a strategic goal of great impact all European citizens should
know two foreign languages in addition to their mother tongue, this theme is further
conrmed and valuable.
Just a few years ago multilingualism was indeed a signicantly challenging goal.
Today, 25 years after the rst Erasmus journey and with a new round of multiannual
programmes aiming at diversity as a tool for the growth of the European Commu-
nity, multilingualism is a synonym for key competences - essential for the youngest,
vital for those who are currently entering the job market and often a bitter decit
for the over-50s. Currently, multilingualism means also Europe, the essence of the
European motto united in diversity, the deep meaning of peace and valorisation
of the complexity of its Member States. Multilingualism stands also for an open,
interconnected, interdependent and ever more exible job market; it means employ-
ability, future, economic growth.
8
Investing in language learning has long been acknowledged as a value in the ofcial EU
documents as well as in national policies for education and training. No strategy over
the past few years has failed to include language learning among the necessary key
competences needed by young people in Europe. Investing in multicultural and mul-
tilingualism education has a practical sensible implication; it stimulates new attitudes
in the individuals involved; it goes beyond the simple acquisition of a new vocabulary;
it changes ones mindset opening up new ideas; it enables the individual to adapt to
new realities, to consider situations from a different perspective, previously not even
imagined. This is why, in such a critical moment in the history of Europe, there is no
choice but to capitalise on multilingualism as a key tool to encourage lifelong learing,
to support young people entering the job market and to promote the retraining and
upskilling of disadvantaged workers, expelled from labour market and those seeking
a new job.
Shortly, the social impact of multilingualism policies can be acknowledged and strength-
ened, especially today - at the beginning of the 2014-2020 programming period. It is
worth consider what has already been accomplished at national level on the theme
through the Lifelong Learning Programme that now comes to an end.
This book offers a comprehensive view of issues and themes strongly linked to the
improvement of the language supply.
The present publication takes into consideration, in a bottom-up approach, experiences
and opinions of strategic actors and practitioners, thus allowing an overviewon chal-
lenges and potential solutions to put into practice.
Dott. Salvatore Pirrone
Director General
Ministry of Labour and Social Policies
Directorate General for Active
and Passive Labour Policies
Dott. Marcello Limina
Director General
Ministry of Education, University and Research
Department for the programming
and management of staff, nancial
and technical resources
Directorate General for International Affairs
9 Introduction
Introduction
In Europe, around 800 million citizens are encouraged to learn more languages every
day, at any age, inside and outside of traditional education and training systems, based
on the idea that language diversity is the key to a better intercultural understanding
and the most effective way to achieve citizenship rights. Moreover knowing a foreign
language is strategic to increase employability and to enhance international mobility
experiences both for young people and adults.
The development of language competences - a strategic value that all European citizens
should share -
1
represents the focus of several analyses because of the crucial role that
language competences could play in the debate on how education and training can
contribute to facing the current economic and social crisis.
The goal set by the European Union in 2002 in Barcelona, according to which all Euro-
pean citizens should learn two foreign languages, was already in line with the aim of
ensuring the social inclusion of young people, as well as of adults, while strengthening
their employability and fostering international mobility experiences.
Ten years later still a lot remains to be achieved.
The last Eurobarometer Survey published in June 2012 shows that just over half of
Europeans population (54%) are able to hold a conversation in at least one foreign
language, a quarter (25%) are able to speak at least two additional languages and only
one in ten (10%) are conversant in at least three. Furthermore, Europeans believe that
the second most useful language after English is German (17%), followed by French
(16%), Spanish (14%) and Chinese (6%).
In Italy, 88% of citizens think that knowing at least one foreign language is fundamental,
while a 70% believe that English is the most important language to learn, followed
by French (11%) and German (8%), while a 47% think that language competences are
useful to increase employability and 50% of Italian citizens think that speaking another
language can help to get a job abroad.
1
See Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences
for lifelong learning, GUCE L 394/10 of 30.12.2006.
10
The ongoing review and modernisation of the education and training systems, started in
2012 by the European Commission with the document Rethinking Education: investing
in skills for better socio-economic outcomes
2
, points out the need to invest more and
with a more focused approch in education and training in order to develop the neces-
sary competences to boost growth and competitiveness, since skills determine Europes
capacity to increase productivity
3
. The competences on which to invest are those
most needed by modern economies, namely high and specialised knowledge because,
as Cedefop forecasts predict the proportion of jobs in the EU requiring tertiary level
qualications will increase from 29% in 2010 to 34% in 2020
4
. Language competences
will play a specic role in this eld; for this reason the European Commission devoted
an annexed document to Rethinking Education - Language competences for employ-
ability, mobility and growth
5
. This document stresses, once again, the fundamental
importance of investing in the ability to speak foreign languages as a means to foster
international exchange and to contribute to improve market competitiveness thus to
promoting economic growth and facing the current crisis. The document also underlines
how limited language competences hinder peoples -and especially youth- mobility
while knowing one or more foreign languages is an important asset for enterprises
operating in the global market.
It is in this framework that fall the activities carried out within the LLP Programme for
the 2007-2013 period in which languages became a transversal issue characterising
all the different actions of the Programme. One of the specic tasks was that of the
Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme which - thanks to its specic mission aimed at the
innovation of education and training systems through the creation of partnerships, the
promotion of professional mobility and the valorisation of best practices - contributed
to the debate on the role of language competences by funding specically projects
dedicated to this matter. Another commitment of Leonardo da Vinci National Agency in
this eld was the European Language Label which enabled an in-depth analysis of the
quality of vocationally oriented language teaching; the Label was awarded to projects
which represent examples of excellency at national level.
The work accomplished over the last years has particularly highlighted the key role that
local and regional bodies, political authorities and mass media play in the successful
promotion of multilingualism at European and national level. Their contribution may
be identied, in particular, in their attention to citizens through the implementation of
2
Communication of the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Strasbourg, 20.11.2012 COM(2012) 669 nal.
3
Ibidem.
4
Ibidem.
5
Working document of the Commission annexed to the Communication of the Commission Rethinking Educa-
tion: investing in competences for better socio-economic outcomes, Strasbourg, 20.11.2012, SWD(2012) 372
nal.
11 Introduction
polices promoting the knowledge of languages, but also in their role in the dissemina-
tion of information and in the awareness raising about learning foreign languages by
encouraging programmes and initiatives in favour of multilingualism.
The contribution of the business world to the debate on the close relationship between
language teaching and the needs of the labour market also falls within this same
framework; a contribution which comes in particular, but not only, from small and
medium enterprises, as well as from the stakeholders of the education, training and
university systems.
This pubblication shows the work and commitment of all actors involved also through
the creation of networks of stakeholders engaged in the promotion and development
of languages and with whom the Leonardo Agency established a relationship of trust
which goes far beyond the timeframe of the programme.
As the new programme period approaches, and in particular with the new Erasmus+
Programme, languages will continue to play an important role in the scenario of meas-
ures in the eld of education and training. Let us all hope that this publication can
represent a useful asset towards the development of activities aimed at increasing
investment and at encouraging the development of initiatives focused on foreign
language learning and teaching in Italy.
Anna Sveva Balduini
Director
LLP National Agency
Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
13 Analysis methodology
Analysis methodology
Natalia Guido
Introduction
This publication presents the analysis carried out by the LLP Leonardo da Vinci National
Agency on the role and value of language competences in the design of an innovative
training supply, meeting the evolving needs of individuals as well as the most urgent
requirements of the labour market. The structure of the volume reects the joint effort
of different experts, characterised by their specic experience and background. These
different points of view contributed to broadening the debate on an issue attracting
wide interest. The experts involved enriched the analysis through their perspective on
different themes closely linked to the broader issue of developing and valorising the
language competences as key competences essential for everyone. However, beside the
contributions of the different authors involved, the publication features the points of
view of experts and practitioners representing a well-established network involving
actors and stakeholders of education, training and academic systems, of the labour
market, trade unions, local Authorities and relevant Ministries (Education and Labour).
The experts were involved in the analysis of the critical issues characterising Italy in
relation to the slow progress towards foreign language learning. From this point of view
the contribution provided by the world of work and by social partners proved essential
to enable a better understanding of the relationship between language teaching and
learning and the actual needs expressed by the labour market.
The origins
The publication was structured on the basis of the several activities on vocationally
oriented language competences carried out by the National Agency. These activities
represent the results of both the promotion and valorisation initiatives, carried out in
relation to projects approved within the Leonardo da Vinci Programme, and the debate
developed at European level with the Commission and experts from other countries.
The main stages can be summarised as follows:
1. Activities carried out within the Leonardo da Vinci Programme, during the three
programming periods 1995/1999 - 2000/2006 - 2007/2013, with a view to promot-
ing the development of language competences in line with the needs expressed
14
by the labour market. These activities were realised within the funding devoted
to language competences relevant for professional purposes (further details are
provided in paragraphs 1.3 and 1.4). The above mentioned initiatives promoted the
widespread use of denitions such as Vocationally Oriented Language Competences,
including concepts linked to language competences to be used in professional
contexts. These denitions resulted from the dialogue involving different educa-
tion institutions (schools, university, training providers, etc.) and actors from the
labour market.
2. Experience acquired through the European Language Label initiative, included
since 2001 in the activities carried out by the Leonardo da Vinci National Agency
in relation to language teaching and learning within vocational training. In 2007
the initiative was ofcially included within the activities and mission of the LLP
Programme, with a sharper distinction between the activities linked to the educa-
tion eld - devoted to the INDIRE Agency - and the activities related to vocational
training assigned to Isfol, in the overall framework of activities carried out within
the Leonardo da Vinci Programme (further details are provided in Ch. 2.1). The
Label enabled the debate on the issues related to vocationally oriented language
competences, in particular in relation to:
- the main critical issues in the promotion of foreign languages role;
- the identication of the specic features characterising a high-quality language
training supply;
- the innovative elements supporting developments aimed at meeting the learn-
ers needs;
- The need to improve the professional performances of the main actors involved
in learning processes (teachers, trainers, tutors, etc.).
3. Activities carried out by the working groups established in relation to the different
issues related to vocationally oriented language competences. In particular these
activities led to:
- The Think Thank Language Group (Rome, 2009), established by the Leonardo
da Vinci National Agency to deal with issues related to the valorisation of
foreign languages relevant for professional purposes and, in particular, with
the different needs expressed by all the actors directly or indirectly involved.
The group analysed the denition of Vocationally Oriented Language Compe-
tences, which enabled the realization of a conceptual map highlighting some
critical elements linked to language learning and to an active use of foreign
languages. Moreover the map highlights expectations of enterprises as well
as expectations of the actors involved, in terms of strategies and initiatives;
- The organisation of the Focus Group on languages for mobility and employ-
ability (Rome, 2012) aimed at further developing the activities implemented
within the Think Thank Language Group, also with a view to foster the debate
on the progress achieved at national level in relation to language learning
since 2002
6
. During the Focus Group, the Metaplan Techniques enabled a wide
debate and focused on the needs and barriers to the development of language
competences in Italy;
- The participation in the Festival of Europe (Florence, 2013), organizing the
workshop on Language for mobility and employability. More than 70 partici-
pants attended the workshop that focused on the main problems and barriers
hindering investments on the development of languages, further developing
the debate started in the Focus Group held in November 2012; strategic actions
were identied to remove such barriers, to foster further nancial investments
and to ensure more targeted promotion and awareness raising actions within
the new 2014-2020 programming period.
The questionnaires
A survey, featuring two specic online questionnaires, was implemented to enrich the
publication through the involvement of several experts and stakeholders of the edu-
cation and training systems and of the labour market. A rst questionnaire aimed at
identifying the experts views on issues linked to language policies and actions to be
adopted to enhance and improve such policies, while a second questionnaire focused
on the impact of the European Language Label on the award winners organizations
and on the involved geographical contexts.
The rst questionnaire (see Annex no. 1) was submitted to 247 stakeholders across Italy,
actors characterised by different professional and personal backgrounds. The second
questionnaire (see Annex no. 2) was submitted to 28 organizations awarded the Eu-
ropean Language Label (in the vocational training sector) in the years 2010-2011 and
2012. The two questionnaires were both submitted in June 2013.
The surveys applied the Likter scale, considered as one of the most effective methods
to gather and assess attitude and opinions. Each questionnaire was designed through
the denition of semantically linked items, referring to certain attitudes / behaviours in
relation to: language competences; strategies implemented; most relevant expectations
of practitioners in the eld; outcomes of the European Language Level and impact of
the initiative on award winners organizations.
Both questionnaires featured ve possible answers and each option was assigned a
mark ranging from 1 to 5 (corresponding to the level of importance assigned to the
different option). In both questionnaires all questions were mandatory. The possible
answers are listed below:
6
In 2002 the Barcelona European Council set the goal of supporting all European citizens, since their childhood,
in the acquisition of two foreign languages, beside their mother tongue.
16
- Questionnaire No. 1: Strongly agree, Agree, Neither agree nor disagree, Disagree,
Strongly disagree;
- Questionnaire No. 2: Excellent, Good, Acceptable, Poor, Very poor.
The respondents dened their attitudes through their answers, therefore a highly posi-
tive attitude towards a specic issue resulted in a higher score assigned to the cor-
responding item.
The choice to apply online questionnaires had three main advantages:
- reduction of the time necessary to complete the survey, through the setting of a
short-term deadline to submit the lled-in questionnaire;
- simplication of the data collection, through the predened clear and user-friendly
scheme;
- simplication of the data analysis, ensured by closed-ended questions.
The last two advantages also represented the main risks and criticisms concerning
the application of the Likter scale as respondents are forced to choose among a
dened range of options, that might lead to the expression of an opinion that does
not reect properly their views and to give an answer on a topic on which they do
not really have a personal opinion. Therefore the risk was to collect answers not
carefully given or, instead, randomly chosen. The above mentioned risk was reduced
through the design for questionnaire No. 1 (targeted at stakeholders) of a structure
including, for each question, an item and its opposite (not easily detectable), in order
to enable respondents to conrm their opinion through answers corresponding to
different marks. This was an attempt to enable consistent answers, based on the
specic competences or knowledge of the topic. The analysis of opposites conrmed
the proper attitude of respondents, with a few exceptions probably due to ques-
tions not clearly designed or to the weak consistency of the individual stakeholders
attitude. This was not the case for questionnaire No. 2, targeted at the European
Language Label award winners organizations, as the surveys purpose was clearer
and, therefore, easier to understand.
Another criticality concerned closed-ended questions, characterised by the risk of pre-
venting particularly interested respondents from expressing their original contribution to
the research. For this reason, the last part of the questionnaire was open, thus enabling
participants to present suggestions and indications concerning future activities to be
carried out by the Agency, in the coming years, in relation to language competences
and to the role that a network of stakeholders may play to contribute to the denition
of new, more effective and coherent language policies.
The answers to this last part of the survey represent interesting contributions and are
gathered in the nal conclusions.
Participation in the survey was satisfying and distributed as follows:
- Questionnaire No. 1: submitted to 247 respondents > answered by 46.55%;
- Questionnaire No. 2: submitted to 28 award winners projects > answered by 78.57%.
The structure of the publication
The common thread running through the publication is represented by the value of
speaking a foreign language to ensure a greater success to transnational mobility ex-
periences, the core element of the Erasmus+ Programme. A mobility, in a professional
perspective, involving not only young people but all individuals interested in meeting
different contexts and cultures as a valuable opportunity to enter the labour market
or staying in their current working position. At the same time, the publication aimed
at valorising the experiences realized within the European Language Label initiative,
that highlighted the activities carried out by several organizations involved in language
training. The second part of the publication is, therefore, devoted to this initiative, that,
since 1998, represented, the main European tool devoted to innovation in the eld of
languages.
The publication is organised in two broad sections:
1. The rst section focuses on the experience of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme
for the development and innovation of language training to foster employability
and quality in transnational learning mobility. The section features contributions
by ten experts on issues concerning languages and language teaching. The topics
addressed by the authors are widely debated, and were highlighted during the
workshops organized in Rome and Florence, respectively in 2012 and 2013;
2. The second section represents a comprehensive overview of the Italian experiences
which were awarded the European Language Label, in the eld of vocational train-
ing, in the 2007-2013 period. This section is enriched by a contribution provided by
two further strategic experiences realised within the LLP Programme (the NELLIP
project and the CMC_E project).
The conclusions aim at indicating a pathways towards further developments rather than
dene solutions on an issue widely debated and open to further improvements. The
conclusions represent, therefore, possible indications provided to relevant actors and
stakeholders who, in their different roles, may nd in them an interesting inspiration
for their work and for the planning of more relevant policies supporting the develop-
ment of languages at national level. In this perspective the conclusions also include the
contributions and suggestions provided by the participants in the survey.
Participants in the project
The publication was edited by members of the Leonardo da Vinci Agency staff, dealing
with Transfer of Innovation and Mobility projects. Their competences and know-how
represents an asset to be valorised and shared. The staff in charge of the management
and development of ICT systems played a fundamental role, enabling the collection and
analysis of data concerning the Language Label results and the design and processing of
18
the survey questionnaires. The experiences and know-how of the entire National Agency
staff proved essential to realize the complex overall project. Moreover, the contribu-
tions provided by Isfol researchers widened the debate and avoided the risk of being
self-referential. Their role was, therefore, crucial to achieve the satisfactory nal result.
An essential contribution was, also, provided by the experts that enriched the publica-
tion through their work. Beside their institutional roles they contributed to the joint
effort and to the debate, sometimes controversial, on specic language-related issues.
A special acknowledgement is for them and their support, with the hope to further
develop such collaboration.
Last but not least, a special thanks to all the teachers, experts, practitioners, managers,
students, workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs involved within the European Language
Label activities and during the Focus Group held in Rome in November 2012 and the
Workshop on languages held in Florence in May 2013. Their knowledge and experiences
widened our awareness of the role of languages and training.
Part 1
21 Multilingualism, mobility and employability: introduction to the topic
1.1 Multilingualism, mobility and employability:
introduction to the topic
Lorenzo Mari
Chapter 1
An historical excursus
The following analysis of European policies in the eld of education and namely on
language learning, could begin with a simple question: why should multilingualism
be considered the key of employability and of the re-launch of the European labor
market?. The European Commission itself, answers to this question. Before getting
straight into the topic, however, it could be interesting to analyze the path that led to
the denition of a European policy on education: it is a long and complex way, made-up
by intergovernmental negotiations, often dened as the problem although being de-
facto the only solution of the EU in order to guide, in an efcient way, national policies.
As it is widely known education policies in European Union were introduced only in
recent years: the rst clear reference to cooperation in this eld was inserted into the
Maastricht Treaty
7
; the value of multilingualism as a powerful instrument for integra-
tion, anyway, was already present in the Single European Act, which in 1986 introduced
the theme of mobility nalized to the growth of the - then - European Community
8
.
Fairly less known is, however, the fact that the abovementioned denition given by
the Treaties to the concept of mobility was present for its rst time in the so-called
7
Today at the beginning of the Title I Chapter I - Art. 3 For the purposes set out in Article 2, the activities of
the Community shall include, as provided in this Treaty and in accordance with the timetable set out therein:
[]q) a contribution to education and training of quality and to the owering of the cultures of the Member
States, and declined as a policy in title XI Chapter 3 del TCE - Art. 149, whose incipit says: 1. The Community
shall contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging cooperation between Member States
and, if necessary, by supporting and supplementing their action, while fully respecting the responsibility of the
Member States for the content of teaching and the organization of education systems and their cultural and
linguistic diversity.
8
The Single European Act at the Art. 24 introduced the new Title VI, dedicated to Research and Development,
whose text reads as follows: 1. The Communitys aim shall be to strengthen the scientic and technological
basis of European industry and to encourage it to become more competitive at international level. 2. In order
to achieve this, it shall encourage undertakings including small and medium-sized undertakings, research
centres and universities in their research and technological development activities; it shall support their ef-
forts to co-operate with one another, aiming notably at enabling undertakings to exploit the Communitys
internal market potential to the full []; Art. 130 G In pursuing these objectives the Community shall cane
out the following activities, complementing the activities carried out in the Member States: (a) implementa-
tion of research, technological development and demonstration programmes, by promoting co-operation with
undertakings, research centres and universities;[] (d) stimulation of the training and mobility of researchers
in the Community.
22 Part 1 | Chapter 1
Adonnino Report
9
. Elaborated throughout the Italian Presidency in 1985, the document
stimulated the Council and the Commission to elaborate proposals oriented to the
activation of what we would call today European Active Citizens paths. This was the
basis for the rst proposal made by the European Commission for the institution of the
Erasmus Programme
10
. This proposal was originally conceived in 1986 and rejected by
the Council in the same year, while being approved in 1987, thanks to the fundamental
impulse of a workgroup of EU Ofcers
11
: the Treaty of Rome did foresee nothing on
the topic and even though a number of Member States were against this decision,
because they were scared by the fact that the European Commissions intent was to
harmonize educational programmes. This was the very relevant problem we faced and
we succeeded in starting with the Programme because in 1984-85 Chiefs of State and
Governments asked to the European Commission to create a series of possible actions
aimed at stimulating citizenship of the Community, especially on youth. Despite there
was no juridical basis, starting this action on Chiefs of States will, the Commission
proposed a number of programmes such as Erasmus and then Comenius, Leonardo da
Vinci, Youth and many others []
12
.
The success of those actions was so high that today the European Union is mostly
identied with the chance to experience mobility in other European countries through
the support of the Communitarian action.
In 2002 in the European Council of Barcelona, re-launched the Lisbon Strategy establish-
ing the target of making the education and training systems of the EU a quality point
of reference for the world. In that meeting was decided that one of the fundamental
target to be reached was the s.c. Mother tongue plus two
13
. From that time forward,
the path of European policies in the eld of Education and Training will be more and
more intense: the Bologna Process
14
will push on an ever further integration, while
in 2007 the activation of the Lifelong Learning Programme will denitively carve the
9
Better known as Adonnino Report the document was the report delivered to the European Council by the ad-
hoc group created to the Commission on the theme On a peoples Europe, A10.04.COM 85, Milan, June 1985.
10
Erasmus is the acronym for European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students.
11
Among them, the coordinator was Domenico Lenarduzzi, today considered as the father of Erasmus Pro-
gramme, on this topic it is very interesting the interview made by the former Director of the Italian LLP Na-
tional Agency Comenius, Erasmus, Grundtvig and Study Visits Ms Fiora Imberciadori, the text of the interview
is hosted today on the web site of the Italian LLP Agency at the link <http://www.indire.it/content/index.
php?action=read&id=1742> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
12
D. Lenarduzzi, Ibidem.
13
The Presidency Conclusions read as follows: The European Council sets the objective of making itseducative
and training systems a world quality reference by 2010. It agrees that the three basic principles to inspire this
Programme shall be: improved quality, facilitation of universal access, and opening-up to the wider world.
It invites the Council and the Commission to report to the Spring European Council in 2004 on its effective
implementation. 44. The European Council calls for further action in this eld: - to introduce instruments to
ensure the transparency of diplomas and qualications [] - to improve the mastery of basic skills, in particular
by teaching at least two foreign languages from a very early age [].
14
The Bologna process, which launched the European High Education Area, was born in the Education Ministers
conference held in Bologna in June 1999, inspired by the meeting of Ministers of France, Germany, Italy and
United Kingdom in 1998, further information on <http://www.bolognaprocess.it/> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
path for the practical activation of the principles dened in Lisbon Strategy and its
revised version
15
.
With the Conclusion of the European Council of 12 May 2009, on A strategic frame-
work for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020)
16
a new phase for
European education programmes was launched. The strategy dened the essential
challenges to be tackled in order to make of Europe the worlds most competitive
knowledge based economy, underlining the importance of lifelong learning and key
competence improvement policies. Namely the strategy foresaw 4 specic challenges:
- Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality, through the development of na-
tional qualications frameworks based on relevant learning outcomes, establishing
their link to the European Qualications Framework and intensifying mobility ac-
tions, following what was already established within the European Quality Charter
for Mobility
17
.
- Improving the quality and efciency of education and training, allowing to every
person to improve the s.c. key competences
18
and guaranteeing that all levels of
education and training are more attractive and efcient.
- Promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship, in order to promote,
through education and training policies, employability and social inclusion.
- Enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of
education and training, pointing on the s.c. knowledge triangle (education/re-
search/innovation), through the promotion of specic partnerships between en-
terprises and education institutions, stimulating the transversal learning based on
the interaction with civil society.
It is worth to underline how multilingualism and employability, a part from being clearly
specied as targets of the ET 2020, are also de-facto mainstreaming leading the whole
strategy: they are probably considered as the main actions on which should be used
15
Launched in 2000 in the European Council of March, the Lisbon Strategy was re-launched in 2005, when during
the Spring council underlined through the Revised Lisbon Strategy the need for Member States to intensify efforts
namely in the eld of Education and Training and in the linkage between education and entrepreneurship. .
16
Council Conclusions of 12 May 2009 on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and
training (ET 2020) (Ofcial Journal C 119 of 28.5.2009).
17
Already in 2006, with the Recommendation EC 2006/961 of the European Parliament and the Council of the
18 December 2006 (Ofcial Journal 394 of 30.12.2006), was born the European Quality Charter for Mobil-
ity: in the Chart there are 10 principles that should be followed to ensure quality into mobility actions: such
principles were the following: information and guidance; learning plan; personalisation; general preparation;
linguistic aspects; logistical support; mentoring; recognition; reintegration and evaluation; commitments and
responsibilities.
18
Recommendation 2006/962/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key
competences for lifelong learning [Ofcial Journal L 394 of 30.12.2006]. This framework denes eight key
competences and describes the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes related to each of these. These key
competences are: communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, mathematical
competence and basic competences in science and technology, digital competence, learning to learn, social
and civic competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression.
the so called Open Method of Coordination (OMC)
19
, a negotiation strategy that the
EU suggests in order to deliver results in the eld of education.
Three years after the launch of the ET 2020 strategy, whose destiny will be to remain
a lighthouse for policy makers in the denition of the new 2014-2020 programming
period, last year the strategy Rethinking European Education
20
specied a number of
fundamental passages to be implemented in order to valorise the European diversity
even from an economic point of view. Namely this document establishes as rst target
the investment on key competences and namely on foreign languages, as the most
important factor for the completion of the Single Market, the tool for the implemen-
tation of the free trade path of people, goods, capital and services launched by Delors
Commission a long time ago and still sadly in its way towards its full implementation:
Languages are more and more important to increase levels of employability and mobil-
ity of young people, and poor language skills are a major obstacle to free movement
of workers. Businesses also require the language skills needed to function in the global
marketplace
21
.
Right in this strategic document, therefore, we can nd a rst answer to the question
we started with: why should multilingualism be considered the key of employability
and of the re-launch of the European job market?. A more specic analysis of the topic
comes from the document attached to the strategy Rethinking European Education
whose title is Language competences for employability, mobility and growth
22
. Starting
from the leading principles established in the Europe 2020 strategy, aiming at making
of Europe a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy
23
the document suggests that
Raising the language competences of children, young people and adults will foster
the mobility of workers and students and improve the employability of the European
workforce. Therefore, improved language competences will contribute to achieving
the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy of growth and jobs. Besides, this document
underlines that development policies regarding language learning should explicitly be
orientated to their use in the real life, therefore they should not only be part of the
ofcial school learning programme, but they should also be considered as the rst key
of success of an economy whose re-launch will be ever more based on export and in-
19
Based on the joined identication of common targets (adopted by the Council), on the identication of com-
mon measurement instruments (stats, indicators, guidelines) and on the benchmarking, meaning a compara-
tive analysis of results of Members States and on the exchange of best practices (surveillance made by the
Commission), the OMC is the most important instrument of the Lisbon Strategy, a method used to gradually
approach national policies one with the other allowing a cooperation in a eld traditionally demanded to the
national sovereignty such as employment, social inclusion, education and training. .
20
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-
economic outcomes, COM(2012) 669 nal.
21
Ibidem.
22
Commission Staff Working Document, Language competences for employability, mobility and growth SWD(2012)
372 nal.
23
Europe 2020 - Strategy for a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy, COM(2010) 2020.
ternationalisation: Language competences should be useful in real life and match, in
particular, labour market needs. This applies for national and European labour markets,
and the work of EU enterprises operating on an international scale. Poor language skills
are a serious obstacle to seizing professional opportunities abroad and in enterprises or
organisations active at international level. Finally the document species that it is very
important to ll-in the knowledge gap for foreign language by some of the Member
States, underlining that though being English a de-facto common language it is
prociency in more than one foreign language that will make a decisive difference in
the future. This calls for language policies and strategies inspired by a clear vision of
the value of language skills for mobility and employability.
Apart from language competences per-se, the working documents that led to such a
strategy also underline how mobility is to be considered as one of the keys for educa-
tional success: Learning mobility - meaning transnational mobility for the purpose
of acquiring new knowledge, skills and competences - is one of the important ways in
which citizens can strengthen their employability, enhance their intercultural aware-
ness, creativity and personal development, as well as participate actively in society;
a good command of foreign languages is a key competence essential to make ones
way in the modern world and labour market. Multilingualism is not only part of the
European heritage but also a chance to develop a society which is open, respectful of
cultural diversity and ready for cooperation
24
.
Finally it makes clear how today, at the very beginning of the economic multiannual
programming period, investing on the reduction of social and economic barriers that
could harm the effective completion of the single market starting from mobility for
education and working purposes, is compulsory for policy makers: Maintaining and
developing - within available resources - European tools and programmes which sup-
port language learning in both formal and non-formal education contexts has a useful
role to play in enhancing learning and professional mobility
25
.
A bottom-up growth
To nish with this short excursus, it could be interesting to analyze facts and gures we
should start from, in order to implement new policies in the eld of language learning
and to understand the reason why the European Commission denes a specic recipe
to lead this path of common growth.
The last edition of Eurobarometer survey of spring 2012 Europeans and their
Languages
26
offers a view on Europe 27 concerning foreign language knowledge. The
survey revealed that: Just over half of Europeans (54%) are able to hold a conversation
24
Draft Council conclusions on language competences to enhance mobility, Brussels, 17 novembre 2011,
16744/11.
25
Ibidem.
26
Special Eurobarometer 386 Europeans and their Languages, Brussels, 2012.
in at least one additional language, a quarter (25%) are able to speak at least two ad-
ditional languages and one in ten (10%) are conversant in at least three. Furthermore,
gures demonstrate that: Just over two fths (44%) of Europeans say that they are
able to understand at least one foreign language well enough to be able to follow the
news on radio or television. At the same time: Europeans are slightly less [39% e.n.]
likely to say that they understand any foreign language well enough to be able to use
it to communicate online (e.g. using email, Twitter, Facebook etc.). Finally it appears
clear that languages are assuming time after time a capital relevance in everyday
life, certainly helped by the ever growing use of information technologies: The most
notable changes since 2005 [year of last survey e.n.] are an increase in the proportion
of Europeans who regularly use foreign languages on the internet (+10 percentage
points) and when watching lms/television or listening to the radio (+8 points). The
proportion of Europeans who do not use a foreign language regularly in any situation
has fallen from 13% in 2005 to 9% in 2012.
Watching at Italy, it comes clear how this is one of the countries where language
knowledge in the last 5 years has improved the most; the percentage of persons de-
claring to be able to speak at least two languages has risen of 6 points from 2005,
from 16 to 22% of the population. This trend was conrmed by the fact that 86% of
Italians believe that it is important to know at least two foreign languages, a gure that
overcomes Europeans average by 14 percentage points. Namely, it sounds signicant
to the aim of our research, that this need is perceived by Italians as directly linked to
the improvement of their job competences, as proved by the survey
27
.
Further information on this topic could be derived from the survey carried out by the
Leonardo Da Vinci National Agency in the last months, through an interview to mul-
tilevel stakeholders involved in the eld of language learning
28
. From a rst analysis
it appears clear that the knowledge of a second foreign language is perceived as an
important aspect to be tackled by national policies: an extremely high percentage of
stakeholders declares to be against the teaching a single foreign language throughout
the regular study-course, while at the same time the same percentage of people declares
to totally agree with the hypothesis of at least two foreign language taught, starting
already from the primary school
29
. Furthermore, the same survey reveals a systemic
shortcoming: the lack of a recognition tool for international mobility and non-formal
27
Ibidem, Factsheets Italy; to the question in your opinion what are the main advantages of learning a new
language 50% answers to be interested because this competence would allow him/her to work in another
country (61% EU average), while 47% says to be interested to language learining in order to get a better job
in his/her own country (43% EU average).
28
The survey has been conducted on a group of stakeholders among the authors of the best practices of language
learning, awarded with the European Label for Languages, and on a group of policy and decision makers in the
eld of education, soon after the second meeting of the Focus Group Multilingualism, mobility and employ-
ability, Florence, May 2013. .
29
This gure agrees with the survey of Eurobarometer, quoted before, which demonstrates that Italy is one of
the countries where the knowledge of at least two foreign languages has incremented the most.
learning experiences (93% of the answers is I totally agree or I agree with this as-
sumption). Besides, the survey expresses the clear need to put in contact the labour
world with the education institutions in order to improve competences which could
be useful to facilitate the access to the labor market for young and adults: the capital
relevance of SMEs to testing projects in the eld of education is widely underlined.
Finally, stakeholders suggest the use of scal incentive for enterprises accepting to
train their employees on foreign languages, eld on which the interprofessional funds
are considered relevant.
To conclude, also in line with the European strategies above mentioned, the survey
revealed the need to invest on trainers training (90% of interviewed stakeholders thinks
that national budget should be incremented).
Guidelines for the future programming period
Getting back to the European strategy, we could now understand how decision makers
should act in the next future. The document Rethinking European Education chooses
5 keywords:
- Quantity: more hours need to be invested into the teaching and learning of lan-
guages (both in general and vocational education and training). Pupils should start
earlier in life to learn foreign languages and at least two foreign languages should
be taught to all pupils during compulsory education.
- Quality: teaching should be improved with the help of innovative methods, includ-
ing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) where non-language subjects
are taught through the medium of a foreign language, initial and in-service training
of language teachers, increased opportunities for using language competences and
the development of ICT-based language learning resources.
- Focus: language learning outcomes must be geared to support employability,
mobility and growth. Education systems have to respond better to pupils learn-
ing and professional needs and work more closely with employers, chambers of
commerce and other stakeholders, linking language teaching to the creation of
EU-level career paths.
- Guidance: in line with this focus, Member States should provide adequate guid-
ance to pupils and their families.
- Monitoring: developments in learning outcomes should be monitored to identify
strengths and weaknesses and, ultimately, to improve the effectiveness of the
system
It appears self-evident how such a strategy stays perfectly in line with stakeholders
opinions quoted above. Besides, in the same document, is underlined how the trans-
parency of qualications and the recognition of competences acquired in non-formal
educational paths, could represent a turning point in the European education and train-
ing system and, therefore, of the entire EU competitiveness. The strategy calls actually
for a systematization of national recognition methods used today by Member States
in a single consistent system able to guarantee the full implementation of the single
market
30
, able to valorise competences acquired in formal and non formal contexts,
fostering transparency and pointing on the development of a permanent lifelong learn-
ing guidance system directly referred to European labor market
31
. Within this framework
the Bologna process and the academic recognition of degrees and diplomas can take
the lead once again.
Conclusions
It seems that the bizarre inter-institutional path which led to the born of the virtuous
circle that made up Europeans, could still be the real key for education and training
policies growth in the EU. In this path citizens, institutions and multilevel stakehold-
ers of education and training world have each one their own fundamental task. This
is why we are honored to present the following interventions: they report a clear
analysis for each one of the aspects that we tried here to testify from an empiric and
strategic point of view; they explain how policies in this sector should be shaped fol-
lowing a bottom-up approach, made up by small but relevant steps: those steps that
Jean Monnet suggested more than 50 years ago and that today are clearly recalled in
the Open Method of Coordination which we quoted at the beginning of this text. Still
today this strategy appears to be more than actual, especially in a sector so sensible
such as education, which still not being part of Communitarian exclusive competence,
de-facto shapes that Europe of citizens more than any other does. In todays Europe,
knowledge and multilingualism are the real engine, a stable and tested engine that, if
powered in the correct way, can lead to a common and inclusive growth.
30
European Qualication Framework (EQF), Europass, European credit system for vocational education and
training (ECVET), European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).
31
Communication from the Commission Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic
outcomes, COM(2012) 669 nal, page. 9 These instruments were not developed in isolation from each other;
however, there is room for much closer coherence where the different tools and services - including transparency
and recognition of qualications, validation of non-formal and informal learning and lifelong guidance - are
offered in a coordinated way.
29 How can promoting and developing language competences foster mobility
Preface
Rethinking Education
32
- a European strategy aimed at encouraging Member States
to take immediate action to ensure that young people develop the skills and compe-
tences needed by the labour market - is based on the following conditions: high youth
unemployment rate and 2 million vacancies that cannot be lled across the European
Union, two problems which would appear to be in contradiction with one another. The
Rethinking Education strategy is based on the results of the annual monitoring report
for education prepared by the European Commission
33
, which shows that:
- to this day in Europe around 25% of adults have low qualications;
- around 20% of 15-year-olds lack basic reading and writing skills and in 5 countries,
over 25% have poor reading skills (Bulgaria 41%; Romania 40%; Malta 36%; Austria
27.5% and Luxembourg 26%);
- in some Member States the dropout rate is still unacceptable (26.5% in Spain and
23.2% in Portugal);
- less than 9% of adults engage in lifelong learning.
Europe is bound to respond more assertively to the pressing demand of an improvement
in the quality of education and of the supply of competences: in 2020 over one third
of the jobs in the EU will required tertiary-level qualications and only 18% of these
will require low qualications.
Adapting and updating the teaching and training strategies and methods is necessary
to make sure that education fulls at best the needs of the students and of the labour
market. The recommendations encourage Member States to strengthen the link between
the education system and the labour market, to bring businesses in the classroom and
give young people an idea of what the business world is like through learning based on
32
Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes, Communication from the Com-
mission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions - Strasbourg, 20.11.2012, COM2012 669.
33
The Commission presents the new strategy Rethinking Education, Press Release - Brussels/Strasbourg, 20

November 2012, <http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1233_it.htm> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
1.2 How can promoting and developing
language competences foster mobility ,
employability and growth
Francesca Carta
Chapter 2
the idea of work. Rethinking Education urges above all an important shift in teaching
methods which should focus more on the learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and
competences acquired by the students) and calls upon Member States to reform the
education systems in order to ght youth unemployment and strengthen the supply
of competences, by making education and training the driving force for growth and
competitiveness
34
.
The annex to the Rethinking Education communication titled Language competences
for employability, mobility and growth
35
draws the attention on those measures which
could help people nd the best job for them in their country or abroad while assisting
businesses to secure the necessary language competences to become more competi-
tive. The document is addressed to policymakers, training and education professionals,
human resources managers, trainers trainers and in general to people in charge of
dening the learning path towards improving the language competences. In particular,
the document insists on how language competences are the key to a modern European
education system. Improving language competences in children, young people and
adults will ease workers and students mobility and it will improve the employability
of the European labour force, as poor language competences are an obvious obstacle
to seizing job opportunities not only abroad but also in local companies who operate
in the international market.
Unfortunately, the gures on foreign language learning in Europe are still insufcient
36
:
only 1 out of 4 learners is an independent user of the rst foreign language, meaning
the ability to have a simple conversation in that language. Moreover, Member States
show signicant differences in performance: the number of independent users in the
rst foreign language varies from 9% in United Kingdom to 14% in France, up to 82% in
Malta e Sweden
37
. Such a disparity among Member States in foreign language learning
shows that the quality of language teaching should be developed on a variety of points.
Each state should establish its needs and establish a strategy to improve the quality
and efciency of foreign language teaching. In this context, a profound knowledge
of a foreign language becomes one of the determining goals of learning, professional
mobility and national and international employability. Preparing young people with
an adequate mix of competences has never been an easy task, and it is even more
difcult in our rapidly changing times. Trying to guess what competences the labour
34
Investing in education and training, an answer to Rethinking Education. Investing in skills for better socio-
economic results and for the annual growth report 2013 - Implementing the Council conclusions; Secretary
General of the Council - Brussels, 1
st
February 2013, 5698/13.
35
Language competences for employability, mobility and growth, Accompanying the document Communication
From the Commission Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes - Stras-
bourg, 20.11.2012, SWD(2012) 372 nal.
36
Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe, 2012 Edition - July 2012, <http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/
education/eurydice/documents/key_data_series/143EN.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
37
First European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC), SurveyLang - June 2012, <http://ec.europa.eu/lan-
guages/eslc/it/index.html> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
market will require in 10-20-30 years is complicated, although with regard to language
competences, it is possible to imagine what the context will be like in the future and
encourage the education and training system to teach learners how to acquire new
language competences; learning how to learn a foreign language needs to become an
integral part of the education of every individual.
Within the framework of European cooperation in education and training for the
2012/2014 period, promoting learners mobility at all levels of education and training
has become a priority, with a special focus on the quality of -and removing the barriers
to- mobility, by encouraging teachers to move around. Already in 2011
38
, a series of
measures was proposed to foster vocational mobility and learning in Europe through
the improvement of language competences, based on the idea that languages are one
of the important tools which citizens have at their disposal to increase their chances
of being employed and strengthen their intercultural acknowledgement, their creativity
and personal development, as well as to take an active part in society.
Europeans widely acknowledge the importance of language competences, as high-
lighted by the respondents to the Eurobarometer
39
; they are also aware of the divide
between the real language competences they have and what the labour market actually
requires. The Eurobarometer shows that for 19% of the European population learning
a new language is discouraged, especially for young people under 20 who are out of
school. In June 2013, in the Compact for growth and jobs: one year on
40
the European
Council conrms what had already been outlined in 2012, namely the need to highly
encourage job mobility to foster economic recovery and ght unemployment. Follow-
ing such intention, a number of elds of actions are pointed out, within the Language
competences for employability, mobility and growth framework (see note No. 35):
1. Improving the efciency of the education and training system with regard to
teaching foreign languages.
Member States are encouraged to take action in order to raise the efciency of
teaching and learning in terms of:
- quantity, by starting at an early age and by increasing the number of teaching
hours, by teaching at least two foreign languages to learners and by increasing
exposition to the language at school and using the media;
- quality, by using innovative methods and approaches to train future and ex-
perienced language teachers;
- monitoring learning outcomes.
38
Council conclusions on language competences to enhance Mobility, 3128th EDUCATION, YOUTH, CULTURE
and SPORT, Council meeting - Brussels, 28 and 29 November 2011, <http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/
cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/126373.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
39
Europeans and their Languages, Special Eurobarometer 386 - June 2012, <http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/
archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
40
The Compact for Growth and Jobs: one year on, Report to the European Council - 27/28 June 2013, <http://
ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/compact_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
The Commission supports this also with the new Erasmus+ Programme
41
, which
mentions learning different languages as one of its objectives, thus acknowledging
that learning foreign languages plays a key role in the promotion of mobility for
students and those who are undergoing vocational training and their employability.
2. Enhancing the targeting of language competences to foster employability, mobil-
ity and growth.
The existing divide between the language competences offered and the demand of
the labour market is a given fact. In 2011, the European Commission published a
report of the OMC working group Language for jobs with a compendium of good
practices and guidelines to modernise the education system and bridge the gap
between the demand and supply of language competences
42
.
In the years to come, the EU will support the targeting of language competences
learning outcomes by:
- Developing innovative language learning tools and methods within the frame-
work of Strategic Partnerships of Erasmus+ (Key Action 2);
- Identifying and analysing good practices -thanks to the Language in educa-
tion and training working group established by the Commission in 2012- in
order to increase language skills for the business world;
- Providing practical help through existing tools at European level: the EU Skills
Panorama
43
will help anticipate skills needs; the Europass and European skills
Passport Programmes
44
will support self-assessment and recognition of lan-
guage skills.
3. Encouraging Member States to invest better in language teaching
A more systematic use of the funds available can signicantly increase the return
of the investment on language skills. The general idea for Member States is not to
spend more money but to use the money invested more efciently by targeting
and monitoring learning outcomes.
4. New parameters for language learning (a new European benchmark on language
skills).
41
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing Erasmus+: the union Programme
for education, training, youth and sport and repealing, Decisions No 1719/2006/EC, No 1720/2006/EC AND
No 1298/2008/EC, 2011/0371 (COD) LEX 1399 <http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/documents/
erasmus-plus-legal-base_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013) .
42
Languages for jobs - Supply of multilingual communication skills for the labour market Report of the thematic
working group Languages for jobs, European Strategic Framework in the eld of education and training (ET
2020) - 2011, <http://ec.europa.eu/languages/ped/langugaes-for-jobs-report_it.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
43
The European skills passport is a tool which helps job-seekers to give a complete picture of their skills and
qualications through an online system - <https://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/editors/en/esp/compose> (Con-
sulted on 10/12/2013).
44
EU skills Panorama is a website that can help improve the capacity for skills assessment and anticipation;
inform skills governance through the anticipation of skills needs; improving responsiveness of education and
training systems; and enhancing the matching of supply and demand for labour across Europe - <http://
euskillspanorama.ec.europa.eu/> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
Among other measures present, there is a new benchmark for language learning:
by 2020 at least 50% of 15 year-olds should be competent in their rst foreign
language (compared to the present 42%) and at least 75% should study a second
foreign language (compared to the present 61%). To carry on the work on language
skills, the European Commission proposed the rst benchmark on language skills
based on a dual approach, according to the data currently available and to the
present situation of language teaching in Europe.
By 2020 at least 50% of 15 year-olds should be able to reach the level of independ-
ent user in their rst foreign language (compared to the present 42%); at least 75%
of pupils in lower secondary education should study at least two foreign languages
(compared to the present 61%).
The point of view of stakeholders
With regard to the contents and proposals of Language competences for employability,
mobility and growth (see note No. 35) the National Agency thought it was important to also
consider the perspective of privileged players of the training and education system and thus
invited a group of stakeholders
45
to ponder on the problems and obstacles to the develop-
ment of language skills as a means to encouraging mobility and sustaining employability
by using an online questionnaire. The survey was carried out in June 2013 (see Annex 1).
With the analysis of the outcomes of the survey it was possible to verify the consensus
among the stakeholder regarding both the measures outlined in the European strategy
and further possible actions.
Here below, some of the points raised in the questionnaires presented according to the
three levels of organisation of the survey: political, cultural and economic dimension.
The political dimension
It clearly emerges the importance of a close relationship between the business world
and the education system, to make sure the supply of language skills meets the needs
of the labour market as much as possible. In the attempt of analysing such relationship
from a political point of view, the interviewees were asked their opinion on the need
to establish a parliamentary committee on the development of policies to strengthen
the relation between language skills and the labour market, and what are the pos-
sible alternative actions (question 1.a - There is a need to establish a Parliamentary
Committee on the development of policies to strengthen the relation between LS and
the labour market): 55.7% of the respondents agreed with the need, as conrmed by
the answers to question 1.e Politics must be excluded from the strategic process of
45
For further information on the composition of the sample, the elaboration and analysis of the questionnaires
see the methodological note in this volume.
development of LS, while 51.3% disagrees with excluding politics from the strategic
process of development of language skills.
Stakeholders were also asked their opinion on the organisation of meetings with VET
(Vocational Education and Training) systems and the labour market to favour the de-
velopment of languages, in line with the invitation to direct language skills towards the
needs of the business world (question 1.b - There is a fundamental need to establish
round tables on LS between VET and the business world and question 1.i - Shared
experiences between the business world and the VET systems is not relevant for the
development of LS adequate to the needs of young people): 84.3% positively welcomed
this hypothesis (question 1.b), as conrmed by 85% of respondents who disagree with
the statement Shared experiences between the business world and the VET systems
is not relevant for the development of LS adequate to the needs of young people
(question 1.i).
With regard to the link between training world and labour market, the attention was
shifted on the training of teachers/trainers and the interviewees were asked their opinion
on training planning (questions 1.d - 1.m). The results of the two items analysed show
some incongruences in the answers which should be interpreted as an ambivalent
attitude on the part of the respondents, as a mark that this is a crucial topic in the
improvement of language skills (see Ch. 1.9).
Respondents almost unanimously, over 90%, share the statement Investment planning
in language teachers/trainers training needs to be multiannual (question 1 d). The
outcomes of this item are relevant when compared to 53.9% of interviewees who agree
that Trainers training must be planned on an annual basis so that it can be tailored to
the current demand (question 1.m) and to 20.9% who neither agree nor disagree. In
particular, the percentage of respondents who do not have strong feelings about the
second item (question 1.m) raises serious questions about the problems that multian-
nual planning could have in terms of sudden changes in the labour market and the
effects on the supply of training programmes. The only constant is the need to invest
in training for the players of the education systems (for both future and experienced
personnel), as a prerequisite for improving the quality of language teaching and learning.
Chart 1. Compared questions: 1.d e 1.m
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
1.d - Investment planning in language teachers/trainers
Trainingneeds to be multiannual
1.m -Trainers training must be planned on an annual
basis sothat it can be tailored to the current demand
Strongly agree Strongly
disagree
Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
Source: Isfol - LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
In reference to the urgent need to Dene the procedures and tools to recognise
LS acquired in non-formal and informal learning contexts (also during mobility)
(question 1.g) - as highlighted by the coherent answers to question 1.n (Only LS
acquired in formal contexts should be evaluated) - the important outcome here
is not only the interest concerning such item (92.2% of stakeholders agrees with
question 1.g), but also the widespread awareness that language skills, more than
other competences, can be acquired and developed through experiences not only in
formal but also in non-formal and informal learning settings; consider, for instance,
the potential impact of transnational mobility on the development of language skills
(see Ch. 1.4). The prevailing non-formal and informal nature of language learning has
inevitably brought the attention also on the assessment and evaluation of learning
outcomes, and on the creation of effective and innovative certication tools and
methods (see Ch. 1.6).
The respondents also agree on the need to increase investments in language training:
75.7% is in agreement with the statement 1 percentage point of the GDP must be
destined to public investment in LT (question 1.h), and, coherently, 70.4% believes
current public investment to be insufcient (question 1.k - With some spending re-
view, the current public investment in LT is already sufcient). These outcomes outline
stakeholders perceived need for policy measures to ensure a closer relationship between
training system and labour market, especially with regard to the need to better direct
the supply of language skills towards the needs of the business world. This goal cannot
be achieved without political actions to create a real dialogue between the two con-
texts and without planned economic investment to ensure effective language training.
Furthermore, respondents almost unanimously agree (over 90%) with the urgent need
to start teaching at least two foreign languages at all levels of education until the age
of 16 (question 1.l - It is fundamental to start teaching at least two foreign languages
at all levels of education until the age of 16). As pointed out earlier, learning outcomes
for foreign languages in Europe are still inadequate and the analysis of the results of
these two items conrms the underlying need to establish a new European benchmark
on language skills.
The cultural dimension
Stakeholders were asked their opinion, with regard to the connection between the de-
velopment of language skills and cultural barriers, on the need to establish partnerships
between schools, Universities and training centres (question 2.a see Table 1, question
2.g see Table 2). An analysis of the items shows a coherent attitude with the need to
create specic networks focused on language development: the 89,6% of respondents
agree with the need to set up a partnership between the main actors of languages skills
development (question 2.a); the 78,3% of respondents believe that this partnership is
not necessary (question 2.g).
Table 1. Question 2.a: In order to develop LS there is a need to establish partner-
ships between schools/universities/training centres and businesses so that
all the stakeholders are involved and informed
Frequency
Percentage
frequency
Cumulative
percentage frequency
Strongly agree 75 65,2 65,2
Agree 28 24,3 89,6
Neither agree nor disagree 8 7,0 96,5
Disagree 3 2,6 99,1
Strongly disagree 1 0,9 100,0
Total 115 100,0 --
Table 2. Question 2.g: Creating specic networks on the development of LS is not
necessary
Frequency
Percentage
frequency
Cumulative
percentage frequency
Agree 6 5,2 7,0
Disagree 43 37,4 59,1
Total 115 100,0 --
The shared need for networking between language training players is also conrmed
by answers to question 2.d: 84.3% of stakeholders agree that Creating an open and
shared website to actively involve all LT players would be useful (e.g. Wikipedia for
languages).
This project could nd an obstacle in the lack of information on the supply of language
training available on the market and stakeholders were thus asked to express their
opinion on this topic (question 2.c - It is necessary to promote information on the
supply of LT available on the market and question 2.m - Information on language
learning opportunities available (courses, event, materials, etc.) is vast and diffuse).
Chart 2. Compared questions: 2.c e 2.m
2.c - It is necessary to promote information
on the supply of LT available on the market
2.m - Information on language learning opportunities
available (courses, event, materials, etc.) is vast and diffuse
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
disagree
Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
disagree
Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
Another cultural barrier to the development of language skills is the divide between
business world and language training. Coherently with the document Language com-
petences for employability, mobility and growth (see note No. 35), as much as 79.1% of
interviewees think businesses should be involved in the planning of language training,
as a strategic value for the business itself (question 2.f - The involvement of busi-
nesses in planning language training or projects is a strategic asset). The relevance
of such outcomes is conrmed also by stakeholders agreement to the advisability of
encouraging the dialogue between business world and language training also with tax
incentives (question 3.c - It is necessary to grant tax incentives to those businesses
which invest in LT for their employees and question 3.i - It is counterproductive to
link tax incentives to the supply of LT in businesses).
An enquiry was also made on the relationship between language training and mass
media, based on the ndings of the Language competences for employability, mobility
and growth document, according to which improving the efciency of the education
and training systems with regard to foreign language teaching also involves increasing
the exposition to mass media. Coherently, 93% of respondents
46
agree with the use of
mass media in another language (question 2.k - The use of mass media in a foreign
46
54% of respondents strongly agrees and 39% agrees with the statement The use of mass media in a foreign
language plays a fundamental role in the construction of a multilingual culture.
language plays a fundamental role in the construction of a multilingual culture),
although 60% believe that the tools for language skills development available online
are insufcient and not diversied (question 2.i -The tools available on line for the
development of LS are sufcient and diversied); in order to meet these needs, the
tools available should be systematized and enhanced.
With regard to the use of promoting the culture of language skills assessment and
recognition (question 2.l - It is useful to promote the culture of assessment and valida-
tion of LS for their recognition), 88% is in agreement, in line with what stated earlier
(question 1.g, see par. The political dimension) and in the paragraph on the recognition
of language skills (see Ch. 1.6).
There is another cultural issue which should be mentioned, in our globalised and multi-
cultural world: the study of minority languages. 71.3% of stakeholders agree to promote
the study of minority languages also through extracurricular training activities (ques-
tion 2.n - In this era of globalisation it is important to promote the study of minority
languages through extracurricular). The European Language Label is an important
tool to promote and learn minority languages and will be dealt with more clearly in
Section 2 of this document.
The economic dimension
From an economic standpoint, the survey tried to highlight the different aspects related
to the need to provide better information on the funds available. The outcome shows
that different stakeholders share the EU call to make the most of the existing investment
and funding channels. Roughly 94% of the interviewees agree on the need to improve
information on the sources of funds available for language training (question 3.a - There
is a need to improve information on the sources of funds available for LT). In line with
this approach, 72.2% disagrees with budget cuts for information on sources of funding,
despite the economic crisis (question 3.d - In this phase of spending review, it is necessary
to cut the budget dedicated to information on funding sources available for language
education), a clear sign of the common awareness that the economic fate of a country
depends on training and education and that investing in knowledge can have a real impact
on the economy. To this end, it is worth underlining that 90.4% of respondents, coherently
with questions 1.d and 1.m (see par. The political dimension), agree on increasing the
budget dedicated to the training of trainers (question 3.b - The budget dedicated to the
training of teachers and trainers must be increased), as conrmed also by the answers
to question 3.g (Creating specic networks on the development of LS is not necessary)
with 86% of interviewees who judge the current investment inadequate.
With regard to the relationship between the investment in languages and the business
world, experts have controversial ideas on tax incentives: 92.2% agrees on the need
to grant tax incentives to those businesses which invest in language training (ques-
tion 3.c - It is necessary to grant tax incentives to those businesses which invest in
LT for their employees), 42.6% does not have any strong feeling on whether linking
businesses internal language supply to taxation might be counterproductive (question
3.i - It is counterproductive to link tax incentives to the supply of LT in businesses).
Stakeholders strongly agree with increasing interprofessional funds to promote lan-
guage training, stakeholders strongly agree (77.4% - question 3.f - It is necessary to
increase investment in LT of private employees through interprofessional funds), al-
though a high percentage of respondents (37.4%) neither agrees nor disagrees with the
statement Current interprofessional funds for the development of workers language
skills are more than adequate (question 3.j - Current interprofessional funds for the
development of workers language skills are more than adequate), which signals that
information on this topic is confuse and inadequately promoted. These issues will be
dealt with in greater detail in Chapter 1.7.
Chart 3. Compared questions: 3.c e 3.i
3.c - It is necessary to grant tax incentives to
those businesses which invest in LT for their
3.i - It is counterproductive to link tax incentives
to the supplyof LT in businesses
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
disagree
Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
disagree
Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
Language training involves not only employees working for private companies, but
also civil servants and, despite the crisis and spending review policies, which especially
target public administration, 83.4% of interviewees disagrees with reducing the cost of
public administration by cutting investment in language training (question 3.e - In this
phase of spending review it is necessary to reduce the cost of PA by cutting investment
in the LT of civil servants) and 82.6% strongly agrees with investing more to promote
skills improvement of civil servants.
Conclusions
The analysis of the outcomes of the survey depicts a very clear picture of the role of
languages in the future commitment to enhance education and training systems in
Italy and Europe. Clearly, all future strategies will have to consider a broader role of lan-
guages as strategic competences to support Italian businesses, encourage professional
development of young people and kept the most disadvantaged in the labour market.
Some of these issues will be dealt with further on this book. For a more in depth analysis
please see the next chapters which present an interesting perspective from which to
start asking the right questions and nding some of the answers.
1.3 Languages for employability in the Leonardo
da Vinci Programme
Rossano Arenare
Chapter 3
Introduction
The promotion and development of language competences has always represented
a priority area of the European Community, since language diversity is a key feature
of a community involving different countries and it plays a crucial role in the actual
developing and establishing of an integrated Europe. Promoting the free movement of
people, capitals, goods and services and, more in general, the creation of a Europe of
citizens represents, of course, a challenging achievement, which may be attained only
through adequate support and incentives to learn the different existing languages.
As early as in the 1970s, language learning found its place in the debate on the inclusion
of education among the competences of the European Community, with fundamental
documents dening a European pathway towards education
47
. The need to promote
the acquisition of language competences gained a central role and was translated into
practice with the Resolution of the Council and of the Ministers of Education, meeting
within the Council, of 9 February 1976. The resolution represented a milestone for Eu-
ropean cooperation in education, and it comprised an action programme for vocational
training, distinguishing between measures to be implemented at Community level and
measures falling within the exclusive competence of Member States, beside introducing
language teaching among the priority areas of community action
48
. In the 1970s and
1980s, in compliance with the Resolution, a series of actions and initiatives progressively
stressed the need to widely promote language learning. Among the main tools identied
within the community strategy, Community Action Programmes played a major role,
47
The ofcial decision to include education among the competences of the European Commission dates back to
1973, while in 1974 Ralph Dahrendorf presented to the Council of the Ministries of the European Community
the Communication Education in the European Community which identied a number of priority actions:
1. promoting cooperation between secondary school institutions; 2. academic validation of studying periods
abroad.
48
With this Programme the European Community undertook the task of starting consultations with experts and
exchange of opinions among stakeholders in the eld of foreign languages, while Member States committed to:
offer all students the opportunity to study another language; implementing the principle that before qualify-
ing as a foreign-language teacher a student should have spent a period in the country or region where the
language to teach is spoken; promote language teaching outside of the traditional school system, especially
with regard to adult training.
43 Languages for employability in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme
in particular the Lingua Programme, ofcially adopted by the European Council with
Decision 89/489/EEC of 28 July 1989
49
. Through this Action Programme the Council
aimed, in particular, at promoting the knowledge and use of foreign languages among
EU citizens by means of a series of activities targeting the different actors involved.
More specically, the support focused on improving the quality of lifelong learning,
for both language teachers and their trainers and on promoting the study of foreign
languages in secondary school by raising the standards of initial training for future
language teachers. Moreover the Programme encouraged the organisation of courses
combining foreign languages and other school subjects, fostered the development of
foreign language teaching in the business world and promoted exchange programmes
addressing young people as well as activities supporting European associations active
in this eld
50
.
Subsequently the experience of the Lingua Programme experience was integrated and
strengthened within the initiatives for language learning envisaged by the commu-
nity Programmes Socrates
51
and Leonardo da Vinci
52
. Within the Leonardo da Vinci
Programme, aiming at fostering quality, innovation and the European dimension of
vocational training systems and practices through transnational cooperation, the focus
shifted on vocationally oriented language learning. As a matter of fact, since the rst
phase, the development of language competences in a vocational training context
represented a key element characterising the Programme.
Leonardo da Vinci Calls for proposals from 1995 to 2013: the
promotion of language competences
Throughout the three different phases of its evolution, the Leonardo da Vinci Pro-
gramme
53
has always included the promotion of language diversity and the learning and
development of vocational language skills within its specic goals. As a matter of fact
language competences are considered key factors triggering personal development and
intercultural dialogue, but also essential elements boosting the mobility and employ-
ability of citizens as well as the economic growth in a society strongly characterised
by the globalisation processes. These elements are clearly evident in all the Calls for
proposals characterising the Programmes development.
49
The Lingua Programme ran between 1990-1994, with an estimated budget of 200 million ECU. In the same
period the European Council started several Action Programmes: COMETT; EUROTECNET; FORCE; PETRA.
50
The Lingua Programme allowed 19,000 foreign language teachers to train abroad, 83,000 students to be
involved in education projects in cooperation with foreign schools and 32,000 university students to benet
of scholarships to study abroad.
51
Decision of the European Council no. 95/819/EEC.
52
Decision of the European Council no. 94/819/EEC.
53
The Programme was rst presented during the 1995-1999 planning (Decision of the European Council n.
94/819/EEC of 6 December 1994) and conrmed in the following programming periods 2000-2006 (Decision
of the Council no. 99/382/EC of 26 April 1999) and 2007-2013 (Decision of the European Parliament and of
the Council n. 1720/2006/EC of 15 November 2006).
In line with the Decision establishing the Programme, the rst phase of the Programme
(1995-1999) was characterised by ve Calls for proposals envisaging actions aimed at
promoting the development of language competences and the innovation of vocational
training.
In fact the Decision devoted a specic Strand
54
to languages, thus stressing the need
to contribute to the development of language competences and highlighting the key
role of transnational cooperation in raising language skills standards. The support of
the European Community focused on transnational pilot projects aimed at, for instance,
developing and disseminating techniques for the assessment of language skills needs,
designing joint curricula and innovative teaching supports (including the recognition
of acquired language competences), devising initiatives to carry out language compe-
tences audits in enterprises
55
, developing educational materials adapted to the specic
needs of each vocational area or economic sector as well as self-learning methods. The
envisaged activities aimed at supporting the achievement of the Programmes goals
through the promotion of the development, testing, assessment and validation of these
teaching materials and methodologies as well as the implementation of dissemina-
tion strategies at European level. Moreover the Programme envisaged transnational
exchange programmes involving teachers and tutors, in the eld of language skills, as
part of vocational training measures.
The different Calls for proposals featured the promotion of language competences
in different Community priorities. The improvement of language skills in relation to
specic sectors, for instance, was envisaged in the priority focused on the promotion
of investments in human resources
56
, while the elaboration of e-learning and self-
study models and tools (with regard to the promotion of language competences) was
included in the priority aimed at widening the access to knowledge through the tools
provided by the information society
57
. Furthermore the improvement of employability
prospects through the development of language competences was envisaged in the
priority focused on the acquisition of new competences
58
.
The Programme second phase (2000-2006) was characterised by further investments
on language learning. Among the ve community measures for the achievement of
the Programmes goals, the Decision featured a specic measure for the promotion of
language competences and the understanding of different cultures within the frame-
54
Strand III: Support for the development of language skills, knowledge and the dissemination of innovation in
the eld of vocational training.
55
Special attention was given to SMEs and socio-economic actors.
56
See National Call for proposals within the framework of the Vocational Training Action Plan Leonardo da
Vinci - 1997.
57
See National Call for proposals within the framework of the Vocational Training Action Plan Leonardo da
Vinci - 1998.
58
Call for proposals (DG XXII/36/98) within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme.
work of vocational training, a measure specically dened Language competences
59
.
Also in this programming period the Community envisaged the implementation of
transnational pilot projects, innovative testing initiatives involving several countries
participating in the Programme, in order to promote and develop language skills in
vocational training contexts. Special attention was given to less widely used and taught
languages. The project initiatives were required to create educational materials, innova-
tive pedagogical methods (including language audits) and language learning self-study
approaches meeting the actual needs of the different economic sectors. The Decision
also envisaged initiatives to support language and cultural competences within other
actions and measures, thus contributing to the improvement of the skills of trainers
and tutors in charge of students guidance within transnational mobility programmes.
Moreover, within the Mobility Measure, the Decision envisaged nancial support to
transnational exchange programmes involving teachers and tutors in the area of lan-
guage competences, as part of vocational training measures.
In compliance with the Decision, the Calls for proposals
60
included the promotion of
language competences within the community priorities, with different goals: pro-
moting language learning to promote mobility on the labour market and to support
vocational training; developing tools and methods to assess and recognise non-formal
and informal language competences; developing new learning and teaching techniques
to compensate the weaknesses characterising different contexts, such as languages
supporting mobility, skills integrated into language learning and multilingualism, and
advanced language learning enhanced by technological support
61
and authoring on
line tools especially designed for language teachers.
The Decision establishing the Action Programme in the eld of lifelong learning (LLP
Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013)
62
featured the promotion and development
of vocationally oriented language competences within the Leonardo da Vinci sectoral
Programme. In particular the Programmes goals envisaged the promotion of language
learning and linguistic diversity through a series of actions
63
, promoting both individual
transnational mobility and the development and transfer of innovative training prac-
59
See Arenare R., Guido N., A.M. Senatore, Lanalisi delle Misure di attuazione del Programma Leonardo da Vinci,
in La scuola in Europa, Anno VI - N. 1, marzo 2006.
60
Between 2000 and 2006 three Calls for proposals were issued. The rst Call covered a period of three years
(2000-2002) while the other two were biennial (2003-2004 and 2005-2006).
61
TELL - Technology-Enhanced Language Learning.
62
The LLP Programme includes four sectoral Programmes (Comenius, Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, Grundtvig) and
the Jean Monnet Programme, as well as a Transversal Programme featuring four Key Activities. A specic Key
Activity focuses on language learning.
63
The Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme supports ve actions included in the Lifelong Learning Programme:
transnational mobility of individuals; Multilateral Partnerships; Transfer of Innovation and Development of
Innovation Multilateral projects; Networks involving experts and organisations; Preparatory visits supporting
the networking of organisations.
tices within the framework of vocational education and training systems, institutions
and practices.
The related Calls for proposals assigned a key role to language learning, featuring
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as a transversal priority for all the
Leonardo da Vinci projects. The intervention areas were quite diversied, focusing, in
particular, on four main issues:
5. Developing the skills and competences of vocational education and training profes-
sionals (teachers, trainers, guides, tutors in the eld of vocational education and
training) to support their professional development through language learning;
6. Developing the skills of adult workers (increasing their learning opportunities at
the workplace) including vocationally oriented language learning;
7. Improving learning settings through the use of Information and Communication
Technologies to encourage language learning;
8. Promoting the acquisition of key skills
64
within vocational education and training,
including Vocationally Oriented Language Learning (VOLL) and Content Integrated
Language Learning (CLIL), as well as developing new approaches to support lan-
guage learning in VET, specically tailored to the needs of students and trainees.
The two Ministries coordinating the LLP Programme at national level (Ministry of Labour
and Social Policies and Ministry of Education, University and Research) have always
devoted a particular attention to vocationally oriented language learning, also envisag-
ing specic national priorities, integrating the above-mentioned European priorities.
In some cases the national priorities merely conrmed the criteria dened by the Eu-
ropean priorities, when these priority elements met the national needs. In other cases
the National Authorities identied specic priorities corresponding to specic national
needs. For instance, the European priority focused on the promotion and acquisition
of key skills in VET
65
, was integrated by the coordinating Ministries, in line with the
European Framework for Key Competences and with the Youth Employment Action
Plan through the integration of education and work - jointly drafted by the above-
mentioned Ministries - encouraged the development of ideas for the acquisition of key
competences (including the use of foreign languages and, in particular, of the CLIL),
and the development of systems to support language learning in initial vocational
education and training, based on the needs and potential of the students involved.
Considering the attention devoted over the years to the promotion and development
of vocationally oriented language competences, the new European Programme Eras-
64
Recommendation of the European Parliament and the Council 2006/962/EC of 18 December 2006 on key
competences for lifelong learning.
65
See Priority 3 of the National priorities and administrative rules for the Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme,
2011.
mus Plus
66
, for the years 2014 - 2020, will continue along this pathway, through the
identication of specic intervention areas within the three envisaged key actions
67
.
The Calls for Proposals and the approved projects: a brief analysis
During the years considered, many approved projects promoted vocationally oriented
language learning, due to the feature of transversal priority assigned to language
competences in several Calls for proposals. The current analysis, however, focuses, in
particular, on the 45 decentralised projects specically focused on language learning,
as priority objective of the initiative.
First of all, the comparison among the three different phases of the Programme high-
lights a declining trend in the number of projects on language learning approved.
In particular the higher number of projects was approved in the 1995-1999 period
(characterised by approximately the 53% of language learning projects), while the
percentage decreased to, respectively, the 31% in 2000-2006, and to the 16% in 2007-
2013 (see Chart 4).
Chart 4. Distribution of Leonardo da Vinci projects focused on language compe-
tences in different programming periods
53%
31%
16%
1995-1999 2000-2006 2007-2013
66
Communication of the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Erasmus for all: the EU Programme for education, training,
young people and sport, COM(2011) 787 nal draft, of 15 November 2011. During the negotiations for the
denition of the structure and functioning of the Programme, the Irish Presidency reached an agreement on
the new European Programme which will be called Erasmus+
67
The Erasmus+ Programme features three key actions: Key Action 1Learning mobility of individuals; Key Action
2 Cooperation for Innovation and good practices; Key Action 3 Support for Policy Reforms in the Member
States.
This steady fall is partially due to two main factors: the decision to progressively reduce
investments on testing initiatives supporting individual transnational mobility, and the de-
cision by the Commission, to directly manage the majority of actions promoting language
competences
68
.
Consistently with the scope of the Programme, the nanced initiatives were mainly
managed by beneciary organisations active in the eld of vocational education and
training. Overall, in fact, approximately the 78% of beneciaries are represented by
organisations active in this eld - vocational training providers (40%), schools (27%),
and Universities (11%), with a relevant percentage of organisations from the world
of work. In fact, the 13% of the total number of beneciaries is represented by social
partners (9%) and enterprises (4%). These signicant gures reect the specic Pro-
gramme goals, aiming at promoting the dialogue between vocational education and
training systems and the labour market, fostering the development of VET provisions
meeting the actual needs of enterprises. Furthermore the participation of non-prot
organizations appears to be quite relevant (5%), and it is represented by Institutes active
in the eld of vocational training and, in particular, by organisations promoting actions
specically targeted at disadvantaged groups. On the contrary, local Authorities were
weakly involved in the projects (2%). The chart below (see Chart 5) shows in detail the
distribution of projects per type of beneciary.
68
In the current Lifelong Learning Programme, for instance, the Transversal Programme (not focused on a specic
eld of education and training, but rather on the lifelong learning process as a whole) - representing a sort of
bridge between the four sectoral Programmes - is managed by the European Commission through the Execu-
tive Agency EACEA. The Programme features four Key Activities, including a specic Key Activity promoting
language learning and supporting language diversity in the Member States (Key Action 1 Policy cooperation
and innovation; Key Action 2 Languages; Key Action 3 Information-Communication-Technologies; Key Action
4 Dissemination and exploitation of results).
Chart 5. Distribution of projects by type of beneciary organisations
S
40%
School
27%
University
11%
Social partner
9%
No profit association
5%
Enterprise
4%
Foundation
2%
Local body
2%
Training centre
ource: Isfol - LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
With regard to the geographical distribution of approved projects (see Chart 6), the
analysis highlights a majority of beneciary organisations of central Italy, represent-
ing the 60% of initiatives. The residual 40% is distributed mostly in northern Italy,
approximately the 31% of projects, while southern Italy and the Islands contributed
with a 9% of approved projects. This unbalanced distribution, with a concentration
on beneciaries located in the central area of Italy, is easily explained by the fact that
many organisations, whose branches are located all over the national territory, have
their registered headquarters in Rome, and the applications are usually submitted by
the headquarters. In any case this kind of projects are characterised by the transnational
partnership, necessarily involving organisations from different areas of Italy, as well as
by different European countries. As a consequence the implemented initiatives have
an impact, and therefore a positive effect, well beyond the area where the beneciary
organisation is located.
Chart 6. Distribution of projects by macro-geographical areas
North, 31%
Centre, 60%
South-Island, 9%
The nanced initiatives were characterised by the overarching goal of promoting the
development, testing, validation, transfer and dissemination of training practices meet-
ing the specic needs of the different professional and economic sectors. Over the past
years the projects realized different outputs such as teaching materials, innovative
self-study methods, language audits, online e-learning platforms, radio shows, etc. (see
Table 3). Most of these products were created applying Information and Communica-
tion Technologies, and are, therefore, also available in electronic versions, and on the
project websites, to be downloaded, free of charge.
Table 3. Type of outcomes realized by projects during the different programming
periods
Type of products
1995-1999 2000-2006 2007-2013
Handbooks Handbooks Radio didactical units
Glossary Glossary Training moduls
Project websites Project websites / Portals /
E-learning languages platform
Project websites / Portals /
E-learning languages platform
Guides User guides / Teacher guides Database
Cd-Rom Cd-Rom
Eserciziari Database
Language Audits
Radio didactical units
Standard models for
assessment competences

The community languages promoted remained stable. In fact, although the projects
featured activities concerning a variety of languages (14 out of the 23 ofcial languages
of the European Union
69
were interested by some initiatives), it is possible to highlight
a majority of actions concerning the Italian language (the national language of the
beneciary organisation) and the more commonly used and studied EU languages
(English, French, German, Spanish), characterising approximately the 90% of projects
(see Chart 7). Furthemore some initiatives focused on a widely spread non-EU language
such as Arabic.
69
The 23 ofcial languages of the EU are: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, English, Irish,
Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish,
German, and Hungarian.
Chart 7. Distribution of projects by target languages
27%
26%
17%
12%
7%
2% 2%
1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1%
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The target group of the initiatives considered appears to be particularly interesting.
Over the years, several outputs were realised addressing several target groups. First of
all young people (involved in initial vocational training activities, University students,
employed, disabled people), vocational education and training professionals (teachers,
trainers, tutors, training managers), workers at all levels (with a special focus on SMEs),
disadvantaged target groups and social partners representatives (see Table 4).
Table 4. Target groups of projects during the different programming periods
Target groups
1995-1999 2000-2006 2007-2009
Entrepreneurs of SMEs Entrepreneurs of SMEs
Managers of SMEs Managers of SMEs
Workers of SMEs
Workers Operators and Managers of
Public Administration
Cultural language mediators
Executives Operators and Managers of
public employment services
Young workers People in continuous training
Clerical staff Clerical staff
Caregivers Caregivers
Technicians
Young in IVT Young in IVT
University student
Teachers / Trainers / Tutors
People in charge of training
Teachers / Trainers / Tutors Teachers / Trainers / Tutors
Deaf users (young people and
adults)
Deaf users (young people
and adults)
Social partners representatives Social partners representatives
Employers associations
Foreigners
Some of the initiatives targeted specic professionals, such as, for instance, the car-
egivers. Since 2000 the caregivers were devoted an increasing attention in terms of
language learning, due to the increasing in the employment opportunities in this sec-
tor, mainly employing foreign citizens. Therefore many projects implemented actions
for the development and transfer of training practices aimed at teaching Italian as a
foreign language. The same is also true for cultural and language mediators on which
Chapter 1.11 is focused.
These gures highlight a specic feature of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme: the
promotion of quality and innovation in vocational education and training systems and
tools in Member States. This objective is, also, achieved through the support to voca-
tional training systems, with a view to enhancing their responsiveness to the evolving
needs of the labour market.
Transnational mobility: a tool for language learning
Over the past twenty years, community policies have widespread the concept of Eu-
ropean dimension through by encouraging the cooperation among Member States
and modernising education and training systems. In fact, the number of initiatives for
the cooperation between education and training institutions of different EU countries
has multiplied, as has the number of networks connecting individuals of different na-
tionalities to exchange resources, materials and competences, thus generating mutual
knowledge, interaction skills and operational complementarity.
The creation of a European education and training space, with a view to lifelong learn-
ing, was built around the promotion of transnational mobility of people
70
which, in
time, has become a fundamental tool for the creation of an authentic European space
for lifelong learning, to improve employability and reduce poverty
71
. Its wider scope
is, in fact, to rouse an active European citizenship and help develop a transnational
identity through a better understanding of others and the discovery of new cultures
and societies.
The evolution of such a policy is the Europe 2020 Strategy, within the framework of
the agship initiative Youth on the Move, whose goal is to enhance the performance
and increase international attractiveness of European secondary schools and Universi-
ties, raise the standards of education and training in the EU at all levels by combining
excellency and equal opportunities, through the promotion of youth mobility
72
.
In the current economic and social crisis, mobility for learning needs to be -within the
policies of the Member States- a renewed and strengthened strategy, in order to create
skills and competences to innovate and compete at international level.
Transnational mobility, in fact, can improve the employability of students, both young
and not, and raise their intercultural awareness, foster their personal development,
70
Students, trainees, volunteers, teachers, researchers, apprentices, workers etc.
71
Recommendation of the European Parliament to the Council of 18 December 2006 on transnational mobility
within the Community for education and training purposes: European Quality Table for mobility (2006/961/EC).
72
Recommendation of the Council of 28 June 2011 Youth on the Move Promoting the learning mobility of
young people (2011/C 199/01).
1.4 Languages for mobility in the Leonardo da
Vinci Programme
Anna Butteroni
Chapter 4
55 Languages for mobility in the Leonardo da Vinci Programme
creativity and active citizenship. At the same time, the transnational nature of this
actions is instrumental to the innovation of education and training systems, the de-
velopment of European projects, the creation of networks, the transfer of experiences
and the cooperation in the eld of training.
Its kaleidoscopic variety of aspects makes transnational mobility a mirror of modern
times: multiple and changing cultural identities on one hand, the creation of a space
to move in on the other hand, in search of a possible recipe for diversity, in a place of
lifelong learning, eternally unnished and, thus, in continuous evolution.
The context where people are included and hosted does not replace their context of
origin; on the contrary, it integrates and enlarges it by superimposing or adding new
levels of identity, with an articulation, diversication and concurrence effect. In this
context, the sociology concept applied to the social systems of differentiation and inte-
gration is particularly useful. Differentiation is a form of socio-cultural change implying
the differentiation of the social system in parts which are different in their structure and
functionality, and the creation of subsystems with different rules and cultural values;
integration is the process through which the system acquires and keeps its structural
and functional unity, while preserving the differentiation of its element. In general,
integration is based on the free choice of people who accept the system at the basis
of behaviour standardisation. Transnational mobility means building, with a European
perspective, a new citizenship with the legacy of specic diversities and identities as
cornerstones of universality
73
. What Julia Kristeva wrote about the foreignness of the
foreigner is absolutely true in this case: the foreigner begins where the awareness of
my difference starts and ends where we all recognise ourselves as foreigners, rebellious
to ties and communities
74
.
In such a perspective, language communication is of course not only an important bridge
between different cultures, but also a fundamental element of European integration
processes: knowing one or more languages, besides the mother tongue, is a personal
as well as a professional need for people since in a world characterised by international
exchanges, being able to speak other languages is a competitive factor.
With the European Council of Barcelona in 2002, the Member States and the European
Commission have, indeed, have set the goal of favouring the study of two foreign
languages, besides the native language, as a strategic element in the building process
of a knowledge-based society.
Today, the European Union is multilingual: many languages are spoken in the EU in
theory and in practice, both in the sense that there are many native languages within
the EU area and that a large number of EU citizens speaks more than one language.
73
See Guido N., Progettare la formazione linguistica con Leonardo da Vinci, Isfol - Istanza Nazionale di coordi-
namento Programma Leonardo da Vinci), Roma.
74
Kristeva J., Strangers to Ourselves. Columbia University Press, New York, 1991. Translators note: this is a word
by word translation of the Italian version, it is not a quote from the ofcial English edition of the book.
However, language skills are not evenly distributed across the EU and citizens need
constant incentives to learn languages
75
.
In a labour market characterised by the forceful globalisation and the speed with which
change and development happen, a multilingual approach is ever more important to
improve the employability and mobility of people and, on the other hand, poor language
skills are a serious obstacle to the free movement of workers
76
. As the results of the rst
European survey on language skills
77
show, despite the investment in many countries,
the education systems in numerous Member States are not yet efcient enough to face
these challenges. At the end of the junior secondary education cycle, only 14% of French
pupils reach the level of independent user of a foreign language, and the percentage
drops to only 9% in the United Kingdom
78
. According to a recent study
79
, little more
than half of the Europeans are aware that the lack of language competences will be
a problem to nd a job abroad. As the European Commission has pointed out several
times in its documents, language skills not only favour comprehension among peoples,
they are also a fundamental prerequisite for a mobile workforce
80
and contribute to
the competitiveness of the EU economy
81
.
This is why transnational mobility is so important in further promoting language learn-
ing and improving intercultural competences.
The contribution of Leonardo Mobility to language learning
The mobility action of the Sectorial Programme Leonardo da Vinci -through the funding
of projects aimed at organising transnational internships for young people undergo-
ing initial vocational training (IVT)
82
or looking for work (PLM)
83
, and exchanges for
vocational education and training professionals (VETPRO)
84
- has been, over these years,
a privileged tool for the acquisition of new skills and/or knowledge which could not
be acquired in the traditional training setting because they are part of the mobility
75
Special eurobarometer 243 Europeans and their Languages, <http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/
ebs_243_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
76
European Commission, Green Paper, Promoting the learning mobility of young people, Brussels, 8.7.2009
COM(2009) 329 nal.
77
First European Survey on Language Competences - <http://ec.europa.eu/languages/eslc/docs/en/nal-report-
escl_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
78
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Rethinking Education: investing in skills for better
socio-economic outcomes, Strasbourg, 20.11.2012 COM(2012) 669 nal.
79
Special Eurobarometer 337 (2010). Geographical and labour market mobility, <http://ec.europa.eu/public_opin-
ion/archives/ebs/ebs_337_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
80
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Rethinking Education: investing in skills for better
socio-economic outcomes, Strasbourg, 20.11.2012 COM(2012) 669 nal, p. 20.
81
Conclusions of the Council of 19 May 2006 on the European Indicator of Language Competence OJ C 172 -
25.7.2006, pp. 1-3.
82
High school students, vocational training centres students, apprentices.
83
High school grads, university grads, rst-time job-seekers, unemployed, etc.
84
Teachers, trainers, tutors, vocational training and/or HR managers, etc.
experience and, sometimes, necessarily linked to the hosting environment as unique
experiential places
85
.
The number of projects nanced over the periods of reference testies the interest for
the action hereof (see Table 5): 632 projects approved from 2007 to 2012, of which
77% on youth mobility and the remaining 23% on VETPRO mobility.
Table 5. No. of Leonardo da Vinci nanced projects (2007-2012)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total
Persons undergoing
initial vocational
education and traning
36 32 35 40 32 42 217
People in the labour
market
36 35 37 47 59 55 269
VET Professionals 30 28 23 21 23 21 146
Total 102 95 95 108 114 118 632
The 632 projects, nished and ongoing, have given 33,500 young people the opportu-
nity to do an internship. As the following table shows (see Table 6) there are still about
17,600 young people involved in some form of initial vocational training or education,
a little over 15,900 who are looking for a job, and 4,220 VET professionals, for a total
of approximately 37,700 people
86
.
85
See Butteroni A. - Careddu P., La mobilit Leonardo da Vinci, in La Mobilit europea per listrizione e la Formazi-
one- Indagine sullimpatto LLP dal 2007 al 2012, Quaderni del Lifelong Learning, issue no. 20, LLP National
Agency - Indire, December 2012, Florence, pp. 73-85.
86
Data for the years 2011 and 2012 could change as they refer to ongoing projects.
Table 6 . Distribution of participants to Leonardo da Vinci mobility (2007-2012)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total
Persons undergoing
initial vocational
education and traning
2.789 2.680 2.506 3.248 3.278 3.119 17.620
People in the labour
market
2.007 2.270 2.229 2.687 3.045 3.683 15.921
VET Professionals 779 714 618 644 741 724 4.220
Total 5.575 5.664 5.353 6.579 7.064 7.526 37.761
For them, the mobility experience abroad is not only the possibility to acquire technical
and professional skills, adopt an intercultural approach based on mutual exchange and
communication, but also an opportunity to improve their language skills.
The survey carried out in 2012 by the National Agency LLP-Isfol on the assessment
of the impact of the Leonardo mobility on the individuals, institutions and territories
involved
87
shows that, among many signicant aspects, with regard to the priorities set
out by the EU 2020 strategy for the education and training system, according to the
respondents
88
, these projects have most contributed to making lifelong learning and
mobility possible (65.4%), immediately followed by the development of multilingual-
ism (40.6%), as being able to speak other languages besides the mother tongue. This is
even more signicant when put into context with the past twelve years of community
policies, where language skills have been identied as one of the necessary basic skills
of all citizens to be able to take part in the knowledge-based society and encourage
integration and social cohesion in the society
89
.
For the participants to the Leonardo Programme, the mobility experience contributed
not only to improving their language skills but also to adopting a multilingual approach,
as suggested by the data on the actual use of languages during the mobility period,
although the road ahead is still very long.
More specically, about 46% of young IVTs and 51% of PLMs used the ofcial language
of the hosting country, while the vehicular language was used by 28% of IVTs and 26%
87
A.A.VV., Le innovazioni di Leonardo. Valutazione dellimpatto dei Progetti dal Programma di Apprendimento
Permanente - Programma Leonardo da Vinci, negli anni 2007, 2008, 2009, Final Report December 2012, Rome.
The survey focused on the projects funded in Italy within the framework of the actions of the LdV Programme
for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009.
88
Overall, a total of 133 out of 292 mobility projects funded between 2007 and 2009 responded to the survey.
89
Council Resolution of 14 February 2002 on the promotion of linguistic diversity and language learning in the
framework of the implementation of the objectives of the European Year of Languages 2001 (2002/C 50/01).
of PLMs; the opposite is true for VETPRO participants, of which 64% used a vehicular
language other than the language spoken in the hosting country.
Chart 8. No. of participants using the language of hosting country, the vehicular
language or both languages during the mobility experience (2007-2012)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
IVT PLM VETPRO
Language of hosting country Vehicular language Both Languages
However, the analysis of the data cannot ignore the fact that over the year most
participants have chosen the United Kingdom and Spain as the destination for their
experience abroad, probably for pure language reasons in the former case and because
of understandable reasons of cultural contiguity in the latter case (see Chart 9).
Chart 9. No. of participants by hosting country (2007-2012)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
IVT PLM VETPRO
U
n
i
t
e
d

K
i
n
g
d
o
m
S
p
a
i
n
F
r
a
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e
r
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I
r
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l
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n
d
M
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i
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d
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l
g
i
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g
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l
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i
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n
i
a
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w
e
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e
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n
i
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d
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e
y
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O
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r

c
o
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t
r
i
e
s
Consequently, the most common language used in mobility actions by young people is
English, although a modest but still signicant multilingual approach is more frequent
in this group of participants rather than in the programmes dedicated to education and
training professionals. This could be due not only to the personal motivation of young
people to learn one or more foreign languages, but also to the nature itself of VETPRO
mobility whose impact is focused primarily on the system (and only secondarily on the
individual) and which involves much shorter periods (on average 1 or 2 weeks maximum)
as opposed to IVT and PLM placement. Consequently, it is plausible to think that there
is a relation between the vast use of the English language during the internship period
abroad and the fact that English teaching in Italy prevails against other languages, both
in secondary school, including vocational training, and in University
90
.
The overwhelming predominance of English, as the most used language during Leonardo
experiences, is also conrmed by data on the use of the lingua franca in all three target
groups, as shown in the next chart (see Chart 10).
90
See the survey Language Rich Europe, Cambridge University Press, November 2012, p. 150.
Chart 10. Distribution of the vehicular languages use in the target group 2007-
2012 (number of participants)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
IVT PLM VETPRO
english french spanish german
Although the transnational mobility of the Leonardo Programme is an opportunity to
develop and improve language skills, it is also true that the achievement of the train-
ing objectives set in the work programmes of the internships/exchanges depends on
the level of knowledge of the language speaking in the hosting country and/or of the
working language on the part of the participants to the programme. It is therefore
necessary to invest signicantly in preparatory and preparatory activities, as often the
overall success of the whole experience largely depends on it
91
.
As written in the European Quality Charter for Mobility (article 4), prior preparation of
the participants is advisable, and should be tailored to their specic needs. It should
include linguistic, pedagogical, legal, personal and cultural aspects and information on
nancial aspects, as necessary. Of course language skills have a primary role, they are
important for effective learning, intercultural communication and a better understand-
ing of the host countrys culture. Participants, and their sending and hosting organi-
91
Isfol and the LLP National Agency - Sectorial Programme Leonardo da Vinci, have gathered, classied and
led both the materials and the tools in use since 2006 in the other bodies -which organize mobility to train
and prepare the participants from a pedagogical, cultural and linguistic point of view-, in the database of
the Perparalamoblit vortal (prepare for mobility), <http://www.preparalamobilita.it/index.asp> (Consulted on
10/12/2013).
sations, should pay special attention to appropriate linguistic preparation. Wherever
possible, mobility arrangements should include:
- language assessment before departure and an opportunity to follow courses in
the language of the host country and/or the language of instruction, if different;
- in the host country, linguistic support and advice
92
.
Basic language skills are, indeed, fundamental when leaving and they will certainly
be improved when coming back, but the objective of the vocational internship should
also be the acquisition of sector-specic and specialist vocabulary and terminology.
The mobility experience should therefore start with a good level of knowledge of the
language. For this reason most beneciary organisation pay particular attention to the
evaluation of these criteria
93
during the participants recruitment process, especially
for PLMs and IVTs.
The Information Note on the criteria and methods of recruitment of the participants
to an IVT, PLM and VETPRO mobility placement action was submitted within the frame-
work of desk monitoring activities carried out by the National Agency on approved and
funded projects. The beneciary must ll out the note before the recruitment process
starts. This tool focuses especially on the entry language skills level, measured according
to the indicators of the self-assessment chart of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages
94
.
The data below (see Charts 11-12-13-14), referring to the IVT and PLM projects ap-
proved from 2009 to 2012, show that the organisers of the Leonardo mobility exchanges
are aware that in order to leave the participants should be independent users of the
language, able to interact independently with the surrounding environment, both in
terms of comprehension (reading and listening), and of speaking (oral interaction and
production) and writing.
The analysis of the diagrams shows that while in IVT projects the beneciaries accept
a level of knowledge of the language between A2 and B1 as sufcient to successfully
complete the mobility experience, for PLM projects the level of knowledge required is
between B1 and B2. This is also because of the different nature of the projects (mostly
training and guiding internships in the rst case, real work experiences in businesses in
the second case) and of the different timeframe (3 to 5 weeks for young people under-
going initial vocational training and 12 to 13 weeks for people in the labour market).
92
Recommendation of the European Parliament to the Council of 18 December 2006 on transnational mobility
within the Community for education and training purposes: European Quality Table for mobility (2006/961/
EC), article 5.
93
On this issue, see the contribution by Sguotti F. in this volume, An example of cultural-linguistic mobility and
diversity, chapter 1.12.
94
See <http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/it/resources/european-language-levels-cefr> (Consulted on
10/12/2013).
Chart 11. Frequency of the required level to IVT participants relating the knowledge
of the language of hosting country (number of project 2009-2012)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 nessun livello
Listening Reading Oral Interaction Oral Production Writing
Chart 12 . Frequency of the required level to IVT participants relating the knowledge
of the vehicular language (number of project 2009-2012)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
Chart 13. Frequency of the required level to PLM participants relating the knowledge
of the language of hosting country (number of project 2009-2012)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Chart 14. Frequency of the required level to PLM participants relating the knowledge
of the vehicular language (number of project 2009-2012)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Although the data above describe a virtual reality, as they are closely related to the
recruitment criteria, they are still relevant with regard to the community document
Language competences for employability, mobility and growth - Accompanying the
document -Communication From the Commission - Rethinking Education: Investing in
skills for better socio-economic outcomes and the objective set by the European Com-
mission: by 2020, at least 50% of 15 year-olds should reach the level of independent
user (B1 level) in their rst foreign language (see pp. 29-35).
With regard to language learning, as described here, there is an evident need for the
vocational education and training systems to be able to face the future challenges of
tailoring the competences of teachers and trainers to the specic needs of the pupils,
considering the different learning styles and the need to adopt methods which make
the most of the most advanced technology
95
.
For example, it is important to implement the CLIL (Content and language integrated
learning) methodology, broadly used in school
96
education, also in vocational training
courses. The beneciary institutes of the Leonardo mobility Programme have started a
debate on this precise issue, through a series of VETPRO actions which enabled techni-
cal vocational school teachers and trainers in language competences and other skills
to think about the teaching/learning process of curricular subjects in other European
countries. The common goal of these actions is to provide participants with the neces-
sary skills to teach part of their subjects in English or French; this was the result of the
acquired awareness that the CLIL methodology, already widespread in Europe, still needs
further development in Italy as an innovative tools which combines foreign language
teaching with other subjects. Short training periods abroad are intended precisely to
develop the competences of the teachers and trainers involved so that they can master
a lesson in a foreign language which becomes the lingua franca to teach that particular
content with cooperative and collaborative teaching techniques, tested by the teachers
themselves before applying the method in the classroom.
Conclusions
Future community policies will inevitably need better language skills to make mobility
both possible and convenient. This will entail the need for more economic investment
in linguistic and cultural preparatory training on the part of all the players involved,
also by training ad-hoc professional gures, as well as by sharing some of the existing
products, creating social networks to promote exchanges and introducing training meth-
ods based on motivation, especially to foster multilingual and multicultural thinking.
95
Guido N., Occupabilit e crescita. Limportanza della promozione delle competenze linguistiche, Euroguidance
News, No. 1 Giugno - 2013 Rivista del Centro Euroguidance Italia Isfol.
96
See. Lorenza Venturi (edited by), La metodologia CLIL allinterno della progettazione europea, Atti di una
conferenza, Unit Comunicazione, Agenzia LLP.
Knowing and using multiple languages is enriching and it represents a powerful asset
for the cognitive, intellectual and social growth of the individual and of the commu-
nity as a whole. In this regard, the words by Tullio De Mauro appear to be absolutely
embraceable: Instead of separating, excluding or creating social conict, the dynamics
established between different languages can be guided and directed to achieve goals,
rst of all educational goals, which not only allow positive relationships between the
cultures they represent, but also guarantee the full linguistic and cognitive develop-
ment of the individual
97
.
97
Conoscere e usare pi lingue fattore di ricchezza, reection of scholars on the occasion of the Conference
Citt dItali: ruolo e funzioni dei centri urbani nel processo postunitario di italianizzazione. Per i cinquantanni
della Storia linguistica dellItalia unita, Tullio De Mauro at Accademia della Crusca, Firenze, Aprile 2013.
67 Foreign languages in the process of lifelong learning: CLIL as a winning approach
Language skills: a target for Europe
Languages are - and have always been - at the core of European policies and pro-
grammes in the eld of education and training.
As concerns Policies, the story dates back to the Barcelona Council
98
in 2002, which
for the rst time established the target of mother tongue plus two, followed by the
Recommendation on Key Competences for lifelong learning
99
of 2006, in which com-
munication in foreign languages ranks second, preceded only by communication in
the mother tongue, until the 2012 Communication Rethinking Education
100
, where
the Commission calls for stronger action to support new approaches to teaching and
learning, focused on learning outcomes. The latter has a specic annex Language
competences for employability, mobility and growth
101
, which proposes the adoption,
in 2014, of a new benchmark on foreign languages: By 2020, at least 50% of fteen
year olds should learn a rst foreign language (compared to 42% today) and at least
75% should study a second foreign language (compared to 61% today).
As for European cooperation Programmes in the school sector, since their rst launching
in 1995, languages have always gured among the strategic and operational objectives.
In the Lifelong Learning Programme, they are mentioned among the objectives of the
Programme as a whole: in point g) we read promoting language learning and linguistic
diversity. In Comenius, the sectoral Programme dedicated to school education, they
are listed among the specic objectives with the sentence Developing the knowledge
and understanding of European cultural and linguistic diversity and its value, and are
also included between the operational objectives with the sentence encouraging the
learning of modern foreign languages.
98
<http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/71025.pdf> (Consulted on
10/12/2013).
99
<http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/lifelong_learning/c11090_en.htm> (Con-
sulted on 10/12/2013).
100
Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes, <http://ec.europa.eu/education/
news/rethinking_en.htm> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
101
<http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/rethinking/sw372_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
1.5 Foreign languages in the process of lifelong
learning: CLIL as a winning approach
Lorenza Venturi
Chapter 5
What is the reality?
But if this is the strategic framework, what is the real situation? Not quite optimistic,
one should say, both at European level and in Italy. Many targets are still beyond reach,
as is demonstrated in recent studies and surveys:
- According to the survey Eurobarometer 2012
102
for example, against a target of
mother tongue + 2, to date only 54% of Europeans speak at least one foreign
language and only 25% masters two (10% masters three).
- The recent study by the Eurydice network Key Data on Teaching Languages at
School in Europe
103
, reveals that in Europe children start learning foreign languages
from an early stage, in most cases between age 6 and 9, but an earlier start would
be advisable. In addition, the study conrms that English is by far the most taught
foreign language in almost all European countries, followed at a great distance
from French, Spanish, German and Russian and, still further back, by Italian.
- The survey SurveyLang
104
has instead analyzed the perceived performance of citizens
in the participating countries in 5 languages (English, German, French, Spanish and
Italian), showing a wide variation of skills from country to country: 82% of students
in Malta and Sweden reach autonomy level in the rst foreign language, but only
15.4% does in France, and an even smaller percentage, 9%, does in England.
Similarly, also in the Staff working paper on Language competences for employability,
mobility and growth, it appears that the rst obstacle to mobility is precisely languages:
Chart 15. Obstacles to Mobility
1 2 3 4 5
Language
Lack of information
Tax systems
Infrastructure
Acceptance of qualifications
Other rights to social insurances
Labour market restrictions
Rights to pension
Mentality
Minor obstacle
Major obstacle
Source: European Database Comenius LLP-Link
102
<http://ec.europa.eu/languages/languages-of-europe/eurobarometer-survey_en.htm> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
103
<http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/key_data_series/143EN_HI.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
104
<http://ec.europa.eu/languages/eslc/index.html> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
How to enhance language learning?
It therefore seems evident that there is a need to enhance language learning - both from a
quantitative and qualitative point of view - in every possible context: formal, non-formal and
informal. An interesting strategy for the strengthening of language learning in the formal
context, particularly at school, seems to be CLIL, i.e. Content and Language Integrated Learning.
After a pilot phase, recent reforms have introduced CLIL as mandatory in Italian schools:
for the last year in all higher education institutions and starting from the third year in
language high schools. But the forced introduction of CLIL, with this bottom-down
approach, did not take into account the existence, or rather the non-existence, of the
necessary preconditions for its implementation (rst of all the competences of teach-
ers), therefore arousing considerable resistance in its implementation.
A completely different picture emerges from a survey conducted by the LLP Agency for
the school sector during the Comenius monitoring conference on The CLIL methodol-
ogy in the framework of European cooperation. It appears that, in those schools that
have already been involved in European educational cooperation, the best conditions
exist to introduce CLIL. Furthermore, in many cases, this approach has already been
implemented and tested, even if sometimes unconsciously.
The Comenius conference gathered experts, international speakers and seven pioneers
of CLIL in Italian schools, as well about hundred teachers and school leaders who partici-
pated actively and discussed during the working groups. We report here the main results.
Peeter Mehisto, University of London and CLIL Cascade Network
105
, one of the most
well-known theorists of the approach, analysed the implications of CLIL for schools
and dened this methodology as a drive to change. A teacher cannot start on its
own - explained Mehisto - just waking up one ne day and saying: Today Ill do CLIL.
Rather, there must be an agreement among staff, among all members of the educational
process, both inside and outside the school: rst and foremost the headteacher, then all
other teachers, then other gures in the school (administrative staff, librarians, assistants
and others), but also pupils and parents must be made aware. Indeed, Mehisto recalled
how, in his experience as an educator and trainer in Estonia, he produced materials
and these were then adjusted on the basis of the reactions of the students and of the
opinion of parents associations.
Furthermore - Mehisto said - to accept this challenge, a teacher must rethink his/her
role, face a shift in thinking. Often - he recalls - we as teachers tend to talk and talk
(maybe even too much!), but we can take this opportunity to switch from presenta-
tional talk to exploratory talk [cf. Barnes 1977], that is posing questions, encouraging
students to speak and theorize more, thus increasing their autonomy and their sense
of responsibility. We should not - says the expert - suffer from stress because of this
this new task, preparing our lessons as if we were facing a university exam; rather, we
105
<http://ccn-clil.eu/> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
should learn together with our students, supporting and tutoring them in the learn-
ing process, providing them with the right scaffolding. The concept of scaffolding is
frequently used in CLIL and refers to those structures which make it possible to reach
beyond what we are able to achieve alone, to participate in new situations and to tackle
new tasks [Gibbons 2002].
Initially, having to learn new content in a language other than our mother tongue may
seem counter-intuitive, but - if the right pedagogical approach is proposed - it works!
Pupils not only gain new knowledge, but they also acquire new skills, such as learning to
learn, in what we can call a size effect, an extra improvement in learning outcomes.
The CLIL approach in European educational projects
After this theoretical contribution, some positive feedback on the educational and
metacognitive value of CLIL came from the panel of experts.
Alessandro Memo, professor of computer science at the ITC Zuccante Mestre, said: for
many years, well before the reform, we had been wondering how CLIL was implemented
elsewhere in Europe. So we set up a Comenius partnership with seven other European
countries focusing on the comparison of CLIL and other teaching strategies. Result: we
discovered that CLIL is like a big umbrella, after opening it we found that it encompasses
many different aspects. In any case, it helped pupils and teachers to grow!.
According to Cinzia Colaiuda, teacher of German and eTwinning ambassador now in
service at the Ministry of Education, CLIL can be successfully introduced since the lower
secondary school. She herself has witnessed a change of attitude in her pupils when
she tackled with this approach the history of the Berlin Wall in Germany, associating
images and music.
Nicoletta Cao teacher of languages and member of ANILS, the National Association of
Foreign Language Teachers, spoke of a difcult challenge and mentioned the ongo-
ing debate on how to broaden the cultural horizons of teenagers. After all, teaching a
subject in a target language often brings along a change in perspective! Not an easy
task, but, with the appropriate teamwork the challenge is won. And pupils get more
easily involved if it is implemented in the framework of a European project.
Giorgia Costalonga, IAL Friuli Venezia Giulia, was the organiser of a Study Visit attended
by 13 specialists from all over Europe who exchanged their experience and visited the
centers of excellence in Friuli Venezia Giulia, such as Liceo Copernico and Liceo Malignani
in Udine. The comparison showed that in other countries, for example in Finland, CLIL
is already part of the pre-primary curriculum, and not only in English but also in Rus-
sian or other languages, up to C2 level. Interactive materials are extremely important:
foreign teachers are amazed when they discover that in Italy traditional methods are
still used, based only on textbooks. At the heart of CLIL though - Costalonga said - is
the intercultural approach.
Cesare Circeo, teacher of topography at the technical institute Tito Acerbo in Pescara,
pointed out: I nd it obvious when implementing CLIL (and this was also conrmed
during the Comenius in service training I attended in Brighton), to use graphical repre-
sentations, which are highly effective to convey content, and to implement task-based
teaching, in particular in monitoring the proper execution of road projects, which is
required for students under the new curriculum.
Franca Quartapelle, coordinator of the series of studies by the association of language
teachers LEND I Quaderni and of the AECLIL Project, drew the attention on the crucial
issue of assessment and evaluation in CLIL: by now almost all language teachers
have adopted the communicative approach, but the testing phase always consists
in translations or closed-format quizzes. The project AECLIL shows that assessment
remains an issue at European level: even in those countries where learning by doing
is now frequent, testing only refer to structures, vocabulary and concepts. The AECLIL
project has produced self-assessment cards with guidelines, and assessment materials
at all levels, available at: www.aeclil.net.
The Ghilarza comprehensive school, near Oristano in Sardinia, hosted a Turkish Comenius
assistant. Giovanna Piras, the contact teacher, referred about this experience with a so-
called bridge gure: at rst there were some difculties, mainly due to the fact that
the Turkish assistant had an excellent level of English, while pupils and other teachers
had considerably lower skills. But afterwards, a joint communication effort enabled the
overcoming of stereotypes and, also thanks to the learning-by-doing approach and
the use of the Interactive Whiteboard, the results were excellent! So much so that the
schools produced CLIL modules for science in English for the primary school. The project
Traveling with Fatih and Languages has also received the European Language Label.
During the conference, Laura Nava of the LLP National Agency INDIRE presented some
data on CLIL in European cooperation extracted from the managemen database of the
Comenius Programme LLP-Link, (see Chart 16) updated to November 2013. Consider-
ing that, since each activity is carried out in a working language (be it English, French,
Spanish or any other), this element is present across all the actions of the Programme
and therefore the language learning is always stimulated and encouraged, it was found
that 96 Partnerships and 1,680 Comenius In-Service Training activities had CLIL as their
main topic. CLIL is therefore present in European cooperation: not only de facto, but
also as in-depth theoretical and eld research.
Chart 16. Comenius in Service Staff Training and CLIL (period 2008-2013)
52
71
132
311
419
695
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
2000 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Year
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

C
L
I
L

G
r
a
n
t
s
Source: European Databaase Comenius LLP-Link
CLIL - a winning approach for the enhancement of language
learning
Summing up, during the conference and in the course of subsequent Comenius moni-
toring Focus Groups, it emerged that in order to be implemented at systemic level in
all Italian schools, this approach must still overcome some major difculties. Mainly:
- the lack of clarity still reigning on the subject;
- a certain degree of uncertainty about the roles that each actor must play, e.g.
language teachers, teachers of other subjects, other school staff, pupils, etc.;
- doubts about the teaching and evaluating methodologies;
- the limited availability of resources;
- the reluctance to get involved and to cooperate by some.
But, in spite of these difculties, which will hopefully soon be overcome, a vast array
of benets and positive implications is connected to CLIL:
- the drive to innovation;
- the change of mentality engendered, a shift in thinking in the words of Mehisto
- the establishment of new synergies and collaboration within the school, metaphori-
cally described as a creation of bridges;
- the gradual activation - at last! - of collaborative- project- task- or evidence-based
learning, in short, of all those methodologies that confer greater autonomy and
sense of responsibility to pupils;
- a more active involvement of young people, with signicant positive implications
on their prot and on the development of meta-cognitive and long-term learning.
Despite a few undeniable challenges, the Content and Language Integrated Learning
is a powerful strategy for the improvement of students language skills, also in view of
greater future employability.
Moreover, it can also act as a kind of Trojan horse to introduce new, more collaborative,
learning approaches in schools, thus helping to create future citizens more autonomous
and independent.
The best way to implement it? Of course, in the framework of a European project!
The European framework on the issue of non-formal and informal
learning
Transparency and recognition of competences, however and wherever acquired, has far
back been a very debated topic at European level. Make transparent and recognizable
106

qualications but also, and above all, competences allows to increase the degree of
visibility and legibility of peoples experiences; thus it is possible to increase the value
of competences baggage within the labor market as well as within vocational educa-
tion and training systems and, at the same time, to facilitate mobility for those who
are increasingly seeking education, training and employment opportunities outside
the national borders.
Although different, the objectives of transparency and recognition of qualications,
titles and competences are interdependent: transparency is meant as the way through
which it is possible to give visibility to the knowledge and the skills acquired by indi-
viduals and it is considered necessary and professed, inasmuch condition for the best
balance between labor demand and supply.
Since 2000, the European Commission express explicitly through the Memorandum on
Lifelong Learning
107
, addressing to Member States a set of key messages on strategic
interest topics and, among them, the distinction between different types of learning
(formal, non-formal and informal) stands out in order to promote and recognize the
value and equal dignity of different kind of learning.
Non-formal learning occurs outside the formal education and training systems, it is
carried out through planned activities within the workplace, cultural organizations,
sports associations, and it is intentional from the learners point of view; informal learn-
ing results from daily activities related to work, family or leisure and, as it is in most
cases unintentional from the learners perspective, it is also mentioned as experiential,
unexpected or accidental learning.
106
Consult Terminology of European education and training policy. A selection of 100 key terms (2009) edited
by Cedefop downloadable at <http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/publications/13125.aspx> (Consulted on
12/12/2013).
107
European Commission Memorandum on Lifelong learning SEC(2000) 1832, Bruxelles 30.10.2000.
1.6 Non formal and informal learning:
recognition of language competences gained
in non formal and informal contexts
Cristiana Porcarelli
Chapter 6
75 Non formal and informal learning: recognition of language competences
In the last years, following the signicant economic and employment crisis that affected
the whole Europe, the attention of institutional and scientic community has focused
on the issue of validation of non-formal and informal learning, which has become not
only a subject of debate but also of concrete action policies both at Community and
national level.
Although it is important to promote lifelong learning, in the current scenario it is very
necessary to make visible the acquired competences and value them so that they can be
spent within the labor market in the perspective of geographical and occupational mobility.
Even in the recent Communication of the European Commission Rethinking education:
investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes
108
, Member States are requested
and invited to improve recognition of qualications and competences, including those
acquired outside formal education and training system.
In the eld of learning, the focus is shifting more and more from formal paths of
training system to learning outcomes
109
considered as a set of knowledge, skills and/or
competences that states what a learner knows, understands and is able to do on com-
pletion of a formal, non-formal or informal learning process. Just because considered
as a valuable resource to be used and recognized, competences acquired in non-formal
and informal contexts must be easily identied, then validated and/or certied and
used both within the formal education system (think to the abbreviation of learning
pathways following the recognition of credits resulting from experience in order to get
a formal qualication) and in the working world.
Recognition and certication of language competences
The recognition of those language competences acquired within informal and non-
formal contexts becomes a central and extremely interesting issue because language
skills probably represent more than others, those that can be easily gained and developed
through experience and within informal and non-formal contexts.
Languages learning, exquisitely non-formal and informal by nature, has always produced
assessment and certication systems based on learning outcome testing instead of
training process. In this sense those systems, that nowadays regulate language skills
certication, can give a trace and represent a good practice to follow for all other skills
acquired within non-formal and informal contexts.
Methods of testing language skills have been developed for many years
110
and evalua-
tion processes are highly standardized so as to allow validation of learning outcomes
108
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-
economic outcomes, COM(2012) 669 nal, Strasbourg November 2012.
109
Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on the establishment of
the European Qualications Framework for lifelong learning, (2008/C 111/01).
110
Since the sixties for the English language.
resulting also from experiences in non-formal and informal contexts
111
; today language
certications have referential standards to assess learning outcomes regardless of the
context in which they have been achieved.
A language competences certicate is both a tool for measuring and evaluating the
results of a learning process and a way to identify what a person knows, understands
and is able to do in a foreign language.
The main ofcial certication concerning knowledge of foreign languages have been
adapted to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
112
, produc-
ing a specic match for each exam to the reference level of the global scale. The above
said framework provides a grid in order to identify desirable skills in a foreign language
both in general terms (knowledge, know-how, know how to be, know how to learn)
and at communication level (language skills, socio-linguistic skills, pragmatic skills); it
includes, in addition to the global scale for the reference levels, a self-evaluation tool
to support learners when dening their level of language prociency. It is, therefore, a
system created on purpose to provide a shared evaluation scheme in favor of education,
training and occupational mobility.
Another essential tool to recognize language competences is the European Language
Portfolio which consists of a certicates set attesting language skills used throughout
Europe and it is just based on the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages and the six levels of language prociency (basic A1 / A2, intermediate B1 /
B2, advanced C1 / C2). In the Portfolio, those who are learning or have learned one or
more languages - both within school or outside the formal educational pathways - can
record and reect on their language and intercultural skills. Language competence is
evaluated in a comprehensive way, irrespective of whether it has been acquired through
formal training pathways or within non-formal and informal contexts. Besides pro-
moting multilingualism and facilitating mobility in Europe (through documentation
of language skills in a transparent and comparable way), the Portfolio naturally has
the functions to encourage lifelong and autonomous language learning, to promote
self-assessment skills and the awareness of personal linguistic and cultural resources.
Through this kind of tool, in fact, a learner can not only assess its own language skills,
linking them to the descriptive and internationally comparable levels dened of the
Council of Europe (setting up a certicate recognized at European level - the Language
Passport), but also can learn foreign languages in an independent and competent
manner, setting personal objectives and planning further stages of learning and / or
improvement. In effect it is a recognition and an enhancement of the own language
skills that can occur independently.
111
For example think to the main certications used within the widely spoken languages. .
112
Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment
2001 available at <http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
A so precise codication of standards also allows to ensure validity and transparency
of the assessment process and the learning certication as well.
Council Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and
informal learning
Regarding the issue of validation of non-formal and informal learning, including valida-
tion of language skills, after years of work and debate, last December 2012 the Council
of the European Union published the Recommendation on validation of non-formal
and informal learning. Member States are requested to implement systems able to
identify and to value those skills that individuals gain during work experiences, voluntary
work, and in the exercise of active citizenship as well as in private life; validation of
competences acquired outside the formal systems must become a real possibility for
all citizens and it can be used for employment and learning purposes.
Although in the text of the Recommendation there is not an explicit reference to spe-
cic skills, among the examples given for those learning outcomes acquired through
life and work experiences there are just language and intercultural skills gained during
a stay in another country
113
.
A summary of the stresses included in the text of the Recommendation is shown below:
- to establish by 2018 national systems for validation of non-formal and informal
learning, providing all citizens with the opportunity to validate knowledge, skills
and competences acquired regardless of the learning context in order to facilitate
also the achievement of a full or partial qualication;
- to link validation of non-formal and informal systems to the national qualications
frameworks so that qualications can be acquired both through formal programs
and non-formal learning and informal learning;
- to foresee that national systems of validation of non-formal and informal learn-
ing include the four elements on which the validation it is based (identication,
documentation, evaluation based on agreed standards and eventually certication
of learning outcomes);
- to ensure that information concerning validation opportunities is accessible to
anyone (especially to disadvantaged groups), that validation is economically sus-
tainable and that mechanisms for quality assurance of assessment are established
(methods and tools, qualied assessors);
- to promote the use of Union transparency tools for such as Europass, Youthpass
and the creation of synergies between validation and credits recognition systems
used within formal education and training systems, such as ECTS and ECVET;
113
Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012/C
398/01).
- to involve social partners and all potentially interested organizations (employers
organizations, trade unions, chambers of commerce, industry and crafts, national
bodies involved in the process of recognition of professional qualications, em-
ployment services, youth organizations, socio-educational workers, education and
training institutions and civil society organizations) when developing validation
mechanisms;
- to encourage employers, youth organizations and civil society to promote and
facilitate identication and documentation of learning outcomes acquired at work
or during voluntary work;
- to encourage educational and training institutions to facilitate access to formal
education and training and to give exemptions on the basis of the learning out-
comes acquired in non-formal and informal contexts.
Analyzing the text of the Recommendation, it is clear that today recognition and
certication of language competences, acquired within in informal and non-formal, is
consistent with the European stresses because the assessment and certication systems
are based on the test of learning outcomes regardless of the training pathway followed.
Conclusion
At national level it is important to mention the recent legislation, the reform law of
the labour market (Law 92/2012) and the Decree on the National System for the Cer-
tication of Competences
114
, which dene common rules and referential standards in
order to provide all citizens with the opportunity to enhance and recognize the skills
acquired in non-formal and informal contexts.
Anyway it is a signicant challenge at cultural and organizational level and it concerns
a large number of stakeholders: policy makers, administrators, ofcials, social partners,
employers organizations, workers and professionals at various levels, last but not least
all citizens.
Despite the current level of attention on the non-formal and informal systems is
high, the importance of language skills development and recognition within for-
mal systems should not be overlooked. Within the formal education world (school
and university) language competences recognition occurs through assessment tests
borrowed from certication bodies recognized by the Ministries of the countries to
which they belong, but they are often considered as extracurricular activities that,
on the contrary, should be integrated in the school curriculum; in addition, more
114
Decree n 13 dated 16 Genuary 2013, Denizione delle norme generali e dei livelli essenziali delle prestazioni per
lindividuazione e validazione degli apprendimenti non formali e informali e degli standard minimi di servizio
del sistema nazionale, di certicazione delle competenze a norma dellart. 4, commi 58 e 68, della legge 28
giugno 2012, n 92. (13G00043) (GU n.39 del 15/02/2013).
attention should be paid to teachers training and to a greater number of foreign
languages learning.
As stated in the First European Survey on Language Competences
115
language policies
should lead to the creation of learning environments that are more conducive to foreign
languages both inside and outside the places dedicated to formal education (schools
and other educational institutions).
Furthermore it is more important than ever to promote a greater number of opportuni-
ties concerning informal learning of foreign languages , such as facilitating exposure to
the language through media (providing lms for television and cinema with subtitles,
organizing cyber language cafe, online sessions based on teleconferences and chat
rooms).
Therefore combination of language competences / mobility becomes more and more
central, representing one of the main conditions for development both within educa-
tional and vocational training environment and labor market; furthermore in the view
of promoting multilingualism, already stressed by the European Commission in 2005
with its Communication A new strategy for Multilingualism, it becomes urgent the need
for certication of language competences through the use of indicators that take into
account the learners actual knowledge of foreign languages.
As hoped for within the Conclusions of the Council of the European Union on language
competences to enhance mobility
116
, it would be also necessary to foster the link among
the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages , the National Qualica-
tions Frameworks of (NQFs) and the European Qualications Framework for lifelong
learning (EQF); as the matter of fact, although different in contents and purposes, the
above said frameworks are compatible and able to work as a coherent set of instruments
(the EQF, meta framework at European level, works as a translation device among dif-
ferent systems; the national qualications frameworks are used as means to describe
qualications; the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is used
as a tool to enhance languages teaching and learning and to describe the individual
achievement of specic language competences).
The new program Erasmus+ for the period 2014-2020, proposed by the European Com-
mission for Education, Training, Youth and Sport, provides a signicant increase of funds
allocated to develop competences deriving from non-formal and informal learning as
well as from languages both considered as strategic skills to promote employability.
115
First European Survey on Language Competences, disponibile allindirizzo <http://ec.europa.eu/languages/eslc/
index.html> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
116
Council of the European Union Council conclusions on language competences to enhance mobility (3128
th
Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting - Brussels, 28 and 29 November 2011), disponibile
allindirizzo <http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/126373.pdf> (Con-
sulted on 10/12/2013).
The commitment of the European Union, already stated within the Europe 2020 Strategy
117

for a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, is based on ambitious objectives concerning
employment, research and education, with the belief that investments to increase qual-
ity and quantity level of training systems represent the premise and the key to release
people potential independently from age or background, encouraging empowerment
and job prospects.
117
European Commission, Communication from the Commission Europe 2020 - A strategy for smart, sustainable
and inclusive growth COM(2010)2020 nal, Brussels, 3.3.2010.
81 Internationalization and multilingualism in SMEs
Introduction
The internationalization of business, the ability to operate on a global level, is key fea-
tures for SMEs survival. Multilanguage skills are fundamental for internationalization.
The questions to ask are: Is there a Multilanguage problem in SMEs? And if so, how
relevant is this problem?
Evidences that multilingual competences are a necessity for companies survival (espe-
cially in times of crisis) can be found in a recent study of the Economic Intelligence Unit
of the prestigious British magazine The Economist
118
.The main results of the study are:
- contrary to the expectations of many experts, the current economic downturn is
spurring companies into becoming more international;
- effective cross-border communication and collaboration are becoming critical to
the nancial success of companies with international aspirations;
- most companies understand the cost of not improving the cross-border com-
munication skills of their employees, yet many are not doing enough to address
the challenge;
- organizations with international ambitions increasingly expect prospective em-
ployees to be uent in key foreign languages;
- misunderstandings rooted in cultural differences present the greatest obstacle to
productive cross-border collaboration.
The same study states that Linguistic diversity - or the lack of it - is considered by some
margin to be a greater business challenge in Latin America and southern Europe than
elsewhere. Another study
119
(although not very recent and limited to SMEs engaged in
internationalization processes from only on region of Italy) identied the difculty in
developing internationalization processes in the limited presence of skilled people with
118
Competing across borders - How cultural and communication barriers affect business, posted 25
th
of April
2012 in internet at <http://www.managementthinking.eiu.com/competing-across-borders.html> (Consulted
on 10/12/2013) is a global survey of 572 executives..
119
IRER - Istituto Regionale di Ricerche della Lombardia Internazionalizzazione, risorse umane e fabbisogno
formativo nelle PMI lombarde Working paper n.3 December 2006.
1.7 Internationalization and multilingualism in
SMEs
Fabrizio Faraco
Chapter 7
the competences needed to support these processes. The results of the study showed
that is precisely the lack of languages knowledge to cause such a defect of skills.
In short, the tackiness in internationalization for SMEs is mainly due to the lack of
diffused multilingual and multicultural skills in human resource, technical, managerial
and entrepreneurial.
Moreover, the revolution undergoing in marketing, resulted from the diffusion of the
internet and social networks makes multilingual skills even more critical for the suc-
cess in business.
Digital marketing has led to a shift from outbound marketing, made of brochures and
TV advertising, where the brand owner is in control of the conversation (with a propa-
gandistic tone), to inbound marketing, made of blogs and multimedia content that
feeds discussions and conversations under consumers (referred as suspect
120
) control
(with a value oriented tone). Storytelling and engaging content become the pivot of
marketing success. For the content to be engaging it must reach the hearts and the
bellies of suspects, requiring not only multilingual competences, but inherently multi-
culturalism.
120
We dene suspect someone who might not know your company for its product, but who is interested in what
you know, not in what you sell.
European Perspective
Language (and cultural) problems of SMEs go beyond Italian companies: it is global,
investing all European SMEs. Thats why European Union always paid special atten-
tion to language skills. In the last 7 years EU focused on it, launched specic actions,
including nancing and publishing a lot of studies about the linguistic constraints over
economic development.
Since 2006, with the Elan study
121
, some important considerations emerged already:
- a signicant amount of business is being lost to European enterprise as a result
of lack of language skills. On the basis of the sample, it is estimated that 11% of
exporting European SMEs (945,000 companies) may be losing business because of
identied communication barriers;
- besides the obvious clear link between languages and export success, four elements
of language management were found to be associated with successful export
performance: having a language strategy, appointing native speakers, recruiting
staff with language skills and using translators and interpreters. There could be
very signicant gains across the whole EU economy if all exporting SMEs employed
these techniques;
- English is a key language for gaining access to export markets. However, the survey
results suggest that the picture is far more complex than the much-quoted view
that English is the world language. Russian is extensively used in Eastern Europe
as a lingua franca (along with German and Polish). French is used to trade in areas
of Africa and Spanish is used similarly in Latin America. Longer-term business
partnerships depend upon relationship-building and relationship-management. To
achieve this, cultural and linguistic knowledge of the target country are essential.
Thus constraints are not limited to linguistic, but are eminently related to cultural
differences. Differences that could give raise serious problems (and failures) even in
situations where companies have greater familiarity, resulting in ineffective commu-
nication. Another EU study, PIMLICO
122
, carried out in 2011, actively investigated 40
European SMEs selected for their signicant trade growth thanks to formulating and
employing language management strategies. Some evidences emerged from this study:
- In several cases, a specic increase in sales is attributed to one or more of three
particular measures, e.g. multilingual website adaptation, recruitment of native
speakers or use of local agents to solve language problems. These three are also the
three most cited features of a language management strategy where a concrete
gure of the percentage increase in foreign sales has been given.
121
ELAN: Effects on the European Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise commissioned
by the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission, December 2006.
122
Report on Language Management Strategies and Best Practice in European SMEs: The PIMLICO Project com-
missioned by the European Commission, April 2011.
- The common elements in these 40 successful businesses are:
multilingualism: most of the companies have uency, characterized by the
ability to negotiate in at least three foreign languages, one of which is invari-
ably English. There is a common recognition, however, that a competitive edge
comes from their multilingual and multicultural capability;
global vision: Different languages are used for different markets or in parallel.
Third languages are used for trading in various markets where companies dont
have the existing linguistic capability, e.g. German in Hungary;
internationalization strategy in human resources: The companies follow practi-
cal steps in using their linguistically able staff and in developing their people
to be internationally, culturally and linguistically competent, e.g. they:
~ keep careful records of their staffs language ability and put it to good use;
~ employ native speakers;
~ undertake linguistic and cultural training;
~ develop deeper intercultural understanding;
~ use professional translators and interpreters;
~ adapt their websites to other cultures;
~ work in partnership with local universities to hire short and long-term
language support, including foreign students on placement.
PIMLICO study also provided a number of specic recommendations to the European
Commission, national governments, business intermediaries, SMEs and education sec-
tor, aimed at improving the multilingualism ecosystem for economic development.
To this respect, a recently presented nal report of a specic project (CELAN
123
) has
shown the language industry point of view about the reasons for the low penetration
of language tools in SMEs.
European Union also created a website Languages mean business!
124
to demonstrate
how multilingualism and multiculturalism are forerunner of success in international
markets. The website provides support to multilingualism and multiculturalism for all
SMEs that want to undertake internationalization processes.
So since years studies, recommendations, and tools to improve the multilingual culture
in SMEs are widely available. So why the situation of language skills in SMEs is still
problematic? How is it possible that most SMEs are still unable to activate effective
multicultural strategies even under competitive pressure and with internationalization
as the last resource for growing?
123
Celan Wp2 Deliverable 2.5 - Final report of Wp2, including a list of provisional recommendations, January
2013.
124
A website localized to all EU languages.
Languages and skill mismatch
The truth is that language skills are not different from other critical skills in the way they
are considered by enterprises, especially SMEs: that is increasingly difcult to have the
right person in the right place (skill mismatch). This
125
is caused by well-known factors:
increase in complexity, acceleration in economic cycle, social and economic change,
etc., producing the lack of the necessary skills for new employment (skill shortage) and
the lack the skills needed to meet the new business needs in the existing workforce
(skill gap) at the same time. There are specic factors, though. Among the others the
most signicant are:
- changes in relative wages (which are not really related to skills and often hide
educational mismatch, as demonstrated in recent studies
126
);
- perceived quality of available jobs by society;
- unemployment, underemployment and migration;
- over-qualication determined by poor ability to dene tasks in job descriptions
by entrepreneurs, who prefer to dene them in a way suitable for graduate to
take advantage high availability of graduates, as emerging from a recent study
127
.
In other words, skills matter for earnings but only if they are required by the job. The
skill content of jobs seems to be an even stronger determinant of participation in
employer supported adult education/training than educational attainment or literacy
prociency
128
.
The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is an interna-
tional economic organization of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic
progress and world trade) veries at regular intervals the skill mismatch in the acceding
countries. From their studies it is clear how this problem is particularly critical in Italy.
In a recent study the Research Centre of the LUISS
129
have highlighted that OECD indi-
cator of skill mismatch highlights, on the one hand, the inefciencies of the education
system that is not able to provide a sufcient number of graduates for the higher skill
jobs and, on the other, distortions in the labor market where, to cover those jobs, the
workers employed possess skills, acquired during their education, which cannot be
125
Brieng note - Skill mismatch in Europe, June 2010.
126
Francesca Sgobbi DIMI-University of Brescia (I) & DINAMIA-CET (P) The skill match of young graduate em-
ployees: An empirical analysis based on REFLEX date DEHEMS Conference WU Vienna University of Economics
and Business, Vienna, 22-23 September, 2011 and Gian Carlo Cainarca, Francesca Sgobbi, (2012) The return to
education and skills in Italy, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 33 Iss: 2, pp.187 - 205.
127
Peter George Peter Urwin, University of Westminster Education and skills mismatch in the Italian graduate
labor market in <http://web.warwick.ac.uk/res2003/papers/DiPietro.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
128
Desjardins, R. and K. Rubenson (2011), An Analysis of Skill Mismatch Using Direct Measures of Skills, OECD
Education Working Papers, No. 3, OECD Publishing. <http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5kg3nh9h52g5-en> (Consulted
on 10/12/2013).
129
Centro Studi LUISS Economia della Formazione e delle Professioni - Mismatch tra domanda e offerta di lavoro:
i principali indicatori di fonte internazionale proceedings of Formazione, competenze e competitivit delle
imprese, November 2011.
adequate to such a job that must be done by highly skilled workers (graduates and
post graduates). The same study highlighted the consequences of skill mismatch on
the economic system as described by the OECD:
Skill mismatch contributes to lower productivity in two ways: rst, education is not
efcient in Supplying rms current needs and, second, graduates are lacking in elds
that drive productivity growth. Hence, rms are unable to adjust the skill composition
of their labor force as much as they would like, thus constraining efciency-driven
changes and innovation. For example, the unchanged proportion of scientists and
engineers educated in Italian universities in the past fty years presumably hindered
the ability of Italian rms to shift the structure of their output blackberries towards
innovative activities. Also this is consistent with the slow growth of productivity despite
a strong Increase in the number of university graduates in the population. Thus, policies
to improve the quality of higher education and the information Transmitted to labor
markets are paramount to spread the benets of education to the economy at large.
Thus, in Italy, few workers hardly have a job appropriate to their skills. According to
Randstad Workmonitor: skills mismatches & nding the right talent
130
, a wide survey
of 15,000 workers in 32 countries by HR agency Randstad, less than 20% of Italian
employees believed to have the appropriate skills to the workplace they occupies. This
value, which is among the lowest in Europe, demonstrates skills gap in practice. The
rapid obsolescence of skills of the existing workforce requires actions that go beyond
the issue of multilingualism for internationalization. However public institutions have
implemented tools, issue regulations and built resources aimed to make workers lifelong
vocational training easier.
Training as a possible solution
The training has always been the primary tool for skills development. Beyond the edu-
cation systems (schools and universities) and vocational training, long life learning of
companies employees (continuous education) has an immediate impact on existing
employees skills improvement. Continuous education has increased its importance due
to the time reduction of product life cycle and, therefore, to fast obsolescence of ac-
quired skills and it becomes SMEs survival element since the human capital is the critical
success factor for SMEs. This is why well focus here on continuous education in SMEs.
It is common belief that the main obstacle to effective lifelong vocational training is
availability of nancial resources. So at the beginning of the current millennium the
Government introduced funds dedicated to lifelong vocational training of employees for
Italian companies: the Inter professional Funds. Notwithstanding certain limitations, the
130
Randstad Workmonitor Skills mismatches & nding the right talent (Sept 2012) in <http://www.randstad.
com/press-room/randstad-workmonitor/randstad-workmonitor-skills-mismatches-nding-the-right-talent-
sept-2012.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
Inter professional Funds have been a success story: in just 7 years since their introduc-
tion nearly 60% of companies and more than 70% of the entire Italian workforce can
implement lifelong vocational training courses with no extra cost for them.
Last period results
131
are encouraging. There has been an increase in the use of training
in enterprises even in presence of a severe economic crisis. Unfortunately, a deeper
analysis of results demonstrates that the benecial were mainly:
- medium-large companies. For example in 2011, only 31% of SMEs had training
courses (and 26% of staff participated in this courses) vs. 35% globally (and 33%
of staff) and 70% of the larger companies (with more than 50 employees) with
between 31% and 51% of staff
132
;
- training for skills necessary to already carried out tasks, and not for new tasks, as
required by internationalization or innovation processes: 82% of the courses taken
and more than 42% of training plans nanced by Inter professional Funds are
aimed to skills maintenance or upgrade, demonstrating the presence of a strong
skill gaps
133
in Italian workforce.
Unfortunately, the language training does not suit every company: it requires time, ef-
fort and commitment of key personnel and in an SME (in particular Italian understaffed
by denition) these are often a key insurmountable obstacle to the implementation of
effective training programs. In 2011, plans specically devoted to languages learning
were about 10% of the total, involving 3.5% of workers
134
and consuming about 15%
of the total resources (demonstrating the greater complexity and duration of language
learning), declining vs. 2010. In the report there is not a comparison of language train-
ing by different companies size. However, it is possible to estimate it. In 2011 language
training plans nanced by the FAPI (an Inter professional Fund who mainly nance
SME Training, mainly manufacturing) were only 5.5% of the total
135
, nearly half of
the national average (declining vs. 2010 too). Thus also in language training SMEs are
below larger rms.
We should add that also the level of education has an impact on training adoption. In
the training for entrepreneurs, managers and self-employed section of the XII Report,
it is stated that:
An independent study about training for micro-enterprise owner conrms that theres
a strong correlation between the level of education of the self-employed and the per-
ception of training needs: the higher the level of education, the more frequent the use
131
Most of the data presented in this section come from XIII Rapporto sulla formazione continua - Annualit
2011-2012 December 2012, an annual report produced by Isfol for the Italian Ministry of Welfare.
132
Idem Table 1.2 p. 18 and Table 1.5 p. 22.
133
Idem Table 1.4 p. 20 and Table 4.18 p.105.
134
Idem Table 4.21 p. 108.
135
Estimations by author over Fapi internal data.
of training. 87.9% of self-employed graduates have received continuing training for
a total of 14.1 days in the last year, compared to 4.1 days reported by self-employed
with lower qualications (up to middle school).
136
Conclusion
Therefore lack of language and cultural skills as well as lack in multilingualism and mul-
ticulturalism strategies are the blocking factors for SMEs internationalization. Among
the many obstacles for acquiring such skills the followings are the most important:
- company size;
- time required for language training;
- skill gap of the workforce (including managerial and entrepreneurial) together with
a lack of generational turnover;
- the low level of education of executives, managers and entrepreneurs in SMEs
is mainly a generational factor since such SMEs, eminently manufacturing, were
founded after the war by technicians with a low level of education (think about
mechanical district in Emilia, in general, and Enzo Ferrari, in particular).
In conclusion, the Italian SMEs have difculties in activating effective training courses
for acquiring of language skills despite the availability of dedicated nancial resources.
For SMEs a diffused generational change (entrepreneurial, managerial and operating
work force) will be a more critical success factor than nancial resources. This genera-
tional turnover will facilitate growth in cultural competencies in several languages as
well as a greater use of the new internet tools for marketing, socialization and training.
Younger generations are more familiar with these tools, allowing to reach more potential
customers (suspect), on one hand and, on the other, to stimulate language skills growth
through the availability of many self-learning online tools (like the MOOC
137
) which,
combined with short face-to-face courses (nanced by inter professional funds) may:
- reduce the required time for language learning;
- create more opportunities for meeting and collaborating abroad (as well as mobil-
ity);
- ensure more effective skills acquisition required for internationalization.
Because this improvement may happen, it is necessary to support the culture of mul-
tilingualism and mobility in the younger generations, especially during their education
period. This is a necessity that concerns all citizens, not just SMEs and their employees.
136
XIII Rapporto sulla formazione continua - Annualit 2011-2012 December 2012, Table 5.8 p. 137.
137
Massive Open Online Courses are open online courses designed for distance learning that involves a large
number of users.
89 Impacts of ITC on language learning and assessment
1.8 Impacts of ITC on language learning and
assessment
Mike Hammersley
Chapter 8
Fifty years ago, a discussion of the role of technologies in language learning and teach-
ing would have referred to the increasing opportunities to exploit audio and visual
systems in language programmes which, for the main part, were based on printed texts
as the principal, if not only, teaching support. The rst such AV systems were usually
records and tape-recordings, lm and slides, which then later became cassettes and
video tapes.
However, and this is the main argument of this short discussion on some of the im-
pacts of information and communication technologies (ICT) on language learning,
the availability of these new resources did not immediately lead to either a signicant
change in teaching approach or any new means of assessing and certifying the levels
of competence reached by students. Indeed, both in university and further education,
teaching was often for the main part classroom-based, curricula established the content
that had to be presented, while formal examinations recorded the extent to which that
content had been mastered.
Later developments frequently saw a massive introduction of language laboratories,
which could intensify the learners exposure to the spoken language and also allowed
more emphasis to be placed on oral performance. With this, some teaching practice
changed, as students began to gain a level of autonomy and responsibility for their
learning, if they were given some control of the use of the language laboratory materi-
als. It is also true that examinations began to include tests which specically addressed
listening skills (originally, this was called aural comprehension) and spoken prociency.
Nevertheless, for the most part, the testing system was not altered and remained some
form of formal examination and certication.
More recent technological innovations have seen a ubiquitous introduction of comput-
ers into learning environments, which through digitalisation have further increased
and facilitated the access to a richer mix of learning materials. Moreover, information
technology has enabled the development of content and learning management systems
(C/LMS) that can track the performance of individual learners and monitor the results
of the learning programmes. As a result, it has been possible to give greater emphasis
to continual assessment systems which might offer a more comprehensive and reli-
able gauge of language skills and competence. In other words, by reducing reliance on
one-off examination performance as a judge of ability, the growing levels of access
to computer-based systems have, indirectly, had some impact on the way in which
language expertise can be certied. On the other hand, the basic elements of teaching
programmes have still not signicantly changed: key content is signposted in formal
curricula and success is measured against fullment of these specications.
This spread of computer technology has now been further enhanced by the generalised avail-
ability and use of the Internet. In the last twenty years, rapid access to enormous quantities
of data has signicantly modied the ways in which individuals gain information, interact
with their environment, form and express opinions, etc. Consequently, the Internet also ef-
fects the way that we learn. For example, whereas years ago a language student might have
been requested by a teacher to complete a task presented in a book, and the student would
then wait for correction and feedback form the teacher to discover whether the task had
been successfully completed, today students can choose the task for themselves, interact
with the system, receive immediate, targeted responses to their input and - sometimes
more, sometimes less - enjoy guided support and direction based on the outcomes of the
exercise. This means that as well as simplifying the learning process, the technology has also
modied the construction of the curriculum, which, given the independence of the choices
made by the students, has become more evidently learner-centred.
With regards assessment and certication, however, Internet technology alone has
not signicantly changed the basic paradigms. It is true that examinations can now
be delivered remotely at any time and in any place and even speaking tests can be
conducted with a computer rather than in human interaction, but the basic logic and
format of the testing systems have remained, for the most part, the same. Learners are
confronted with some form of diagnostic exercises which will assess their understand-
ing and ability to apply certain pre-determined concepts.
The most recent developments regarding the impact of ITC on language learning, which
obviously are directly or indirectly connected to all the innovations outlined above,
have been the establishment, rst, of infrastructure and hardware giving uninterrupted
mobile access to a network and, second, the massive explosion of social media based
both on xed computing stations linked to the Internet and, increasingly, on mobile
devices such as smartphones and tablets. Above all, these two developments have also
had a major impact on language learning approaches and assessment systems, draw-
ing attention to and successfully exploiting ideas and methodologies that have existed
for some time, but have not always enjoyed broad popularity, approval or application.
I refer to the role played by informal and non-formal learning in the acquisition of
language expertise and the systems of certication that are not based exclusively on
formal examination.
One of the most important contributions to language teaching and learning practice
in the last fteen years has been the Common European Framework of Reference for
91 Impacts of ITC on language learning and assessment
Languages: learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR)
138
. Although best known for the A1-C2
references, with which linguistic levels can be indicated, the publication also sets up a
structure that can be used to plan language training programmes, develop appropri-
ate materials and indicate means of testing and assessment. Indeed, the characteristic
can-do statements that have been dened to describe expertise in simple, functional
terms, (e.g. level A1 in spoken production is described as I can use simple phrases and
sentences to describe where I live and people I know) point to a recognised need that
alongside formal testing, students need to be able to self-assess. Such self-assessment
is specically highlighted in the Framework, where it is directly linked to the European
Language Portfolio
139
, which together with the Europass Language Passport
140
has
become an established tool to record and present language expertise and experience.
The introduction of a European Language Portfolio with international currency is now
under consideration. The Portfolio would make it possible for learners to document
their progress towards plurilingual competence by recording learning experiences of all
kinds over a wide range of languages, much of which would otherwise be unattested
and unrecognised. It is intended that the Portfolio will encourage learners to include
a regularly updated statement of their self-assessed prociency in each language. It
will be of great importance for the credibility of the document for entries to be made
responsibly and transparently. Here reference to CEF will be particularly valuable
141
.
Portfolios and passports offer the possibility to record all types of language learning
experiences, which might not have been gained exclusively through classroom-based
activities. These documents, therefore, offer the opportunity to include the outcomes of
non-formal and informal learning in an individuals linguistic prole. Furthermore, in a
recent council communication the European Union has sought to encourage recognition
of these alternative forms of learning acquisition, recommending that Member States:
have in place, no later than 2018, in accordance with national circumstances and
specicities, and as they deem appropriate, arrangements for the validation of non-
formal and informal learning which enable individuals to:
(a) have knowledge, skills and competences which have been acquired through non-
formal and informal learning validated, including, where applicable,through open edu-
cational resources
142
.
Returning to the question of the inuence of mobile technologies and social media
on language learning and assessment, the complementary initiatives of the CEFR and
138
Council of Europe (2001), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
139
Council of Europe, European Language Portfolio, <www.coe.int/dg4/education/elp> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
140
Cedefop, Europass Language Passport, <http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/european-skills-
passport/language-passport> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
141
Council of Europe (2001), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, p.20.
142
Council of the European Union (2012), Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learn-
ing, <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2012:398:0001:0005:EN:PDF> (Consulted on
10/12/2013).
the highlighting of informal and non-formal learning have led to reections on how
to take advantage of these new technologies in furthering the drive towards a more
comprehensive system of linguistic assessment. For example, the recent project Vale!
- Valorising Language Expertise (www.valeproject.eu), which was supported by the
EU Life-Long Learning Programme, has developed applications with which a Europass
Language Passport can prepared and distributed using a smartphone, a tablet or a PC
connected to Internet. Moreover, the web version of the application also allows the user
to include a dossier of signicant experience (as in the European Language Portfolio)
as evidence of the level of expertise indicated in the Passport.
The point is, then, that the impact that technologies can now have on language learning
is completely different from that of the rst technologies we considered. If the audio-
visual systems essentially offered new means of presenting and using material, without
necessarily changing curriculum development or assessment systems, continuous social
interaction through networked devices also starts to change what people do to learn
and how they demonstrate that they have learnt. In fact, the logic and importance of
informal and non-formal learning, on the one hand, and social media and the mobile
Internet, on the other, are very good for each other, and language students who interact
through Facebook or Twitter will dene their own syllabus and learn to do the things
they need to do. Language learning really does become task-based and learner-centred,
generating an increased call that the expertise gained informally and non-formally is
fully recognised and made increasingly easy to publish even through online channels.
Finally, it should be noted that the European Commission has recently launched the
Opening up Education
143
action plan, calling for increased efforts to bridge the digital
divide in the education sector. This initiative would suggest that ICT will continue to have
a signicant impact on language teaching and learning practice and policy in the future.
143
European Commission (2013), Communication on Opening up Education: Innovative teaching and learning
for all through new Technologies and Open Educational Resources, <http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/doc/
openingcom_en.pdf> Consulted on 10/12/2013).
93 What language teacher education do we need?
1.9 What language teacher education do we
need?
Silvia Minardi
Chapter 9
Introduction
Enhancing the quality of foreign language teaching and learning has always been a
priority for several countries within the European Union and beyond. At Barcelona in
2002, the Heads of State and Government in the EU reformulated - some years after
The White Paper: Teaching and Learning. Towards the Learning Society - the goal of
mother tongue plus two foreign languages
144
. Within that context the Barcelona
European Council called for action to improve the mastery of basic skills, in particular
by teaching at least two foreign languages from a very early age
145
. After a decade of
investments in the eld, the European target of all citizens speaking two languages in
addition to their mother tongue is still a signicant commitment, but most EU countries
struggle to achieve it.
In September 2012 the EU Parliament suggested that insufcient language knowledge
continues to be an enormous obstacle to mobility for the purposes of education and
training.
146
The staff working document on Language Competences for Employability, Mobility and
Growth
147
accompanying the EU Commissions Communication on Rethinking Educa-
tion (November 2012) analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of European language
policies and provides analytical support to the Commissions initiative on language
competences. It maintains that foreign language prociency is one of the main deter-
minants of learning and professional mobility, as well as of domestic and international
employability. Poor language skills thus constitute a major obstacle to free movement
of workers and to the international competitiveness of EU enterprises.
144
The White Paper, Teaching and Learning Towards the learning society, <http://ec.europa.eu/languages/docu-
ments/doc409_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
145
Barcelona European Council - Presidency Conclusions, 15/16 March 2002 (SN 100/1/02 REV1), <http://www.
consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/71025.pdf> Consulted on 10/12/2013).
146
European Parliament resolution of 11 September 2012 on Education, Training and Europe 2020 (2012/2045(INI)),
11 September 2012, <http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-
TA-2012-323> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
147
<http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/rethinking/sw372_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
The European Survey on Language Competences (ESLC)
148
, the rst enquiry ever con-
ducted in the eld on a European scale, has revealed that, after several years of study-
ing languages at school, the vast majority of young Europeans are not able to have a
simple conversation in the foreign languages they have learned. Only 42% of tested
pupils overall reached the level of independent user in the rst foreign language, and
merely a quarter of pupils did so in the second foreign language.
What are the reasons for such a failure?
Hayes (2012) and Schweisfurth (2013), who conducted numerous research in the eld
of innovation in EFL teaching, made it clear that the success of any innovation and
its implementation requires the application of a number of key features. Hayes (2012,
51) identies a certain number of barriers to implementation of innovative practices
in EFL teaching: First, the nature of the change expected is too great and the speed
at which it is required to happen is too rapid. [...] Secondly, in many countries, the
resources to support innovation - school infrastructure, class size, teaching-learning
materials, and teacher capacity - are severely constrained. Thirdly, innovations based
on imported pedagogy are often opposed to local cultural values in various ways. [...]
Fourthly, change is driven by people who do not have to implement it.
In this article we intend to explore ways how to involve teachers in processes of in-
novation and reforms. Language teaching and language learning - so this argument
goes - will improve as long as language teachers and language teacher educators are
actively involved in the process of changing language teaching as a whole.
Being a language teacher today
Three different perspectives will help us understand the multi-faceted role of language
teaching in our time. As part of its programme of enhancing language education, the
European Commission supported the development of the European Prole for Language
Teacher Education (Kelly & Grenfell 2004). The Prole offers an outline of key elements
in the education of language teachers and a common vocabulary with which these
elements can be discussed: the language teacher is a competent linguist, has taught
in more than one country, may have trained in different countries, is trained to teach
more than one language, has been trained in using ICTs, teaches students to be EU
citizens, may become a EU language mentor.
Byram (2003: 8) offers us a different perspective. Before illustrating the characteristics of
the modern language teacher he reminds us of what was to be expected of the foreign
language teacher: a language teacher should be a native or near-native speaker of one
or perhaps two European languages. Such a person should be a model for their learners,
should offer the ideal to be imitated. Learners should try to be like native speakers - who
148
<http://www.surveylang.org> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
were not clearly dened - and should try to have the same grammatical, semantic and
phonetic mastery of the languages.
The scholar, instead, prefers a different prole for the language teacher of today when
he illustrates the characteristics of the European language teacher: an alternative vi-
sion is the European teacher of languages. Such teachers would be able to help their
learners to become plurilingual.
This perspective includes also teachers of less commonly taught languages and of
non-European languages. The modern language teacher should thus be able to pro-
mote intercultural competence in learners because they need to see Europe from a
non-European perspective [...] even from that of those who reject European values and
attack European societies.
There is still another perspective which is useful to take into account.
Teaching is not so much about how to teach, but more about what to teach and
why to teach that way. Being an experienced teacher - in terms of years of teach-
ing - may not be enough to enhance quality in teaching. Experience is essential if it
goes with the teachers willingness to develop a reective attitude, as Richards (1994:
4) puts it: research suggests that, for many experienced teachers, many classroom
routines and strategies are applied almost automatically and do not involve a great
deal of conscious thought or reection. Experience is the starting point for teacher
development, but in order to play a productive role, it is necessary to examine such
experience systematically.
After Schn (1983, 1987, 1991), Kohonen (2005) also explains why we should promote
models of language teaching education which aim at turning the teacher into a reec-
tive professional: the teacher is an ethical professional who needs to be engaged in
the process of reection to understand his or her work at a deeper level of professional
awareness.
As a reective professional the teacher is also led to act as a researcher. As Linda Darling-
Hammond (1999, 8) suggests the teacher needs to be trained and educated to collecting
data through on-eld observation techniques: Teacher learning therefore needs to be
connected with actual teaching, supported by ongoing reection and theory build-
ing: Teachers learn best by studying, doing, and reecting; by collaborating with other
teachers; by looking closely at students and their work; and by sharing what they see.
Education for European language teachers
The three different perspectives we have been using to dene the prole of a European
language teacher lead us to imagine that teacher education today needs a change
in contents, methodologies and tools. But what is especially important to consider is
a new approach to teacher education. So far teacher education has especially been
planned as teacher training. What we need now is a global education for the teacher.
As proposed by Kelly, the language teacher is a competent linguist, that is the language
teacher is expected to have a high level of linguistic skills at least in the language he
or she teaches. However, excellent linguistic skills are not enough as Hayes (2012:
66 - 67) points out: knowledge of and about language and about how languages
are learnt is necessary to teach language learners effectively in both language and
mainstream classes. [...] Native speakers of English with little or no language learning
experience [...] are usually procient speakers of English but possess little knowledge
about language systems and so are unable to help their non-native English speakers
develop their English skills.
Teaching a language with the aim of enhancing mobility and supporting employability
implies developing the learners plurilingual and intercultural competences. It is for
this reason that language teachers should be given chances to experience learning in
more than one language also within the framework of mobility programmes which
may offer further opportunities for multicultural interactions. There must be a strong
connection between innovative curricular choices aiming at developing learners pluri-
lingual and intercultural competences and the education of the teacher who will be
in charge with implementing such curricular choices. Kellys Prole (2011, 33) suggests
the importance of such experiences in initial language teacher training programmes: a
language teacher education programme could be structured to provide experience of
an intercultural and multicultural environment. This means that trainee teachers would
have experience of living, studying, working or teaching in a context characterized by
distinctive or different social, cultural, ethnic, national, religious, or linguistic groups.
It also means that trainee teachers are taught that intercultural and multicultural ap-
proaches to teaching and learning involve teachers promoting dynamic interactions
between teacher and learner and between learners themselves.
What kind of methodology should be used in teacher education? Within this context
at least two needs have emerged. Puren (2001) says all teacher education includes a
research component: parce que le champ didactique est dynamique, quil est complexe
et quil se modie en permanence, il faut constamment remettre en cause les rponses
dj donnes et poser de nouvelles questions pour chercher de nouvelles rponses,
lesquelles leur tour ne pourront tre que partielles, locales et transitoires. Autant dire
quune formation vritablement didactique implique ncessairement une formation
la recherche dans le sens universitaire de lexpression.
The second need we feel is that education to plurilingualism should be, for language
teachers, both experiential and analytical. Experiential means it should create active
situations of multilingual learning. Analytical implies the teacher trainee should be given
all the elements which may help him or her to study, analyze and deeply understand
the plurilingual experience he or she has been experiencing. The analytical dimen-
sion of language teacher education implies the teachers ability to understand how to
transform an individual repertoire, which is always plurilingual, into plurilingual and
intercultural competences. The experiential dimension also refers to new methodolo-
gies and approaches in language teaching as is the case of early language learning,
CLIL and inter-comprehension.
Educating language teacher educators
All the changes and the perspectives we have assumed so far lead us to reconsider what
should be an essential component in the education of language teacher educators both
in pre-service, initial and in-service training which include training CLIL teachers and
primary school teachers who, in Italy, are asked to teach English.
In Italy we do not have a specic education for teacher educators nor do we have a pro-
le for the language teacher educator. The situation is not homogenous at a European
level, either
149
. There are countries where teachers who want to become educators or
mentors or trainers must have certain characteristics, such as: being a qualied teacher,
having a certain amount of teaching experience, completing a course for teacher train-
ers and mentors, etc. There are situations where teacher trainers associations have
introduced a register and xed some professional standards which clearly indicate
what kind of professional expertise a teacher educator should have to be registered.
In the context of this article a European language teacher trainer:
- is a language teacher who has experienced important teaching and didactic experi-
ences in plurilingual education;
- has been trained both in face-to-face meetings and within the framework of
long-term projects which may include practical and concrete training experiences;
- is trained to carry out research projects;
- follows the principles of active pedagogy and cognitive approach;
- is not just trained but is educated: language teacher mentors education refers to
values and is principled, that is oriented to learning to learn, to the development
of critical thinking and reective approach, to enhancing citizenship education.
Conclusions
If language teachers and trainers are to play an active role in implementing change and
innovation, we assume that, as in all learning experiences, the teacher trainee must
be ready to play that role. The teacher trainee is not just a recipient of knowledge,
experiences, recipes, techniques, materials and tools. He or she is an actor, a reec-
tive professional and researcher, able to promote and support change and innovation.
At an individual level three conditions are necessary: a) the teacher trainee is aware
of what needs changing; b) the teacher trainee shares the need for a change; c) the
149
To have a detailed description of the situation in Europe, see Eurydice, Key Data on Teachers and School Lead-
ers - available online at <http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/key_data_series/151EN.
pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
teacher trainee is to develop strategies and tools to plan his own training, to monitor
and to assess it.
Some bottom-up initiatives are valuable in implementing innovation. But they may
not be enough. It is vital to set up an ofcial framework for teacher education and
within that framework teacher educators are key gures. At the same time, different
stakeholders should be involved in dening the steps and the characteristics of teach-
ers professional development.
For language teachers the challenge is great. Missing this opportunity means that in
the future all European citizens might be speaking their own language and a sort of
lingua franca when they have to communicate with others. On the other hand, if we
face this challenging time we may be able to give European citizens a chance to speak
to each other and to understand each other, in spite of all their linguistic and cultural
differences.
99 L2 Italian for professional purposes
Introduction
To dene what is necessary, linguistically speaking, for a nation to evolve profession-
ally into one which is not that of origin is a complex task. It is a theme which raises a
number of questions.
First and foremost, it is a matter of establishing which language
150
is needed for us
to work in a given sector. In other words, getting to a denition of what a sectoral
language is
151
which is at the heart of the concept of professional language compe-
tence
152
. The issue of establishing correlations between this competence and general
competence in a language - what enables us to communicate with others in our daily
lives - derives from this.
Once this has been established, a second issue emerges - how to promote the language
of a specic sector of working life amongst those who intend to work in the profession.
In this contribution, I will place all this in the context of L2 Italian which represents an
element of additional interest in that we are referring to a language which has only
recently been chosen by foreign speakers for professional purposes.
For a denition of sectoral language
What are we talking about when we refer to sectoral language?
There is no banal or obvious answer to this question because, as mentioned above,
there is no single way of understanding this concept.
In replying to it, I intend to begin by establishing the parameters which enable us to
identify a sectoral language and subsequently set the framework for the relationship
150
Throughout this contribution I implicitly link cultural and linguistic issues as I believe that the relationship
between the two is now established and that they are inseparable. When we speak of language it thus must
mean both language and culture.
151
An overview of the vast bibliography on the issue shows the extent to which different - and, above all, non
synonymic ways to dene our subject exist. These range from scientic languages to sub-codes and special
languages and include micro-language and languages for specic purposes and the now very common sectoral
languages which I have used in this contribution. .
152
As well as professional language competence I will also use other expressions here all of which are common
in the many studies on this subject. I will thus also use professional language competence, Italian for specic
purposes, Italian for the professions and Italian for professional purposes.
1.10 L2 Italian for professional purposes
Andrea Villarini
Chapter 10
between natural historical language and sectoral language: is there a gulf between the
two? Or are they close, interacting concepts?
Sectoral languages emerge, rstly, when a framework of disciplines which are knowledge
and know-how contexts such as medicine, IT and so on exists. Over the years, from
this strong concept in which only the pure sciences could possess their own language
we have moved to our current idea that every sphere of human action has its own
specic linguistic baggage. The risk here - and the risk I will attempt to avoid in this
paper - is, however, that of excessive recourse to the notion that interests us here. We
tend to forget, however, that language systems are entirely capable of absorbing this
type of oscillation between subjectively different masteries of the linguistic heritage at
our disposal. The presence of a technical term or an expression used only in a specic
working context does not always justify the coining of a new sectoral language.
When a discipline, a science or even just a profession uses sectoral language it is not
simply using a list of terms but something more structured which encompasses other
aspects of the language too. And we need to take account of this as I go on with my
argument and in particular when I deal with the issue of sectoral language teaching.
As well as a context, in speaking of sectoral language, we need a group of speakers who
share the same interests and/or passions and communicate with a certain language
which they know and share for this reason.
Moreover, given that I am dealing here with L2 Italian, it is important to remember
that we can speak of sectoral language even when we are not dealing with two experts
in the subject talking to one another but also in the presence of learners who are at-
tempting to move closer to this specic sector and to do so put themselves in the hands
of those who have already mastered it. The same thing can happen between speakers
of Italian when they are taking introductory courses in a subject for example such as
those which are customary in the academic context.
Finally, we must mention the last of the elements which contribute to the emergence of
a sectoral language - natural historic language which sectoral uses incorporate them-
selves in to, which I have already partly touched on, and the dynamics which develop
between general linguistic-communicative competences and professional linguistic-
communicative competences.
It must not be forgotten then that a sectoral language operates within a natural historic
language and represents a segment of it, a portion of linguistic space at the disposal
of speakers.
There are no barriers in language nor semiotic rules which are valid only in certain
specic contexts All uses are generated as a result of the same rules
153
. Achieving pro-
fessional linguistic competence does not mean then learning the meaning of a list of
terms as much as managing the texts which are typical and recurring in that specic
153
See De Mauro (1994).
professional sector. This is a notion which is much more complex and structured than
a simple list of words and it brings in all the other levels on which linguistic-commu-
nicative competence is shared, from the syntactic to the pragmatic levels
154
.
Introducing this notion - which encompasses and does not exclude that of vocabu-
lary - also helps us to consider the other foundation stone of linguistic competence
of a professional type, the speech act that is. In fact, speakers begin to use that space
of a language system which is reserved for professional purposes also when they are
confronted with specic speech acts. These are specic because they are used only
in that particular sector (in less frequent cases) or because they are used much more
frequently there than in any other communicative situation
155
.
Professional linguistic competences in the context of the Italian
manufacturing system
The phenomenon of global migration which has hit Italy is now the salient character-
istic of modern society
156
. This places professional linguistic competences at the heart
of the matter. It cannot be denied that the search for an occupation is linked closely
to employee linguistic competences and that these imply a large measure of linguistic
competence in the professional sphere.
As we know, Italy is one of the countries which has been most affected by the phenom-
enon of immigration - more than ve million people
157
have come to this Country over
the last approximately thirty ve years with the intention of looking for work. Sector
studies have currently highlighted that immigrant masses of working age tend to group
themselves into two macro employment areas: personal services (for example, mediators,
home helps, housekeepers, babysitters, etc.) and the manufacturing sector (for example,
factory workers, employees in small family run businesses, manual labour in general
linked in particular to the building and agricultural sectors). The latter is that which has
traditionally characterised immigration consisting largely of unskilled or semi-skilled
labour in which know-how rather than communicative ability is important. I would
argue that this latter area is the least problematic because these immigrants are often
highly capable and, even though they cant speak Italian or the sectoral language of
reference, they manage very well indeed. Doing rather than speaking that is.
154
I would link professional linguistic competence to the notion of text in the wake of the contents of the Com-
mon European Framework on the subject of linguistic-communicative competence (Council of Europe, 2002).
155
The conclusions reached by the working Group co-ordinated by the Agenzia Nazionale of the LLP - Programma
Settoriale Leonardo da Vinci in 2009, in which I took part, are similar (Agenzia Nazionale del LLP - Programma
settoriale Leonardo da Vinci, 2009).
156
See in this context the important Green Paper (European Community Commission, 2008) which placed the
immigration phenomenon in the perspective of opportunities and resources and not as an emergency situation.
I will focus on the issue of professional linguistic competences for migrant workers who choose to come and
live in Italy on this renewed basis.
157
Caritas (2012). .
The eld of personal services is, on the other hand, the sphere which I am most in-
terested in because I believe that it opens up innovative and little explored scenarios
linked to language training for professional purposes. We are, in fact, talking here of
a sector which absorbs a considerable number of foreigners - particularly women - in
Italy and requires on occasions (think of mediators for example or those who look after
our ill) considerable linguistic ability in that their profession is based on fairly complex
communicative networks which require a high level of linguistic ability and marked
competence in the language sector.
This group of learners has received less attention to date as it is mistakenly believed
that the language of the professions is purely scientic and technical whilst there is
actually a technical component - in the sense outlined above - in the social professions
too in which technical terms may be few but certain textual types and interactions with
specic communicative patterns and specic speech acts are common.
I would also argue that the interaction between the structural presence of a foreign
population with its desire for freedom and the demands coming from the domestic
world of work will lead to a continual increase in the demand for qualied employees
in these sectors.
Clearly I do not mean to ignore the need for language training in the professions for
those who intend to work in technical and business elds here but it is my intention to
underline that the original feature from the perspective of teaching Italian is precisely
the need for language training in professions in which the use of the spoken word is
of fundamental importance and in which action is communication.
Educational choices for professional language training
The rst difculty which is often encountered when language courses for professional
purposes are set up is the limited correlation in learners between the level reached in
carrying out a specic task or role - which is often high or more than acceptable - and
their ability to verbalise the actions performed and describe them to third parties.
Generally, the tendency is to focus attention on linguistic needs with the result that
students are required to take part in exercises with professional competences which
are too low for them.
I believe, however, that the success of a course from both the linguistic and increase of
professional competence in that specic sector points of view depends on designing
training courses in which the professional training and linguistic objectives are matched
and the two are mutually reinforcing creating a virtuous circle for the learner and his
or her training aspirations.
It must be said on this issue that the Italian business system (the rst stakeholder for the
immigrant population choosing to attend an Italian language course for professional
purposes) has still not given its support to this tendency in L2 Italian courses for the
Italian workforce and continues to favour professional competence - know-how - at
the expense of the language competences required to back them up
158
.
This is an invitation to overcome the perspective that, for an immigrant studying an
Italian course for specic purposes, a sprinkling of sector terms is enough and focus on
a more all round training tied, as I have shown, to the management of textuality and
capable of taking learners in the direction of an effective ability to move in linguistic
terms between the Italian linguistic spaces of the various disciplines.
If this is the objective then the idea that professional training can be achieved with
an A2 level of competence in Italian is certainly not helpful
159
as the language abilities
possessed by those holding this level of competence are not sufcient for the mastery
of professional communicative tasks suitable to their abilities.
Finally, another aspect which I believe is of central importance if we are to improve
language training for special purposes is reinforcing and widening the network of best
practices in this sector and creating a space in which the various operators - institu-
tions, training agencies and category associations - which have been working in this
sector for years can share techniques, strategies and objectives. It is only thus that we
can think of emerging nally from the emergency phase which is still limiting many of
the choices in the training sector for specic purposes and which ends up inhibiting
the real integration of foreign citizens into this country and its world of work.
158
Vedovelli has expressed this opinion on more than one occasion and recently in Vedovelli (2013).
159
As recent norms on the issue of residence permits seems implicitly to suggest in Decree 04
th
June 2010, article 2.
1.11 An example of disadvantage and language
competences
Paola Berbeglia
Chapter 11
Howard Gardiner in his book Frames Of Mind, The Theory Of Multiple Intelligences afrms
that linguistic intelligence consists of sensitivity to both spoken and written language.
More specically, Gardner (1993) explains that it involves sensitivity to the meaning of
words, to the order among words, to the sounds, rhythms, inections, and meters of
words, and sensitivity to the different functions of language such as its ability to convince,
stimulate, or convey information to accomplish specic goals (p. 77). We use linguistic
intelligence every day to convince others of a particular course action, or to convey
information, to implement rules, to provide directions, instructions, and procedures. We
use it in explanation and teaching and for expression through literature and the written
word. Gardner (1993) does not term linguistic intelligence as an auditory-oral form of
intelligence because deaf individuals can devise or master gestural systems and because of
the ability people have to discern meaning and importance in sets of pitches rhythmically
arranged as a means of communicating with others (musical abilities) (p. 98).
With these simple words Gardiner shows how fundamental and basic are the needs
to whom we answer through the language and how much the competences linked
to language learning are requested. They can be performed at multiple levels, from
everyday life to artistic experiences.
Following these suggestion since long time the Think tank group on Language compe-
tences, managed by Isfol, highlighted how it would be important to dedicate specic
niches of planning to the language of minority groups and to promote geographical
mobility opportunities also beyond the borders of the European Union.
The valorization of language skills of migrants and the abolition of monolingualism at
school are strongly linked with the use of language, especially for the inclusion of rst
and second generation immigrants. As many studies showed
160
, the two groups present
160
In the studies commissioned by OCSE and the European Social Fund, was clearly found that Ethnicity, race
and/or immigration is often associated with disadvantage, especially in terms of early school leaving but it is
also related to youth unemployment. However, it is important to differentiate between 2nd or 3rd generation
descendents of immigrant workers in Western and Northern Europe, the new phenomena of legal and illegal
immigrant workers in Southern Europe, citizens from former colonies, refugees and asylum seekers as well as
indigenous ethnic minorities such as the Roma in Central and Eastern Europe (partly also Southern Europe)
(Szeleny, 2000; Castles & Miller, 2003).
105 An example of disadvantage and language competences
different needs: the rst generation is mostly composed of migrants leaving their native
country with an idea to come back, enriched, with a new status, with a limited range of
social right recognition. The second or third (or 1,5 as sociologists say) generation faces
a totally different situation, for they dont accept (rightly) to be discriminated on the
basis of their parents origin or place of birth, because they fully experience the reality,
habits and culture of the host country. The second generation is, in fact, completely
different: often born or arrived at a very early age in the host country, they feel theyre
like the other guys (even though, sometimes - physically - they dont) and in some
countries, like Italy, they are even not regular citizens until the age of 18 when they
can opt for the Italian citizenship instead of the one of their parents.
The rst generation arrives with its hopes and dreams, but in the host country it faces
often a different reality: so people change their plan to go back, they create new families,
and, nally, stay. Their perspective of life changes, but normally the rst generation of
migrants is available to do low-qualied jobs, with the aim of avoiding the failure of
its migration project.
For this reason UE established as an indicator of inclusion the opportunity to access
the same type of work for autochthones and second generation youth and encouraged
early childhood language learning: these are for EC the real indicator of integration.
But coming back to the issue of language learning for disadvantaged people, for the rst
group of migrants, the renowned experiences of Paulo Freire in Latin America and Africa
led to develop a method that can be followed (and is already partially used) for migrant
peoples. I mean the functional literacy method. This method, used for adult education, takes
into consideration the motivation to learn, using issues of adults socio-political interest, to
learn language and mathematics. I will not linger over this method, but it is another way to
demonstrate that all the successful experiences of language learning invest intentionality, lis-
tening and emotion and that the skills acquired can be re-invested in his/her professionalism.
As far as the second generation of migrants are concerned, one of the actual most
famous researchers on these issues, Jim Cummins, focused on the distinction between
additive bilingualism and subtractive bilingualism. In the rst one (that belongs to the
autochthones) the rst language continues to be developed and the rst culture to
be valued while the second language is added; in subtractive bilingualism the second
language is added at the expense of the rst language and culture, which diminish as
a consequence. Cummins makes a distinction between two different kinds of language
prociency. BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) are the surface skills of
listening and speaking which are typically acquired quickly by many students (particu-
larly by those from language backgrounds similar to the one of the host country who
spend a lot of their school time interacting with native speakers), while CALP (Cognitive
Academic Language Prociency), as the name suggests, is the basis for a childs ability
to cope with the academic demands placed upon her in the various subjects. Cummins
states that while many children develop native speaker uency (i.e. BICS) within two
years of immersion in the target language, it takes between 5-7 years for a child to
be working on a level with native speakers as far as academic language is concerned.
As Cummins (2000) states: Conceptual knowledge developed in one language helps
to make input in the other language comprehensible. If a child already understands
the concepts of justice or honesty in her own language, all she has to do is acquire
the label for these terms in English. She has a far more difcult task, however, if she
has to acquire both the label and the concept in her second language.
From a sociological point of view (particularly interesting for us, as educators/trainers
of migrants) Cummins (1994) quotes research which suggests students working in
an additive bilingual environment succeed to a greater extent than those whose rst
language and culture are devalued by their schools and by the wider society.
Finally, the teachers should do all they can to demonstrate to non-native students
that their cultures and languages are equally as valid and valued as the autochthones
culture and language that inevitably dominates school life. Teachers and departments
should explore every possibility to incorporate the different cultural backgrounds of
their students into their daily teaching and curricula.
But how to do it? Is really Italian school well prepared to do it? One of the main question
that the teachers in Italy are coping now with is how to distinguish, among migrant
children, problems of language and problems of learning. Often this question provoke
confusion in terms of methodologies to suggest to the student to perform better his/
her learning style.
In this sense we, as CReA (Centre for Research and Activity) experimented the methods
of PAS (FIE) methodology of Prof. Feuerstein. Reuven Feuerstein, born in Botoani, (Ro-
mania) is an Israeli clinical, developmental, and cognitive psychologist, renowned for
his theory of intelligence which states it is not xed, but rather modiable. The idea
behind this theory is that intelligence can be modied through mediated interventions.
Feuerstein is recognized for his lifelong work in developing the theories and applied
systems of: Structural Cognitive Modiability, Mediated Learning Experience, Cognitive
Map, Decient Cognitive Functions, Dynamic Assessment: Learning Propensity Assess-
ment Device, Instrumental Enrichment Programs, and Shaping Modifying Environments.
These interlocked practices provide educators with the skills and tools to systematically
develop students cognitive functions and operations to build meta-cognition.
Last year we worked, using this method in a school with a Nigerian teenager, Chiara a
second generation migrant. She was thirteen years old, already stopped by the school for
one year, she was attending a bad second year in a secondary school. She was invited
to attend Italian language lessons in the afternoon but she was not convinced nor mo-
tivated to do it. Through the assessment based on Feuerstein method (Learning Potential
Assessment Device - LPAD) I found a new way to look at her deciencies. Through the
assessment, especially in the linguistic area, I found that Chiara would need to expand her
vocabulary, helped by the mediation of an expert, in the process of crystallization of the
107 An example of disadvantage and language competences
terms (Calp level of Cummins). She experienced the same difculty found in guys who,
although born in the host country, have a practical limited exposure to a broad linguistic
vocabulary. The reason is that they dont attend the Italian comrades in the afternoon and
remain isolated at home. Chiara would nd particularly useful to promote her presenta-
tion skills, to work through schemes and models, through group work with classmates.
This would facilitate the synthesis and exposure skills. Chiara therefore showed excellent
potential for achieving results perfectly comparable to those of his companions.
All instruments used in the evaluation had demonstrated that Chiara showed high levels
of cognitive functioning. Through a positive approach, which reinforced the sense of
competence of the girl, Chiara manifested an increasing awareness of her own abilities
and her self-esteem augmented, leading to an increased level of cognitive functioning.
Therefore Chiara was potentially ready to expand her learning process through a systematic
use of mental operations (more abstraction), especially in the linguistic and labeling areas.
But she especially needed to increase her sense of competence, self-esteem, to search for
an alternative and optimistic sense of belonging to the host country and community. So
we suggested to the teachers to use the strategy of cognitive mediation also in everyday
life; to help her to crystallize (we mean reinforce and stabilize), concepts and verbal
labels; to use more elaborated words and strategies, that push towards abstraction; to
work through models and paths of synthesis, in close relationship with peers.
In the nal stage when we gave a nal reading of the results, saying that the dif-
culties were only in the area of vocabulary and in some sections of synthesis, Chiara
expressed all her satisfaction for the positive results, but she was also amazed: she
couldnt believe her ears.
Following these data, and searching more in the eld of inclusion
161
of second genera-
tion children and youth - as evidenced by many contemporary studies and reports
from Australia
162
, United Kingdom, United States - the language remains one of the
key factor for the inclusion of disadvantaged people
163
, but it is strongly linked to the
whole psychological and social process of inclusion. In addition, following Cummins
conclusion, it should not be assumed that non-native speakers who have attained a
high degree of uency and accuracy in everyday spoken language of the host country
161
Its important also to dene the difference between inclusion and integration. Key differences lie in the fol-
lowing aspects: active inclusion prefers an anticipatory, proactive approach. It gives priority to a social model
that benets active individuals, i.e. those who are active have better chances. This module can be labelled as a
model of preventive nature and a model which fosters a wide amount of self-reliance. It is equally addressed
to all the single individuals of a community. On the other hand, the set of rules for Integration of vulnerable
groups can be perceived as a set of reactive, non-anticipatory approaches. It deals with selective measures for
only certain groups of citizens, who are in limited circumstances enabled to join social life more actively in
their environment.
162
Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage - The Smith Family submission to The Australian Government Social
Inclusion Board July 2010.
163
Policy Responses To Social Exclusion Towards Inclusion? Edited by Janie Percy-Smith, Open University Press,
Philadelphia, 2000.
have the corresponding academic language prociency. This may help educators to
avoid labeling children who exhibit this disparity as having special educational needs
when all they need is more time. In Canada, the non-native speakers, who have exited
from the ESL (English Spoken Language) program, are still, in most cases, in the process
of catching up with their native speaking peers.
On the other hands researches carried on in UK showed that children who are learning
English as an additional language can also have Speech, Language and Communication
Needs (SLCN), but they are no more likely to experience it than other children. SLCN
is not caused by learning more than one language although learning English as an
additional language may make their SLCN harder to identify
164
.
Another conclusion derived from all these eld experiences and data is that every
strategy of mediation, from a linguistic, social and psychological point of view is useful.
For example, a training program for Linguistic Cultural Mediators was experimented by a
Leonardo da Vinci TOI project in Italy. Linguistic Cultural Mediators can play a prominent
role in the re-thinking of the existing social structures in order to support the integra-
tion and inclusion of migrants, by facilitating the dialogue between migrants users
and public ofcers in many elds (schools, health services, social services); they help
to translate and interpret meanings of words and gestures, bridging the gap between
people of the host country and migrants. In particular, the ACUME - Advancing cross-
Cultural MEdiation project
165
was aimed to enhance the competences of Intercultural
Mediators in selected specic areas: Communication and relation, Languages (training
on second language L2 and reinforcing of L1), Team work. The course made reference
to principles, methodologies and approaches related to cross cultural learning styles
of trainees in vocational education and training. It was also complemented with L2
blended training (e-learning modules and frontal lessons). The model was shaped ac-
cording to the VAE (Validation des Acquis de lExprience) approach, so as to allow the
structure of the course, its contents and related pedagogical and didactical materials
be built on a modular base. Thus, the model was available for individual use - according
to the competences of each individual beneting from it - and it was complemented
with a system for the assessment of the competences of the trainees, with the aim of
contributing to the denition of the Professional Prole of the Intercultural Mediator.
Manuals and didactic materials are almost ready and they will be available to trainers
and educators involved in training of migrant people with the specic aim of valorizing
migrants linguistic competences. But ACUME is also the clear demonstration that the
language could become the main asset and tool of work, for a foreigner living in an
host country. In this case specicity and niche become strategic.
164
Oller, D.K. and Eilers, R. (2002) Language and Literacy in Bilingual Children Clevendon, UK: Multilingual Matters
Ltd.
165
The University for Foreigners of Siena and CReA were respectively the Applicant organisation and the Co-
ordinator of the action.
109 An example of cultural-linguistic mobility and diversity
1.12 An example of cultural-linguistic mobility
and diversity
Federica Sguotti
Chapter 12
It is essential for people from different cultures to have a command of foreign lan-
guages in order to understand one another. As the world turns into one international
global community, the need for dialogue and understanding between cultures becomes
more crucial.
Given the great linguistic diversity, both in Europe and throughout the world, there are
many advantages associated with learning and being procient in a foreign language.
Least of all experiencing travel and holidays abroad, facilitating social relationships and
augmenting career prospects, without forgetting the pleasure obtained by interacting
with other cultures and the opportunity to broaden ones horizons. In addition, the
European Union is no longer conned by limiting borders and all citizens have the
right to live, study or work wherever they choose within its territory: peoples lack of
language skills, however, is still an invisible barrier for unrestricted mobility. Learning
a language allows us freedom of movement
166
.
We have tried, for more than ten years, to encourage the creation of policies which
promote the teaching of languages, that are consistent with the ideology of social
integration and that encourage the development of a democratic citizenship in Europe.
Member States have agreed upon common objectives by setting indicators and bench-
marks, sharing good practice and undertaking peer reviews. They have identied the
improvement of language skills as a key priority. The promotion of learning languages,
in all their diversity, has been at the core of the European Commissions most recently
developed programs
167.
Community programs promoted by the European Commission have offered the tools
needed to develop and improve a European Union which is based on skills garnered
through cooperation and mobility between education and training systems. It has
been very important, however, to include in this context the importance of linguistic
/ cultural skills before embarking on an internship abroad.
166
Council conclusions on language competences to enhance mobility (2011/C 372/07).
167
Communication from the Commission to the council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Com-
mittee and the Committee of the Regions Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity: An Action
Plan 2004-2006, 24.07.2003COM(2003) 449 nal.
Many nd out that they have a passion for languages because they are inspired by their
teachers. However, there is an apprehension which often arises at school where the
value of languages is not yet appreciated enough. Then there are those individuals who,
due to fears and concerns, have still not ventured in the study of a foreign language.
Although people from all levels of education and backgrounds are able to learn a foreign
language, many think it is a challenge that they are not ready to face. Having a good
command of a language, or even better, multiple languages, is enormously enriching
from all points of view.
In our implementation of the Leonardo da Vinci transnational placements, we have
sought to promote multilingualism by building networks with host countries whose
dominant languages are not English, French or German but also those less used such
as Swedish, Greek and Portuguese.
The organisation of the project expects the publication of an open announcement in
Italy for unemployed people who are interested in gaining experience in multi-profes-
sional sectors. Specically within the following sectors: commerce, marketing, human
resources, architecture, computer science and tourism. Through experience, we have
come to appreciate the earnest desire of our applicants to learn a new language since
many of them apply with no prior knowledge of the host countrys mother tongue. This
desire, when married with a vocational placement in their chosen host country, leads
the participant to learn the language. However, to fully benet from this experience
we know that it is best to start with a good linguistic foundation before departure.
It is common for individuals who are undergoing a professional placement abroad to
underestimate the value of preparation, particularly that of the required language and
cultural skills needed at their destination. They usually hope that spending a few months
abroad will help them to learn the language and culture there. Unfortunately this is
not always possible: in a vocational programme communication within the workplace
is pivotal and hinges on ones prior command of the language.
The applicants can come from various professional and educational backgrounds. Ac-
cordingly, their objectives are very different, but they all want to get the most out of
the professional elements of the experience. Since we are aware of this and we take
into consideration that the market is in crisis, our only hope is that we provide them
with greater skills and ways to develop their expertise. Therefore, each individual will
try to acquire, in different ways, what they believe cannot be achieved in their country
of origin.
So how does an individual get the most out of a professional experience when they
nd that language and culture are obstacles? The participants who depart without prior
knowledge of the language and culture of their host country can nd themselves having
to face difculties which can often be overwhelming, almost impenetrable. Usually, the
placements are reduced to short periods of time, three or four months at most. These
are not long enough to deal with the language and cultural barriers, as well as learning
professional skills. Thus, participants who venture abroad without a good knowledge
of the language will spend their time, certainly the rst few weeks, focusing on what
is going on around them from a linguistic point of view. Consequently, they lose sight
of the professional objectives they wanted to achieve, causing them great frustration
when evaluating the nal results of their experience.
We can say, therefore, that it all begins at the selection stage. During this process the
language skills are an essential factor to be considered when devising a learning plan
which is appropriate to the vocational programme. The better their language skills, the
more developed and tailored the learning plan will be.
Let us now get down to the specics. A young Psychology graduate, with good language
and cultural capabilities, who wishes to do the internship in the United Kingdom at a
school for children with special needs, will immediately integrate in the new working
environment. This graduate will be able to focus upon and perform their daily tasks
whilst meeting new challenges. They will also, with greater ease, acquire new profes-
sional, linguistic, social and specic practical skills. Their ability to interact with the staff
by asking questions, resolving and clarifying doubts, developing contents and new ideas
will make this all the more fruitful an experience.
The story of July B., one of our participants, illustrates the former point. She did an
internship in Birmingham at a school for children with special needs; she afrms: I do
not deny that initially I was shocked, but I got used to it, and discovered that I could
do things that I never would have thought I could do. During the internship, my du-
ties hardly changed; however, I started to perform them more independently and with
greater awareness. After some time I got to know the children better and, as a result,
I was more relaxed with them
168
.
In the case of countries, such as Greece, Finland and Sweden, we do not only assess
the participants knowledge of the native language of those countries but also of the
vehicular language, in this instance English, since it is so widely used. Unfortunately,
the languages from the countries mentioned above are not part of the curriculum in
our schools. Yet those countries are places of great interest and attraction for young
people. For this reason, we estimate that by having a good command of the vehicular
language the participants will be able to learn the native language during the placement.
We can highlight multilingualism as an important factor when considering intellectual
and social growth, as evidenced in a paper presented by the Accademia della Crusca
and the main language associations in the Council to the President of the Republic,
the Prime Minister and his associates, quote: The experts state that knowing multiple
languages is benecial for young children and young students and it should start
168
Placement Feedback Form Document created by APIC for better monitoring of the mobility experience, to be
completed at the end of the internship.
from an early age at school.
169
They call for the promotion of appropriate policies and
for the development of training plans implemented straight from school. These plans
should not rely on the initiative of individual teachers and trainers only. This will also
help clear any prejudices since, as stated by the experts, knowing multiple languages
is enriching not only on a personal level but it is also an asset of inestimable value to
the growth of the person and of society as a whole. Schools and / or the competent
agencies must provide people from their earliest years of study with a good knowledge
of a foreign language and if possible even multiple languages.
This approach to learning languages should put every individual in a position to:
- be aware of their historical and cultural roots;
- learn about the world in which we live and its various socio-cultural characteristics;
- have a good command of two European languages, in addition to the language of
the place in which they reside so they can communicate and interact with people
from other cultures, both in everyday and professional situations;
- gain better understanding of foreign cultures by directly interacting with them.
Regarding foreign languages, the goal is not to know them as a native speaker, but to
reach an appropriate communicative prociency in at least two European languages.
This requirement is in line with what emerged from the Barcelona European Council of
2002 and with the Recommendation of the Council of 28th June 2011. It was identied
that language skills are an essential component of a competitive economy based on
knowledge. A good command of foreign languages is a useful skill for the life of all EU
citizens as it allows them to enjoy the economic and social benets of free movement
within the Union. Language is a vehicle for culture and knowing a language implies
the understanding of culture. This is why multilingualism, that is knowing multiple
languages, is not limited to the recognition of the different linguistic systems, but it is
accompanied by the awareness that there are cultures other than our own. The exist-
ence of other cultures is also highlighted by the presence of an increasing number of
students in our classrooms who do not speak Italian as a rst language. Thus, it is the
responsibility of our educational system to encourage integration and prevent exclusion
by using appropriate and inclusive linguistic policies. The coexistence of cultures is also
a valuable cultural resource and an opportunity for enrichment for all.
Also APIC, which does not have extensive experience shaping teaching methodologies,
has, as part of the Leonardo da Vinci project, added a week long preparatory course
in Italy in addition to the existing two-week language course in the host country. We
realized that this week, albeit brief, really helps the participants to deal with the chal-
lenges they face when undertaking a placement abroad.
169
La Repubblica, 17 Luglio 2013.
This preparatory course is divided into two parts. The rst stage focuses on teaching
the foreign language and culture; this is undertaken by a native teacher. This teacher
will introduce the world of work in the predestined country; how to compile a CV and
a cover letter, how to interview and also how to carry out practical activities useful in
the workplace such as phone calls, writing letters, etc. The teacher will also dedicate
time to the daily practical aspects of the foreign culture and society, such as purchasing
mobile phones, food and beverages, social life and local transport.
In the second stage APIC is always very careful to convey to its participants that lan-
guage is not only a communication tool but primarily it is a means to understand the
dynamics of cultural and personal interaction between those who speak it. It is important
that the learner realises it is not enough to have a good grasp of the grammar, but that
they need a wider ranging body of knowledge that will allow all-round communication.
The image of the iceberg is often used to illustrate cultural assimilation. This image il-
lustrates how there are cultural elements which are relatively conscious (the visible tip
of the iceberg), such as language, customs, daily routines, habits and history. Then there
are other cultural elements which are less obvious (the submerged base of the iceberg),
such as the values , attitudes, assumptions, worldviews and thinking processes. All these
have important emotional components. However, it is the less consciously assimilated
aspects of a foreign culture which are of more emotional importance.
Critical incidents that may happen when people from different cultural backgrounds
coincide are often embedded in the most hidden, most sensitive part of the iceberg.
Participants should feel like citizens of the world: open to future possibilities, the cul-
tural exchange and be able to handle situations of intercultural conict in a country
that is not their own.
The goal is to convey to the participants that in order to get the most out of the mobil-
ity placements, they will have to use all their acquired knowledge and skills; this way
they will integrate well into their new reality.
1.13 The contribution of regional governments
to the creation of a language policy for
vocational purposes
Giuseppe DAngelo
Chapter 13
Local Public Administration and Vocational Training
Local Public Administration plays a very broad and complex role in the eld of vocational
training, especially at regional level.
In Italy, in fact, vocational training is provided with different kinds of tools by the
national, regional and sometimes provincial governments, side by side with private
vocational training.
The last reform of the school system identied two parallel paths: one for grammar
schools and technical-vocational lyceums and one for vocational schools and train-
ing. This latter is also organised in two levels: rst-level education targeting rst stage
schools provided by Vocational Institutes or by the regional government; second-level
vocational training, instead, targets those who successfully completed rst-level educa-
tion or second stage school in particular. Second-level education consists of: second-
level regional vocational training, Higher Technical Training
170
and training within higher
technical education institutes (at high technological specialisation)
171
.
This shows how the regional government is involved at both training levels. In order to
distinguish this training from the one provided by technical-vocational lyceums, the
term vocational education is used referring to this latter, as opposed to the vocational
training previously described. There is a clear difference between education and training,
although it is becoming more and more common today to think of the school, what we
refer to as education, as needing to also embrace training, in the sense that learners
between 16 and 18 years of age (up to 20-year-olds) should be taught how to put the
knowledge they acquire into practice. On the other hand, the expression vocational
170
Higher technical training is also known as IFTS in Italy, which stands for interventions of higher technical
training.
171
For the sake of a complete information, we should mention that an important role in the context of VET, in
particular continuous training, is played by the so-called Interprofessional Funds established by art. 118 of
the Financial Law 2001 no. 388/2000 for the application of what has already been introduced by point d) of
Art. 17 of L. n. 196/1997 (so-called Treu), which provided funding for training, business and territorial plans, by
means of one or more funds managed by representatives of workers and enterprises. These funds are powered
by an amount equal to 0.30% of the payments of Social Security contributions paid by employers for their
employees. Funds may nance activities of information, education, training and continuous updating of work-
ers industry, trade, services and agriculture.
115 The contribution of regional governments
training also refers to adults -both unemployed and rst-time job seekers, as well as
the employed needing some requalication or upskilling- there are two macro-groups
of competences in the eld of education and training: cross-curricular competences (or
key competences, as they are more frequently referred to nowadays) and specialised
competences. The former include all knowledge about subjects which do not have a
specic sectoral connotation, such as: computer science, Italian, mathematics, foreign
languages; the latter includes all specialised knowledge. There are a number of subjects,
such as computer science and foreign languages, which can also be very specialised,
when they are the object of specialisation in a study curriculum; however for their
cross-curricular nature these subjects are attributed general cognitive skills which are
common to all education and vocational training curricula.
At regional level, vocational training offers programmes both for school-age and
post-school-age learners targeting all those who are willing to quickly enter the
labour market without undertaking long studies to obtain a high school or a university
degree. This does not mean that the learning courses offered by regional vocational
training programmes are less rich or demanding than more typically educational paths
but simply that they are much more focused on know-how and on the synergy with
the profession.
Regional vocational training is offered by Vocational Training Centres and by Private
Training Institutes; private institutes must be accredited by the region in order to oper-
ate and the accreditation process concerns the facility at large and, in many regions, all
personnel involved in training at different levels. Private Vocational Training Institutes
offer two types of courses: self-nanced courses, where learners pay their training to
acquire a professional qualication and nanced courses, funded by public funds,
usually using the European Social Fund which exploits European, national and regional
nancial resources.
Specialist and cross-curricular vocational training
It is worth pointing out that while self-nanced regional vocational training involves
not only the qualication of specic professional proles but also training for the ac-
quisition of key competences
172
, vocational training funded by the regional government
has always primarily, if not exclusively, focused on providing complete professional
competence. This distinction in regional programmes has partly shifted over the past
few years, due to the economic and employment crisis which has had a strong impact
on the nature and role of nanced regional vocational training. The crisis has led the
State and Regions, and the European Union in part as well, to identify qualication
and requalication strategies to meet two fundamental needs:
172
For example language schools or schools offering European Computer Driving Licence - or ECDL- courses to
develop computer skills for professional purposes.
- Speeding up and making more effective the passage from training to the business
world, especially for young people at risk of exclusion;
- Supporting businesses with a greater investment in on-the-job training.
This is why, over the past few years, there has been a growing attention on supporting
strategies with the job playing the key role. Of course this concept of regional voca-
tional training encountered the opposition of those who have a more educational and
generalized interpretation of regional vocational training; the needs of the business
world and of the users, however, have made it necessary in the last years to shift towards
qualication programmes, in particular for rst level vocational training, more job-
oriented. At the same time, the crisis has also brought to the surface a need for broad
and organized public actions in the eld of key competences for professional purposes.
This is to be explained with key competences having taken on the role of founding
elements of a kind of professionalization based not only on strong specialised skills but
also on solid background knowledge and relationship (foreign and native languages),
knowledge management (computer and telecommunication) and number (mathematics)
competences. More specically, as previously highlighted in this volume, in this scenario
language competences play a double role in terms of professionalization: on the one
hand they can broaden the opportunities for workers and job-seekers to move around
a labour market which is not limited to their country of origin and, on the other hand,
it enables everyone to build and consolidate their European citizenship.
European Social Fund and language training
The European Social Fund (ESF) is the rst structural fund. It was established with the Rome
Treaty in 1957 and it was introduced to reduce the divide between different States and regions
of the European Community in terms of life standards by promoting social and economic cohe-
sion. The aim of the fund has always been to support employment through the qualication
of workers and companies by supporting least-advanced Member States and specic areas.
The history of the ESF is a detailed and chronological account of all the evolutions and
crisis which crossed the European continent with regard to cohesion and employment.
In 1951, Belgium, France, (Western) Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
signed the Paris Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
The treaty also established the ECSC Fund for the requalication and re-employment of
workers; this fund is considered to be the forerunner of the European Social Fund (ESF).
In 1957, the Rome Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) was
signed, within the framework of which the European Social Fund was created
173
in order
173
In order to improve employment opportunities for workers in the common market and to contribute thereby
to raising the standard of living, a European Social Fund is hereby established in accordance with the provisions
set out below; it shall have the task of rendering the employment of workers easier and of increasing their
geographical and occupational mobility within the Community (Treaty of Rome, Chapter 2, Art. 123).
to improve job opportunities within the Community and increase workers geographic
and professional mobility.
At the beginning, the ESF was used mainly to compensate for job losses; the Fund,
in fact, helps workers of industries undergoing some restructuring by providing them
with requalication benets and helping out-of-job workers who left their regions of
origin to nd a new job elsewhere. The ESF has a much wider scope than the ECSC
Fund, as it addresses all industries, apart from agriculture.
In the early 1960s the fund was used to tackle national problems, because of the lack of
a general European strategy. In that period, the economy was growing and unemploy-
ment was uncommon. In Italy, however, unemployment was much higher than in the
rest of the EEC, making the Italians the main beneciaries of the ESF requalication and
re-employment plans. Western Germany, instead, used the ESF fund mainly to requalify
workers injured at the workplace.
At this time, the funds (which already required an equal investment at national level)
were used for projects managed by the public sector: private companies did not take
part in the ESF.
In the 1970s the ESF underwent an important reform and its resources were increased
and targeted to specic categories of people and industries, never neglecting chronic
unemployment. Greater attention was given to women (for their growing role in the
labour market) and to young people who became a priority for the Community. In the
same years, disabled people and workers over-50 were made a priority as well. Thus, the
fundamental features of the Fund changed: trade unions and private companies also
became involved, alongside with the public sector. At rst, Member States received the
funds after completion of the projects, but after the reform the Commission and the
Member States dened shared goals and allocated the necessary funds to achieve them.
In 1975, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was also established, to deal
with the development of infrastructure in the least-advanced regions. This allowed the
ESF to focus more on achieving its social goals. In 1970, the ESF accounted for only
1% of the community budget.
The 1980s marked the beginning of the shift from production to services; there was
a growing demand for specialised workers and priority was given to vocational train-
ing and information and communication technologies. In these years, the need for
requalied workers to nd a job having to do with the training received for at least 6
months following such training stopped being a requirement and the ESF was opened
to training in all sectors of the economy. It is also in these same years that the decision
was taken to have the Fund focus more on the regions most in need, thus starting
negotiated programming (1983). In 1988, the European Community shifted from an-
nual to medium-term budgets, and the integration of employment strategies began.
The 1990s were characterised by globalization and information society; unemploy-
ment in Europe reached alarming levels in terms of social cohesion and the crisis
experienced between 1992 and 1994 was a serious moment both at economic and
nancial level. In this period, the White Paper by Jaques Delors
174
, was published
indicating the way towards a reform to increase intentional employment, without
abandoning welfare redundancy benets. These guidelines produced the European
employment strategies, as an implementation and extension of the White Paper. In
1994, the work of the Council of Europe and of the European Commission started,
leading to the signature in 1997 of the Amsterdam Treaty
175
. With this treaty the
European Union - name which replaced the term European Community in 1993 -
committed to discussing together and approving a European Employment Strategy for
the rst time. In the 1990s (due to the growing ageing of the European population)
resources were allocated in favour of aged workers, so that they could stay longer
at work or renter the labour market; a number of targeted initiatives for the care of
aged people were also supported.
In 2000, this nature of the actions of the Fund started to emerge. The Lisbon Strategy
176

gave new stimulus to the value of the Fund and, more specically, it set 2010 as the year
by which Europe would have had to become the world most competitive and competent
society, without giving up the principles of cohesion and solidarity. The economic and
social crisis which burst in 2008 did not cancel this goal, it simply postponed it and the
fundamental principles of the Europe 2020 Strategy clearly show this.
Hence, the history of the European Social Fund is a story with a long-term perspec-
tive where, because of the crisis, the Fund will continue with new force to promote its
fundamental points, which can be summed up as:
- Economic and social cohesion and solidarity among Member States;
- Full employment and social progress of the European Union;
- Equal opportunities between women and men;
- Solidarity across generations;
- Fight against social exclusion and discrimination.
Within the relaunch of community actions, strengthened by the Europe 2020 Strategy
177
,
key competences take on both an educational and social role.
The commitment of the European Social Fund has therefore resulted, in the past few
years, in regional governments looking for more opportunities of intervention, especially
in the eld of language training for professional purposes, always bearing in mind the
need for on-the-job experiences to be acquired especially by young people.
174
Delors White Paper Growth, Competitiveness and Employment - The challenges and ways forward into the
21
st
century of 1993, (COM (93)700).
175
Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Com-
munities and related acts, Ofcial Journal, C 340, 10 November 1997.
176
Lisbon European Council 23 and 24 March 2000, Presidency Conclusions.
177
Communication from the Commission Europe 2020 A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth,
Brussels, 3.3.2010, (COM 2010), 2020 nal.
The initiative of the Campania Region Campania Students go to
Europe
In order to present a specic experience which has its roots in the analysis carried out in
the previous paragraphs, a description is given here of an action carried out by several
Italian regions and which saw, in particular, the contribution of the Campania region
with the project Campania Students go to Europe.
This initiative started thanks to a specic agreement, within the framework of the ROP
ESF of the Campania Region and of the Ministry of Education, University and Research,
through which the IV Bureau of the Directorate General for International Affairs of the
Ministry of Education, University and Research was identied as Intermediate Onlending
Body
178
of the ROP Campania - Convergence Objective of the ESF 2007-2013 for the
implementation of a number of actions aimed at promoting:
- Community language learning, in order to improve those competences useful to
enter the labour market;
- the participation in school-work blended educational programmes (in Italy and
in Europe), in order to enrich school training with the acquisition of on-the-job
experiences which can also counsel learners in their future training and profes-
sional choices.
These actions are in line with the proposals presented within the agship initiative Youth
on the move in support of the Europe 2020 Strategy, as they offer the opportunity
to study or work in Italy or in one of the European countries to students of the last
three years of the secondary schools from the regions taking part in the Convergence
Objective. The two skills mentioned are presented in the European Recommendation
of December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning
179
.
Starting in 2011, the Campania Region has therefore carried out two initiatives called:
- Training initiatives for the development of key competences - Communication in
foreign languages;
- Apprenticeships/Internships (in Italy and in EU countries);
which correspond, respectively, to the C1 and C5 actions of the National Operational
Programme ESF Competences for Development 2007/2013.
Both initiatives have been intended to contribute to strengthening communication
skills in European foreign languages also through learning specialised languages. An
178
According to Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 on the management of the Structural Funds, a Member State
or an authority of the Fund may delegate the management and implementation of a part of an operational
programme to an external body, designated by them including local authorities, regional development bodies
or non-governmental organisations. This external body is called Intermediate Body and the delegation is
made in accordance with procedures included in an agreement between the Member State or the managing
authority and that body itself.
179
Recommandation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on Key competences
for lifelong learning, (2006/962/EC), L394/10 of 30.12.2006.
important element which gave a more general training value to students experiences
is that these must become part of the overall students evaluation. Furthermore, the
requirement of an external nal exam in order to get a valid certication has been
introduced.
The initiative Campania Students go to Europe was carried out for two years in a row
(2011 and 2012) and was conrmed for the following two-year period 2013-2014 by
the Campania Region. Available data and the outcomes of the analysis concentrate
mainly on the rst year, while the results for 2012 are still being analysed, although
they appear to be in line with those of 2011.
The 2011 experience
With regard to the rst action, concerning language training, the Campania Region al-
located approximately 26,000,000 for the year 2011 from the Human capital priority
strand of the OP Campania 2007-2012
180
. The action consisted in learning/extension
teaching programmes of a European language to be taking place in language schools
in EU countries. In the same year 20,072,000.00 of the resources dedicated to the
Transnationality and Interregionality priority strand were allocated for the second
action focusing on apprenticeships. The action targeted fth-year high school students
who started the experience after the nal exams. This provided users with guidance and
training to choose their future studies and/or enter the labour market. The organiza-
tion of internships in companies made the school-work transition easier, thanks to the
cooperation between the school system and the business world. The apprenticeships,
which had a duration of 160 hours or 320 hours had to take place in companies in Italy
or in another EU country and envisaged the presence of a tutor in the hosting company
and of one/two teachers of the school of origin as accompanying tutors.
180
It is worth to mention that the Operational Programme of the Campania Region for the European Social Fund,
is divided into seven Priority Strands: Adaptability (I), Employability (II), Social Inclusion (III), Human Capital (IV),
Transnationality and Interregionality (V), Technical Assistance (VI), Institutional Capacity (VII), in turn divided
into Specic Objectives.
Table 7. No. of projects, interventions and students for the C1 and C5 actions
Priority Strand
Type of
intervention
Projects Interventions Students
Priority Strand IV
Human Capital
Action C1
Language Courses
in EU countries
220 395 5979
Priority Strand V
Transnationality
and Interregionality
Action C5
Apprenticeships/
Internships in Italy
and in EU countries
155 239 3253
Total Campania Region 375 634 9232
Source: Campania Region and MIUR (2012)
181
The two actions involved 251 schools, with a total of 375 projects and 9,232 students -
of which 5,979 for the rst action and 3,253 for the second action - and of which just
over 80% (7,772) obtained their language certicate. Different categories of schools
took part in the project (grammar schools, technical-vocational lyceums and vocational
schools, art schools) from all provinces of the Campania region thus distributed (in
brackets the number of projects nanced):
- Avellino (29);
- Benevento (27);
- Caserta (60);
- Naples (168);
- Salerno (91).
It is worth pointing out that the initiative involved all types of secondary education
schools. Furthermore, the actions have been successful everywhere, as shown by the
experts (head teachers, teachers and technicians) and students assessment. These two
aspects show that the demand for training experience in a key competence such as
foreign languages is very high among all young people, regardless of what school
they go to, as it is the value attributed by the participants to language training also in
the case of in-company apprenticeships. The table and chart below show in detail the
number of projects carried out and the costs:
181
MIUR is the abbreviation for the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research.
Table 8. No. of projects and total funds per type of secondary school
Type of Secondary School Projects Amount ()
Hotel and Catering vocational school 26 4.683.516,90
Industry, Arts and Crafts vocational school 16 2.520.071,52
Trade and Tourism vocational school 9 887.642,29
Social Services vocational school 2 273.408,58
Agricultural vocational school 1 153.428,58
Art vocational school 5 503.126,58
Secondary school with specialisation in Teacher Training 14 1.908.385,03
Secondary school 137 17.201.012,37
Agricultural technical school 2 129.418,51
Trade technical school 45 6.734.832,24
Industry technical school 42 3.838.658,58
Social Services technical school (formerly know as ITF) 3 269.501,50
Surveying technical school 6 586.071,80
Tourism technical school 1 119.980,00
Arts high school 4 257.132,87
High School with a specialisation in Humanities 14 1.163.242,52
High School with a specialisation in Science Education 48 5.082.200,56
Overall Total 375 46.311.630,43
182
182
Chart 17. Project distribution per type of secondary school
26
16
9
2
1
5
14
137
2
45
42
3 6
1
4
14
48
Hotel and Catering vocational school
Industry, Arts and Crafts vocational school
Trade and Tourism vocational school
Social Services vocational school
Agricultural vocational school
Art vocational school
Secondary school with specialisation in Teacher Training
Secondary school
Agricultural technical school
Trade technical school
Industry technical school
Social Services technical school (formerly know as ITF)
Surveying technical school
Tourism technical school
Arts high school
High School with a specialisation in Humanities
High School with a specialisation in Science Education
183
The level of satisfaction of the language training received was very high; almost all the
students declared the experience to have been very or quite useful.
With regard to training-on-the-job actions, about 50% of the students were involved
in an apprenticeship in a company in an EU country. The students were asked to ll in
a satisfaction questionnaire: the vast majority of students declared the participation
to this initiative to have been very useful, and almost one third of students declared
having received a job offer from the hosting company.
183
Chart 18. Assessment of the usefulness of the experience by the students involved
70,2
28,4
1,4
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Very Useful Quite Useful Weakly Not Useful
184
The NOP-ROP initiative 2011-2012
In the light of the important outcomes, the Campania Region has nanced the initiative
also for the year 2012 with further 92 million Euros, of which 42 million for language
training and 50 million for apprenticeships. This is not only an answer to the request
made by the schools at the end of 2011 to repeat this rst experience, but also a way
to promote a project which could have a very positive impact on the regions, both in
terms of education and vocational training.
This new initiative, with the participation of schools from the Campania Region to
activate courses both in Italy and in the EU in the July-October 2012 period, has also
interpreted the signicative interest of a part of the Campania business world which,
thanks to a specic promotion campaign carried out by the Region, has opened its
doors to apprenticeships in the local companies; for this reason, and also in order to
promote the apprenticeship experiences carried out in the regions, the choice of local
companies for the apprenticeships projects was identied as a strategic priority.
184
The NOP-NOR initiative 2013-2014
As the interventions within the project Campania Students go to Europe have become
very important in terms of vocational training focusing on key competences and on
the very signicant impact on the regional educational and vocational training system,
the Campania Region has approved another cycle of interventions for 2013-2014.
The resources allocated by the Campania Region for 2014 for the actions in the eld
of language training for vocational purposes and aimed at apprenticeship experiences
in Europe and in Italy for young students will be very signicant. This denitely shows
the role taken on by the regional government in the area to consolidate vocational
language training and the promotion and organization of apprenticeships in Italy and
abroad for young people living in the region.
Conclusions
The experience presented shows that regions can play a fundamental role in boosting
language training of their citizens; this role depends on implementing specic policies
in line with national and EU strategies.
The experience of the NOP-ROP initiative shows that nding new strategies to tackle
the employment and youth unemployment crisis also means raising individuals trust
and making available a larger labour market than the one people usually have in mind;
one where job experiences abroad, in a global perspective, are not a failure but an
enormous opportunity for personal and professional growth.
By contributing to raising awareness in young people, regional governments can favour
an incredible enrichment of the nations human capital.
Part 2
129 The European Language Label in Italy in the 2007-2013 programming period
2.1 The European Language Label in Italy in the
2007-2013 programming period . Some of
the outcomes in the vocational training eld
Natalia Guido and Michela Volpi
Chapter 1
Introduction
In November 2002 the Council of Barcelona
185
set the goal to implement all necessary
measures to make sure that all European citizens have the opportunity to know and
use two languages besides their native language.
In the years that followed, the debate on languages was enriched by new suggestions
and points of view, which were also the results of the projects carried out in the dif-
ferent European countries within the framework of the European Language Label. This
tool has been used for many years to establish the value of multilingualism and give
voice to the experiences and actors who operate, very often in the backstage, to sup-
port the development of language learning and to constantly improve the practices
and measures implemented.
In Italy the initiative is coordinated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies and
by the Ministry of Education, University and Research as national authorities respon-
sible for the Lifelong Learning Programme. The management and technical support
of the European Language Label is divided, at national level, into the two areas of
vocational training and education entrusted to the two Lifelong Learning Programme
Italian Agencies: Isfol - LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
for the vocational training area (Rome) and INDIRE - LLP National Agency - sectoral
Programmes Comenius, Erasmus, Grundtvig and Preparatory Visits (Florence) for the
education area. Thanks to the cooperation between the two agencies, every year an
ad-hoc Assessment Committee selects the projects which meet the following require-
ments in the two elds mentioned:
- Originality;
- Innovation;
- Possibility of integration;
- Added value compared to existing projects;
- Learners motivation;
185
Conclusions of the Presidency of the European Council of Barcelona 15 and 16 March 2002 - SN 100/1/02
REV 1.
- Methodological creativity;
- European dimension;
- Dissemination potential;
- Possibility to transfer the outcomes to other languages and/or countries.
Besides fullling these requirements, the projects should also meet the priority needs
outlined every year by the European Commission since 2003.
At the beginning, the identied priorities recalled for the development of favorable
contexts for language learning, for the awareness raising of the importance of know-
ing other languages - encouraging also adults language learning - as well as for the
awareness raising of local actors in the eld of language teaching and learning and
for the promotion of CLIL (Content Language Integrated Learning) as a methodology
with great potential in the education and training eld.
The adoption in 2005 of the New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism
186
stresses
again the importance of the fundamental principles of multilingualism, which then
become part of the European Language Label priorities in 2006-2007 and which call for
proposals to diversify the language supply and raise the quality of language teaching,
with a focus on initial and continuous training of language trainers.
In the 2007-2013 programming period - during which the Lifelong Learning Pro-
gramme 2007-2013 was launched, implemented and consolidated, languages became
a strategic element to focus on also with specic funds aimed at developing innova-
tive transnational projects (see Key Activity 2 - Languages), with a view to ensuring
the development of new tools, the testing of innovative methods and the denition
of learning paths tailored to the needs of learners and market. With the evolution of
the European policy framework for multilingualism and the subsequent adoption of
the EU 2020 Strategy
187
(aimed at building a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy
in Europe) and of the document of the European Commission Language competences
for employability, mobility and growth
188
, the European Language Label strengthened
its distinctive role in the promotion of initiatives for the acquisition of language com-
petences. This translated into the denition of European priorities focused on the
intercultural dialogue and on the relation between language competences and busi-
ness (2008-2009), on language learning for socio-cultural and work integration and
186
Communication of the Commission A New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism, [COM(2005) 596 def. of
22.11.2005.
187
Communication of the Commission Europe 2020: A Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, COM
(2010) 2020 DEF of 03.03.2010.
188
Commission staff working document Language competences for employability, mobility and growth (enclosed
to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Rethinking Education: investing in competence for
better socio-economic outcomes, COM(2012) 669 nal, Strasbourg, November 2012.
on language competences for the labour market (2010-2011), as well as on language
learning by means of new technologies and on multilingual classrooms (2012-2013).
In line with the political strategies at European and national level, since 2008 the spe-
cic interest of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy on some of the issues related
to language learning for professional purposes has led to the denition of national
priorities, alongside the European ones. The issues involved were:
- Development of teaching methods and materials for adults (2008-2009);
- Languages as a key competence to face the economic and employment crisis (2011);
- Improvement of language competences of adults and workers for competitiveness
(2008) and to safeguard the job position and foster career advancement (from
2009 to 2013);
- Language learning for the placement of young people in the labour market and
for transnational mobility (from 2010 to 2013).
The projects selected from 2007 to 2013
From the very beginning until today, the European Language Label in Italy has widely
spread and many experiences have been recognised, at national level, as innovative
in terms of foreign language teaching and learning methodologies, processes and
practices, tailored to the needs of pupils, families and especially of the labour market.
Thanks to the many initiatives activated across Italy by several types of organisations
(schools, universities, training centres, trade unions, enterprises, NGOs) language learning
came out from its mere teaching context and entered a dimension more connected to
the practical needs of individuals and enterprises.
From the year of its experimental launch (1998) to 2013, 141 language teaching and
learning experiences for professional purposes were awarded the Label, 62 of which
during the 2007-2013 programming period (see the synoptic Tables Annex 5).
This book only takes into consideration some of the elements which characterise these
projects.
A rst interpretation of the data related to the analysed initiatives is that the average
number of projects which were approved in the 7 years of reference is around 9 projects
per year. As shown in Table 9, this gure is almost steady throughout the years, with
a peak of 12 projects in 2010. The reduction of projects approved after 2010 reects
the intention of the Assessment Committee to only award very high-quality projects
in terms of testing of innovative language teaching and learning strategies for profes-
sional purposes.
Table 9. Distribution of awarded projects by year
Year No. awarded projects
2007 10
2008 9
2009 9
2010 12
2011 9
2012 7
2013 6
Total 62
In order to carry out a more in depth analysis of the most relevant data referring to
the Italian projects awarded the European Language Label in the eld of vocational
training for the period of reference, the best starting point would be the European
target languages on which those projects focused their action. It must be specied
that the analysis of the European target languages excludes data on a 2011 project
which was aimed at the development of approaches and resources for the promotion
and dissemination of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) and, as such, was applicable
to all the ofcial languages of the EU
189
.
A rst overall analysis (see Chart 19) shows that each awarded project envisaged the
teaching/learning of an average of 2.4 languages, with a strong predominance of
Italian (59% of the analysed projects) and English (55.7%) compared to other ofcial
languages of the EU.
Contrary to the outcomes of the analysis carried out in the previous years, Italian as a
foreign language is the priority language, as opposed to English, in the training courses
aimed at meeting the needs of the labour market and which are organised by centres
located in the Centre of Italy. This is clearly connected the growing phenomenon of
immigration towards Italy which has been taking place over the past few years and
which translated into the need to provide immigrants with the linguistic tools to support
their cultural and professional integration on the one hand, and to meet the needs of
the teachers of Italian as a foreign language (including the issue of certication). This
is also conrmed, as shown later in this document, by the participation of the Universi-
ties for Foreigners who specically deal with teaching Italian as a second language and
of no-prot associations which often get involved in teaching Italian to immigrants.
189
This is the elp-DESK project by the Fondazione Aldini Valeriani.
Chart 19. Distribution of awarded projects by European target languages
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The relevant place of English is due to the use of such language as vehicular one for
communication and business, especially by organisations located in the Centre and in
the North-East of Italy.
The analysed projects also addressed the need to know other languages traditionally
studied besides English (such as German, French and Spanish), although this is a much
lower priority compared to the demand of Italian and English courses. Despite the many
EU calls for language diversity, a certain reluctance is conrmed towards teaching/learn-
ing less common languages, such as Finnish, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and Romanian.
The data related to the non-EU languages is also interesting; only one project focused
on learning of such languages (more specically Chinese), thus conrming a growing
interest of Italian enterprises in other markets (especially in Asia).
With regard to language competence levels, the benchmark is the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages adopted by the Council of Europe in 2001
190
.
In order to promote mutual recognition of the certications in the different educa-
tion systems of the European countries, the Common European Framework provided a
description of the levels of competence achievable by learners of a foreign language,
both in general (know-what, know-how, know-who, know-why) and in communication
terms (linguistics, socio-linguistics, pragmatics), also by describing the specic com-
190
Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment,
2001 available at <www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_en.pdf> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
petences/communication skills organised in 3 general levels, each divided in sublevels
(see Table 10).
Table 10. Common reference levels of language competence
A B C
Basic level Intermediate level Advanced level
A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
Breakthrough Waystage Threshold Vantage Efciency Mastery
As shown in Chart 20, the Italian projects awarded with the Language Label in 2007-
2013 mainly focused on the development of elementary and intermediate level language
competences, while the focus on advanced-level competences remains very limited.
Before further analysing this data, it must be pointed out that the levels of competence
identied by the Common European Framework could not be applied to one of the
projects awarded the European Language Label in 2012 as it focused on the difculties
of visually impaired learners and their teachers in foreign language learning
191
.
Chart 20. Distribution of awarded projects by levels of language competence
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
A2 B2 B1 A1 C1 C2
191
This is the VET 4 VIP; ELLVIS project of the Italian Union of Visually Impared and Partially Sighted People -
Provincial Ofces of Florence.
All projects focused on average on three language levels, although the priority was
given to the survival elementary level (A2), followed by the two intermediate levels (B2
and B1). This of course depends on the poor entry-level of the learners who benet
from the training activities, in line with what previously underlined with regard to the
learning of Italian by immigrants. However, the choice of focusing on more levels of
language competence shows at least the desire to design training pathways which
could enable the beneciaries to reach a level of competence in that foreign language
enabling them to communicate in a sufciently independent way within multicultural
contexts and to be able to use these skills also for professional purposes.
The analysis of the distribution of the awarded projects by geographical area of the
promoter (see Chart 21), shows that the majority of bodies which were awarded the
European Language Label is located in the Centre of Italy (50%), followed by a smaller
presence of organisations from the North-East (22.6%), the South (14.5%), the North-
West (9.7%) and the Islands (3.2%).
Chart 21. Distribution of awarded projects by geographical area
Centre, 50%
North-East, 23%
South, 14%
North-West, 10%
Islands, 3%
A more in depth analysis of this data by region of origin of the Label-awarded bod-
ies (see Table 11), shows that the regions which is most sensible to language learning/
teaching issues is Lazio, followed by Tuscany. Of course the data on the Lazio region are
somewhat altered by the fact that this is the region of the capital city of Italy, Rome,
where many institutes operating at national level have their registered ofce.
Table 11. Distribution of awarded projects by region
Region No. Projects %
Lazio 16 25,8
Tuscany 10 16,1
Campania 4 6,5
Lombardy 4 6,5
Autonomous Province of Trento 4 6,5
Emilia-Romagna 3 4,8
Marche 3 4,8
Apulia 3 4,8
Veneto 3 4,8
Calabria 2 3,2
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2 3,2
Piedmont 2 3,2
Autonomous Province of Bolzano 2 3,2
Umbria 2 3,2
Sardinia 1 1,6
Sicily 1 1,6
Total 62 100,00
Also interesting, is the absence of some regions, such as Liguria, Abruzzo, Basilicata,
Molise and the Aosta Valley, compared to other regions covering the same or a smaller
area which have proven to be more active.
Another interesting element is the type of promoters of the Label awarded projects
in the eld of training (see Table 12).
Table 12. Distribution of awarded projects by type of promoters
Type of organisation No. Projects %
School 17 27,4
University 14 22,6
Training centre 10 16,1
No-prot association 9 14,5
Enterprise 6 9,7
Local body 3 4,8
Language school 2 3,2
Other 1 1,6
Total 62 100,00
The data that most stands out from the Table is the diversication of the promoters of
innovative projects in the eld of language teaching and learning, with a prevailing role
of bodies from the education and training world (schools, training centres, universities)
in line with their mission.
It is also worth noting the particularly active role played by no-prot organisations,
which often represent the interests of people who are at risk of social exclusion (such
as immigrants) and who need to develop language competences to favour in primis
cultural and also professional integration in the incoming country.
The attention paid by the business world to the problems of the development of vo-
cational language competences can be seen as an answer to the growing interest in
exploring new markets. The trade unions and professional associations are, on the
contrary, completely excluded from the projects awarded the European Language Label.
Their active participation in projects devoted to the development of vocational language
skills would be highly advisable, especially considering the role that these actors play
in the design of qualications and, therefore, of denition of competences, including
language ones.
Last but not least, there has been an interest, although still marginal, by local bodies
and other organisations (such as for example a Ministry which falls under the category
Other) which usually are not involved in the language learning/teaching context.
Survey on the impact of the Label
Within the framework of the initiatives carried out by Isfol - LLP National Agency -
Leonardo da Vinci Programme on the importance of language competences to support
employability and mobility of people, a survey was submitted in June 2013 to 28 Italian
bodies who won the European Language Label in the eld of vocational training in
the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. This survey was aimed at measuring the impact of this
award on the centres, on the labelled initiatives and on the areas where the awarded
institutes operate by attributing a score to a series of pre-dened items.
This document will only deal with the analysis of the most interesting data; the complete
results are available in Annex 4 to this volume.
The response rate to the survey is positive (78.6%) with 22 out of 28 organisations
involved. Respondents are distributed almost uniformly across Italy, which shows equal
awareness of the issues related to language learning and teaching. An analysis of the
type of organisations which answered to the questionnaire shows a clear predomi-
nance of bodies belonging to the education and training world (universities, schools
and language schools), with only a minority of answers from enterprises and no-prot
organisations, in line with their limited participation in the Label selections, as previ-
ously highlighted.
Moving on to a more in depth analysis of the issues faced by the survey, the rst item
intended to investigate the effect that the European Language Label has had on the
awarded organisations. Among the main effects on the awarded bodies, those resulting
from future planning of activities on language training, staff motivation (in terms of
enhancing teaching, participation to other initiatives, etc) and those related the use of
teaching methods and innovative materials for language learning were judged as excel-
lent and good. A sign of greater attention to the quality of language teaching inuenced
by the European award. On the contrary, a signicant percentage of respondents (about
14%) declared that the Label did not have an impact in terms of greater investment
in infrastructure for language training (e.g. the construction of language laboratories).
Among the effects of the European Language Label on the awarded projects, the main
impact appears to be the ability to organise activities for the exploitation and valorisa-
tion of the labelled project (impact identied as excellent and good by 73% of the
interviewees). Also repeating the experience, which is a foreseeable aspect for successful
initiatives which were awarded the quality label, is among one of the most relevant ef-
fects, together with, in many cases, the extension of the experience to other languages
and other users. The Label had a smaller impact in terms of transferring the initiative to
other geographical contexts and professional sectors, perhaps because of the problems
related to adapting the project to the needs of other geographical or professional areas.
In line with this analysis, another item explored by the survey is the potential impact of
the Label on the territory where the awarded organisation is located, also in terms of
relationship building at local, regional and national level. 60% of respondents judged
as excellent and good the effect of the European recognition in terms of involvement
of the awarded body in language teaching projects carried out by other organisations.
A positive and unexpected aspect has been also the greater involvement of learners
families to the life of the awarded body, together with the request for language training
activities from other organisations.
One of the most expected effects, such as the creation of stakeholders networks and the
participation in the establishing of networks of bodies working in the eld of language
training, is still struggling to be put into action. Facing such problems, the sample of
respondents strongly calls for action to raise the awareness of stakeholders, families
and society on the importance of language teaching and learning, also by signing
agreements and memorandums of understanding among the relevant actors for the
implementation of common strategic actions.
The experiences described in the next Chapters 2.2 and 2.3 are a tangible example of the
impact that the creation of a network of strategic actors can have on language training.
2.2 The Label of Label award to CMC_E project .
A successful experience at European level
Carmen Argondizzo
Chapter 2
And the winner is
In the spring 2012 the CMC_E
192
Project was selected to participate in the Conference
Multilingualism in Europe, organized by the European Commission (DG Education and
Culture) in Limassol (Cyprus) on 26-28 September 2012 to mark the 10
th
anniversary
of the Barcelona European Council (2002) which called for the mastery of two foreign
languages by all European citizens.

Year 2012 was also considered by the European
Commission a milestone for the European Language Label (ELL) awarded each year at
the national level to the most innovative projects in language teaching and learning
being multilingualism at the heart of the ELL initiative. Within the Conference, the EC
intended therefore to highlight the European dimension of projects awarded with the
ELL by creating the European Language Label of the Labels award, as recognition to
acknowledge the work done to promote multilingualism
193
. The University of Calabria,
which coordinated the CMC_E project made up by seven European Partners
194
, was
honored to be called to represent Italy and a European Project which, above all, had
strongly believed in the concepts that the didactic activities aim to promote: the belief
in multilingualism, multicultural contexts, high language skills, professional compe-
tences for the younger generations and for in-service personnel willing to expand
their knowledge
195
. Moreover, being in Cyprus had a special meaning. It meant being
192
Communicating in Multilingual Contexts meets the Enterprises.
193
To this purpose, the 32 countries participating in the EUs Lifelong Learning Programme were requested to nominate
one project selected among those awarded with the ELL in the previous 10 years that was deemed the most appropri-
ate to represent the excellence awarded in their country. To further recognize the work done at the national level
by the ELL, Ms Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism Sport, Media and Youth
appointed a European Jury which selected 5 projects among all the national nominees on the basis of 2 main criteria
(European dimension and impact). All the national nominees were invited to the Awards Ceremony, which took place
during the Conference Multilingualism in Europe. The prizes for the 5 winning initiatives, based in Belgium, Italy,
Lithuania, Norway and Romania, had been handed over by the Commissioner in person. .
194
The CMC_E project was funded by the European Commission LLP, Lingua 2 Action. The partnership is made
up by Universit della Calabria (Italy), coordinating partner; Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain);
Istituto Politcnico de Castelo Branco (Portugal); Technick Univerzita Koiciach (Slovakia); The London School
of Economics and Political Science (UK); Wysza Szkoa Informatyki, Zarzdzania i Administracji (Poland) and
an SME located in Calabria (Italy).
195
We take the opportunity to thank the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies and the Ministry of Edu-
cation, University and Research (National authorities for the Lifelong Learning Programme - LLP in Italy) as
141 The Label of Label award to CMC_E project
in a part of Europe which is highly struggling to reach a higher quality level of life.
Being there was like being all together with the aim to reect on how the concepts
and the objectives mentioned above, which are difcult to reach in a short-time span,
can become concrete meaningful reality.
The CMC_E project, thanks to the successful cooperation between European universi-
ties and businesses, was recognized one of the 5 winners of the European Language
Label Award which, for the rst time, was acknowledged to projects nominated by 32
European countries
196
. The award strongly highlights the added value that the project
offers to the European community and visualizes the relevance of keeping on promot-
ing the principles it believes in among the learners who rely on it and on the didactic
activities it provides.
But what made the CMC_E a successful project? The next section will give an outline
on this issue.
CMC_E: reasons for being a successful project
As stated by Miguel Angel Martnez, Vice President of the European Commission, the
CMC_E project was selected and nominated since it provides a methodological approach
and study strategies which favor multilingualism as related to mobility for young people
and to knowledge and competences linked to the world of work and enterprise as it
will be outlined below
197
.
Indeed, the project objectives are specically aimed at developing key professional
language skills in six different languages (English, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak and
Spanish) four of which are less used and less taught languages. The project design (Chart
22 shows the website homepage) offers language materials for three target groups:
Erasmus Placement students in mobility for international job experiences, university
leavers who are preparing to enter the job market, in-service workers who want to be-
come more competitive and better fulll their job responsibilities. Moreover, the project
is a reference point for language researchers, teachers in higher education institutions
and actors working in the Lifelong Learning Programme who are interested in didactic
materials which strongly promote the development of academic and professional skills
among young people.
well as Isfol and INDIRE (hosting the 2 National Agencies responsible for the implementation of LLP and the
management of the European Language Label in Italy) for having selected and nominated the CMC_E project
within those Italian experiences which had won the European Language Label in the previous 10 years.
196
Sincere thanks also go to the European Commission and, in particular, to Ms Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner
for Education Culture Multilingualism Sport Media and Youth, and to Vice-President Miguel Angel Martnez
who held an encouraging conversation with the representatives of the Italian Team and of the whole Partner-
ship, Carmen Argondizzo and Jean M. Jimenez. .
197
The keynote speech by Miguel Angel Martinez was given during the Award Ceremony held in Cyprus in Sep-
tember 2012.
Chart 22. The CMC_E website homepage www.cmceproject.it
These general features, here briey outlined, underline the relevance that the project
gives to experiences of academic mobility which, throughout the past years, a large
Socrates/Erasmus young generation has proved to be an incredible effective tool for the
growth of so many students who have been willing to share the challenge of travel-
ling abroad, studying in new contexts, mixing with new people, integrating with other
cultures, communicating in other languages rather than their L1. These young people
have since then returned to their university hometown lled with these enhancing
cultural experiences, ready to transfer their new knowledge of the world to the people
in their hometown and, maybe, most of them ready to leave again.
Moreover the project provides a challenging tool for current language needs, linked to the
demand coming from the world of work, which universities and enterprises have to fulll.
Indeed, the act of enhancing the knowledge of languages among young people can more
easily pave the way towards university internationalization which is nowadays becoming so
intense and towards more appropriate opportunities of employability for young graduates.
The didactic materials, available on www.cmceproject.it, have been rigidly based on a Sur-
vey
198
that the project carried out. The Survey results showed, among so many other issues,
198
<www.cmceproject.it> (Consulted on 10/12/2013) Survey area. The survey, conducted among European en-
terprises, was carried out by Massimo Paturzo, Universit della Calabria. .
143 The Label of Label award to CMC_E project
that language competences within enterprises are needed in the following sectors: Training,
Administration, Business and Finance, Marketing, Technology. The ve didactic Units were
consequently designed around these topics with the only variable on Environment, which the
Survey data demonstrated as having limited interest within the enterprise context but that
the Partnership wanted to develop. This latter issue was, consequently, added to the Technol-
ogy Unit with the aim to offer further reection linked to current environmental education.
Each Unit consists of ve activities which, while integrating the four language skills, focus
on communicative competences linked to the workplace. The activities encourage the
development of those skills which, as the Survey outcomes highlighted, tend to be more
difcult to master such as: communicating by telephone, writing e-mails, using techni-
cal lexicon appropriately, participating at exhibitions, describing products, preparing a
business plan, participating in a call for tender, submitting a product for patent approval.
Yet, other innovative features have attracted the learners who have been studying on the
CMC_E materials so far to complete their autonomous learning commitments. First of
all, several activities offer online corrective feedback which appears in a pop-up window
to provide real time language support to the users. Moreover, while the didactic materi-
als in the six different languages follow common guidelines, they are unique since they
have been created independently from one another. Therefore, they reect the different
linguistic, social and cultural aspects of each country, thus promoting the development
of multicultural awareness and encouraging social, cultural and geographic curiosity. This
will hopefully develop the learners desire to have experiences abroad. This is currently
needed if we consider the results to the survey conducted by the Italian National Moni-
toring on Internationalization
199
, among school students of Interculture, which highlights
the low desire for travelling by Italian young generations, especially due to the lack of
language competences. Finally, by offering a wide range of interactive and dynamic learn-
ing materials which learners can easily access and use whenever and wherever they are,
choosing the activities they wish to focus on and working at their own pace, the website
provides an opportunity for pleasant lifelong learning. For instance, online techniques
offer enjoyable activities which encourage users to play with the language by, among
the so many other tasks, dragging and dropping language items, matching sentences,
re-ordering jumbled conversations watched on videos, selecting the appropriate word.
A large number of university students have been using the CMC_E materials in the past
three years. Many have given feedback on their language progress by using a self-study
agenda they hand in at the end of the academic courses that they attend. In fact, many
of these courses require a given number of self-study hours tailored around a meaningful
integration of course content and CMC_E units. Other students have provided feedback on
their use of the project materials which they had selected independently during their general
199
I ragazzi italiani cos chiusi al mondo. Pi della met teme rapporti con lestero di T. Rugi in La Repubblica.it,
30 September 2013.
self-study agenda. But above all, the CMC_E added value consists in encouraging reection
on issues such as mobility and employability which are fundamental for the development
of a society which should guarantee the decrease of cultural barriers and should respect the
right for employment that nowadays young generations strongly ask for. Yet, the CMC_E
can do much more in this direction. The following section will provide some ideas.
Internationalizing work: what next
We believe that when a project ends, the products that it created begin their life experi-
ences. These have to be attentively monitored by the creators and developers. First of
all, it is fundamental that the Partnership stays together beyond the project lifetime.
This is possible when European partners, while working together, share ideas creatively,
activate initiatives and make things happen. When this process goes ahead smoothly,
as it happened during the CMC_E experience, people
200
grow professionally and, above
all, develop friendship. This, I believe, is the most rewarding outcome for the European
Commission, who works hard to encourage professionals to get together in teams
with the objective to create integration among people within the educational sectors.
As for project new actions which the CMC_E Coordinator and Partnership intend to imple-
ment, thanks to the successful results achieved, the following points will be key issues:
- widen the audience by involving new target groups who may have an interest in
studying with the support of the project activities;
- enhance the use of the materials among high school and university students with
the aim to achieve further effective results;
- create contacts with enterprises which may want to promote the use of CMC_E
among their personnel;
- share contacts with the partnership with the aim to collect and exchange results
on students progress;
- expand the project by creating CMC_E language activities in other languages;
- think of new channels of dissemination (TV or radio programs) with the aim to
have the project reach as many interested people as possible.
In other words, we will create a pinwheel of actions with the aim of further encouraging
reection on the issues the project promotes and of suggesting possible institutional acts
among the various actors who are involved in language learning and cultural develop-
ment. This will also provide the opportunity to keep, as high as possible, the enthusiasm
that the project gained thanks to the Label of Labels and that the Award itself deserves.
200
With regard to the European dimension, the project has been the result of a fruitful exchange of ideas and
initiatives of a network of six foreign universities, coordinated by the University of Calabria, the promoter of
the project. A thank you goes to Ignacio M.Palacios Martinez, Isabel Figueiredo Silva, Beata Czereova. Helena
Mazurova, Mateusz Czepielewski, Jim Pavitt, Jean Marguerite Jimenez, Anna Maria De Bartolo, Angela Gallo,
Eugenia Mascherpa, Massimo Paturzo, Francesca Tucci, for their precious collaboration.
145 The Implementation of the European Language Label
2.3 The Implementation of the European
Language Label , a Transnational Analysis
carried out by the NELLIP Network
Elisabetta Delle Donne
Chapter 3
Introduction
NELLIP, Network of European Language Label Initiatives and Projects, is funded by the
European Commission in the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme - Key Ac-
tivity 2 Languages. The project was funded for the period January 2012 - December 2014.
The NELLIP network carried out, among other initiatives, a research activity with the
aim to identify the best practice developed in projects that received the European
Language Label and, at the same time, to assess the impact of the European Language
Label on the awarded projects.
The rst part of the research activity identied, in cooperation with the National Agen-
cies in charge of the European Language Label, case studies among the projects that
were awarded the Label. The selection criteria were mainly based on the consistency of
the awarded projects with the current political priorities of the European Commission
in the eld of language learning.
Each of the selected language learning initiative was analysed through a direct contact
with the coordinator of the initiative itself. Feedbacks were also provided, on each of the
selected case study, by the relevant National Agency. 201 case studies have been uploaded
on the Database on the NELLIP Network web site (http://nellip.pixel-online.org/CS_lista.php).
One of the purposes of the case studies was to identify the key elements to take into
account for the development of quality language learning initiatives. Therefore, accord-
ing to the 201 coordinators of the ELL awarded projects in order to plan and implement
quality language project that can successfully apply for the European Language Label,
the following elements should be taken into account:
- active involvement of target users,
- valorisation of what already exists,
- innovation,
- clear description of the product or method,
- assessment of the deliverables and implementation of corrective actions.
The second part of the research activity identied the best practices developed in the
framework of initiatives having received the European Language Label. A total of 18
National Reports of Best Practices were produced as well as a Transnational Report
of Best Practices. The selected initiatives can be used as examples and benchmarks to
refer to in the planning and development of quality language learning projects and
initiatives that may successfully apply for the European Language Label. The National
and Transnational Reports are available at: http://nellip.pixel-online.org/RP_best_prac-
ties.php.reports.
On the basis of the information collected in the framework of the research work men-
tioned above, a total of eighteen National Reports on the implementation of the Eu-
ropean Language Label were carried out.
A Transnational Report on the implementation of the European Language Label was also
realised. The report presents a comparative transnational analysis of how the European
Language Label is organised and managed throughout Europe. The Transnational Report
provides also quantitative and qualitative information on the projects that were awarded
the European Language Label. The report also carries out a transnational assessment of
the impact of the label on the awarded projects. Recommendations and best practices
are also included. All reports are available at http://nellip.pixel-online.org/RP_intro.php.
Transnational analysis of the implementation of the European
Language Label
The transnational research activity, that led to the production of the Transnational
Report mentioned above, was carried out to analyse the implementation, achievements
and trends of the European Language Label in Europe.
The research was carried out in 18 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania,
Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and UK.
According to the data available in December 2012, in the rst 13 years of existence
of the European Language Label (1999 - 2011), a total of 1770 projects have been
awarded the Label
201
. Among them, 1318 projects have been awarded the Label in the
18 countries that were analysed by the NELLIP team.
An analysis of the awarded projects in the 18 countries involved in the NELLIP activities
shows that the highest number of European Language Labels were respectively assigned
by: Italy, United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Romania.
The majority of awarded projects (1016 initiatives) focuses on compulsory education, i.e.
primary (363 projects) and secondary schools (653 projects). The second highest number
of projects that were awarded the European Language Label were those addressing
the vocational education and training sector. A total of 301 projects were awarded the
201
Source: European Commission, Multilingualism. Project database of the European Label for innovative projects
in language teaching and learning, <http://ec.europa.eu/education/language/label/index.cfm>. Data acquired
in December 2012.
European Language Label in the eld of both initial (156 initiatives) and continuous
(105 initiatives) vocational education and training.
It is interesting to underline the consistency among the thematic areas of the projects
that were awarded the European Language Label and the current European political
priorities in the eld of language learning indicated by the analysis carried out by the
NELLIP
202
team on the basis of the ofcial documents
203
published on the European
Commissions web site.
Below an analysis of the numbers of awarded projects that are consistent with current
- as in 2012 - political priorities for language learning.
- Political priority: The enhancement of quality in language learning.
290 projects were awarded the European Language Label in the area of raising
quality.
- Political priority: Language learning for specic purposes.
241 projects were awarded the European Language Label in the eld of VOLL (Vo-
cationally Oriented Language Learning).
- Political priority: Recognition and validation of language skills acquired through
non formal and informal learning.
219 projects were awarded the European Language Label in the area of informal
language learning.
- Political priority: New approaches to language teaching and learning.
230 projects were awarded the European Language Label in the eld of TELL (Tech-
nology Enhanced Language Learning).
- Political priority: Supporting mobility for language learning.
191 projects were awarded the European Language Label in the eld of language
exchanges and 114 projects in the eld of languages for mobility.
The European Language Label in Italy
In the rst 13 years of existence of the European Language Label (1999-2011), 296
Italian projects have been awarded the European Language Label (an average of 24
projects per year). Most of the awarded projects belong to the compulsory education
sector, with an important number of projects addressed to secondary (150) and primary
education (69). Several projects have also been addressed to initial vocational training
(46), adult education (44) and continuous vocational training (44).
The greatest number of projects deals with intercultural awareness issues (102), the teaching
of a second language (77) as well as vocationally oriented language learning (71). In accord-
202
Source: The NELLIP Portal at: <http://nellip.pixel-online.org/PP_index.php> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
203
Sources: European Commission, Multilingualism, at: <http://ec.europa.eu/languages/library/key-documents_
type_en.htm> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
ance with the national priorities, projects addressing multilingual comprehension issues (53)
and the CLIL approach (66) also obtained a consistent number of awards.
Among all the awarded projects, some have been selected as Best Practices by the
NELLIP team in cooperation with the two Italian National Agencies. Those projects not
only meet the quality criteria used for awarding the European Language Label, but are
special in terms of: successfully addressing the needs of specic target groups, quality
actions carried out, quality of results achieved, sustainability of the project, contribution
in terms of innovation and originality, transferability of the project.
With reference to international mobility issues, the Its in the Bag project was selected
as best practice. The project, promoted by the Technical and Vocational Institute Enrico
Tosi of Busto Arsizio, is based on the idea to let a class work with the CLIL method on a
concrete project to be carried out. Students and teachers had to simulate the creation
of a company, to design a product with the help of an external tutor belonging to an
existing enterprise, to respect the international and national law, to realise the nal
product. All those activities had to be carried out in English and in close cooperation with
an English institute of design, which hosted the Italian students for a one week course.
With reference to the employability criteria, one of the best practices is represented by
the Language Learning by Radio (LALERA) project, promoted by the Centro Informazi-
one e Educazione allo Sviluppo - CIES of Rome. The LALERA project produced language
learning teaching material that was delivered through traditional mass media, the
radio, in order to improve the linguistic skills of a specic target group (healthcare
nurses). The project target group therefore had the opportunity to learn the language
and therefore improve their employability in spite of the limited free time available,
for example during transfer time or while carrying out other tasks.
Impact of the European Language Label on the awarded projects
The analysis of 201 case studies
204
in 18 European countries yielded insights into the
motivation of the institutions applying for the European Language Label as well as into
the impact the Label had on the awarded projects.
The main reason why language project coordinators apply for the Label is related to
the search for an ofcial international recognition of the projects quality as well as to
promote its visibility and sustainability. Other reasons are linked to the willingness to
share a good practice creating new transnational partnerships. The need to increase
motivation of staff involved in the development of language projects is another reason.
The European Language Label meets the applicants expectations related to the ac-
quisition of an European recognition of the projects quality, to the promotion of its
visibility and the enhancement of the motivation of those who were involved in the
projects development.
204
See the NELLIP Network Portal at: <http://nellip.pixel-online.org/CS_lista.php> (Consulted on 10/12/2013).
On the other hand, expectations related to enhancing the project sustainability, sharing
a good practice and establishing transnational partnership thanks to the award of the
label are only partially met.
Conclusions
The research carried out by the NELLIP network identied strengths and weaknesses of
the European Language Label. The research involved 201 coordinators of projects that
were awarded the Label in 18 countries.
The strengths of the European Language Label include the following elements:
- It provides an ofcial and European recognition of a projects quality.
- It ensures a greater visibility for the project and the institutions.
- It enhances the motivation of the project promoters and of the staff involved in
the project.
- It partially enhances the sustainability of the projects.
- It offers some opportunities to the sharing of good practice.
The weaknesses of the European Language Label include the following elements:
- It is not sufciently well known even among language learning providers and
experts.
- It is not sufciently clear what the benets of receiving the European Language
Label are.
- It provides limited opportunities to create transnational partnerships.
A strategy for a further development of the European Language Label should therefore
focus on the following elements:
- Ensuring greater visibility of the European Language Label among, rst of all,
language learning providers and experts.
- The identication of strategies to make the acquisition of the European Language
Label more appealing.
- Raising awareness about the European Language Labels meaning and impact.
- Offering coordinators of projects that were awarded the European Language Label
opportunities for transnational networking, exchanges and the sharing of experi-
ences.
- Raising awareness within the language learning industry about the quality con-
nected to the European Language Label so as to encourage them to contribute to
the further development of the awarded projects.
The NELLIP Network project is currently - in June 2013 - half way through its lifecycle.
The project activities will end in December 2014.
The main results achieved so far include:
- Database of language learning initiatives that were awarded the European Lan-
guage Label that are consistent with the current political priorities in the eld of
language learning.
- Case studies on language learning initiatives that have received the European
Language Label.
- Best Practices developed by language learning initiatives that were awarded the
European Language Label.
- National and Transnational Reports analysing the impact of the European Language
Label on the awarded projects.
All of the mentioned project results are available on the project internet portal at:
http://nellip.pixel-online.org/.
The current project activities will produce the following results that are due in 2013-
2014:
- Guidelines on how to plan, implement, manage, disseminate and exploit quality
initiatives for language learning with reference to the European Language Label
- Workshops to test the materials produced
- International networking activities
The NELLIP Network project is promoted and coordinated by Pixel based in Florence
(Italy) in close cooperation with a transnational partnership composed by: KU TU Ltd.
(Bulgaria); GexCall, University of Extremadura (Spain); Omnia, Joint Authority of Educa-
tion in Espoo (Finland); Universal Learning Systems (Ireland); Connectis (Italy); Public
Service Language Centre (Lithuania); EuroEd (Romania); PROSPER-ASE (Romania);
Fgelskolan (Sweden); EAQUALS (United Kingdom).
Besides the mentioned contractual partners, the NELLIP network is currently composed
by a total of 80 organisations (http://nellip.pixel-online.org/network.php), representing
the European expertise in the eld of language learning.
Information about the NELLIP network is available at http://nellip.pixel-online.org.
Conclusions
153 Conclusions
Foreword
The new programming period and the Erasmus+ Programme highlighted the value of
a contribution on the debate on multilingualism, taking advantage of the outcomes
of previous activities carried out by the Leonardo da Vinci National Agency, during
around twenty years. The analysis aimed at systematizing and streamlining the out-
comes of these earlier efforts, thus supporting both the debate on languages and the
implementation of EU language policies. The expected result was achieved through a
bottom-up approach, aimed at effectively support the development of language poli-
cies, that should, rst of all, take into consideration the opinions and experiences of
practitioners and experts in the eld. The authors analysed the most urgent problems
concerning the knowledge of foreign languages and their use to ensure the success of
professional mobility and to foster employability. Moreover the analysis aimed at iden-
tifying the most urgent needs and possible solutions. The above-mentioned study took
also advantage of the European Language Label, that became increasingly important,
at European level, as a tool to promote original and innovative initiatives in the eld
of language teaching and learning.
The joint effort, involving the network of stakeholders, was carried out on the basis of
a few strategic considerations, further detailed in the publication:
1. The need, for all European citizens, to have a good knowledge of at least two foreign
languages, since their early childhood, besides their mother tongue (ref. Barcelona
European Council
205
- March 2002);
2. The acknowledgement of the role of languages and of the acquisition of inter-
cultural competences in the promotion of learning and professional mobility (ref.
European Council
206
- November 2011);
205
Presidency Conclusions, Barcelona European Council 15 and 16 March 2002, SN 100/1/02/ REV 1.
206
Council of the European Union, Draft Council conclusions on language competences to enhance mobility.
Adoption, Brussels, 17 November 2011, 16744/11.
Needs, weak points and areas of
improvement to support the development
of language competences
Natalia Guido
154
3. The strategic value of languages in the modernisation of education systems and
their contribution to the achievement of the growth and employment goals set by
the Europe 2020 Strategy (ref. Rethinking Education
207
- November 2012).
Moreover, in addition to these requirements, the Commission envisages the adoption
of a Decision concerning the setting of new benchmarks for language competences,
which should be considered as a pathway to follow in the new programming period, to
promote the increase of the number of citizens - especially young people - who speak
two foreign languages, and to support the improvement of language competences
related to the rst foreign language.
These prerequisites, which may be considered as theoretical, were essentially conrmed
by the activities carried out in 2012 and 2013 by the Leonardo da Vinci National
Agency, involving all relevant actors. The results of those actions highlighted both the
expectations, expressed by learners and actors of the system, and the barriers towards
a harmonic development of implemented actions. The complex activities, aimed at
identifying possible solutions to the above-mentioned critical issues, were certainly
valuable to overcome the problems hindering the expression of the full potential of
education and training systems.
From this point of view the publication provides a useful contribution to decision-makers
and public authorities to widen the debate in order to improve language competences,
to develop mobility experiences - both in quantity and quality terms - and to promote
the competitiveness and internationalisation of national enterprises.
The needs: individuals, labour market and Institutions
A rst analysis of expectations expressed by citizens and enterprises highlighted the
areas requiring urgent actions through specic measures of short-term and long-
term investment. However, the required specic interventions should be supported by
awareness-raising actions involving individuals with a view to enhancing the actual
impact of those strategic actions.
The needs analysis was supported by preparatory activities carried out by the National
Agency in order to cluster the specic needs in three macro-categories: policies, strate-
gies and multilingualism awareness.
With regard to policies, the most urgent needs are:
- strengthening the links between actors of education systems (VET) and the labour
market;
207
Commission staff working document, Language competences for employabity, mobility and growth, Accompa-
nying the document Communication from the Commission Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better
socio-economic outcomes, Strasbourg, 20.11.2012, SWD (2012) 372 nal.
155 Conclusions
- promoting the knowledge of languages to enhance the success of transnational
mobility experiences;
- promoting continuous vocational training targeted at workers, with particular
attention to the needs of SMEs;
- addressing the issue of the costs of language training provided outside institutional
contexts;
- widen the teaching opportunities linked to specic professional contexts;
- taking action on the language competences of the decision-makers.
With regard to strategies, the main expectations concern:
- actions ensuring continuity to language training provisions, especially addressing
adult learners;
- increasing the attention on evaluation processes, with quality criteria ensuring a
full valorisation of acquired competences;
- increasing the opportunities to use the languages competences acquired, enabling
the further development of such skills (dont reinvent the wheel!);
- promoting the knowledge of the cultural and working environments of hosting
countries within mobility experience;
- supporting vocationally oriented language learning (sectoral language).
Finally, with regard to the value of multilingualism, the specic needs highlighted
were:
- enable individuals to grow up in an actual multilingual context avoiding mono-
lingual backgrounds;
- overcoming the barrier represented by exclusive English learning;
- considering the opportunities offered by minority languages and, in particular, by
the languages spoken in emerging economies;
- valorising the languages spoken by immigrants.
The most critical issues concerning the harmonic development of
language competences
Besides the debate on emerging needs, the publication aimed at analysing recurrent
problems, in some cases difcult to overcome, characterising both language training
demand and supply. The opinions were divided in three macro areas: political, cultural
and economic level.
As for the political level, the main criticalities highlighted were:
- lack of an actual dialogue between different institutions and, in particular, between
the world of work and the VET system;
- lack of clearly identied and lasting language policies at national level;
- limited attention towards the quality of education and vocational training;
156
- weak value attributed to languages as a tool to promote the internationalisation
of national enterprises;
- weak awareness of public authorities concerning the added value represented by
language learning acquired through transnational mobility;
- weakness, in terms of quality, of the evaluation system concerning acquired com-
petences, also those acquired within mobility experiences.
With regard to the cultural level, the main critical issues highlighted were:
- lack of a networking culture among actors in the eld of language teaching and
mobility actions;
- social hierarchisation of languages (English considered the most important and
strategic language) with the consequent limited knowledge of languages of other
hosting countries in mobility programmes;
- lack of awareness, on the part of enterprises, of the value of investing in language
competences within enterprises, rather than outsourcing the problem acquiring
the needed competences outside the organization;
- mistaken assessment of multilingualism considered as a sign of poverty while it
represents a richness and a potential to exploit taking into consideration the value
represented by the cultural and knowledge migrants background;
- limited use, in every-day life, of foreign languages;
- weak culture of certication of acquired language competences;
- limited sharing of language outcomes and products realised and tested through
mobility and limited check of the quality of applied tools;
- limited ex post assessment of implemented mobility experiences.
Finally, on the economic level the main critical issues highlighted were:
- limited attention of enterprises towards the investment in language training;
- limited awareness of available funds;
- high cost of training for trainers.
Possible solutions
In this complex scenario, a number of actions may be taken to improve language train-
ing provisions while enhancing its overall quality.
Taking into considerations the expectations and critical issues already highlighted, the
possible solutions represent proposals for the design of future strategies concerning
language competences. The priority areas of intervention are the following:
- raising the awareness of decision-makers in relation to the key role of education as
a priority for investments with a view to providing actual opportunities to young
people and, in general, to all citizens; in this perspective language learning should
be considered as a fundamental action for the future;
157 Conclusions
- supporting language policy through adequate nancial resources;
- enhancing synergies between education and training systems and the world of
work, through working groups involving local bodies and enterprises in the deni-
tion of education plans and guidance actions;
- informing the strategic local actors on the actions undertaken to promote mobility
and employability, also through language competences;
- signing agreements between regional, provincial and municipal authorities and
training providers to support the mobility of teachers and students;
- supporting training providers and education organizations in fund-raising actions
aimed at developing projects to improve the quality of language teaching;
- overcoming the limit represented by the language hierarchy and promoting mul-
tilingualism at primary school level;
- widening the opportunities of dialogue among vocational education and training
professionals, also capitalising available opportunities provided for the updating
of their competences and skills on the basis of training of trainers multiannual
investment plans;
- disseminating available information to individuals - in particular to enterprises - to
increase the awareness of opportunities ensured by language competences and on
the advantages of related investments: language learning represents a resource
rather than a cost;
- promoting geographical mobility, also through greater investment on the train-
ing of language teachers abroad. Planning broad and effective actions to provide
information on the opportunities offered by mobility abroad as well as on the
need to speak different languages to ensure the success of mobility experiences;
- supporting the use of mass media, encouraging the broadcasting of TV programmes
in the original language with subtitles and encouraging the publishing of bilingual
books addressing young readers. Developing communication plans aimed at reach-
ing a large number of stakeholders and families and, more in general, all citizens;
- investing in teaching methods corresponding to the learners needs: promoting
early learning, modernising the evaluation systems for the assessment of acquired
competences, developing a progressive language curriculum, promoting the rec-
ognition of competences acquired in non-formal and informal settings, increasing
language training opportunities for adult learners and workers, promoting the
use of CLIL both in school and in vocational training and supporting occasion of
intercultural dialogue;
- establishing local information centres to disseminate products and information
materials devoted to language learning in the context of transnational mobility.
Moreover the role of networks involving relevant actors is considered essential by
the experts that contributed to the publication. In particular the development and
158
strengthening of networks involving stakeholders as well as the reinforcement of social
networks are recognised as crucial to foster the exchange of language-related experi-
ences and competences.
The above mentioned network should include all stakeholders directly involved in lan-
guage training as well as scholars in the eld, to enable in-depth analysis and dialogue
supporting the development of innovative perspectives and approaches. Moreover such
network represents the ideal setting to ensure an effective dialogue among stakeholders,
policy-makers and decision-makers, supporting the achievement of a multi-perspective
view on these issues because. From this point of view the contribution of all actors
involved is crucial to identify the actual labour market needs thus ensuring specically
tailored training provisions.
In conclusion the publication aims at providing a valuable contribution, supporting the
transition towards the new programming period. In the framework of the new Erasmus+
Programme languages will continue to play a crucial role to promote Europes growth,
within the motto united in diversity, representing an overarching principle as well
as an achievable goal.
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Annex
175 Annex
Annex 1.
Questionnaire template on languages for
mobility and employability addressed to
stakeholders
Survey on languages for mobility and employability
Isfol - LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
Dear Sir or Madam,
On the basis of the document of the European Commission Language competences for
employability, mobility and growth attached to the Communication of the EEC Rethinking
Education: Investing in competences for better socioeconomic outcomes three strategic
points emerge on which Linguistic Competences can intervene for modernizing European
systems of education and training: mobility of individuals, employability of the workforce
and economic growth.
With the present questionnaire we ask for your contribution on some points relating to the
most evident critical aspects relating to language teaching and learning in Italy and possible
solutions for the construction of linguistic policies with a major impact.
It doesnt take long to compile it! It will only take 10 minutes!
Thank you!
Note:
VET = Vocational Educational Training LC = Language competences LT = Language training
1) The main problems in the development of language competences for the mobility
of people and employability of human resources are political.
Give the following statements a score from 1 to 5
1.a There is a need to establish a Parliamentary Committee on the development of policies
to strengthen the relation between LS and the labour market
1 Strongly agree - 2 Agree - 3 Neither agree nor disagree - 4 Disagree - 5 Strongly disagree
1.b There is a fundamental need to establish round tables on LS between VET and the
business world
1.c Teaching one foreign language until secondary school is sufcient
1.d Investment planning in language teachers/trainers training needs to be multiannual
176 Annex 1
1.e Politics must be excluded from the strategic process of development of LS
1.f It is important to create local ofces and/or institutional platforms to share the existing
products for the development of LS
1.g It is necessary to dene the procedures and tools to recognise LS acquired in non-formal
and informal learning contexts (also during mobility)
1.h 1 percentage point of the GDP must be destined to public investment in LT
1.i Shared experiences between the business world and the VET systems is not relevant
for the development of LS adequate to the needs of young people
1.j It is necessary to reduce at the minimum the number of information bodies which
increase the running costs of VET systems
1.k With some spending review, the current public investment in LT is already sufcient
1.l It is fundamental to start teaching at least two foreign languages at all levels of edu-
cation until the age of 16
1.m Trainers training must be planned on an annual basis so that it can be tailored to the
current demand
1.n Only LS acquired in formal settings should be recognized
2) Some of the obstacles to the development of language competences -which
could promote mobility experiences and help enter the labour market have a
cultural dimension.
2.a In order to develop LS there is a need to establish partnerships between schools/
universities/training centres and businesses so that all the stakeholders are involved
and informed
2.b Mass media must be excluded from training
2.c It is necessary to promote information on the supply of LT available on the market
2.d Creating an open and shared website to actively involve all LT players would be useful
(e.g. Wikilanguages)
2.e The role of assessment and recognition of LS is not relevant in the marketability of LS
177 Annex
2.f The involvement of businesses in planning language training or projects is a strategic
asset
2.g Creating specic networks on the development of LS is not necessary
2.h It is absolutely necessary to focus the attention on teaching the most common lan-
guages, without wasting resources in favour of least used languages
2.i The tools available on line for the development of LS are sufcient and diversied
2.j It is sufcient to involve training professionals to plan language learning programmes
2.k The use of mass media in a foreign language plays a fundamental role in the construc-
tion of a multilingual culture
2.l It is useful to promote the culture of assessment and validation of LS for their rec-
ognition
2.m Information on language learning opportunities available (courses, event, materials,
etc.) is vast and diffuse
2.n In this era of globalisation it is important to promote the study of minority languages
through extracurricular activities
3) Some of the problems related to the economic aspects hinder the development
of language training.
3.a There is a need to improve information on the sources of funds available for LT
3.b The budget dedicated to the training of teachers and trainers must be increased
3.c It is necessary to grant tax incentives to those businesses which invest in LT for their
employees
3.d In this phase of spending review, it is necessary to cut the budget dedicated to infor-
mation on funding sources available for language education
3.e In this phase of spending review it is necessary to reduce the cost of PA by cutting
investment in the LT of civil servants
3.f It is necessary to increase investment in LT of private employees through interprofes-
sional funds
178 Annex 1
3.g The current economic investment to train language trainers is adequate to its needs
3.h It is necessary to increase investment in the LT of civil servants
3.i It is counterproductive to link tax incentives to the supply of LT in businesses
3.j Current interprofessional funds for the development of workers language competences
are more than adequate
4) Are you interested in knowing more about some of the topics addressed earlier:
Yes
No
5) If yes, which of the following issues do you think are worth expanding on
(maximum 3 choices)
a) Recognition of LS acquired in informal and non-formal settings
b) Language learning for the development and internationalisation of businesses
c) The use of advanced technological systems to create innovative teaching methods for
language teaching
d) Innovative strategies for the training and retraining of language teachers/trainers
e) Teaching and learning of Italian as a foreign language
f) Assessment of LS acquired with online tools
g) Capitalising on the LS of second-generation immigrants
h) Language teaching and learning for the disadvantaged
i) Language learning for the success of vocational mobility
j) Multilingualism for the promotion of linguistic and cultural diversity
k) Early language teaching as a future investment
l) The role of institutions in creating an effective and sustainable language policy
6) The LLP Leonardo da Vinci National Agency has created a network of stakeholders
to favour the dialogue on language competences for the success of vocational
mobility and to improve people employability. Do you think this network is
interesting and useful?
Yes
No
7) Would you like to join this network?
Yes
No
7.1) Do you have any suggestions to further promote the continuity and devel-
opment of this network? (please be synthetic and clear)
179 Annex
Annex 2.
Questionnaire template addressed to
European Language Label awarded projects
- vocational training eld (2010-2011-
2012)
Survey on the European Language Label
Isfol - LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
Dear Sir or Madam,
On the basis of the document of the European Commission Language competences for
employability, mobility and growth attached to the Communication of the EEC Rethink-
ing Education: Investing in competences for better partner-economic outcomes linguistic
competences are a key prerequisite for attainment of the objectives established with UE
Strategy 2020 aiming at making Europe an intelligent, sustainable and solidarity economy.
Within this framework the European Language Label is one of the most effective tools for
valorising initiatives geared to increasing acquisition of linguistic competences.
With the present questionnaire we ask for your contribution on some points relating to the
impact that the European Language Label has had in your organisation, on the initiative
that this recognition has achieved and on the territory in which your structure operates.
It doesnt take long to compile it! It will only take 5 minutes!
Thank you!
1) Impact on the institute/organisation
How did being awarded the European Language Level have an impact on your institute?
Please give a score from 1 to 5 to the following statements.
1.a Impact on the planning of future projects for language training
1: Excellent 2: Good 3: Acceptable 4: Poor 5: Very poor
1.b Impact on staff motivation in the institute (e.g. improvement in teaching, participation
and other initiatives, etc.)
1.c Impact on the number of users interested to take part in the institutes activities
1.d Impact on management in terms of greater awareness of language training activities
1.e Impact on the investment in new infrastructure for language training (e.g. creation of
a language laboratory, etc.)
180 Annex 2
1.f Impact in terms of increased access to funds for language training
1.g Impact on the use of innovative teaching methods and material for language training
2) Impact on the project/experience
How did being awarded the European Language Label have an impact the win-
ning project?
2.a Impact on reapplying for the labelled experience
2.b Impact in terms of extension of the experience to other languages
2.c Impact in terms of transfer of the experience to different users
2.d Impact in terms of transfer of the experience to other geographical contexts
2.e Impact in terms of transfer of the experience to other contexts of production/inter-
vention
2.f Impact in terms of participation in other selections for further quality certication
2.g Impact in terms of increased access to credit to reapply
2.h Impact on the possibility to organise activities for the promotion of the labelled
experience
3) Impact on the territory
How did being awarded the European Language Label have an impact on building
relationships at local, regional and national level?
3.a Impact in terms of increased participation of the families of the learners to the life of
the institute
3.b Impact in terms of increased participation of the families of the learners to the life of
the institute
3.c Impact in terms of requests for language training by other organisations
3.d Impact in terms of participation in language teaching projects organised by other
institutes
181 Annex
3.e Impact in terms of participation in the creation of networks of organisations (e.g. as-
sociation, federations, consortia, etc.) operating in the eld of language training
3.f Impact in terms of participation in events organised by other local organisations
4) Awareness campaigns
What actions do you think can have the greatest impact in raising awareness
among stakeholders, families and civil society on the importance of language
teaching and learning?(maximum 300 characters)
182 Annex 3
Annex 3.
Results of survey on languages for mobility
and employability addressed to stakeholders
Charts and Tables - Survey on languages
for mobility and employability
Question N. 1
The main problems in the development of language competences for the mobility of people
and employability of human resources are political. Give the following statements a score
from 1 to 5
1.a There is a need to establish a Parliamentary Committee on the development of
policies to strengthen the relation between LS and the labour market
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 31 27,0 55,7
Disagree 16 13,9 92,2
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
5,0%
10,0%
15,0%
20,0%
25,0%
30,0%
Strongly
agree
Agree I Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
183 Annex
1.b There is a fundamental need to establish round tables on LS between VET and
the business world
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 37 32,2 84,3
Disagree 5 4,3 99,1
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
1.c Teaching one foreign language until secondary school is sufcient
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 2 1,7 3,5
Disagree 25 21,7 31,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
184 Annex 3
1.d Investment planning in language teachers/trainers training needs to be multi-
annual
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 35 30,4 90,4
Disagree 2 1,7 100,0
Strongly disagree - - -
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Strongly
agree
Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
1.e Politics must be excluded from the strategic process of development of LS
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 22 19,1 33,0
Disagree 34 29,6 78,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
5,0%
10,0%
15,0%
20,0%
25,0%
30,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
185 Annex
1.f It is important to create local ofces and/or institutional platforms to share the
existing products for the development of LS
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 44 38,3 82,6
Disagree 6 5,2 98,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
1.g It is necessary to dene the procedures and tools to recognise LS acquired in
non-formal and informal learning contexts (also during mobility)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 26 22,6 92,2
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
Strongly
agree
Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
186 Annex 3
1.h 1 percentage point of the GDP must be destined to public investment in LT
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 34 29,6 75,7
Disagree 5 4,3 98,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
1.i Shared experiences between the business world and the VET systems is not
relevant for the development of LS adequate to the needs of young people
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 8 7,0 8,7
Disagree 32 27,8 42,6
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
187 Annex
1.j It is necessary to reduce at the minimum the number of information bodies
which increase the running costs of VET systems
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Molto daccordo 26 22,6 22,6
Daccordo 31 27,0 49,6
Indeciso 37 32,2 81,7
Disaccordo 12 10,4 92,2
Per niente daccordo 9 7,8 100,0
Totale 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
1.k With some spending review, the current public investment in LT is already suf-
cient
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 8 7,0 8,7
Disagree 48 41,7 71,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
188 Annex 3
1.l It is fundamental to start teaching at least two foreign languages at all levels
of education until the age of 16
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 20 17,4 90,4
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
20,0%
40,0%
60,0%
80,0%
Strongly
agree
Agree Neither agree
nor disagree
Disagree
1.m Trainers training must be planned on an annual basis so that it can be tailored
to the current demand
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 41 35,7 53,9
Disagree 16 13,9 88,7
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
189 Annex
1.n Only LS acquired in formal settings should be recognized
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 4 3,5 6,1
Disagree 30 26,1 38,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
190 Annex 3
Question N. 2
Some of the obstacles to the development of language competences - which could promote
mobility experiences and help enter the labour market - have a cultural dimension. Give
the following statements a score from 1 to 5.
2.a In order to develop LS there is a need to establish partnerships between schools/
universities/training centres and businesses so that all the stakeholders are
involved and informed
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 28 24,3 89,6
Disagree 3 2,6 99,1
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
2.b Mass media must be excluded from training
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 2 1,7 2,6
Disagree 35 30,4 44,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
191 Annex
2.c It is necessary to promote information on the supply of LT available on the
market
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 54 47,0 87,0
Disagree 2 1,7 99,1
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
2.d utile creare un sito web aperto e condiviso che coinvolga attivamente tutti gli
attori della FL (es. wikipedia delle lingue)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 44 38,3 84,3
Disagree 3 2,6 98,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
192 Annex 3
2.e The role of assessment and recognition of LS is not relevant in the marketability
of LS
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 6 5,2 7,0
Disagree 35 30,4 53,9
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
2.f The involvement of businesses in planning language training or projects is a
strategic asset
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 50 43,5 79,1
Disagree 8 7,0 99,1
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
193 Annex
2.g Creating specic networks on the development of LS is not necessary
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 6 5,2 7,0
Disagree 43 37,4 59,1
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
2.h It is absolutely necessary to focus the attention on teaching the most common
languages, without wasting resources in favour of least used languages
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 16 13,9 20,0
Disagree 43 37,4 69,6
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
194 Annex 3
2.i The tools available on line for the development of LS are sufcient and diversi-
ed
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Strongly agree - - -
Agree 10 8,7 8,7
Disagree 47 40,9 80,9
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
2.j It is sufcient to involve training professionals to plan language learning pro-
grammes
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 10 8,7 19,1
Disagree 53 46,1 81,7
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
195 Annex
2.k The use of mass media in a foreign language plays a fundamental role in the
construction of a multilingual culture
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 45 39,1 93,0
Disagree 1 0,9 98,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
2.l It is useful to promote the culture of assessment and validation of LS for their
recognition
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 48 41,7 87,8
Disagree 7 6,1 99,1
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
196 Annex 3
2.m Information on language learning opportunities available (courses, event, ma-
terials, etc.) is vast and diffuse
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 15 13,0 13,9
Disagree 55 47,8 82,6
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
2.n In this era of globalisation it is important to promote the study of minority
languages through extracurricular activities
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 45 39,1 71,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
197 Annex
Question N. 3
Some of the problems related to the economic aspects hinder the development of language
training. Give the following statements a score from 1 to 5.
3.a There is a need to improve information on the sources of funds available for LT
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 44 38,3 93,9
Disagree 1 0,9 99,1
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
3.b The budget dedicated to the training of teachers and trainers must be increased
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 37 32,2 90,4
Disagree 1 0,9 98,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
198 Annex 3
3.c It is necessary to grant tax incentives to those businesses which invest in LT for
their employees
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 39 33,9 92,2
Disagree 1 0,9 98,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
3.d In this phase of spending review, it is necessary to cut the budget dedicated to
information on funding sources available for language education
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 5 4,3 6,1
Disagree 40 34,8 62,6
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
199 Annex
3.e In this phase of spending review it is necessary to reduce the cost of PA by
cutting investment in the LT of civil servants
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 5 4,3 5,2
Disagree 51 44,3 60,9
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
3.f It is necessary to increase investment in LT of private employees through inter-
professional funds
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 48 41,7 77,4
Disagree 3 2,6 98,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
200 Annex 3
3.g The current economic investment to train language trainers is adequate to its
needs
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 2 1,7 1,7
Disagree 46 40,0 64,3
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
3.h It is necessary to increase investment in the LT of civil servants
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 49 42,6 82,6
Disagree 2 1,7 99,1
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
201 Annex
3.i It is counterproductive to link tax incentives to the supply of LT in businesses
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 10 8,7 13,9
Disagree 30 26,1 82,6
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Strongly
agree
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
3.j Current interprofessional funds for the development of workers language com-
petences are more than adequate
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Agree 3 2,6 2,6
Disagree 46 40,0 80,0
Total 115 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
nor disagree
Disagree Strongly
disagree
202 Annex 4
Annex 4.
Results of the survey on the European
language Label awarded projects -
vocational training eld (2010-2011-2012)
Charts and Tables - Survey on the European
language Label (2010-2011-2012)
Impact on the institute/organization
How did being awarded the European Language Level have an impact on your institute?
1.a Impact on the planning of future projects for language training
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 8 36,4 36,4
Good 10 45,5 81,8
Acceptable 2 9,1 90,9
Poor 1 4,5 95,5
Very poor 1 4,5 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Excellent Good Acceptable Poor Very poor
203 Annex
1.b Impact on staff motivation in the institute (e.g. improvement in teaching, par-
ticipation and other initiatives, etc.)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 10 45,5 81,8
Poor 1 4,5 100,0
Very poor - - -
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Excellent Good Acceptable Poor
1.c Impact on the number of users interested to take part in the institutes activities
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 2 9,1 9,1
Good 10 45,5 54,5
Poor - - -
Very poor 2 9,1 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Excellent Good Acceptable Very poor
204 Annex 4
1.d Impact on management in terms of greater awareness of language training
activities
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 7 31,8 63,6
Poor 1 4,5 100,0
Very poor - - -
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
1.e Impact on the investment in new infrastructure for language training (e.g.
creation of a language laboratory, etc.)
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 6 27,3 40,9
Poor 2 9,1 86,4
Very poor 3 13,6 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
205 Annex
1.f Impact in terms of increased access to funds for language training
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 1 4,5 4,5
Good 8 36,4 40,9
Poor 3 13,6 90,9
Very poor 2 9,1 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
1.g Impact on the use of innovative teaching methods and material for language
training
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 11 50,0 77,3
Poor 2 9,1 95,5
Very poor 1 4,5 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
206 Annex 4
Impact on the project/experience
How did being awarded the European Language Label have an impact the winning project?
2.a Impact on reapplying for the labelled experience
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 11 50,0 68,2
Poor - - -
Very poor 1 4,5 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
Excellent Good Acceptable Very poor
2.b Impact in terms of extension of the experience to other languages
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 9 40,9 54,5
Poor 1 4,5 81,8
Very poor 4 18,2 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
207 Annex
2.c Impact in terms of transfer of the experience to different users
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 2 9,1 9,1
Good 9 40,9 50,0
Poor 2 9,1 95,5
Very poor 1 4,5 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
2.d Impact in terms of transfer of the experience to other geographical contexts
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 2 9,1 9,1
Good 8 36,4 45,5
Poor 2 9,1 81,8
Very poor 4 18,2 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
208 Annex 4
2.e Impact in terms of transfer of the experience to other contexts of production/
intervention
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 2 9,1 9,1
Good 5 22,7 31,8
Poor 5 22,7 81,8
Very poor 4 18,2 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
5,0%
10,0%
15,0%
20,0%
25,0%
30,0%
2.f Impact in terms of participation in other selections for further quality certication
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 8 36,4 50,0
Poor 2 9,1 86,4
Very poor 3 13,6 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
209 Annex
2.g Impact in terms of increased access to credit to reapply
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 2 9,1 9,1
Good 7 31,8 40,9
Poor 1 4,5 81,8
Very poor 4 18,2 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
2.h Impact on the possibility to organise activities for the promotion of the labelled
experience
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 12 54,5 72,7
Poor 1 4,5 95,5
Very poor 1 4,5 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
210 Annex 4
Impact on the territory
How did being awarded the European Language Label have an impact on building relation-
ships at local, regional and national level?
3.a Impact in terms of increased participation of the families of the learners to the
life of the institute
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 1 4,5 4,5
Good 11 50,0 54,5
Poor 2 9,1 72,7
Very poor 6 27,3 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
3.b Impact in terms of increased participation of the families of the learners to the
life of the institute
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 7 31,8 45,5
Poor 5 22,7 90,9
Very poor 2 9,1 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
211 Annex
3.c Impact in terms of requests for language training by other organisations
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 2 9,1 9,1
Good 9 40,9 50,0
Poor 3 13,6 95,5
Very poor 1 4,5 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
3.d Impact in terms of participation in language teaching projects organised by
other institutes
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Good 7 31,8 63,6
Poor 1 4,5 100,0
Very poor - - -
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
212 Annex 4
3.e Impact in terms of participation in the creation of networks of organisations
(e.g. association, federations, consortia, etc.) operating in the eld of language
training
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 2 9,1 9,1
Good 7 31,8 40,9
Poor 5 22,7 81,8
Very poor 4 18,2 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
3.f Impact in terms of participation in events organised by other local organisations
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e

f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Excellent 2 9,1 9,1
Good 6 27,3 36,4
Poor 3 13,6 86,4
Very poor 3 13,6 100,0
Total 22 100,0
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
213 Annex
Annex 5.
Synoptic Tables of the 2007-2013 projects
awarded the European Language Label in
the eld of vocational training
Here below a presentation of the 62 tables of the projects which were awarded the Euro-
pean Language Label in Italy in the eld of vocational training for the period 2007-2013.
The data shown refer to some of the characterizing features of each individual project.
In particular, the following elements have been highlighted:
- Specications of the institute in charge of the project;
- Target languages of the project;
- Target language level of the teaching project;
- Project beneciaries;
- European priority on which the project is focused;
- National priority on which the project is focused;
- Short abstract of the project awarded the European Language Label.
For further information on the European Language Label awarded to Italian and European
projects (in the eld of education and training), please visit the European database at:
http://ec.europa.eu/languages/european-language-label/index_it.htm.
This website also provides all general information on the European Language Label initiative.
For further information on the European Language Label activities in Italy, in the eld of
vocational training, please visit the website www.labeleuropeolingue.it.
Finally, for a general overview of the European Language Label in Italy in the eld of educa-
tion, please visit the website http://www.programmallp.it/labeleuropeolingue/.
214 Annex 5
Title: www.adgblog.it: tra
glottodidattica, multilinguismo e
interculturalit
Accademia del Giglio S.n.c.
Town: 50122 - Firenze
Address: via Ghibellina, 116
Contact Person: Lorenzo Capanni
e-mail: info@adg.it
Web site: www.adgblog.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Students - Teachers/Trainers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 - C2
European Priorities: Diversication of the languages on offer - Initial and in service language teacher
training
National Priorities: N/A
Summary:
The blog can be considered as a new form of communication, which thanks to its easy application system
enables a constantly increasing number of web users to leave their passive role of readers and become more
active participants by even writing comments or posts for the blog itself. Thus, the project aimed at reaching
a public of varied interactive readers by using a vocabulary which may vary according to the subject of each
article or according to the kind of readers the article is addressed to. In this perspective Adgblog intended to be
a useful tool for teaching Italian as a foreign language, but also a virtual space for cooperation and interchange
between different cultures and languages, a long-lasting space where an intercultural dialogue is made pos-
sible mainly through the use of the Italian as vehicular language. Adgblog has involved teachers, former and
present students of the institute, as well as all those who have shown any interest in leaving a comment after
each post in their own language.
Title: Diario di bordo per Assistenti
Familiari - Manuale di italiano per
stranieri
Associazione Culturale Istituto Fernando
Santi
Town: 00187 - Roma
Address: Via XX Settembre, 49
Contact Person: Sergio Pizziconi
e-mail: associazione@istitutosanti.org
Web site: www.istitutosanti.org
Languages: Italian
Target group: Immigrants - Person seeking rst
job - Workers
Language levels: A2 - B1
European Priorities: Content and Language Integrated learning (CLIL)
Summary:
The handbook Diario di bordo per assistenti familiari is a book of Italian as an L2 designed to teach Italian language
with a particular focus on the structures and lexicon needed when studying and working as family assistant for
the elderly, sick, and the terminally ill. The handbook is addressed to adult learners, preferably living in Italy or
being in close touch with Italian speaking people. The editorial project originated by the teaching experience
within courses addressed to the teaching/learning of Italian language for special purposes in professional train-
ing. The Siena University for Foreigners monitored the courses and the editorial project of the handbook and
acted as certifying organisation for language competences acquired. The handbook has been designed according
to two general criteria: learn-to-learn, giving the learners the tools to solve future language problems by the
autonomous use of Italian dictionary and grammars and the principles of the theory of uses and gratications.
The Diario di bordo addresses not only a foreigner learning Italian, but a worker and a citizen in a host country.
A
n
n
o

2
0
0
7
215 Annex
Title: Standard Linguistico Europeo per il
Settore del Turismo (SLEST)
CESCOT Nazionale (Centro Sviluppo
Commercio e Turismo)
Town: 00184 - Roma
Address: Via Nazionale, 60
Contact Person: Michael Schlicht
e-mail: nazionale@cescot.it
Web site: www.cescot.it
Languages: English - French - German - Italian - Spanish
Target group: Workers - Students Language levels: B1 - B2 - C1
European Priorities: Initial and in service language teacher training
Summary:
This project is addressed to people already working in the eld of tourism and to students in Tourism Science,
with specic attention to the management sector in tourism on a medium and high level. With this project an
innovative European standard of qualication was carried out, responding to the qualication and language
needs of people involved and leading to a competitive advantage for those individuals working in the eld of
tourism. The specic aims of the project were: the realisation of a language examination (including also a test
on intercultural communication skills) mutually recognised at European level for all languages and entirely ad-
dressed towards the real needs of people involved; the creation of highly exible language models in order to
answer to the different features of the several partners, with the aim to create the basis for a perfect preparation
for the examination named above, valid for all target groups; the transfer and dissemination of the results to
guarantee the participation of institutions and organisations which did not directly participate in the project.
Title: Linternazionalizzazione
della Guardia di Finanza: il
plurilinguismo come risposta al
macrofenomeno della presenza
cinese in Italia
I.S.I.T. - Istituto Universitario per Interpreti
e Traduttori di Trento
Town: 38100 - Trento
Address: Vicolo Santa Maria Maddalena, 22
Contact Person: Loredana Bettonte
e-mail: info@isit.tn.it
Web site: www.isit.tn.it
Languages: English - Chinese
Target group: Workers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B2 - C1 - C2
European Priorities: Diversication of the languages on offer
Summary:
The learning pathway belonged to the process of professional retraining of the Public Administration. The Regional
Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Trento expressed specic internationalisation need as a key step inside
a wider process toward multiculturalism and multilingualism in order to gain A European and Extra-European
Police always abreast of our times. This led to the planning of a specialised training course including an advanced
level of the working language (English) and a literacy level for the Chinese language, starting for the rst time
after a two-year period in the Arabic culture and language. The process of assimilation and memorization of the
two languages was greatly supported by the synergetic use of the multimedia lab, the software for mnemonic
learning strategies of English terms (developed by ISIT Research Department) and of the awareness of ones limits
as a result of the neurolinguistics classes. Taking into account the adult users, the methodology of cooperative
learning was chosen, together with classroom activities as well as frequent classroom training (monitored self
study) and self-evaluation tests.
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Title: Women in art Istituto dArte Cademia - Intendenza
Scolastica Ladina
Town: 39046 - Ortisei (BZ)
Address: Via Rezia, 293
Contact Person: Thea Blaas
e-mail: se.urtijei@schule.suedtirol.it
Web site: www.ks-groeden.schule.suedtirol.it
Languages: English - German - Italian
Target group: Students Language levels: B2
European Priorities: Initial and in service language teacher training
Summary:
The project intended to exploit the language and artistic competences of the girl students attending artistc
schools by discovering again the abilities and sensitiveness peculiar to females. The idea was to promote the use
of multilingualism competences by re-discovering knowledge and products of female art in the recent history
of the areas analysed (Italy, Germany and Slovenia) thus to be included into school activities, by elaborating and
making them a habit. Possibilities shall be looked for to single out various strategies for promoting the diversity
of artistic expression in such a way as to allow girl students and budding female artists an equal learning op-
portunity. Such project of language and artistic educational development intended to provide girl students of
artistic schools with a higher consideration of feminine artistic peculiarity and promote their opportunities of
personal and vocational growth. A promotion of equal opportunities, in this case by drawing attention to the
creative and artistic aspects of the girl students, also provided schools with experiences and materials for revising
their own training curricula in a mainstreaming perspective.
Title: SIMULA OGGI REALIZZA DOMANI.
Esperienze di tirocini e di imprese
formative simulate transnazionali
in ambito turistico aziendale
Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Contardo
Ferrini
Town: 28922 - Verbania (VB)
Address: Via Massara, 8
Contact Person: Marina Federici
e-mail: itcferrini@libero.it
Web site: www.istitutoferrini.it
Languages: English - French - German
Target group: Students - Teachers/Trainers -
Workers
Language levels: B1 - B2
training
Summary:
The project offered to students of the fourth year of Secondary School (age 17/18) a work educational simula-
tion in their school year and within their school timetable, one week of work educational simulation abroad,
at the German partner school and ve weeks work placement in a job related to the students specialisation
(international business relations) and consistent with the activities carried out in the simulation in Italy. The
purpose was to broaden the students professional experience in a European dimension and to enable them to
gain experience in a new business and tourism working environment, focusing attention on local requirements
and putting into practice what was simulated at school, i.e. a tourist ofce promoting the local environmental
heritage. Special attention was given to improving language competence and skills (English, German and French)
both for students and teachers involved in the project as well as for tutors of host organisations.
217 Annex
Title: YET (Youth, Europe and Theatre) Liceo Scientico Statale Isacco Newton
Town: 00185 - Roma
Address: Viale Manzoni, 47
Contact Person: Cinzia Cetraro
e-mail: rmps17000l@istruzione.it
Web site: www.liceo-newton.com
Languages: Dutch - English - Finnish - Italian
Target group: Students Language levels: A1 - B1 - B2
training
Summary:
YET is a triangular theatre project involving Italy, the Netherlands and Finland and lasting three years. Each
year one of the three partner schools has received participants from the other two: two 30-student groups
and two Creative Teams made up of 5 teachers each. Throughout two intensive weeks the participants worked
divided into three international groups to produce a theatrical performance under the artistic supervision of
three teachers from the different schools. The performances, all in English, draw inspiration from a single text,
chosen by the host country to represent its literary culture. The project stimulated an intense creative effort
even in the less extrovert students, and leads to the full use of the groups talents. Given the didactic context,
the project aimed at developing, through trans-national cooperation, a set of professional abilities linked to
the theatrical sphere (including musical, graphic and technical skills) and to information and communication
activities, especially involving new technologies.
Title: Linguaggi verbali e non verbali
nella L2 per stranieri:
Tante lingue un unico mondo
Scuola Primaria Mar dei Caraibi - 102
Circolo Didattico di Roma
Town: 00122 - Ostia Lido (RM)
Address: Via Mar dei Caraibi, 30
Contact Person: Andreina Serloni
e-mail: rmee10200e@istruzione.it
Web site: www.mardeicaraibi.it
Languages: English - Italian - Polish - Romanian - Spanish
Target group: Immigrants - Students -
Unemployed
Language levels: A1 - A2
European Priorities: Diversication of the languages on offer - Inter-cultural dialogue
Summary:
The project developed in a wide, highly populated district, presenting heterogeneous traditions, cultures, origins
and revenues, is the result of the necessity to foresee for the schools foreigner pupils and their families specic
tools to improve their linguistic skills and foster their relationships and their social integration in our country.
This project is specically addressed to the foreign pupils and their families with several purposes: to improve
the knowledge of Italian language by adults, and to develop the capacities of the children to communicate
and to express themselves, other than in a verbal way with the purpose to realise a giant multilingual book.
The methodological approaches have the purpose to nd out meeting points to share - beyond the verbal
expression and the different cultures - the deep likeness and imagination of the affectionate ways which are
constantly moving and changing. Welcoming and familiarisation initiatives were prepared through non formal
meetings with the families, worked out with playful and socialisation activities.
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Title: Teatrolingua a cura del Teatro
Francese di Roma
Thtre Franais de Rome - Teatro
Francese di Roma
Town: 00186 - Roma
Address: Largo Toniolo, 20
Contact Person: Frdric Lachkar
e-mail: contact@theatrefrancais.it
Web site: www.theatrefrancais.it
Languages: French
Target group: Apprentices/Trainees - Students
- Teachers/Trainers - Unemployed
- Workers
Language levels: A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 - C2
European Priorities: Diversication of the languages on offer - Initial and in service language teacher training
Summary:
The project is an original initiative based on the use of the theatre to learn a language in a society where oral
communication is more and more important, where we have to communicate instead of just speaking. On the
stage saying is doing: every time you learn a sentence you also have to learn the gestures and the behaviours
proper to a country. Thus, the theatre helps to be more open-minded towards a different culture. Strengthened
by its ten years experience, the Rome French Theatre has raised the great educational challenge of training
language teachers in order to show them how to use theatrical techniques within their classes. With the Tea-
trolingua method, learning a foreign language is no more a constraint but a real pleasure, even a game. Three
essential elements are gathered to motivate the participants: the play dimension (the acting and the hindsight
from reality make obviously easier the disinhibition as much as the expression), the personal achievement thanks
to the creation of ones own character and the modication of the hierarchy teacher/student (a relation of faith
and condence is created within the group, which allows less judgemental attitudes than in a usual class).
Title: Master in Didattica dellitaliano
lingua non materna
Universit per Stranieri di Perugia
Town: 06123 - Perugia
Address: Piazza Fortebraccio, 4
Contact Person: Anna Ciliberti
e-mail: prorett@unistrapg.it
Web site: www.unistrapg.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Apprentices/Trainees - Teachers/
Trainers - Unemployed- Workers
Language levels: C1 - C2
European Priorities: Diversication of the languages on offer - Initial and in service language teacher training
Summary:
The First-Level Masters degree was intended for Italian and foreign graduates who wished to acquire the
knowledge and skills necessary for teaching Italian as an L2 either in Italy or abroad. By using both distance
and on campus learning, the programme combined different teaching tools and techniques, monitored by
experienced tutors. Aims of the course were: to provide Italian and foreign graduates, based in Italy or abroad,
with specic training for the teaching of Italian to speakers of other languages; to make in-service teachers of
any subject aware of issues related to interculturality and the teaching and learning of Italian as a second or
foreign language, providing them with both theoretical and practical knowledge; to foster a critical approach
to the activity of teaching that will enable participants to reect on their own and others teaching practice,
leading to the development of such professional skills as critical analysis of complex situations and behaviour
that arise in the classroom.
219 Annex
Title: Be-CuLT. Basic E-Cultural and
Linguistic Training for Work
Experiences Abroad (Hotel and
Catering Sector)
Associazione CNOS/FAP Regione Sicilia
Town: 95123 - Catania
Address: Via Cifali, 7
Contact Person: Francesco Majorana
e-mail: f.majorana@cnos-fap.it
Web site: www.becult.org; www.easy2.org -
www.cnosfap.sicilia.it
Languages: Dutch - English - Finnish - French - German - Italian
Target group: Students Language levels: A1 - A2
European Priorities: Inter-cultural dialogue
Summary:
The project title refers to a web-based tool for the cultural and language support to trainees involved in a
working experience abroad in the hotel and catering sector. Such elds need mobile young people with strong
intercultural competence. As foreign languages, intercultural training and working experiences abroad are not
(yet) integral part of the regular initial vocational training curricula in the hotel and catering professions all over
Europe, a complementary tool is needed in order to match the specic learning environments, learning aims
and didactic needs of inexperienced young learners involved in practice-based vocational training. The project
developed an online learning tool which reproduced in a virtual world real work places which can be found
in selected countries with specic language and cultural settings (DE, FI, FR, IT, NL with English as vehicular
language) by applying methodologies of authentic learning, non-judgemental experiential learning and CLIL
with the aim of integrating social and language skills in an intercultural setting. The tool is available free of
charge on the internet and is accessible from any place, thus allowing for tutored learning not requiring (neither
excluding) language teachers.
Title: Competenze linguistiche per un
turismo integrato
Centro Territoriale Permanente per
lIstruzione e lEducazione in et adulta
c/o Scuola Statale Secondaria di I grado
Ignazio Silone
Town: 73059 - Ugento (LE)
Address: Via Gabriele DAnnunzio s.n.
Contact Person: Tanese Valeria
e-mail: info@ctpugento.com
Web site: www.ctpugento.com
Languages: English - German
Target group: Students - Unemployed Language levels: A1 - A2
European Priorities: Inter-cultural dialogue - Languages and business
National Priorities: Attention to adults and workers for competitiveness
Summary:
The project addressed to young people who have achieved a diploma at high school or those holding a university
degree. In particular, the initiative aimed at developing the knowledge of German and English language for
professionals welcoming tourists, working in the tourist industry such as hotels, restaurants, farm holidays, B&Bs,
guidebook, craftsmen, shop keepers etc. The course is tailored for young students seeking their rst employ-
ment and for adults, with a special attention to women in search of an occupation. The course was carried out
through face to face lessons and working experiences within tourist structures where languages were necessary
and daily used. The class courses envisaged a German and English basic course and a tourism tailored English
course. Within the project a total of 15 professionals specialised in German and English language for tourism
eld were trained, able to cover and respond to the needs of tourists by integrating and improving the territory
resources attracting new potential tourists and retaining those already on territory.
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Title: LA.LE.RA. Language Learning by
Radio - Prototipo di programma
radiofonico di lingua italiana
rivolto ad assistenti famigliari
rumene/i
CIES - Centro Informazione e Educazione
allo Sviluppo
Town: 00185 - Roma
Address: Via Merulana, 198
Contact Person: Paola Berbeglia
e-mail: cies@cies.it
Web site: www.cies.it - www.lalera.org
Languages: Italian - Romanian
Target group: Immigrants - Workers Language levels: A2 - B1
Summary:
The initiative aimed at setting the grounds for a didactic path for teaching Italian/Romanian by means of
radio broadcasts, and it addressed a particular target of the labour force (home healthcare nurses). Objectives
of the project were the denition of a theoretical model of language training addressing experts, teachers and
institutions of language training, based on the integration of remote teaching techniques (radio broadcasts,
websites) and of a training path in Italian language addressing Romanian women working in the domain of
home healthcare nursing, which resulted in a series of teaching courses referring to levels A2+ and B1 of the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Base on the results of a needs analysis of home
healthcare nurses, the model envisaged the creation of a radio program in two phases: a rst phase (Pasaport
European on Radio Romania Broadcasting Corporation) to be broadcasted in the native country of the work-
force and a second phase (Per comunicare on Radio Citta Futura) to be broadcasted in the country where the
workforce was active. A research report and a handbook for trainers were carried out and disseminated through
the multilingual website www.lalera.org.
Title: Lempowerment personale e
professionale attraverso la
lingua inglese nelle persone
diversamente abili
I.S.I.T. - Istituto Universitario per Interpreti
e Traduttori di Trento
Address: Vicolo Santa Maria Maddalena, 22
Contact Person: Loredana Bettonte
e-mail: info@isit.tn.it
Web site: www.isit.tn.it
Languages: English
Target group: Students Language levels: A2
Summary:
The project focused on the development of competences in English language, nowadays considered as vehicular
language, and at the same time intended to support and to promote the social inclusion of people with special
physical needs. The core of the project was the development of English language competences (mainly listen-
ing, reading and writing) and the ability to manipulate texts, use grammar structures in a way that may allow
these people to communicate in business contexts, overcoming any natural embarrassment due to the use of
another language, which can be even stronger in case of people with special physical needs. The language skills
acquired in the course intended to contribute to the participants personal and professional empowerment and
to be effective for a future profession. The project envisaged the acquisition of competences in English (through
innovative teaching technologies) with a nal international certicate (as to written skills) and a short trip to
London. The classroom lessons have been completed with specially tailored materials and counselling for the
candidates to better enter the world of work.
221 Annex
Title: Mozambico IPSSCART Bonaldo Stringher - Istituto
Professionale di stato per i Servizi
Alberghieri, di Ristorazione, Turistici e
Commerciali
Town: 33100 - Udine
Address: Via Monsignor Nogara
Contact Person: Maria Rosa Casaleggi
e-mail: segreteria.economato@stringher.it
Web site: www.stringher.it
Languages: English - French - Italian - Portuguese
Target group: Person seeking rst job - Students Language levels: C1
Summary:
The need to understand immigrants, in order to welcome them and to be welcome, has suggested more and more
targeted cultural models, coming from a continuous and mutual attention and exchange. The Onlus institutions
dealing with Mozambico invited the school to set up together in the suburbs of Maputo city an educational and
training centre in which teachers and students of the Stringher school, on their placements combining alternation
with voluntary work, together with students and staff of this part of Africa, may cooperate in training up future
workers and teach the professional skills (in tourism, reception and bar service elds) that may foster in the
young people of the place a self sufcient professional integration in the economical texture of their Country. The
project has been included in the educational supply plan of the school and it aimed at fostering consciousness
of belonging to the world, educating to international cooperation, enhancing professional education, rening
intellectual curiosity and the comprehension of diversities, also with the aim of stimulating language learning.
Title: DEAL - Deaf people in Europe
Acquiring Languages through
E-Learning
Istituto Statale per Sordi - ISSR
Town: 00161 - Roma
Address: Via Nomentana, 54-56
Contact Person: Simonetta Maragna
e-mail: progettodeal@istitutosordiroma.it
Web site: www.istitutosordiroma.it - www.
deal-leonardo.eu
Languages: German - Italian - Spanish
National Priorities: Improvement of teaching methods and materials for adults
Summary:
The project addressed deaf students of high school, in particular students enrolled in professional training pro-
grammes to become secretaries in a company, to create a new model of teaching/learning of foreign languages
trough e-learning. Based on the very evident problems in comprehension of texts of mean difculty in the
national written language (and above all in foreign languages) and in production of easy but communicatively
strong texts, the project aimed at creating resources to ght this discrimination by organising an e-learning
approach, a didactic model and coherent tools specically adapted to training needs and learning resources of
deaf people. Tools and resources are based on methodological strategies and didactic techniques that allow to
better use the whole channel of the deaf (the visual one) and to effectively work on aspects identied as critical
in the construction of language competences of deaf people. Furthermore, the system is thought for didactic
integration of students national Sign Languages.
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Title: In-formazione Transnazionale Eu-
ropa delle Regioni 4 - ITER 4
Liceo Classico Statale Domenico Alberto
Azuni
Town: 07100 - Sassari
Address: Via Rolando, 4
Contact Person: Andrea Blasina
e-mail: lcazuni@tin.it
Web site: www.liceoazuni.it
Languages: English - French - German - Italian
Summary:
Within the project 180 transnational 5-week placements have been carried out by students belonging to non-
professional secondary schools (Licei) located in Sassari. Initial vocational training students good at school,
well-informed about the labour market, highly motivated, Europe-oriented, with a well-grounded psychical
framework have been involved in the placements carried out in Ireland, Great Britain, France and Germany.
The working elds chosen for the mobility experience (school and education, arts, media and communication,
tourism and leisure) contributed to the valorisation of the didactical tradition of schools involved and to put in
place the working skills of the beneciaries. In particular, the placements in the Werkstatt Oper Leipzig, in the
great Fitness Centers in Dublino, in Cannes boutiques contributed to immediately transform language, sport
and creative skills of students into professional skills. At the end of the transnational experience, the Europass
Mobility Certicate was issued to participants.
Title: English by a click, linglese a
portata di mouse (EBAC)
Ministero dellInterno - Polizia di Stato
- Ufcio Relazioni Esterne e Cerimoniale
- Sito web
Town: 00184 - Roma
Address: Piazza del Viminale, 7
Contact Person: Maurizio Masciopinto
e-mail: poliziadistato@interno.it
Web site: www.poliziadistato.it
Languages: English
Target group: Workers Language levels: B1 - B2 - C1
Summary:
The project aimed at offering visitors of the State Police web site the possibility to improve their English online,
beneting by the translating, language and teaching skills of the Police language experts. An e-learning approach
was chosen to provide new training tools, experience technologies and make the training process easier and
more accessible. This led to the denition of a multimedia guide for the reading of foreign press articles focused
on security issues, mainly addressed to police ofcers but also used by the general public. The project intended
to improve the English knowledge in the eld of police activities, by using both materials of interest to public
security ofcers and more general subjects so as to strengthen their language and cultural assets and adjusting
their skills to European professional standards. The project multimedia approach allowed users to download
any audio and video on podcast giving them the possibility to enjoy published contents on mobile devices.
223 Annex
Title: Lacquisizione dellitaliano
L2 e il potenziamento della
comunicazione tra detenuti
stranieri e personale che opera
nelle strutture carcerarie
Universit per Stranieri di Siena - Centro
CLUSS (Centro Linguistico)
Town: 53100 - Siena
Address: Piazza Carlo Rosselli, 27/28
Contact Person: Antonella Benucci
e-mail: cluss@unistrasi.it
Web site: www.unistrasi.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Workers Language levels: A1 - A2
National Priorities: Attention to adults and workers for competitiveness - Improvement of teaching
methods and materials for adults
Summary:
The project aimed at dening models to improve inter-personal communication between foreign inmates and
jail staff. Special attention has been given to vocational training of prison police personnel and other profes-
sional gures involved in language-cultural mediation. The operational tasks of the project were the promotion
of the study of Italian language in order to achieve academic success during detention, to increase the number
of cultural mediation activities inside jails, to train teachers of Italian as a Second Language working within
the prison, to produce and to test adequate curricula for the specic jail context and other didactic material.
Taking into consideration the target group, the project focused on the acquisition of oral and writing skills to
satisfy daily demands, to obtain permits and talks and overall focused on self-expression, rst step toward the
reconstruction of personal and social identity. A specic curriculum considering the limitation of access to mate-
rial inside jail (i.e. the access to the Internet by inmates and the free use of mass media and paper material by
trainers) and the turnover of inmates (due to transfer/end of penalty or lack of motivation) has been developed.
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Title: Corso di lingua italiana Associazione Rondine Cittadella della Pace
Town: 52100 - Arezzo
Address: Localit Rondine,1
Contact Person: Gaspare Carulli
e-mail: info@rondine.org
Web site: www.rondine.org
Languages: Italian
Summary:
The language courses goal is to give students a B1 level preparation, with particular attention to speaking, listen-
ing, reading and writing skills. The main aspect of the project and its innovative element consists in the people
it is addressed to: students between 18 and 35 years old coming from many different environments, cultures
and religions. They come from geographical areas in conict such as Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans, Africa but
also from India, Greece, and Romania representing different religions (Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox). In
this way they dont learn only the Italian language, but they also know and appreciate the culture of diversity.
At the end of the project, some of the students start University or Master degree classes, some others start
working, especially in trade and tourism sectors.
Title: Test of English for Specic
Purposes - Acquisition and
Memory Helpers
British Institutes
Town: 20123 - Milano
Address: Via Carducci, 5
Contact Person: Giuseppe Gaetano Castorina
e-mail: didattica@britishinstitutes.it
Web site: www.britishinstitutes.it
Languages: English
Target group: Students Language levels: A2 - B1 - B2
European Priorities: Languages and business
National Priorities: Attention to adults and workers for placement, job position safeguard and career
advancement in the labuor market
Summary:
The Test Of English For Specic Purposes is the language certication that assesses a students ability to com-
municate, read and write in specialist elds and his/her knowledge of the structures peculiar to the language
and of basic terminology, using lexical structures specic to certain spheres of scientic English. This certication
focuses its attention on the world of Universities, on First Degree, Secondary School education, Advanced Degree
and Master Degree courses which aim at preparing, examining and certifying the scientic English prociency
level of their undergraduate and postgraduate students, offering specialist certication for each scientic sec-
tor. The test also implies the use of a learning methodology called Acquisition Helpers and Memory Helpers;
strategies that serve to help students learn and hence use the terms specic to a given scientic sphere correctly
and knowledgeably. This methodology can also be implemented in Middle and Secondary School education to
prepare students for the CLIL programmes.
225 Annex
Title: LIN project: Language
International Networking
Gruppo Loccioni
Town: 60030 - Angeli di Rosora (AN)
Address: Via Fiume, 16
Contact Person: Katia Giuttari
e-mail: k.giuttari@loccioni.com
Web site: www.loccioni.com
Languages: English - German - Spanish
Target group: Workers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1
Summary:
The project aimed at offering an alternative training proposal respect to the traditional lesson with new mixed
and efcient methodologies, satisfying the people linguistic needs so that the business may enjoy the best
benets and the enterprise be constantly in the market at a world level. This can be done by promoting the
linguistic learning as the maximum cultural expression, transferring this project to other realities in the net-
work, facilitating the cultural exchanges without any differences of age, social or ethnic origin, offering the
people the possibility to professionally grow inside the company. The project includes: a) theUSA USC Project
where, thanks to a precious collaboration with the Moore School of Business and the students of the Master in
International Business Administration, it is possible to host a student, who spends a period of internship by the
company, teaching the English language with CLIL methodology; b) the Loccioni Auf Deutsch Project,targeted
to the German language base skills teaching and to the improvement of the linguistic skills acquired; C) the
Business Class Project for the Spanish language training.
Title: Programma Pitagora Mundus ISCaPI - Istituto Superiore Calabrese di
Politiche Internazionali
Town: 87100 - Cosenza
Address: Via G.Campagna, 48
Contact Person: Stefania Paola Pasqua
e-mail: info@iscapi.org
Web site: www.iscapi.org - www.
pitagoramundus.org
Languages: English - French - Italian - Spanish
Target group: Students - Workers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 - C2
Summary:
The programme involves the creation of 10 Schools of Knowledge open to the best skilled, in order to elaborate
and promote the study of the actual scientic and socio-political dynamics, through moments of recovering
and dissemination the Magna-Grecian, Italic, and Euro-Mediterranean culture. The objective is to create, at each
School of Knowledge, a 6-month course or specialising course focused on actual themes of global interest dealing
with the latest developments in international politics. Today, 4 Schools of Knowledge have hosted about 400
students from all over the world for the 4-week Full Immersion Italian Language and Culture Courses. Further to
didactical classes, the students have also the opportunity to participate in cultural courses related to wine, arts
and environment. The programme also includes full immersion foreign language and culture courses for Italian
students. Such courses are organised in cooperation with the Institutes partners abroad.
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Title: The changing role of teachers in
an evolving European school
Istituto Tecnico per Attivit Sociali G.
Galilei
Town: 60035 - Jesi (AN)
Address: Viale del Lavoro, 38
Contact Person: Cristina Isabel Pavisic
e-mail: ante01000l@istruzione.it
Web site: www.itasgalileijesi.it
Languages: English - Spanish
Target group: Teachers/Trainers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1
Summary:
The idea of the project was born to give the possibility to the teachers of the school to take part in a mobility
experience in Europe and to attend a language course in a foreign country. The aims of the project are to improve
the communicative skills in the foreign language. Everything to achieve the linguistic skills to be able to teach
with CLIL methodology. The project foresees a mobility of 1 or 2 weeks for the participants. Before the mobility
experience a cultural preparation was organised to learn about the culture, tradition and school system of the
host countries. During the mobility experience the teachers attended a language course for 15 hours per week
and they visited several institutions.
Title: The Square Leonardi & Partners S.r.l. Editore
Town: 06124 - Perugia
Address: Via Mario Angeloni, 62
Contact Person: Santina Spiriti
e-mail: info@thesquareonline.it
Web site: www.thesquareonline.it
Languages: English
Target group: Apprentices/Trainees - Students -
Unemployed - Workers
Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2
National Priorities: Improvement of teaching methods and materials for adults
Summary:
The project is organised in a set of materials that show the basic concept of English grammar. It consists of the
following tools: the poster Question System, that present the mathematic formula of the English language; the
book Square Method, published also in Braille and in which the poster interpretation is explained; 5 elementary
school text books; Fill in The Square, a method for the professional training activities and divided in didactic
schemes through an electronic format, and Teacher Form Up, an electronic format tool that is essential for
teachers training who use all the materials. The project is inserted in several contexts, from the public schools
to the professional training. In the public schools that have become The Square centres the method is used
as integrative system to help students with a quick and effective learning. The course foresees the training of
teachers using the method and the textbooks in the classroom. Regarding the professional training, The Square
method is appreciated as a tool to reduce the time needed for adult learning, with the aim to facilitate his
integration in the professional world.
227 Annex
Title: Formazione e Mobilit allEstero
per giovani diplomati e qualicati
trentini
Provincia Autonoma di Trento - Servizio
Rapporti Comunitari e Sviluppo Locale -
Ufcio Fondo Sociale Europeo
Address: Piazza Dante, 15
Contact Person: Serena Tarter
e-mail: luciano.galetti@provincia.tn.it
Web site: www.fse.provincia.tn.it
Languages: English - French - German - Spanish
Target group: Apprentices/Trainees - Person
seeking rst job - Students -
Unemployed - Workers
Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 - C2
Summary:
The project has a three-year duration and it offers to about 700 young people the opportunity to take part
in a mobility experience in an EU-country. As necessary requirements to take part in the programme, partici-
pants must be aged between 18 and 26 years old. The project is sub-divided into 2 different programmes: a
5-week-long full-immersion language training and a 16-week-long transnational work experience. It is aimed
at developing personal curriculum competences, at promoting employment and mobility of work considering
the internationalisation of society and technological innovation. Beneciaries are selected on the basis of their
family economic condition, following the principle of the lower family income. Only for the transnational
workexperience a language and motivational testing and interview is carried out in order to make sure that the
candidates meet the necessary requirements.
Title: Master in Promozione e
Insegnamento della Lingua e
Cultura Italiana a Stranieri
Universit degli Studi di Milano - Facolt
di Lettere e Filosoa - CALCIF (Centro
dAteneo per la promozione della lingua e
della cultura italiana G. e C. Feltrinelli)
Address: Via Festa del Perdono, 7
Contact Person: Silvia Morgana
e-mail: Promoitals.calcif@unimi.it
Web site: www.promoitals.unimi.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Workers - Teachers/Trainers Language levels: B2
National Priorities: Attention to adults and workers for placement, job position safeguard and career advancement
in the labuor market - Improvement of teaching methods and materials for adults
Summary:
The project came into being in 2006 with the aim of training teachers and professional gures operating in the
teaching and promotion of Italian as a Second or Foreign Language. It is a rst level Masters Degree for Italian
or foreign graduates with the aim to offer specic, university-level training in response to the growing demand
for qualied staff in Italy and abroad, both in the eld of teaching Italian to speakers of other languages and in
the eld of promoting Italian language and culture abroad. The aim of the Master is to train qualied profes-
sional gures to operate mainly as teachers of Italian as a second or foreign language and experts in organising
the promotion of Italian language and culture, planning cultural events, managing and directing courses of
Italian language and culture abroad. Thanks to the cooperation with the Centre for technologies and university
didactics of the University of Milan, the Master is largely taught online using a blended mode, i.e. differentiating
and integrating different teaching approaches in relation to the content and objectives foreseen.
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Title: Lingua italiana e comunicazione
bancaria
Universit per Stranieri di Siena - Centro FAST
Town: 53100 - Siena
Address: Via Carlo Rosselli, 27-28
Contact Person: Donatella Troncarelli
e-mail: fast@unistrasi.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Workers Language levels: A2 - B1
Summary:
The aim of the project is to develop learning path that can enhance the language and communicative com-
petence of non-native speaker bank staff, in order to allow them to master on-the-job communication with
Italian colleagues. The project, realised in cooperation with UniCreditGroup is addressed to 545 Romanian
mother tongue employees, who work for the Italian banking group. The learning path is organised in two steps,
implemented on a learning platform: Aula web-general Italian and Aula web-banking Italian. The rst one is
composed of 3 learning modules, that aim at developing several language skills, listening, reading, writing and
speaking abilities, concerning the personal domain, and to arouse interest in Italian language and culture. At
the end of this step students reach A2 level of communicative competence and they can undertake the second
step, which is composed of 1 learning module, concerning professional domain. The aim of Aula web-banking
Italian is to enhance the language and communicative competence, related to Italian nancial and banking
language, especially the on-the-job spoken variety.
229 Annex
Title: TKT - Content and Language
Integrated Learning. Nuove
metodologie di insegnamento della
lingua inglese per un approccio
linguistico integrato
IAL Friuli Venezia Giulia
Town: 33170 - Pordenone
Address: Via Oberdan, 22
Contact Person: Giorgia Costalonga
e-mail: giorgia.costalonga@ial.fvg.it
Web site: www.ialweb.it
Languages: English
Target group: Teachers/Trainers Language levels: B2 - C1
European Priorities: Language learning in the community - Language skills as a preparation for work
National Priorities: Language learning to safeguard the job position and foster career advancement of
adults and workers
Summary:
The project was designed for 25 teachers/language assistants who are involved in CLIL programmes, interpreters,
translators, teachers of English as an Academic language and teachers of subjects other than language who
have to conduct the lesson in English. The course participants prepared the Europass Language Passport and in
particular the Cambridge ESOL TKT-CLIL certication. This certication ensures maximum transparency with regard
to the knowledge of language acquired (CEFR range B2-C1) and favours competitiveness in the labour market
by introducing young people into the market, and their retention and progression in the workplace as employed
adults. The course is integrated to european projects, like CEDEFOP-Study Visits CLIL across Europe for innovative
intercultural understanding and the Italy-Austria cross-border cooperation programme CLIL - a passpartout
for the European teacher. The training project involved university, school and institutional networking, both at
regional and transnational level, in the participation to tutorial activities, team works and lessons on TKT-CLIL
certication. The project focused on the enhancement of 4 English language competences.
Title: Formazione Orientata ad
una Reale Mobilit - Cultura
dellHtellerie e dell Accoglienza
Nei Contesti Europei
Istituto Professionale per i Servizi turistici-
alberghieri e della Ristorazione Raffaele
Viviani
Town: 80053 - Castellammare di Stabia (NA)
Address: Via Annunziatella, 23
Contact Person: Concetta Spano
e-mail: istituto@alberghiero.it
Web site: www.alberghiero.it
Languages: French - Italian - Romanian - Spanish
Target group: Students Language levels: A2 - B2
National Priorities: Language learning for placement of young people in the labour market and
transnational mobility
Summary:
The project intends to achieve full European mobility with the aim of improving European citizenship through
cultural and professional experiences. To achieve this goal language activities and placements have been planned,
to integrate a specic curricular training. The projects beneciaries are students attending their third year of
school and that will complete a 2-year post-qualication pathway in catering. A needs analysis has been realised
at two complementary levels: at territorial level, looking at the demands of retraining the tourism supply of
the country; at training level, considering the instances in which students ask to have learning opportunities
and placements in signicant and multicultural contexts. The project allowed to transfer the professional and
language knowledge and competences needed to encourage the employment in tourism and hotel industries
in respective territories. The placements will include courses in the host countrys language with an evaluation
and nal certicate corresponding at the A2/B1 Level, being provided by agencies.
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Title: Classe Europe Istituto Professionale Statale per i Servizi
Alberghieri e della Ristorazione
Town: 84014 - Nocera Inferiore (SA)
Address: Via Napoli, 37
Contact Person: Filomena Di Flumeri
e-mail: ipsarnocera@libero.it
Web site: www.ipsarnocera.it
Languages: English - French - German
European Priorities: Language skills as a preparation for work
Summary:
The project is addressed to students attending the fth year of school for accommodation and food and who
choose to participate, after the Diploma, at a 10-month school/work vocational training at a French school. The
professional sectors are: wine, gastronomy and hotel accommodation. The main aims of the project, according
to the European strategies, are the promotion of the intercultural exchange; the knowledge of the different
operative and organisational systems of tourism and food professional activities; the development of the com-
municative competence in a different language in order to express needs and to interact on a professional eld;
the acceptance and the comprehension of the different, both from a professional and a cultural point of view;
the denition of a European dimension that let to sense working opportunity outside their own contest and in
a larger and larger European environment.
Title: LeTS GO Istituto Statale di Istruzione Superiore
Leonardo da Vinci
Address: Via del Terzolle, 91
Contact Person: Rossella Grassi
e-mail: itiprogetti@comune..it
Web site: www.is-leonardodavinci.renze.
scuolaeservizi.it - www.leonardodavinci.csa.
.it/
Languages: English - German - Italian - Spanish
Target group: Teachers/Trainers Language levels: C1
adults and workers
Summary:
The project is aimed at school language teachers and trainers working in the eld of business training, to de-
velop skills that enable them to be autonomous in selecting and using these innovative educational products,
also acquiring the ability to create their own. The project aims at promoting the practical experimentation of
the LeTS portal (http://www.leonardo-lets.net) developed to apply new technologies for language teaching and
learning into three areas: school, business language training and adult education. In this way school teachers
and professional trainers will able: to choose quality language teaching products identifying those that best meet
specic educational needs, to use the products available either as an alternative or as integration of traditional
methodologies, to create educational and training products that exploit the potential of new technologies.
231 Annex
Title: I Linguaggi dellItaliano META - Consorzio per lo Sviluppo della
Formazione, dellInnovazione e del
Management
Town: 80121 - Napoli
Address: Via G. Carducci, 29
Contact Person: Alessia Giunti
e-mail: Info@consorziometa.com
Web site: www.consorziometa.com
Languages: Italian
Target group: Students Language levels: A2 - B1 - B2 - C1
European Priorities: Language learning in the community
Summary:
The project is addressed to foreign students and researchers who are connected to the local Universities. The aim
of the project was to encourage the integration of foreign students currently living in the city by promoting the
knowledge of the host country and its culture and by comparing it with their countries of origins.
By doing this a better language preparation which is important in order to appropriately enter the world of work,
at any level, is also encouraged. The course consists of 4 modules: Language in the family, Language of media,
Language at work and Language in literature. The principal aims are: ll a gap in the training offer as regards
the knowledge of the Italian language by foreign students and researchers; stress the importance of the relation
between the knowledge of the language and the work training; improve the knowledge of the language of those
students who are willing to enter the world of work with the appropriate language skills; provide a prompt answer
to the requests of the European Parliament regarding the importance of an Eurocentric based entrepreneurship
and labour market training.
Title: Uni.Italia. Corso di italiano come
lingua straniera per studenti
universitari di Eleonora Fragai,
Ivana Fratter, Elisabetta Jafancesco
Mondadori Education S.p.A
Address: Viale M. Fanti, 53
Contact Person: Lucia Ermice
e-mail: ermice@mondadori.it
Web site: www.mondadorieducation.it -
www.lemonnier.it/italianostranieri - www.
pianetascuola.it
Languages: Italian
Summary:
This project is an Italian L2 Manual, addressed to foreign students with higher education, who begin their Italian
language learning at threshold, level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The
main objectives are to develop the language and communicative competences of the learner so they are able to
deal with communicative situations independently in their study or professional eld and to bring the learner
to a level of competence to be able to take B2 certicate exams. The course envisages the use of innovative
didactic methodologies that, in accordance with the language policy of the European Council, give particular
importance to the centrality of learning and to the development of the students autonomy in the learning
process. The project aims at satisfying the development of the language and communicative competences with
reference to technical-specialist languages.
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Title: Il Glottodrama. Metodo teatrale
per litaliano LS
Novacultur Srl
Town: 00187 - Roma
Address: Via Bocca di Leone, 36
Contact Person: Carlo Nofri
e-mail: info@glottodrama.eu
Web site: www.glottodrama.eu
Languages: Italian
Target group: Students - Teachers/Trainers Language levels: A2 - B1 - B2 - C1
transnational mobility - Language learning to safeguard the job position and foster
career advancement of adults and workers
Summary:
The project aimed at creating an innovative methodology to teach foreign language through Drama&Theatre.
The Glottodrama project comes from the acknowledgement of the pedagogical value of drama in language
teaching. The programme of a Glottodrama course is divided in two steps: after a phase of actors training,
the course focuses on the preparation of a complete play to be performed by the class. The text is explored by
the student-actors in all its dimensions (language, cultural and dramaturgic) under the guide of 2 teachers (1
language teacher and 1 drama teacher) and the nal performance is the objective of this project-work. The main
beneciaries of the project were the school/university managers, language and drama teachers involved directly
in the training seminars. The indirect beneciaries were the students involved in the pilot classes.
Title: La Scuola dei Segni O.P.P.I. - Organizzazione per la
Preparazione Professionale degli
Insegnanti
Address: Via Console Marcello, 20
Contact Person: Renza Cambini
e-mail: oppi@oppi.it
Web site: www.oppi.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Students Language levels: C1 - C2
Summary:
The project is aimed at Sign Language, as the mother tongue of the population of deaf people that places itself
close to the language spoken by hearing people. This language struggles recognition and equal dignity but, at
the same time it is, for these people, a bridge to learn both their countrys language and that of the host country
for immigrant deaf people. The project aims to the highest training related to professional cultural and techni-
cal elaboration concerning skills in Sign language (Sign Language Interpreter, Deaf Interpreter, Sign Language
Cultural Mediator, Sign Language Teacher, Deaf Teacher, Sign Language Trainer). Its a system of interconnected
modules that independently fall within a more complex system. Each module aims at encouraging and making
specic skills acquisition easier. Then, the user conceptually gains access to the necessary educational modules
to get the required expertise certication for the professional action.
233 Annex
Title: Eine Chance mehr/Una marcia
in pi - Betriebspraktika im
deutschsprachigen Ausland/
Stages lavorativi in paesi di lingua
tedesca 2009-2010
Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano -
Ripartizione 21 Formazione - Professionale
in lingua italiana
Town: 39100 - Bolzano
Address: S. Geltrude, 3
Contact Person: Karin Vieider
e-mail: Karin.Vieider@provincia.bz.it
Web site: www.provincia.bz.it
Languages: German
Target group: Students Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1
Summary:
The project consists in the organisation and realisation of transnational mobility experiences (specically in
German speaking countries as Germany and Austria) for 124 students of the professional schools in Italian
language of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. The main objective is personal and professional development
of the young in vocational education and training in order to strengthen their future employability. The sectors
involved are the tertiary sector with the commercial and touristic area, the industrial and the agrarian sector.
The programme is subdivided in 2 moments: a unit of introduction and welcoming and a work experience in a
eld related to the profession chosen by the student. This exibility assures a maximum of personalisation of
the learning pathways tting with the language and professional skills, the cultural and social background and
the motivation of the individual.
Title: English on the move for key people The Victoria Company di Romagnoli G. &
C. S.n.c.
Town: 60035 - Jesi (AN)
Address: Via XXIV Maggio, 55
Contact Person: Giuseppe Romagnoli
e-mail: info@thevictoriacompany.it
Web site: www.thevictoriacompany.it
Languages: English
Target group: Workers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 - C2
adults and workers
Summary:
The project has arisen in response to the need for a teaching approach that would provide an innovative method
of learning the English language to replace the commonly used company training format. This new course is
specically designed for the manager on the move. Managers can actively participate without interfering with
their regular work activities and can engage in the course activities and tasks even when they are out of town
or travelling abroad on business. The project was designed and created as a joint effort with Indesit Company
S.p.A. It consisted of putting together a language training package tailored to the needs of key people at Indesit
Company which would include innovative elements in the implementation process, in the didactic methodol-
ogy and in the educational product. The learner is constantly in contact with the teacher, on a daily basis, and
the lesson is no longer limited to the classroom, and therefore, to the face-to-face approach, as the continuity
between classroom activities and daily life is guaranteed through a series of personalised tasks designed to meet
specic individual needs, in the form of: Interactive tasks, Phone tasks and E-mail tasks.
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Title: Il progetto Comunicare in
contesti multilinguistici incontra
le imprese. La conoscenza e lo
sviluppo di abilit accademiche e
professionali per la mobilit degli
studenti, laureandi e lavoratori
Universit della Calabria
Town: 87036 - Arcavacata di Rende (CS)
Address: Via Pietro Bucci,
Contact Person: Carmen Argondizzo
e-mail: c.argondizzo@unical.it
Web site: www.unical.it - www.cmceproject.it
Languages: English - Italian - Polish - Portuguese - Slovak - Spanish
Target group: Person seeking rst job - Students
- Unemployed - Workers
Language levels: A2 - B1 - B2
Summary:
The main objectives of the project are to create innovative didactic activities aimed at developing and reinforcing
professional language competences. The project aims also to promote intercultural communication and language
diversity in line with the European policies and to contribute to the development of quality lifelong learning.
For these objectives an online learning environment (www.cmceproject.it) for six European languages (English,
Spanish, Italian, Polish, Portuguese) has been realised. The target groups are: Erasmus placement students who
wish to have a work experience abroad; university leavers who are preparing to enter the labour market and
therefore in need of acquiring professional language skills which will help them become more competitive;
in-service enterprise workers who need to develop and reinforce their professional language competences in
order to better full their job responsibilities.
Title: Lingua e cittadinanza -
Insegnamento di Italiano L2 per
cittadini stranieri
CILS e Centro FAST
Regione Toscana - Direzione Generale
Diritto alla Salute e Politiche di Solidariet
Town: 53100 - Siena
Address: Via Carlo Rosselli, 27-28
Contact Person: Monica Barni
Languages: Italian
Target group: Immigrants - Teachers/Trainers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1
adults and workers
Summary:
The project was promoted by the Tuscany Region for the denition of training paths in Italian L2 addressed to
foreigners resident in Italy. The organisation of this initiative was funded by the Ministry of Labour with nancial
resources addressed to regional governments and targeted to teaching Italian to foreigners. The choice of the
Tuscany Region has been to use these resources for not only general language training, but language training
targeted for active citizenship, including access and improving of work . The University for Foreigners of Siena
has dened the at distance training course. The project involved a total of 546 persons in 2007-2008 and 837 in
2008-2009. The model adopted for the provision of courses envisaged joint training days for teachers, classroom
activities in order to promote the socialisation of the path and the creation of a group identity, to increase
the skills of students and to allow the teacher to face in each module some steps related to key competences.
235 Annex
Title: WebCEF - Collaborative
assessment of oral language skills
through the web (Valutazione
collaborativa delle competenze
orali in LS/L2 in un ambiente
interattivo in Rete
CILTA - Centro Interfacolt di Linguistica
Teorica e Applicata Luigi Heilmann -
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM Universit di
Bologna
Town: 40124 - Bologna
Address: Piazza San Giovanni in Monte, 4
Contact Person: Lucia Livatino
e-mail: cilta.direttore@unibo.it
Web site: www.cilta.unibo.it
Languages: Dutch - English - Finnish - French - German - Italian - Polish
- Teachers/Trainers - Unemployed
- Workers
Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 - C2
Summary:
WebCEF is an interactive web-based environment for the collaborative assessment of spoken language in edu-
cational and work-based contexts. The project arises from a need for cooperation in the elds of education and
training in Europe, to raise awareness about the importance of standardising the assessment of language skills,
especially as regards problems with the assessment of oral interaction/production within the CEFR. It aims at
harmonising European assessment systems with the aim of improving the quality of language teaching and
training and the assessment of language learning. It is expected to have a great impact on language learning,
not just among students at secondary school and university levels, or graduates about to enter the world of
work, but of anyone seeking experience in assessing and self-assessing the spoken language. This, it is hoped,
will bring home the importance self-directed lifelong learning. Among the outcomes of this project is an open-
access web site (www.webcef.eu).
Title: Azioni formative allinterno del
Progetto della Provincia di Torino -
PROV - INTEGRA
EnAIP Piemonte
Town: 10147 - Torino
Address: Via del Ridotto, 5
Contact Person: Antonietta Cappellazzo
e-mail: antonietta.cappellazzo@enaip.
piemonte.it
Web site: www.enaip.piemonte.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Immigrants Language levels: A1 - A2
National Priorities: Languages as key competences to face the economic and employment crisis
Summary:
The PROV-INTEGRA gives particular attention to immigrants who, due to the economic crisis, appear to be at
risk to be made redundant and lose the requisites to stay in Italy. The project has the general objective to ensure
and improve the processes of social integration and inclusion of immigrants regularly living in Italy, through a
theoretical and practical Italian language training, civic and professional training guidance, strictly connected
to the occupational needs of the territories involved in the project. The didactic methodologies applied within
the project contain principles and hints from different aspects of linguistics didactic. Broadly speaking, lessons
have been carried out following a communicative approach. As a language model a wide range of examples
indicating the reality of contemporary Italian have been presented. The lexis has been selected on the basis of
its functional utility.
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Title: Europass Language Passport
Dissemination Tools Network
Fondazione Aldini Valeriani
Address: Via Bassanelli, 9/11
Contact Person: Mike Hammersley
e-mail: mike.hammersley@fav.it
Web site: www.fav.it
Languages: Applicable to all the ofcial languages of the EU
Target group: Students Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 - C2
Summary:
The principal objective of the elp-DESK project is to develop approaches and resources with which to promote and
disseminate the Europass Language Passport (ELP) as a standard, recognised and effective means of presenting
and substantiating individual linguistic competence and experience. With the ELP, individuals can describe their
language ability using a six-step scale based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(levels A1-C2), and indicate not only formal examination qualications, but also experience and expertise gained
through non-formal or informal learning. In particular, the project activities are addressed to young people
completing their education and seeking to enter the world of work, as well as to all individuals wishing to present
a full picture of their language expertise. Moreover, the ELP is relevant for all professional sectors and training
environments in which a recognised and easily understood indication of language competence is required. The
project has developed a number of innovative products to promote a wider implementation of the Passport
both in language teaching and training and in business contexts (see www.elp-desk.eu.).
Title: Maritime English & Standard
Marine Communication Phrases
(S.M.C.P.)
I.P.S.I.A.M. A. Vespucci
Town: 70056 - Molfetta (BA)
Address: Localit Prima Cala Molfetta (BA)
Contact Person: Pietro Del Rosso
e-mail: barm06000n@istruzione.it
Web site: www.ipsiamvespucci.com/ipsiam
Languages: English
- Unemployed - Workers
Language levels: A2 - B1 - B2 - C1 - C2
National Priorities: Language learning to safeguard the job position and foster career advancement
of adults and workers - Languages as key competences to face the economic and
employment crisis
Summary:
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted the Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP),
which through Standard of Training, Certication and Watch-keeping for Seafarers (STCW) became a manda-
tory training requirement for all seafaring staff at all maritime centres. The phrases provide a sort of survival
kit as they include all essential safety-related events where spoken English is required, both in conversations
by radio and face-to-face ones onboard. These considerations have given rise to the project Maritime English &
Standard Marine Communication Phrases which is mainly based on the course book Maritime English and the
SMCP teaching/learning by a practical bilingual version (English-Italian). Fundamental tool is the Dictionary of
Maritime Terms English Italian-English, while for practising and drills on SMCP. Finally, a fundamental tool to
implement the Maritime English & Standard Marine Communication phrases project is provided by the new-
generation simulators which can turn drills into actual full immersions experiences, with the implementation
of different scenarios.
237 Annex
Title: The European Gastronomic and
Reception Culture
Istituto Professionale di Stato
Servizi per lEnogastronomia e lospitalit
Alberghiera -
I.P.S.S.E.O.A.
Town: 76016 - Margherita di Savoia (BT)
Address: Via Luigi Vanvitelli, 1
Contact Person: Biagio Pinnelli
e-mail: fgrh07000n@istruzione.it
Web site: www.ipssarmargherita.it
Languages: French
Summary:
TEGARC project involved the students of the fth classes of the Hotel and Catering School of Margherita di
Savoia. This experience took place in Paris and in Seraing: it was a three-week training with some French and
Belgian accommodation facilities (hotels and restaurants for catering services students; hotel reception desks
and travel agencies for hospitality course students). Every step of this project was carried out taking into ac-
count and closely observing the European Parliament Recommendations on transnational mobility for vocational
purposes (Mobility Quality European Charter). All the activities planned in the above mentioned project lasted
12 months. The departures were arranged with the host organisations. The students left in March 2011. Their
training activities were certied by the host vocational schools, the accommodation facilities involved in the
project and Europass-Mobility. The Hotel and Catering School of Margherita di Savoia is publicing the results of
this language and vocational training experience in meetings and news conferences.
Title: Dalla lezione ai fatti - Un percorso
linguistico-comunicativo verso il
mondo del lavoro
Istituto Statale Marco Belli
Town: 30026 - Portogruaro (VE)
Address: Via Luigi Russolo, 15
Contact Person: Ursula Lioba Ahlborn
e-mail: info@marcobelli.it
Web site: www.marcobelli.it
Languages: German
Target group: Students Language levels: B1 - B2
Summary:
The project aims at developing concrete communicative/language skills which can be applied in various ways, for
example during working stages, at work or at summer-working stages at the beaches of the Veneto and Friaulian
hinterland. One of the key elements is the connection of curricular activities, language certication courses of
the Goethe Institute, micro language and working activities / working stages. Of particular importance is the
language placement, the week spent abroad with the German language lessons held by mother tongue teachers
specialized in the teaching of the German language to foreign students, with the specic aim to prepare learners
with the skills required by the certication.
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Title: Il greco nelle scuole del Veneto fra
antico e futuro
Universit Ca Foscari Venezia
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici
Town: 30123 - Venezia
Address: Dorsoduro, 3484d
Contact Person: Caterina Carpinato
e-mail: carpinat@unive.it
Web site: www.unive.it
Languages: Greek
Summary:
The project provides evidence of a scientic and didactic cooperation between high school and university aimed
at promoting research and teaching of the Greek language in all its historic phases (from ancient to contem-
porary). This would occur through a specic approach oriented towards the development of both its language
and cultural components. The project is mainly addressed to university and high school students that are cur-
rently learning ancient Greek. The project aims at training a new generation of Italian students able to know the
Greek language not only as a language tool to approach classical culture, but also as a contemporary spoken,
alive language in one of the European Union countries. The project intends to offer the chance to expand this
basic knowledge by teaching elements of contemporary Greek language, history and culture together with a
diachronic approach that gets up to our age.
Title: Learning Languages by Multimedia
Center
Universit degli Studi di Napoli
Parthenope - Centro CASL
Town: 80133 - Napoli
Address: Via Acton, 38
Contact Person: Colomba La Ragione
e-mail: direzionecentrolinguistico@
uniparthenope.it
Web site: www.centrolinguistico.
uniparthenope.it
Languages: English - French
Summary:
The project derives from the will to improve the multimedia language labs by setting up a Multimedia Centre
for language services. The project aims at teaching youth to get closer to the new communication forms and
work and to spread multimedia and audiovisual culture in foreign languages, in order to make easier the access
to information. Professional sectors of reference are: business, economics, law, science and computer science
elds. Furthermore the DAELI e-learning English Language course, deal with digital skills, a transversal eld to
professional sectors. This project aims at developing the students language skills according to B1 level of CEFR
for the e-learning method; at the same time the foreign language theatre project has also given the possibility
to develop relational skills of the students involved, emphasizing the importance of the gestures for the com-
munication which can change according to the culture.
239 Annex
Title: Progetto per la formazione dei
docenti albanesi dItaliano del
Programma Illiria
FAST e Centro DITALS
Town: 53100 - Siena
Address: Piazza Carlo Rosselli, 27/28
Contact Person: Donatella Troncarelli
Languages: Italian
Target group: Teachers/Trainers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2
adults and workers
Summary:
The project is addressed to Albanian teachers of Italian L2 working in schools of different types and levels and aims
at improving the quality of teaching Italian as a second language in Albania in order to promote and reinforce
its presence in school curricula. The aims of the 3-year project are: dissemination of guidelines on teaching and
learning foreign languages proposed by the Council of Europe and the use of important tools for training and
evaluation (European Language Portfolio); long life learning and certication of teachers of Italian engaged in
different educational level; the establishment of academic centres for the collection and sharing of teaching
resources and contacts with the institutions responsible for the spread of Italian language in Albania. The train-
ing activities for teachers focus on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and are provided in
a blended mode in order to promote a synergy between the face to face and online learning.
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Title: Convergenze: iperlibro di italiano
per affari
Bonacci Editore Srl
Town: 00060 - Formello (RM)
Address: Via degli Olmetti, 38
Contact Person: Nicoletta Cherubini
e-mail: info@bonacci.it
Web site: www.bonacci.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Immigrants - Person seeking rst
job - Students - Unemployed -
Workers
Language levels: B2 - C1 - C2
European Priorities: Multilingual classrooms
Summary:
Convergences is a hyperbook of Italian for Business that offers insights, knowledge and tools for communica-
tion in the business and job market sectors. It can be used both as a workbook and as a rich sourcebook of CLIL
materials for the teaching of Italian language for business and employment purposes. It offers a solid formal
and methodological structure leading its users to a wide variety of potential teaching and learning paths
both in the classroom and in self-learning modes, in view of a double goal. The rst aims at promoting top
language and intercultural development in students; the second is concerned with lling a gap in matching
the very diversied and fragmented demand of Italian L2 in the economic eld. This hyperbook places learners
at the center of the process, portraying them as observers, actors and communicators empowered to explore an
extended range of language registers and socio-cultural contexts. On the other hand, teachers are envisaged as
educators, focalisers and experimental researchers, able to freely explore a large, yet very well-organized web
of links and possible teaching pathways, sustained by a variety of supporting tools.
Title: Italiano Medico Edizioni Edilingua - Universit di Parma
Town: 00192 - Roma
Address: Via Cola di Rienzo, 212
Contact Person: Daniela Forapani
e-mail: info@edilingua.it
Web site: www.cla.unipr.it - www.edilingua.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Students - Workers Language levels: B1 - B2
European Priorities: Multilingual classrooms
Summary:
Italiano Medico arises from the need to create CLIL related materials in Italian at a B1 or B2 level. It aims at
teaching students, translators, or professionals who have to work in hospitals or health facilities in our country,
the terminology and the language of medicine. This is a book with Audio CD divided into two parts: the rst
part describes the National Health Service and its articulations (AUSL, Hospitals, general practitioners, etc.) the
second one is dedicated to the relationship patient-doctor and to the discussion of simple clinical case studies.
Each topic is introduced by images or other types of activities that facilitate the understanding of the (oral or
written) text of reference. The units focusing on specic medical subjects are introduced by the anatomy of the
organ object of the medical treatment and followed by case-studies dealing with issues relating to the patient-
physician relationship. Italiano Medico was initially designed for physicians and paramedics, having proved to
be useful for translators as well.
241 Annex
Title: Accoglienza in lingua inglese (kit
multimediale)
Galileo.it S.r.l.
Town: 00146 - Roma
Address: Via Enrico dal Pozzo, 5/A
Contact Person: Tito Livio Mongelli
e-mail: cla@galilei.it
Web site: www.languagesolution.it
Languages: English
Target group: Workers Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1
European Priorities: Language learning based on the new technologies
Summary:
The multimedia kit Welcome is an interactive English course can be enjoyed through three self-teaching tools:
one pocket-size handbook, one interactive DVD which contains the same handbooks topics together with
supplementary clips and subtitles in English, a DVD with a dictionary of tourism most used words together
with the correct translation and pronunciation in English. The projects specic objective is to provide practical
answers to real situations in which a front desk employee must be able to handle at least a basic conversation in
English and to acquire proper communication skills in professional English. The sectors of reference are tourism
and public services. This kit is targeted to McDonalds staff but the manual and DVDs may be used to produce
training materials for staff involved in food and tourism sectors and having a connection with foreign people.
Title: Deaf People in Europe Acquiring
Languages through E-learning -
Transfer Innovation
Istituto Statale per Sordi di Roma - ISSR
Town: 00161 - Roma
Address: Via Nomentana, 54/56
Contact Person: Ivano Spano
e-mail: segreteria@issr.it
Web site: www.issr.it
Languages: English - Italian - Spanish
Target group: Students Language levels: A1 - A2
European Priorities: Language learning based on the new technologies - Multilingual classrooms
Summary:
The DEAL-TOI project has created a digital learning environment specically conceived for deaf learners and 6
different foreign language courses (3 target languages with supports in 3 different sign languages). The project
has seen the creation of courses for the development of sectoral languages in English, Italian and Spanish
through the sign languages of the three Countries being involved. This has allowed the students to learn not
only the written language of the destination Country, but also to develop comprehension capacities tied to the
sign language of the partner Countries. The main goals were: 1) to further testing the DEAL classes (www.deal-
leonardo.eu) and moving the didactic model to United Kingdom, with the creation of a written English course
for business communication and using British Sign Language within educational interactions. The transfer to
English is a strategic choice, considering the importance of such language in the professional qualication of
young deaf people, especially in the perspective of vocational training.
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Title: Percorsi CLIL per Insegnare e
Apprendere
Lend - Lingua e nuova didattica
Town: 00153 - Roma
Address: Piazza Sonnino, 13
Contact Person: Silvia Minardi
e-mail: lend@lend.it
Web site: www.lend.it
Languages: English - French - German - Spanish
Target group: Students - Teachers/Trainers Language levels: B2 - C1
adults and workers
Summary:
CLIL pathways for teaching and learning is a online professional training course addressed both to language
teachers and non-language teachers tailored to CLIL training. The course consists of an online training of 100
hours and is based on an educational approach which tries to support language diversity. It is specically
aimed at secondary school teachers of French, English, Spanish, German and teachers of both humanistic and
scientic subjects. Through the six modules of the course the participants have tested new methodologies in
a communicative and cooperative way according to a task-based approach: they have reected on contents,
skills and strategies and created integrated learning paths using multi-language resources and the web 2.0. In
such a way the course has been successful in overcoming the boundaries of traditional school curricula and
it has promoted teachers development of analytical, reective and planning skills as well as of the spirit of
initiative and cooperation.
Title: Vet 4 Vip; Ellvis Unione Italiana Ciechi e Ipovedenti -
Sezione Provinciale di Firenze - Onlus
Address: Via Leonardo Fibonacci, 5
Contact Person: Antonio Quatraro
e-mail: uic@uiciechi.it
Web site: www.uicirenze.it
Languages: English
Target group: Apprentices/Trainees - Immigrants
- Person seeking rst job -
Students - Unemployed - Workers
Language levels: N/A
Summary:
The project would like to face the difculty of visually impaired in learning foreign languages for their teachers
and for the visually impaired students themselves. Combined measures are provided: a training course for the
teachers on how to deal with visually impaired and on how to use and create training materials for this specic
target group; adaptable training modules for computer based on commercial English conceived for visually
impaired adult students. The Ellvis Language course is an interactive and automated language course conceived
for low sighted or visually impaired that are not able to read and to write with Braille System. The technology
uses a force feedback joystick that provides a haptic experience that is used to navigate and interact with the
software. Therefore, the course is based on hearing and ability to speak. Considering that the specic target
group is represented by teenagers and children, the speaking voices have been chosen so that the course can
be used also by adults.
243 Annex
Title: Electronically Learning Other
Cultures and Languages
Universit di Bologna - Facolt di Lingue e
Letterature Straniere
Address: Via Filippo Re, 8
Contact Person: Andrea Ceccherelli
e-mail: faclingue.elocal@unibo.it
Web site: www.facli.unibo.it
Languages: Dutch - Finnish - Hungarian - Italian - Polish - Portuguese
Summary:
E-LOCAL is a project focused on other - i.e. less widely used and less taught - languages; it is aimed at the
acquisition of language skills combined with the gradual knowledge of the related culture; learners will develop
their language and cultural competences in a specic online setting, i.e. through e-learning. The goal of the
project is to produce online courses for 6 languages and cultures: Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Polish,
Portuguese. The six courses have the same formal structure and also have a common framework of contents;
they have been created to allow the users to reach A1 level of the Common European Framework for Languages.
The target group consists of school pupils and university students, i.e. young people who are likely to experience
mobility abroad. The courses will provide these students with a fundamental instrument specially developed
with the aim of preparing them for a mobility period abroad: this is reected inter alia in the thematic structure,
formed by topics congenial to the youths interests and likes, and in the plot of the courses, where the main
characters are two Erasmus students.
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Title: MoMo: Mobilit per lavoratori in
Mobilit
Agenzia del Lavoro della Provincia autonoma
di Trento - Ufcio Politiche del Lavoro e Fi-
nanziamento Europeo
Address: Via Guardini, 75
Contact Person: Anna Maria Gadotti
e-mail: luciano.galetti@provincia.tn.it
Web site: www.fse.provincia.tn.it
Languages: English - German
Target group: Unemployed Language levels: A2
National Priorities: Language learning for placement of young people in the labour market and trans-
national mobility
Summary:
The project has offered new training and requalication opportunities to individuals beneting from the Italian social
security cushion called mobility. The programme addressed in particular to unemployed being registered at a job
centre of the autonomous Province of Trento and at the employment lists willing to take part in a highly specialised
experimental pathway of 5 weeks in Great Britain, Germany and Ireland. Through this transnational placement the
beneciaries had the opportunity to improve their language skills as well as to take part in an intensive in-company
training which represented an opportunity of requalication in the area of management and production automation.
The experience has led to the acquisition or to the improvement of language skills both through traditional training
in classrooms and through practice in professional contexts, thus favouring the non-articial usage of the foreign
language. Moreover, the project fostered a straightened use of ICT and the enhancement of technical and soft skills.
Title: European Catering and Hospitality
LanguageTraining Course
Ce.S.F.Or. - Centro Studi Formazione
Orientamento
Town: 00179 - Roma
Address: Via del Velodromo, 56
Contact Person: Andrea Cenderello
e-mail: info@cesfor.net
Web site: www.cesfor.net - www.
eurocatering.org
Languages: Dutch - English - Finnish - French - German - Irish - Italian - Polish - Slovene -
Spanish
Target group: Students - Teachers/Trainers Language levels: A1 - A2
Summary:
The project offers a pathway for language teaching and learning to be used in the hospitality (reception) and
catering (kitchen and restaurant) elds. The training path is available online in 11 languages: English, French,
Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Galician, German, Finnish, Polish, Irish with reference to the levels A1-A2
of the Common European Framework for Languages. It also provides a description of the learning outcomes,
module descriptors, exercises and assessment tools for each of its parts, using visual, textual and auditory
formats. EuroCatering Language Training (main project output available at the link www.eurocatering.org) is a
set of free language learning online tools for students of vocational schools for tourism and catering, trainees,
apprentices and workers in the hospitality and catering industry and who want to learn and / or improve and /
or maintain their professional and contextual vocabulary. Based on dialogue and simulation of realistic scenes
in the kitchen or in the dining room of a restaurant or at the front desk of a hotel, it also envisages information
on social and cultural aspects.
245 Annex
Title: Health and Nutrition Awareness
in Hospitality and Catering
Education: Modern Interpretation
of Traditional Food and Beverages
Istituto Professionale per i Servizi
Alberghieri e della Ristorazione Luigi
Carnacina
Town: 37011 - Bardolino (Verona)
Address: Via Europa Unita, 1
Contact Person: Tiziana Bertelli
e-mail: alberghiero@carnacina.it
Web site: www.carnacina.it
Languages: English - Finnish - French - German - Latvian - Swedish
Target group: Person seeking rst job Language levels: A1 - A2 - B2 - C1
Summary:
The long-term European mobility project in the catering sector envisages 22-week work placements in 8 countries,
for young people, recently graduated in the eld of hospitality/catering and not yet employed, willing to improve
their skills in view of better employability. The participants going abroad spent the 4-week preparation period
at the host schools, in multiethnic and multilingual groups of young people; subsequently they are placed in
selected hospitality/catering establishments, in the food production or bar-food service sectors, monitored by
school tutors and industrial mentors. Preparation includes also pedagogical/cultural training, a social programme,
practice workshops, intensive language courses. Furthermore, there are also lectures from experts on the projects
key topics (health and nutrition awareness combined with modern innovative interpretations of traditional
dishes). The objectives for the participants are the enhancement of vocational, communication, language and
soft skills (with a focus on English and on the other seven host countries languages), strengthening awareness
as European citizens, development of abilities for lifelong learning.
Title: ITE.M Istituto Tecnico Economico Enrico Tosi
Town: 21052 - Busto Arsizio (VA)
Address: Viale Stelvio, 173
Contact Person: Francesca Benedetti
e-mail: itctosi@itctosi.va.it
Web site: www.etosi.it
Languages: English - German - Italian
Target group: Students Language levels: A1 - A2 - B1 - B2
Summary:
The project focused on the planning of services and products for the Museum of Textiles and Industry of Busto
Arsizio. The project is based on the cooperation between Italian and European Schools, whose students have
been involved in transnational mobility experiences. The project is divided in three parts: the historical and
economic analysis of the area and of a case of business study; the planning of an area aimed at promoting the
province and the sale of souvenirs, gadgets and publications; the design of a gadget to be sold at the Museum,
representing the material exhibited. The attention to the textile and tourist sectors as well as in general to the
economic eld allowed to look for local solutions to global problems in a critical moment for the economic
history of Lombardy, Italy and Europe, trying to provide the young with tools able to support them in acting as
protagonists in the world around them. Communicative, language and social competences have been developed
in different ways (such as through the use of virtual classrooms, social network, wiki spaces) to enable students
to become open-minded and exible at work.
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Title: CLIO - Cantiere linguistico per
lintegrazione e lorientamento
Save The Children Italia Onlus
Town: 00185 - Roma
Address: Via Volturno, 58
Contact Person: Francesca Bilotta
e-mail: francesca.bilotta@savethechildren.it
Web site: www.savethechildren.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Immigrants - Teachers/Trainers -
Unemployed
Language levels: A1 - A2
Summary:
The project is addressed at a particular group of learners of Italian L2, unaccompanied foreign minors (UFM) in
Italy and at teachers who work with them. Because of their particular migratory route and their personal experi-
ences, the UFM benet from educational paths that include language training as well as social inclusion in the
territory and the exercise of active citizenship. Specically, the project focuses on a training program aimed at
developing linguistic and civic competence in UFM trough three different learning methodologies: face to face
language courses, e-learning through the use of a social network and broadcasting lessons through a Web radio
with the direct involvement of students. Particularly effective proved to be the choice of using a social network
(Facebook), which is usually an environment of social interaction that many teenagers use with regularity, used
within the project for educational purposes with the support of tutors.
Title: Il prolo professionale docente
di italiano come seconda lingua
a operatori turistico-alberghieri:
una competenza didattica
certicata al servizio dellindustria
turistica italiana in Italia e nel
mondo
DITALS (Certicazione di Competenza in
Didattica dellItaliano a Stranieri)
Town: 53100 - Siena
Address: Piazza Rosselli, 27-28
Contact Person: Pierangela Diadori
e-mail: vedovelli@unistrasi.it
Languages: Italian
Target group: Teachers/trainers Language levels: A2 - B1 - B2
Summary:
The project aimed at providing theoretical and educational tools for teachers of Italian as a foreign language,
working with learners of the tourism and hospitality eld. The project has arisen from the need to contribute
to the development of the Italian tourist sector, where more and more foreign workers with limited knowledge
of Italian are employed; this is the reason why the training of highly qualied teachers, able to teach Italian
quickly and effectively, is required. Started with a cooperation with Costa Cruise Ship Company to improve the
competences in Italian of the crew (14 ships with 18.000 operators on board, of 70 different nationalities). The
DITALS Centre has responded to these requests carrying out a theoretical framework text for teachers of Italian
L2 to operators in the eld of tourism and hospitality, a handbook for teaching Italian as a foreign language to
workers in the eld of tourism and hospitality, training courses for teachers of Italian as a foreign language and a
specic teaching certication (DITALS I Level - Teaching Italian to workers in the eld of tourism and hospitality).
Authors proles
249 Authors proles
Simona Alfei
Since 1991, she has dealt with Structural Funds, managing projects co-
nanced by the European Social Fund. She has worked since 2001 at the
LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme (former
Leonardo da Vinci National Agency) where she is involved in activities
related to the life cycle of projects presented within the specic action
of the Mobility programme and other transversal activities. She is
currently member of the Erasmus+ Agency for VET eld.
Rossano Arenare
Degree in Political Sciences-International Politics. Since 1995, he has
worked at Isfol where he deals with European programming and European
projects planning. He worked for the Coordination Unit of the Technical
Support Department to the Ministry of Labour and the ESF. Since 2000 he
joined the LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
where he deals with testing projects concerning the development and
transfer of innovation in the eld of vocational training. He is in charge
of information and technical support activities for planning and ma-
nagement of multilateral projects for the transfer of innovation. He is
Carmen Argondizzo
Carmen Argondizzo is Professor of English Linguistics at the University
of Calabria (Italy) where she teaches students majoring in Economics,
Business Administration and Political Science. Her research interests
focus on discourse analysis in the eld of Language for Special Purposes
and the related pedagogical implications, considered through a huma-
nistic perspective within the academic context. She is President of the
Language Centre at the University of Calabria where she coordinates
European projects aimed at enhancing students autonomous language
learning in the academic sectors. She is also President of AICLU, the
national association of university language centres. Her most recent
publication Creativity and Innovation in Language Education appears
in the Peter Lang Linguistic Insights series.
Sveva Balduini
Degree in Political Sciences-International Politics. Researcher at Isfol, works
at the LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme since
1999. She has coordinated and participated in several networks and the-
matic working groups established within the Programme by the European
Commisiion - DG Education and Culture, in particular on transparency of
competences and qualications, validation of non formal and informal
learning, quality of vocational education and training supply. Furthermore
is member of the National Team of ECVET Experts 2012-2013, funded by
the European Commission and co-funded by the Ministry of Labour and
Social Policies. Since October 2012 is Director of the LLP National Agency
- Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme, current Erasmus+ for VET eld.
250
Paola Berbeglia
Paola Berbeglia is an expert in intercultural processes, anthropologist,
PhD in Experimental Pedagogy. Until 2010 she was Director of Hu-
man Resources and Training in Cies (Center Information Development
Education), a non-governmental organization, for which she also had
duties of quality manager. Since September 2006 she is President of
CREA Centre for Research and Activity. Currently, she is representa-
tive of the Italian platform for development education at CONCORD
(European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development, consisting
of 1,600 European NGOs) and Representative of Italy to the Europe-
an Civic Forum (transnational network of hundreds of associations,
civic organizations, non-governmental organizations in 27 European
countries. It is actively working to promote a popular and civic Europe).
She planned and coordinated several projects in an intercultural eld,
co-nanced by the European Union. In recent years she collaborated
with the Cipsi (Coordination of 44 Italian NGOs) in the implementation
of the campaign for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for
African women (assigned). Since 2009, she gained the qualication at
the Center Studies Feuerstein (Ca Foscari University and ICELP - Inter-
national Center for the Enhancement Learning Potential), consequently
she is enabled to use the Instrumental Enrichment Program (PAS) and
its diagnostic instrumentation (LPAD).
Anna Butteroni
Degree in Literature. Currently she is technical research assistant at
Isfol - LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme. She
deals with technical assistance to projects, projects tutoring, outcomes
monitoring and analysis within the transnational mobility action of
the Programme. She takes part, in her quality of speaker, in national
conferences on information, promotion and training for the planning
of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme. She is currently member of the
Erasmus+ Agency for VET eld.
Francesca Carta
Sociologist, expert in European projects. Since 2008, she has worked at
the Isfol - LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme
where she is involved in activities related to the life cycle of the projects
presented and approved within the Mobility Action. She takes part, in
her quality of speaker, in national conferences on information, promo-
tion and training for the planning of the programme and is a member
of the Agency Communication Staff. She is currently member of the
Erasmus+ Agency for VET eld.
251 Authors proles
Giuseppe DAngelo
He has a degree in Theoretical Physics and rst worked in IT companies,
carrying out parallel research activities at the Faculty of Physics of the
University of Bologna. From 1985 to 2009 he was professor of computer
science and has for many years played the role of university professor in
contract. Foundations of Computer Science. at the University of Naples
Federico II and the Second University of Naples. It was in the National
Computer Trainer and consultant in the area of Vocational Training. In
addition to being an expert in vocational training and innovation. He
has extensive and proven expertise for the ICT applications in sectors
such as: education and training, cultural heritage, publishing, public
administration, economics and nance, organization and transports. He
is an expert of the Structural Funds, European Programs, Research and
Development and oversaw the development of a very large numbers
of nanced projects within various National and Community Initiatives
and Programs. He has a wide production of materials for education and
training and is the author/editor of several books on topics such as:
teaching, training, e-Learning, job market inclusion, computer science,
mathematics and logic, business credit, e-Work, e-Government. Pre-
sently he is manager of the Campania Region public administration.
giuseppe.dangelo@regione.campania.it
Elisabetta Delle Donne
Elisabetta Delle Donne graduated in Political Sciences - International
Affairs from the University of Florence in 1993. Since then, she has
constantly been working in the eld of European cooperation. So far
she has been involved as project planner and manager in more than
100 projects funded by the European Commission. In January 1999,
Elisabetta created Pixel, an organization, based in Florence, having the
aim to promote European cooperation.
Fabrizio Faraco
I lived in many worlds: in the old economy branded by managerial
challenge to the new economy branded by social business. From the
Italian research (ENEA), to the U.S. applied research (MIT), from technical
to managerial. A lifetime of experiences all aimed at marketing skills.
After 15 years as corporate manager and 10 as an entrepreneur around
Italy and abroad as a consultant, today I only work in the marketing.
My focus is on effective marketing strategies for small and medium-
sized enterprises and the opportunities offered by the development of
digital marketing.
252
Tito Giustozzi
Degree in Economics. Researcher at Isfol. Since 2001 he has dealt with
information systems applied to the organisation and management of
public bodies. He is an expert in data management and analysis. Since
2001 he has worked at the LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci
sectoral Programme and is in charge of the information system, both
for management and development. He has implemented the SharePoint
farm within the Leonardo da Vinci National Agency. He is currently
member of the Erasmus+ Agency for VET eld.
Natalia Guido
Degree in Literature-Linguistics. Researcher at Isfol. Since 1993 she has
dealt with issues concerning language teaching and learning in voca-
tional training contexts. Since 1997 she has worked at the LLP National
Agency - Leonardo da Vinci sectoral Programme. She deals with projects
Transfer of Innovation and is in charge of experiences and practices of
language training. Since 2000 she is in charge of all activities related to
the European Language Label for the training sector. She has published
several articles on language teaching for professional purposes. She is
Mike Hammersley
Mike Hammersley has worked for over 30 years as a language teacher in
Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom and is currently an English lan-
guage expert with the Language Centre of the University of Bologna. He
has also collaborated on a number of language projects co-funded under
the European Commissions Lifelong Learning Programme (elp-DESK (www.
elp-desk.eu), Vale! - Valorising Language Expertise (www.valeproject.eu) and
Celan - Language Strategies for Competitiveness and Employability (www.
celan-platform.eu)) and for the Council of Europes European Centre for
Modern Languages (LINCQ - Languages in Corporate Quality). Furthermore,
he participates in the Commissions Business Platform for Multilingualism
and is a member of the Board of the European Language Council.
Lorenzo Mari
Lorenzo Mari is a project manager with a Master Degree in International
Political Science at University of Calabria, a Master Degree in International
Relations and Diplomacy of the EU at the College of Europe of Bruges and
Master of Arts in European Policies at the University of Valencia. External
expert for the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Affairs at
the National Agencies for Lifelong Learning as evaluator of LLP projects and
applications, he was a member of the Focus Group for the creation of the
LLP interim report 2007-2009. In 2012 he was external consultant for the
Province of Cosenza for the launch of the Provincial Coordination of Points
of single contacts for enterprises. Since June 2013 he is senior expert for
Calabria Region on the Calabria Europa 2020 programme. He is President
of the Calabrian Section of the Unione Italiana Giovani Professionisti.
253 Authors proles
Silvia Minardi
Silvia Minardi has been an English teacher since 1993. She has taken part
in numerous international programmes of exchange and EU projects of
different kinds. As a teacher trainer she has been working for the Italian
Ministry of Education and in numerous international contexts. She has
been a teacher trainer within important national projects involving fo-
reign languages. Silvia Minardi has been a member of numerous research
teams. Since 2005 she has been a pedagogical consultant for eTwinning
in Lombardy. Silvia Minardi has often been invited to give talks and make
presentations in conferences and meetings both at national and interna-
tional levels. Since 2007 she has been national president of LEND (lingua
e nuova didattica - www.lend.it) after being a member of the Board with
special responsibilities for the development of European projects and
international partnerships. She is still a member of the editorial com-
mittee of LENDs journal. Since January 2011 she has been president of
REAL, the European network of language teachers associations (www.
real-association.eu). She has been made Knight of the Order of Academic
Palms by the French Ministry of Education. She was a Fulbrighter in 2005
at Amherst, Massachusetts. She is the author of textbooks for ELT. She
has written numerous articles about language teaching and linguistic
policies. Areas of expertise: assessment in foreign language teaching, CLIL
(content and language integrated learning),syllabus design.
Cristiana Porcarelli
Cristiana Porcarelli, graduated in Foreign Languages and Literature as
well as in Science of Adult Education and Continuous Training, works
as researcher at Isfol (Institute for Workers Vocational Training Deve-
lopment) where for several years she have dealt in learning, recognition
and certication of competences, quality assurance within education
and vocational training, carrying out research activities and technical
assistance both at national and European level.
Federica Sguotti
Federica Sguotti was born in Mirano (VE) on 02/01/1965. She graduated
in Foreign Languages and Literature in 1990, qualied as a Teacher for
Foreign Languages in 1991 and, after building her experience in local
schools in Veneto, she undertook an internship mobility in Amiens (FR) for
three months. This internship, Echange des Jeunes travailleurs, preceded
Petra and the project Leonardo da Vinci. Thanks to this experience she
was hired at Aigles, Paris, as the head for the European placements. When
she came back to Italy she decided to start, in 1994, A.P.I.C (Association
of Community Initiatives Program); as an organisation which arranges
the placements for Italian participants and sends them abroad and Eu-
rotraining Srl; as the welcoming body for European participants. She has
worked as President of A.P.I.C. and Director of Eurotraining for over twenty
years where she work in the eld of transnational mobility emphasising
the idea of the link between mobility and linguistic-cultural skills.
254
Marilise Varricchio
Technical research assistant at Isfol, from 1995 to 2000 at the Coordina-
tion Unit of the Technical Support Department to the Ministry of Labour
and the ESF and since 2000 at the LLP National Agency - Leonardo
da Vinci sectoral Programme, where she is a member of the Agency
information system staff. She deals with system implementation and
development, database creation, implementation and management,
assistance to promoters and beneciaries of the projects in the use of
computer tools and keeps the contacts with the European Commission
for activities related to the use of the systems implemented by the Com-
mission. She is currently member of the Erasmus+ Agency for VET eld.
Lorenza Venturi
Lorenza Venturi is Head of the Communication and Studies Unit of the
Italian Erasmus+ National Agency Indire, which since 1995 manages
the Programmes of the European Union in the eld of education and
supports mobilities and partnerships among European Schools, Univer-
sities and Adult Education Institutions, with the aim of modernizing
education. She has always had a special interest in languages, rst in
her studies, focusing on languages and linguistics and then starting her
professional life as a literary translator. For Indire, she is in charge of
several European projects and initiatives on languages, such as Lingu@
net Europa and the European Language Label in the educational sector,
for innovative projects in language teaching and learning.
Andrea Villarini
Teaches Modern Languages Teaching at the Universit per Stranieri in
Siena where he also manages the School of Specialisation in Teaching
Italian as a Foreign Language and a Master in E-learning in Teaching
Italian as a Foreign Language. He has co-ordinated research units for
Italian and international projects on less common and less taught lan-
guages. Four of the projects of which he has managed the pedagogy
side have won the European Language Label award from the European
Commission for the best projects in the eld of language diffusion. He
regularly carries out training activities for L2 Italian teachers both in
Italy and abroad and has published frequently in books and reviews.
Michela Volpi
Degree in Political Sciences-International Politics, with a specialisation
in Law, Economics and Politics of the European Union. She is Isfol tech-
nical research assistant at the LLP National Agency - Leonardo da Vinci
sectoral Programme. She deals with technical support and evaluation
of the European Language Label initiative, of Transfer of Innovation
projects and thematic monitoring of Leonardo da Vinci Programme in
the eld of transparency of qualications, recognition of non-formal
and informal training and credit transfer. She is currently member of
the Erasmus+ Agency for VET eld.

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