Brussels, 13/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 10 June, the European Commission published its European Language Label priorities for 2014-2015 on the basis of the Commission working paper, Language competences for employability, mobility and growth, which accompanies the communication “Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes”. The Commission would like projects covered by the label to promote social inclusion and sport.
The importance of languages for promoting social inclusion is obvious. While social inclusion highlights the need for every individual to be able to feel respected, valued and integrated, it is also about ensuring that all groups and individuals enjoy certain rights in society, such as the right to work, to decent housing, to healthcare, education and training. Languages play an important role in all of these areas, particularly education and training. Efficient and innovative methods for teaching languages to people of all ages from different social backgrounds should be complemented by other solutions encouraging the learning of languages as a means for promoting social integration of groups that are likely to be disadvantaged, such as immigrants, people with disabilities and those using sign language, for example.
In terms of languages and sport, playing a sport can promote interest in learning languages. The Commission affirms that there is a clear link between youth exchanges in the field of sport and the need to understand and use foreign languages - yet another reason for combining sport with best practices in language learning and intercultural dialogue. Several sports clubs are involved in projects which aim to motivate young people and adults to learn languages and other cultures through their passion for sports. Through sports exchanges, language learning happens in a non-formal way. The goal is not necessarily that the language is learned perfectly, but rather that barriers are removed to language learning and that learning is done in a playful but constructive way. European label projects should explore how such practices can be extended and possibly translated to more formal settings. The Commission considers that, by looking at innovative learning practices and teaching resources inspired by a cross-fertilisation between international sports and language learning, new approaches can be developed which can promote multilingualism all over Europe. It is recommending that the world of sport and the world of languages should come together to develop common paths and discover what sport can do for languages and what languages can do for sport; encourage synergies for the development of new multilingual projects involving the world of sports and education.
The European Label is an award that encourages new initiatives in the field of teaching and learning languages, rewarding new techniques in language teaching, spreading the knowledge of their existence and thereby promoting good practice. The Label is open to all aspects of education and training, with its main focus being to promote innovation in language teaching. Each year, the Label is awarded to the most innovative language learning projects in each country participating in the scheme. It is co-ordinated by the European Commission, but managed by the individual member states, with national juries selecting projects on the basis detailed criteria. (IL/transl.fl)