Sponsored byIn partnership with

With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union

Project publisher

Why Language Rich Europe?

84% of Europeans believe that people should be able speak more than one language.*

83% of European businesses use language skills as a factor in recruitment .**

HOWEVER

44% of Europeans say they cannot hold a conversatio n in another language.*

*(Eurobarometer)**(Language Rich Europe)

Project Activities

LRE provides a commentary on current language policies and practices in participating countries/regions.

Research and Analysis• Publication of Trends in Language Policies and Practices for Multilingualism in

Europe: an analysis of language policies and practices by our network of experts and partners

Consultation• 80 interactive events across Europe • 24 countries and regions

Networking• 1200 policy makers and practitioners• Evidence-based recommendations at country and European level

European Union documents Council of Europe documents

Council Resolutions/Conclusions

-Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Year of Languages 2001 (2000)

-Presidency Conclusions of the Barcelona European Council (2002)

-Conclusions on multilingualism -(May 2008)

-Resolution on a European

Conventions

-European Cultural Convention (1954)

-European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) (1992)

-Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995)

-Resolution on a European strategy for multilingualism (November 2008)

-Conclusions on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training ET 2020 (2009)

-Conclusions on language competencies to enhance mobility (2011)

The Research: Language Types

• National languages: Official languages of a nation-state

• Foreign languages: Languages that are not learnt or used at home but learnt and taught at school or used as languages of wider communication in non-educational sectors

• Regional or minority languages: Languages that are traditionally used within a given territory of a state by nationals of that state who form a group given territory of a state by nationals of that state who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the state’s population

• Immigrant languages: Languages spoken by immigrants and theirdescendants in the country of residence, originating from a wide range of(former) source countries

The Research: Language Domains

• Languages in official documents & databases

• Languages in pre-primary education

• Languages in primary education

• Languages in secondary education

• Languages in further and higher education• Languages in further and higher education

• Languages in audiovisual media & press

• Languages in public services & spaces

• Languages in business

LANGUAGES IN AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA and PRESS

Subtitling vs. Dubbing on TV and at the cinema(Value = N of countries/regions out of 24)

10

1412 12

Movie production TV production

10

dubbed subtitled

Top 20 languages of newspapers in 64 European citie s(Value = total N of newspapers)

408

270

181162

127150

200

250

300

350

400

450

127

7754 51 46 40 36 27 24 23 17 12 11 10 8 7 7

0

50

100

150

Eng

lish

Ger

man

Fre

nch

Rus

sian

Italia

n

Ara

bic

Tur

kish

Spa

nish

Dut

ch

Alb

ania

n

Ser

bian

Chi

nese

Cat

alan

Cro

atia

n

Bas

que

Bul

garia

n

Japa

nese

Pol

ish

Gre

ek

Bos

nian

Hun

garia

n

Sign Language

LANGUAGES IN PUBLIC SERVICES AND SPACES

Reported language strategies and policies in 64 cit ies

Dimensions practiced

widely occasio Not

Having an institutional strategy for promoting multilingualism

20 25 29

Multilingual services 30 24 10

web presence in other languages 27 18 19

Annual municipal reports in other languages 15 10 39

use of interpreters and translation 35 24 5

language competences in staff job descriptions 23 27 14

language training for employees 18 24 22

Recruitment of speakers of other languages 11 30 23

Record of language skills of staff 17 9 28

Public services ranked according to multilingual communication facilities offered in 64 European cities

Oral communication Written communication

1 Tourism services Tourism services

2 Immigration & integration services Immigration & integration services

3 Legal services Transport services

4 Health services Health services

5 Social services Emergency services5 Social services Emergency services

6 Emergency services Social services

7 Education services Legal services

8 Transport services Education services

9 Theatre programmes Theatre programmes

10Political debates & decision-making

processesPolitical debates & decision-making

processes

Multilingual spectrum of languages for public servi ces

POLICIES & PRACTICE IN COMPANIES

European Union documents Council of Europe documents

Council Resolutions/Conclusions

-Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Year of Languages 2001 (2000)

-Presidency Conclusions of the Barcelona European Council (2002)

-Conclusions on multilingualism -(May 2008)

-Resolution on a European

Conventions

-European Cultural Convention (1954)

-European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) (1992)

-Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995)

-Resolution on a European strategy for multilingualism (November 2008)

-Conclusions on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training ET 2020 (2009)

-Conclusions on language competencies to enhance mobility (2011)

-Recommendations by -Business forum for Multilingualism (2008) [EC est]

Distribution of companies across different sectors (Value = N of business companies out of 484)

120

Hotels Banks Building constructors Supermarkets

140

116

108

General company language strategies

• the existence of an explicit language strategy• an emphasis on language skills in recruitment• provision for international mobility for staff for language learning and

intercultural awareness• the use of external translators/interpreters • the holding of records of staff language skills • the holding of records of staff language skills • the use of networks for language training • awareness of EU programmes/funding • the use of EU programmes/funding

Companies reporting policies and practices for mult ilingualism(Value = % of business companies out of 484 total)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Companies reporting policies and practices for mult ilingualism(Value = % of business companies out of 484 total)

48%55%

43%

70%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Languages strategy Language skills in recruitment

Use of external translators/interpreters Staff records of language skills

0%

Languages strategy 24% 28% 48%

Language skills in recruitment 55% 28% 17%

Use of externaltranslators/interpreters

22% 35% 43%

Staff records of language skills 1% 29% 70%

Widely practised Occasionally practised Not practised 24%

28% 28%

17%22%

35%

1%

29%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Widely practised Occasionally practised Not practis ed

External communications

Companies' language practices in external communica tions(Value = % of business companies out of 484)

11%

40%

19%

48%

22%

61%

30%

Business English

other

Wid

ely

prac

tised

Annual business report Marketing materials Corporate branding Company website

92%

38%

95%

40%

92%92%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

National languages

Wid

ely

prac

tised

Languages other than English prioritised in four se ctors (484 enterprises)

Impact of research: Media attention (27-28 November 2012)

• “Scottish employers tend to circumvent rather than address language skills needs by exporting only to Anglophone countries or those when they can easily find English speakers” (LRE report)

• “This report appears to confirm our fear that Scotland could be missing out on export opportunities if we simply extent everyone to speak English” (Lloyd Anderson, British Council, Scotland) speak English” (Lloyd Anderson, British Council, Scotland)

• “This government has set an ambitious target to increase the value of our international experts by 50% by 2017 and ensuring our workforce has the right skills to compete internationally will play an important role in achieving this” (Alasdair Allan, Minister for Learning, Scotland).

Thank you for your attention

Website/blog: www.language-rich.euTwitter: @languagerichTweet about us! #LanguageRich