With regard to attitudes towards languages in today’s society, two developments are of special concern for the Council of Europe. The first is a tendency on the part of public authorities and civil society to think that proficiency in one additional language is enough - as long as that language is English. The other is the populist notion that proficiency in minority or migrant languages, widespread in today’s increasingly diverse societies, is harmful to societal cohesion*. Other widespread stereotypes about languages include the myths that the brain only has room for a limited number of languages, that home languages interfere with the learning of the language of schooling, and that some languages are more important than others.
Challenging these and other harmful attitudes to language and culture through societal engagement will be the key theme of the webinar held on the 22nd of February by the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe, based in Graz, Austria. The webinar will feature Terry Lamb, Professor of Languages and Interdisciplinary Pedagogy from the University of Westminster; President of the International Federation of Language Teacher Associations.
This is the concluding event in the series of four webinars organised by the Centre to inform educators and the wider public about Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)1 on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for a culture of democracy, adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in February 2022.
The first webinar focused on the main messages of the Recommendation for decision-makers, the second analysed the definition of plurilingual and intercultural education, and the third one focused on the importance of teacher education.
The webinar that will start at 16h00 on Thursday, 22 February, can be followed at the following links:
EN: https://youtube.com/live/gDYobGiEItY
FR: https://youtube.com/live/vrkk7IiPY1Q
* CM Rec (2022)1 on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture, Explanatory Memorandum
