Financial Agreement number

B.Theme 3: “Multilingualism"

Invited speakers

Wolfgang Mackiewicz (Freie UniversitatBerlin, DE)

Ian Tudor (Université Libre de Bruxelles, BE)
Topics discussed

Institutional language policy & problems

Student exchanges

Internationalisation at home

Early language training – „immersion classes”

A second foreign language is a plus to employability

To pursue reading, writing and, finally, oral proficiency in ENGLISH.

In other foreign language, oral proficiency is the most important.

Problems

Top-down language policy vs. bottom-up stimulation of students’ interests

Dominant role of English

„Open” and „closed” people/communities

Language preparation for exchanges

home institution (preferred)

host institution (if no possibilities at home institution)
Recommendations

Necessity of institutional language policy:

• 
  To work on attitudes
  
• 
  Involvement of students associations, incoming mobility students…
  
• 
  To get faculty members on our side
  
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  Intelligent and accessible information
  

To increase funding in order to:

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  Enhance language skills of both instructors and students
  
• 
  Provide support by developing writing resource centres (including Sw tools, document models)
  

To foster better preparation in primary and secondary education. To encourage multilingualism at an early age.

To consider a solid knowledge of English mandatory before entering higher education

To consider proficiency in a foreign language as a key issue to get an Erasmus exchange

To increase the use of ENGLISH in Higher Education:

• 
  Some compulsory courses could be taught ONLY in English
  
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  To introduce technical glossaries in different languages.
  
• 
  To introduce English literature in our subjects.
  

To take into account Lisbon strategies: ENGLISH as a tool to knowledge creation

D5 Minutes of the Tuning meeting, 16 June 2006, Bruxelles

(Jean-Marc Thiriet)