WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2646/96 by Hilde HAWLICEK to the Commission. Participation in the Lingua programme
Date: 1996-10-15
Institutions: European Parliament, HAWLICEK
Subjects: EU programme, apprentice, cultural cooperation, education policy, educational exchange, language teaching, teacher training, vocational training, young person













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91996E2646

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2646/96 by Hilde HAWLICEK to the Commission. Participation in the Lingua programme  


Official Journal C 011 , 13/01/1997 P. 0110 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-2646/96 by Hilde Hawlicek (PSE) to the Commission (15 October 1996)Subject: Participation in the Lingua programmeDuring a discussion on the White Paper on Teaching and Learning, the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media was informed that the Lingua programme is very successful and is used particularly by apprentices.How many courses and seminars are being organized this year?How many apprentices are taking part in the Lingua programme?How many States are participating?Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (30 October 1996)The Lingua programme aims to improve the quality and the quantity of language-learning within the Community. It operates in all Member States and in the other three countries of the European economic area (EEA).It promotes all the official languages of the Community (Danish, Spanish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish and Swedish), together with Irish, Letzeburgesch, Icelandic and Norwegian. A high priority is attached to supporting the teaching and learning of the less widely used and less widely taught languages of the Community.The five actions within Lingua encourage teacher training institutions jointly to develop curricula, materials, and training schemes to improve the training of language teachers, to provide grants for language teachers to attend training courses abroad, to enable future language teachers to spend a period as a language teaching assistant in a school in another participating country, to encourage transnational cooperation in the development of instruments for language-teaching and to enable groups of young people at educational or training establishments in two Member States to work together over a period of time.It is this latter action (E) which most affects apprentices and young people in vocational training, though courses and seminars are not a part of this action.The joint educational project (JEP) is jointly designed and is always closely related to their education and training. Direct communication between the young people of the different groups is the primary focus of the project. In working together, the young people become more interested in learning and communicating in a language other than their own, and become more motivated to do so. In addition, at the end of the project, they have the benefit of a tangible piece of work which relates their learning to the experience of other European cultures.Latest figures available show that in the school year 1995/1996, over 1 800 joint educational projects took place under Lingua action E. These involved some 40 000 pupils and some 4 000 teachers from schools and vocational training establishments in the 15 Member States and the 3 EEA countries. The vocational and technical education sector is given priority in this action, and over 50% of participants come from this sector.