Supporting multilingual classrooms

UNESCO’s recent publication Languages matter: Global guidance on multilingual education underlines how vital multilingualism is in building inclusive and effective education systems worldwide - and Europe features prominently!

Key European highlights from the report:

• References Council of Europe instruments such as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
• Spotlights practical Council of Europe resources supporting plurilingual education.

ECML’s impact in practice:

• Finland is showcased for using the ECML’s “Roadmap for schools to support the language(s) of schooling”.
• The ECML’s and EC’s joint initiative on “Supporting multilingual classrooms” is highlighted for its training and capacity-building across Europe, aligned with the 2022 Council of Europe Recommendation on plurilingual and intercultural education.
• This ECML resource also features among recommended tools for inclusive teaching approaches.

Multilingualism isn’t just an asset - it’s essential for quality education and social cohesion. And the Council of Europe and its ECML play a key role in advancing this European/global agenda!

References:

Unesco (2025), Languages matter: global guidance on multilingual education, pp. 36, 50, 67, 78, 80, 84, 95, 96, 97, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000392477.

Unesco (2025), Les langues comptent : orientations mondiales pour l’éducation multilingue, pp. 38, 52, 69, 80, 82, 86, 98, 99, 100,  https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000392809.

Local organiser: Denisa Ďuranová, National Institute of Education and Youth

ECML experts: Terry Lamb (United Kingdom), Mercè Bernaus (Spain)

Participants: 14 (teacher educators, policymakers, curriculum writers, school administrators/leaders, state school inspector)

The workshop Supporting Multilingual Classrooms was held in Bratislava on 29 and 30 May 2025, organized by the National Institute of Education and Youth in the Slovak Republic (hereinafter NIVaM) and European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe (ECML). The workshop is carried out within the framework of the  Innovative Methodologies and Assessment in Language Learning  cooperation agreement between the ECML and European Commission.

The event was facilitated by the ECML experts –Terry Lamb, University of Westminster  and Mercedes Bernaus, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, who provided participants with a wealth of practical knowledge and strategies for working in linguistically diverse classrooms.

During the introductory part, the facilitators focused on valuing attitudes towards diversity, analysing the language environment of the school and re-evaluating traditional approaches. At the same time, there was a discussion on supporting teacher self-confidence and ways to involve students’ language repertoire in teaching. One of the participants reflected: “I strongly identify with the concept of individual language repertoire, which is an integral part of our identity. As it has been said – if we ignore the languages of the learners, we ignore the children themselves. The workshop offered a range of inspiring, holistic and practical advice and strategies.”

The programme also included group work focusing on project proposals to be implemented by the participants in their practice. Each group presented their proposals and received valuable feedback. The participants appreciated the practical nature of the workshop: “Many useful activities were presented, I left with a positive feeling,” said one of the participants. Another added: “It was very useful to receive examples of materials and projects that help raise awareness among teachers, pupils and parents about the importance of respecting learner’s language needs.”

An important workshop objective was also to provide a space for networking and further collaboration between the participants from various organisations.

From February - December 2025, Supporting Multilingual Classrooms  is organising national workshops in cooperation with national institutions in six countries: Armenia, Cyprus, Croatia, Portugal, Slovak Republic, and Spain. For the Slovak Republic, this was the fifth time this initiative has been carried out. The Slovak Republic has demonstrated a particularly innovative approach, organising the first joint international initiative between two countries in 2023, which has become an example of good practice.  This year’s workshop debuted a specially designed module for teacher educators, adapted to the Slovak context.

Denisa Ďuranová, local organiser, 25 June 2025

ECML project website: Supporting multilingual classrooms, ECML-EC cooperation agreement 2025 "Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning"

Local organiser: Tomislava Maljković, Hotel and Tourism School, Zagreb

ECML experts: Chantal Muller (Belgium), Katja Schnitzer (Germany)

Participants: 23 (foreign language teachers, teachers of other subjects, teacher educators, teachers of the language of schooling, policymakers, school administrators)

On 8 and 9 April 2025, a two-day workshop on Supporting Multilingual Classrooms was held at the Hotel and Tourism School in Zagreb, Croatia. Tomislava Maljković (local coordinator) along with Ana Trogrlić and Petar Bekić liaised with the ECML expert team, Katja Schnitzer and Chantal Muller on the organisation of the event.

The Hotel and Tourism School is known for holding classes of as many as seven foreign languages as well as Croatian language classes for foreigners. It educates future tourism professionals who will, one day, work in a multicultural and multilingual environment.

This workshop enabled us, above all, to become better acquainted with the possibilities of sensitization in working with different cultures and languages, including migrant students. We also learned about the challenges and new approaches to intercultural dialogue in our classroom and beyond. It placed emphasis on the importance of first creating a microcosm of diversity respect and tolerance within ourselves, as only then can we transfer it effectively to our classroom, to our students and colleagues, and ultimately to society as a whole.

The workshop analysed how to create an inclusive environment in which all languages are valued, including the language of schooling, discussing how multilingualism in tourism and hospitality schools and other schools in Croatia can serve as an advantage and how a lifelong school approach strategy can be developed within the framework of continuous support for multilingual curricula.

One of the topics was also recognizing linguistic diversity as a pillar of learning and the holistic development of students.

Thanks to the lively input and interactive approaches of the ECML expert team, the workshop participants were introduced to new knowledge and skills that they can now apply in their classrooms.

Tomislava Maljković, local organiser, 14 April 2025

ECML project website: Supporting multilingual classrooms, ECML-EC cooperation agreement 2025 "Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning"

Call for the ECML-EC joint action "Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning" 2025 – now open until 10 January 2025

The European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe together with the European Commission are launching a new round of workshops within the joint action on Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning focusing on the following initiatives:

• RELANG – Relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference
• Supporting Multilingual Classrooms
• ICT-REV – Using ICT in support of language teaching and learning

The activities are scheduled to take place between end of February and mid-December 2025, the three initiatives offering up to 18 national workshops during this period.

The call is open to current European Union member states and the additional member states of the ECML until 10 January 2025.

For further information, please contact Adelina Rosca-Birnstingl ([email protected]), the ECML-EC cooperation agreement coordinator.

Local organiser: Anastasia Panagiotidou, Directorate of Secondary Education of Evros

ECML experts: Catherine Carré-Karlinger (Austria), Katja Schnitzer (Germany)

Participants: 32 (foreign language teachers, teachers of the language of schooling, principals of school units, school advisers, regional education quality supervisor)

The Secondary Education Directorate of Evros, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports and the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) of the Council of Europe, successfully organised the two-day training workshop entitled Supporting Multilingual Classrooms, which took place on 17 and 18 October 2024 in Alexandroupolis, Greece. 

• improve their language teaching
• develop multilingual and intercultural skills 
• address the diversity of the student population 
• create collaborative networks