WHAT IS LINGUA?

The promotion of language teaching and learning is an objective of the SOCRATES programme as a whole, and of the Erasmus, Comenius and Grundtvig Actions in particular. Lingua supports these Actions through measures designed to:

1) encourage and support linguistic diversity throughout the Union;

2) contribute to an improvement in the quality of language teaching and learning;

3) promote access to lifelong language learning opportunities appropriate to each individual ? s needs.

In the context of Lingua, language teaching covers the teaching and learning, as foreign languages, of all of the official Community languages as well as Irish and Luxembourgish. The national languages of the EFTA/EEA countries and of the candidate countries participating in SOCRATES are also eligible. Particular attention is paid to the development of skills in the less widely used and less taught official Community languages

WHAT ACTIVITIES ARE SUPPORTED?

Lingua is divided into two parts, each addressing specific sub-objectives:

LINGUA 1: PROMOTION OF LANGUAGE LEARNING

What are the objectives?

The objectives of Lingua 1 are to promote language teaching and learning, to support the linguistic diversity of the Union, and to encourage improvements in the quality of language teaching structures and systems.

Specifically, the Action is intended to:

1) raise citizens' awareness of the multilingual character of the Union and of the advantages of lifelong language learning, and to encourage them to take up language learning themselves;

2) improve access to language learning resources and increase the support available for those learning languages;

3) promote the dissemination of information about innovative techniques and good practices in foreign language teaching in Europe, among its target groups (especially decision-makers and key education professionals).

What types of projects are supported?

Project proposals are invited in one or more of the areas of activity set out in Table 1.

All projects must work towards developing a specific product (the formation of a partnership alone does not constitute a project) within the shortest period necessary for the work to be carried out.

The type of activity and the target group vary according to the area of activity. Given the innovative nature of this Action, the types of activity listed here are for guidance only. Projects focussing on other themes will not be excluded. Any activity with the potential to achieve the objectives of the relevant area will, in principle, be considered.

LINGUA 2: DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS AND MATERIALS

What are the objectives?

The objective of Lingua 2 is to help raise the standards in language teaching and learning by ensuring the availability of sufficient high quality language learning instruments, and tools for assessing linguistic skills acquired. Lingua 2 will encourage both the development of new tools and a wider dissemination of existing tools which represent best practice and provide European added value.

The specific operational objectives are:

1) to encourage innovation in the development of language learning and teaching tools for all sectors of education;

2) to encourage the sharing of best practices;

3) to provide a wider variety of language teaching materials to more clearly defined groups, encouraging the production of language tools which are commercially under-represented or difficult to market on a large scale, notably because of the target group or the nature of the educational approach involved;

4) to encourage the acquisition of sufficient knowledge of foreign languages to meet the requirements of particular situations and contexts, provided that these measures are not linked to a specific profession (this would fall more within the scope of the Leonardo da Vinci programme);

5) to improve the distribution and availability of products.

What types of projects are supported?

To attain the objectives set out above, Lingua 2 supports projects involving cooperation on a European scale in the development and exchange of innovative curricula, methodologies and educational materials as well as effective tools for assessing language skills acquired.

The projects will be concerned with creating, adapting, refining or exchanging one or more of the following products:

1) educational media and materials for foreign language teaching, as well as for raising awareness of languages;

2) methods and tools designed to recognise and evaluate language skills;

3) curricula.

Note: the products developed under Lingua 2 are essentially aimed at language learners. Those aimed at language teachers are provided for under the School Education part of SOCRATES (Comenius).

How should a project be organised?

1. Partnership profile

For projects under Lingua, a partnership must include at least one eligible institution in each of at least three participating countries, at least one of which must be a Member State of the EU.

Institutions from the countries where the target languages are spoken must be present in the project partnership. One of the institutions or organisations participating in the project must act as the co-ordinator ("co-ordinating institution"). This means taking the lead in preparing the outline of the project with partners, taking responsibility for submitting the project application, ensuring the smooth administration of the project, accounting for the spending of the Community grant and reporting on the project's outcomes.

For Lingua 2, the partnership must in addition:

1) demonstrate expertise in all of the following fields: language education; in-depth knowledge of the needs of the specific target public; and, where necessary for the topic of the project, recognition of language skills and use of new technologies;

2) involve at least one educational establishment;

3) establish a coherent strategy for ensuring the widest dissemination of the results of the project.

2. Eligible organisations

The following types of organisation are eligible under Lingua:

1) schools, adult education establishments, open and distance learning centres;

2) universities, centres providing initial or continuing training for language teachers, language resource centres, centres for research into language education;

3) establishments developing curricula, issuing diplomas or devising methods for testing and evaluating knowledge;

4) local or regional authorities;

5) local, regional, national or European associations active in the field of language teaching or learning;

6) cultural and language support associations, including national associations;

7) language schools;

8) international associations of language teaching establishments;

9) radio, television or media companies with an Internet presence;

10) publishing houses and software producers or distributors.

Who selects the projects, and what criteria are used?

Lingua is a "centralised Action" within SOCRATES. This means that projects are selected centrally by the European Commission, assisted by a panel of independent experts. National Agencies may also make their views known. In addition to the criteria set out in Part I of these Guideline s, Lingua projects will be assessed in relation to the extent to which they:

1) specify their didactic approach clearly and consistently;

2) make an effective contribution to linguistic pluralism and to the diversification of language learning (priority will be given to the less widely used and less taught languages of the Union);

3) target several eligible languages;

4) involve where possible more than one target group, and in any case define the target group(s) precisely;

5) encourage lifelong language learning;

6) take into account the cultural aspects of the languages being learnt.

Additionally, under Lingua 2, particular attention will be paid to projects which:

1) have conducted a particularly thorough needs analysis as the justification for the project, demonstrating clearly the non-availability of the product envisaged by the project;

2) undertake to try out the Common European Framework of reference for language learning and teaching, to develop it as a tool for defining objectives (specifically the skills and know-how being targeted) and evaluating the results;

3) have a sound and wide-reaching dissemination strategy included in the general framework of the project;

4) make appropriate use of new information and communication technologies;

5) develop materials for teaching language awareness and foreign languages, notably the less widely used and less taught official Community languages, to primary and pre-primary learners;

6) develop and disseminate new, specific methodologies for teaching subjects through languages, notably the less widely used and less taught official Community languages.

Projects concentrating on other themes than those identified as priorities will not, however, be excluded.

What financial support is available?

Projects will be funded for a maximum of three consecutive years. Partnerships should specify and justify the intended duration (1, 2 or 3 years) of the project, in their application for support.

The level of grant awarded may vary considerably from one project to another. Community financial support will be provided on a cost-sharing basis. Participating institutions / organisations are therefore expected to commit other resources to the project and to declare such other sources of funding. For the purpose of monitoring and promoting synergy, one or two meetings of project coordinators will be organised by the Commission each contractual year. Project coordinators are expected to attend. The types of expenditure for which the project grant may be used are set out in Part I of these Guidelines.

How and when to apply for a grant?

The application procedure is set out in Part I of these Guideline s.

Persons interested in Lingua may also wish to note certain other possible sources of Community funding for activities in the field of language teaching and learning.

1) Within SOCRATES, grants for the promotion of language teaching and learning in school education, higher education and adult education are available within the Comenius, Erasmus and Grundtvig Action respectively.

2) Activities focussing on promoting language learning in vocational training come within the scope of the Leonardo da Vinci programme.