Language Education Policies and Practice in (Mediterranean) Europe: An ELF Perspective

This contribution aims at providing a description of current changes occurring in the language policies, education and practices of some southern European countries within an English as a lingua franca (ELF) aware perspective. The realities of foreign language learning in Europe are affected by factors such as the emerging plurilingual profile of the European school population due to most recent flows of migration particularly in the Mediterranean countries, and the increasing use of English as a lingua franca among speakers of different linguacultures. These new European scenarios are bound to affect foreign language curricula, language teacher education and classroom practice. As for the English curriculum, course-books and materials, for example, it is not without conflict or tension as to which English to teach, which variety is more ‘correct’ or appropriate and which approach to use in a multilingual and multicultural classroom where English is usually being taught by non-native teachers. A careful rethinking of language planning and of the constructs underlying English curricula and assessment practices is thus required and several changes in the approaches adopted in language teacher education courses in the emerging plurilingual Europe, have already begun to occur in different European contexts.