13 European Indicator of Language Competence
| (26769)
11704/05
COM(05) 356
| Commission Communication on the European Indicator of Language Competence
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| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 1 August 2005
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| Deposited in Parliament | 23 August 2005
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| Department | Education and Skills
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 20 September 2005
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information requested
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Background
13.1 The European Community's competence in educational matters
is set out in Article 149 of the Treaty establishing the European
Community (the EC Treaty). Article 149(1) provides that the EC
is to:
"contribute to the development of quality education by
encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary,
by supporting and supplementing their action, while respecting
the responsibility of the Member States for the content of teaching
and the organisation of education systems and their cultural and
linguistic diversity."
Article 149 (2) provides that action by the EC should be aimed
at, among other things:
"developing the European dimension in education, particularly
through the teaching and dissemination of the languages of the
Member States."
The document
13.2 The Commission's Communication notes that in 2002 the Barcelona
European Council called for "teaching of at least two foreign
languages from a very early age."[49]
The Commission says that progress towards that objective can be
measured only if there are reliable tests of language ability.
13.3 The Commission proposes, therefore, that:
- there should be a European
Indicator of Foreign Language Competence to measure proficiency
in foreign languages in each Member State;
- tests of language competence should be developed;
- the tests should measure skills in listening
to, speaking in, reading and writing the foreign languages;
- at regular intervals (say, every three years)
the tests should be taken in every Member State;
- the tests should be taken by a sample of students
aged 15;
- in the first cycle of tests, competence in only
five Community language should be tested (English, French, German,
Italian and Spanish); competence in a wider range of languages
could be tested in subsequent cycles;
- the Commission should be responsible for the
central coordination of the testing process and the central analysis
of the data;
- there should be an Advisory Board comprised of
representatives of the Member States; the Board would advise the
Commission on, for example, standards and protocols for data collection
by the Member States;
- the Commission's costs should be met from the
budgets of existing EU education programmes; and
- each Member State should be responsible for organising
and marking the tests, telling the Commission the results, and
paying for the work.
13.4 The Commission invites the Council "to
express its agreement with the approach outlined in [the] Communication
for the implementation of the European Indicator of Language Competence".
The Government's view
13.5 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at
the Department for Education and Skills (Bill Rammell) tells us
that there are a lot of issues that will need to be considered
before the Government reaches a decision whether to take part
in the proposed tests of competence in two foreign languages.
He adds that there is no power for the EU to require the UK to
take part; and the Government would strongly resist any attempt
to make participation mandatory.
13.6 The Minister tells us that the UK has a very
strict policy on limiting the burdens on schools. Their participation
in surveys, such as the proposed language tests, is voluntary.
It is not yet possible to judge whether the proposed tests would
be unreasonably burdensome. It is possible that the Government
might need to choose between participation in the tests and participation
in the OECD surveys of reading, maths and science. Consideration
should also be given to the additional strain the language tests
would place on 15 year olds and their teachers at a time when
they will be preparing for the GCSE examinations.
13.7 The Minister says that the Government also has
questions about the details of the Indicator: for example, about
the size of the sample, required return rates and the duration
of the tests. Moreover, a clear definition would be required of
the "mother tongue" of each Member State. It would be
mistaken, for example, to assume that English is the first language
of everyone in the UK.
Conclusion
13.8 Competence in several European languages
is essential for some jobs. We can also see why it is desirable
on wider grounds to increase the number of people who speak more
than one language. But it seems to us that by far the highest
priority is to enable all school leavers to be competent in the
language or languages of the country where they live. It is also
our view that it is for each Member State — not the EU —
to decide its own priorities for the teaching of foreign languages.
13.9 We sympathise with the Government's concern
about the additional burden the Commission's proposal might impose
on the sample of students who would be tested and on the schools
they attend. We can well understand why the Government wants to
know a lot more about the details of the proposal before reaching
a decision on whether the UK should take part.
13.10 Accordingly, we ask the Minister to keep
us informed of the discussions of the document. We also ask him
to tell us the conclusion the Government reaches about participation
in the Indicator. Meanwhile, we shall keep the document under
scrutiny.
49 Barcelona European Council, 15/16 March 2002, Presidency
Conclusions, Part I, paragraph 44. Back
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