European policy on multilingualism: unity in diversity or added value?

Abstract:

Since the beginning of the third millennium, and in particular with the adoption of the Barcelona objective on 16 March 2002, which recommended the teaching to all of “at least two foreign languages from a very early age,” multilingualism has been a recognized part of European policy. The Barcelona objective was followed by a series of papers and reports elaborating on this strategy, beginning with the New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism (2005).

The language philosophy of these proposals oscillates between considerations of identity and functionality. One orientation is clearly based on priorities such as the protection of minority languages and the promotion of diversity alongside the importance of multilingualism for intercultural dialogue - the substantiation in language, in other words, of one of the key principles of the European project, expressed in its motto ‘united in diversity’.

On the other hand, beginning with the ELAN Report (2006), the Pimlico Report (2011) and the Study on Foreign Language Proficiency and Employability (2015), there has been an increasing emphasis on the functional utility of multilingual competences for business and trade, and in particular the notion that foreign language skills provide a competitive advantage, “added value”, for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

This paper provides an overview of European policy on multilingualism as it emerges in European policy documents and attempts to chart the underlying language philosophies guiding them