Aims of the meeting
Aims of the meeting
As a follow-up to the Wulkow II meeting, where Quality Benchmarks for Language Teaching where discussed and finalized in the ensuing Wulkow Memorandum on Quality Assurance, this meeting will set the basis for an accreditation scheme for Language Centres in Higher Education in Europe.
The Bologna Process and the Lisbon Agreement have speeded up the need for young Europeans to become fluent in more than one language/culture besides their native one, both for professional and personal development/objectives.
In this context, to ensure common standards and quality recognition throughout Europe, also in view of closer interaction and exchanges of students and staff, the need for commonly accepted criteria on which the quality of language education and of management can be assessed is deeply felt by Language Centres at institutions of Higher Education in Europe, for the effective implementation of quality assurace procedures.
Building on the existing BALEAP (British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes) assessment scheme for language teaching and the Wulkow Memorandum on Quality Assurance, we will attempt to identify the key issues for the assessment of European Language Centres together with possible accreditation procedures.
Setting the principles for a common assessment and accreditation scheme is a delicate task which will have to take into account the different academic and cultural contexts in which LCs operate, adopting the Council of Europe motto ‘Unity within Diversity’. It is therefore important that a variety of representatives from different backgrounds be involved.