Premium
Promoting Foreign Language Competence in the European Community: The LINGUA Programme
Author(s) -
Hermans Stefaan
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/1467-971x.00045
Subject(s) - lingua franca , foreign language , politics , pedagogy , political science , competence (human resources) , promotion (chess) , legislation , english as a lingua franca , sociology , public relations , linguistics , management , law , economics , philosophy
The European Community promotes through the LINGUA programme a quantitative and qualitative improvement in foreign language competence. This article describes the emergence of such a programme as the result of political agenda setting and the ongoing process of European integration and situates the legislation and implementation of the programme in its socio‐political environment. From a theoretical viewpoint, I will argue that LINGUA is an example of ‘language planning’ as defined by Cooper (1989). On the level of linguistic and communicative objectives, I will analyze the five actions of the programme in terms of the goals set, the target public envisaged, the activities promoted and the results achieved. I will provide empirical data to investigate whether and how the priority given to the promotion of the least widely used and taught languages is realized in practice and how this relates to the ‘market’ of languages. In particular the position of English is relevant here. By way of conclusion, I will outline how the LINGUA programme has been integrated in a modified way into the new Community programme SOCRATES (education) and LEONARDO (professional training).