FULL VERSION - European Commission - Europa

ConclusionsBi- and multilingualism is already an every-day reality for many Europeans: immigrants,members of linguistic minorities, citizen in cross-border regions, among others.At the same time, multilingualism is seen by the majority of monolingual Europeans as adesirable but near-impossible goal.This clearly demonstrates that the difference between monolingualism and multilingualism iscertainly not one of ability, but rather one of motivation, needs, and exposure to otherlanguages.Many actions and activities have been recommended in this paper. Indeed for multilingualismto become a reality in Europe, exposure to multiple languages should become “the norm” inmany aspects of everyday life. Education, social inclusion, translation and terminology havebeen specifically addressed, as has the development of an overall strategic framework thatcoherently addresses lesser-used and minority languages.Overarching all this is the necessity to identify the needs and goals of Europeans withrespect to language-learning, and to develop policies, actions and programmes which willenable Europeans to acquire and maintain new languages, or to receive language servicessuch as translation and interpretation, as a function of their needs and social context.We believe different policies and tools will be necessary to address different requirementsand contexts; further and systematic research should be conducted, and expertisedeveloped, in the language policies and tools that would best match differentrequirements or social contexts.Finally most work groups have recognised the need for a Language Observatory whichwould fulfil three functions. Centralisation, systematic evaluation and promotion of multilingual tools and bestpractices Empirical evaluation and monitoring of multilingualism in the European Union Communication to policy-makers, civil society and citizen on multilingualism.Such an Observatory would provide vital, empirical expertise to policy-makers, would be in aposition to evaluate the impact of language policies, and would also be a central resource onmultilingual policy, tools and best practice for all actors concerned with multilingualism – fromindividual citizen to policy-makers and institutions.Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism: 64Policy Recommendations for the Promotion of Multilingualism in the European Union 06/06/10 – FULL VERSION