Intercultural competence: the key to understanding the future of English in Europe

The British Council, the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, has released its findings on the current and future use of English in Europe. Its research The Future of English: Global Perspectives involved roundtable discussions with 92 experts and policymakers globally, including from Poland, Spain, Germany, and Italy.

In the framework of the European day of Languages, the institution emphasises the key role of English as a tool underpinning and building “intercultural competence” rather than a foreign language.  English allows us to relate to each other in a multilingual Europe where a wide variety of diverse languages coexist. This concept has implications in how national identities are perceived and formed.

In line with this, the EU wide research concludes that the demand for English as a lingua franca will remain strong in the future, as a result of increasing European multilingualism, global mobility and the use of social media for informal communication and education.

The research sheds new light on how social media and technology impact on Europeans’ need and use of English. Experts thus point to balancing formal and informal methods of learning along with a more fluid concept of linguistic competence to address these needs.  There is a need to combine the more informal use of English in communication environments such as social media with formal certification of levels for employment and international study requirements.

It is in this area of more formal education that the report highlights the importance of having qualified teachers and training them in the skills needed to teach English online in the new social and educational context.

The Future of English: Global Perspectives underlines the lack of quality in part of the current online English teaching and learning offer and the disruption that the entry of multinationals such as Google will bring to the sector, using Artificial Intelligence to build much more individualised formal and informal learning proposals.

The report also makes recommendations on the agenda that should guide English language research in the coming years, including the design of frameworks to assess the effectiveness of educational methodologies and policies; the creation of English language proficiency profiles to enable comparisons between countries and regions; and the measurement of the social and economic benefits associated with the development of English language skills. The complete research report is available and free of charge on this website: https://www.britishcouncil.org/future-of-english.

European Day of Languages in Bucharest
On the occasion of European Day of Languages, British Council Romania, together with other cultural institutes in Bucharest which are part of the EUNIC framework, organises free activities and workshops for the general public and teachers. The theme of this year’s events is Equality in Education.

Adults and parents of children who are interested in taking part in these activities can book a free place on this webpage. Participants attending the workshops organised by the different institutes will have the chance to win a free course from them.

In the case of teachers, they are invited to attend a panel discussion focusing on how to better support learners with disabilities and special needs through and inclusive strategy and high-quality teaching. After this activity, teachers will also have the opportunity to participate in the programme of workshops arranged in each cultural institute. Teachers interested in taking part in these activities can book a free place on this webpage.