Plenary speakers

Language teaching and learning in the European Union eighteen years after the Commission’s White Paper on Teaching and Learning (1995)

Wolfgang Mackiewicz has been president of the CEL/ELC since its foundation in 1997. The CEL/ELC is an international association of higher education institutions, other organisations, and individuals supporting the CEL/ELC’s overarching aim – the quantitative and qualitative improvement of knowledge of the languages and cultures of the European Union and beyond.

While being a chairman of the SIGMA Scientific Committee on Languages (1994-5), Mr. Mackiewicz designed and co-ordinated ten EU network and development projects in the area of languages. At present, he coordinates CELAN – a Network for the promotion of language strategies for competitiveness and employability, launched from within the Business Platform. Wolfgang has been advisor to the European Commission and the Council of Europe for 15 years. He was the rapporteur of the European Commission’s High Level Group on Multilingualism (2006-7) and serves as Commission expert on the OMC working group “Languages in Education and Training”. He represents the CEL/ELC on the Professional Network Forum established by the Council of Europe’s European Centre for Modern Languages. Mr. Mackiewicz is Honorary Professor of English Philology at Freie Universitat Berlin (FUB). For the best part of his professional life he was director of FUB’s language centre – a unit responsible for practically all language provision at FUB. He was instrumental in the development of language modules offered within the General Professional Skills portion of FUB’s BA programmes. He was involved in the implementation of the Bologna reforms at all levels.

Multilingualism – a necessary absent component in Europe 2020

Languages, and in particular multilingualism, have a key role to play in the realisation of Europe 2020. However, languages and the concept of multilingualism are almost absent from key Europe 2020 documents. The plenary speech will penetrate into necessity of the components of languages and multilingualism in Europe 2020 and the role Higher Education Institutions in European language policy.

Karen M. Lauridsen has worked with internationalization of higher education in a number of different capacities since the introduction of the first exchange programmes in the late 1980s. She was ASB Vice-rector for international relations 1997-2005 and at that time also member of the International Committee under the Danish Rectors’ Conference. Since 1996 Karen M. Lauridsen has participated in and coordinated part of the European projects in the area of languages launched from within the membership of the European Language Council. She has also served on the Board of the ELC since the association was established in 1997. She was involved in the ELC’s initiative on university language policies, and she was chairman of the committee under the Danish Rectors’ Conference that produced a document on this topic in 2003.  Karen M. Lauridsen has worked as consultant for the ASB leadership team during the implementation of the ASB language policy in the last couple of years. She is currently interested in the connections between language, culture and pedagogy/didactics in the multicultural classroom.

Research areas:

Education, teaching and philosophy, Learning, didactics and education, Learning in work life, Higher education – pedagogy and didactics.

International education; multicultural learning space; multilingualism; multilingual learning space. Learning and learning styles in education and business.

Language and communication, Intercultural communication Language policy.

Business and economics, Business Life, Performance, Learning and learning styles in education and business.

Pro-rector of University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal. Specializes in the area of linguistics, language and literary studies. Researcher in the field of language policies, intercultural communication and languages, expert in international projects. Member of scientific committee of the faculty and deputy rector for academic matters, member of the board of the European Language Council and member of the editorial committee of the European Journal of Language Policy.