NATIONAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ELL IN AUSTRIA PROSPER-ASE LANGUAGE CENTRE, ROMANIA

T HE E UROPEAN L ANGUAGE L ABEL IN A USTRIA Awarded since 1998 – under the name of ESIS (European Language Innovation Seal) Addressed to individuals or organisations that implement innovative projects in the field of language learning and teaching Institution in charge: Österreichisches Sprachen Kompetenz Zentrum (Austrian Centre for Language Competence ÖSZ) together with the Ministry of Education, Ministry for Science and Research and the National Agency for Lifelong Learning

I MPLEMENTATION OF THE ELL BY ÖSZ yearly organization and publication of the call for applicants selection process of the applications organization of the award ceremony evaluation of the situation regarding the ELL yearly report including the presentation of all the awarded projects in the respective year monitoring and valorization of projects that were awarded the European Language Label

T HE L ABEL C AMPAIGNS D ISSEMINATION OF THE ELL Publication of brochures – info about application(selection criteria, theme of the year, prize, contact details, etc.) Same info on the ÖSZ website, and analyses re the no. of applications by target groups Online project databank – by years, indicating ELL winners Organisation of yearly award ceremonies Leading position (in terms of no. of applications and data use and evaluation) Fostering networking -SPIN – connects schools and teachers

C ALLS FOR APPLICANTS Since 1998 Two exceptions: 2001 and 2012 – evaluation years 2001 – evaluation of period – evaluation of 27 ELL winners with respect to plurilingualism/multilingualism and language teaching in school education

S ELECTION OF WINNING PROJECTS Submitted projects should be: - At an advanced stage of implementation - Be able to demonstrate pertinent evaluation findings and results Initiatives of a pure commercial nature are not taken into consideration The ELL in Austria – contribution to support and stimulate language diversity and social cohesion

T ARGET LANGUAGES English – the most common (69 out of 111 projects) German, Italian, French, Croatian, Turkish, Bosnian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovenian, Chinese, Portuguese, Lebanese, Bulgarian, Russian (incl. languages of migrants and asylum seekers)

A PPLICATIONS VS. AWARDED PROJECTS Highest no of applications – 100 in 2002 Lowest no. – 21 in 2009/ 25 in 2006 Highest no of winners – 31 in 1998 Lowest no – 5 in 2006 To avoid Label inflation – max. no of prizes to be awarded is 15 labels

P RIZES Framed certificate Right to display the logo of the European Language Label with indication of the year 750 euro

PRIORITIES - represented by themes chosen every year AWARDED PROJECTS BY EDUCATIONAL SECTORS Schools- 79% Adult education – 31% VET – 20% Teacher training – 18% Higher education – 12%

EVALUATION BY THE NELLIP TEAM Reasons for applying for the ELL To fight prejudices To attract attention to less known cultures To disseminate information about their project To inspire and encourage others to apply Because the project complied with the priorities of the year and the evaluation criteria

B ENEFITS OF THE ELL Satisfaction of having contributed to fostering tolerance among children Gaining acceptance and prestige within their institution Higher number of students enrolled in the respective institution No mention of how the money received was used

RECOMMENDATIONS Promoting the visibility of the ELL among language providers and experts: - By applying a targeted information strategy (presenting int ELL at international events on language learning) - Publication of articles in specialised press, plus online - Using social networks developed for/by language learning providers Identifying strategies to make winning the ELL more appealing