Learning Foreign Languages: Motives and Strategies

This brief paper describes the policies, motives, objectives, strategies, practices, and approaches with respect to foreign language learning in Europe. It describes how policies have evolved from just viewing the learning of foreign languages as educationally valuable and not necessarily a process through which students acquire communicative ability in another language, to viewing it with the goal of learning to communicate effectively in another language. This newfound respect for language learning was justified by two goals: protecting Europe's linguistic and cultural diversity; and enabling Europeans to overcome the linguistic barriers resulting from this diversity. The subsequent policy had two principle aims: the development of communicative language competence, enabling the learner to carry out tasks in real life, and the development of a communicative language competence in the form of plurilingual competence, that is communicative competence in several foreign languages. Various strategies are discussed, as are the many problems that must be overcome in the process of implementing this Europe-wide drive to encourage the learning of foreign languages. The special role of English and the particular needs arising from and the potential inherent in European integration are given special attention. (KFT)