The ninth ELC Bulletin focuses on the theme of content and language integrated learning (CLIL). Piet Van de Craen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, BE, who has joined the Publications Committee for the preparation of this bulletin as guest editor, has been closely associated with the development of CLIL within the activities of the European Language Council. In the first Thematic Network Project, as chair of Sub-project no. 6 on Teacher Training and Bilingual Education, he organised workshops in that area at the first two ELC conferences in Lille and Jyväskylä, and also a conference specifically devoted to the area, The Multilingual Challenge, in Brussels in May 1999. The issue begins with an article entitled “Promoting multilingualism and linguistic diversity in Europe: the role of research”, by Anne-Claude Berthoud, Université de Lausanne, CH, which summarises the discussion at the workshop held at the Fondation Universitaire de Bruxelles, 1 February 2003. This is followed by three articles on CLIL. The first, by Piet Van de Craen and Carmen Perez-Vidal, gives an account of the ALPME project. Following this David Marsh investigates the potential of CLIL in the context of the policy that mastery of two languages in addition to the mother tongue should be the European norm. Finally Carmel Mary Coonan explores a number of issues which arise in the implementation of CLIL.

The News in Brief section provides up-to-date information on a number of activities recently or currently undertaken by ELC members, including firstly the Dialang Beta version, now freely available on the Internet; IAMLADP, the Inter Agency Meeting on Language Arrangements, Documentation and Publications; and the project WELCOME! Linguistic and cultural introduction module for incoming exchange students.

The main articles will also concentrate on a single issue in the next bulletin, namely the Bologna-Prague-Berlin Process and language studies in higher education. The Committee welcomes contributions to future issues, either in the form of 1000 word articles on ELC projects or issues of importance in language learning and teaching at European level, or in the form of brief information or progress reports on activities involving European co-operation in language studies which will be of interest to readers.

Information for inclusion in future editions should be sent to:

European Language Council/Conseil européen pour les langues
Freie Universität Berlin
ZE Sprachlabor
Habelschwerdter Allee 45
D-14195 Berlin
email: elc@zedat.fu-berlin.de
WWW: http://www.fu-berlin/elc

Members of the ELC Publications Committee

Angela Chambers, University of Limerick, IE
Mike Grenfell, University of Southampton, UK
Daniel Toudic, Université de Haute-Bretagne, Rennes II, FR.

ELC Information Bulletin 9 - April 2003