Educazione plurilingue nella prospettiva europea

The article focuses on plurilingual education as a relevant concern to European institutions aiming to promote and strengthen linguistic and cultural diversity and social cohesion in Europe. To that end, during the last fifty years the Council of Europe has carried out important projects and activities focusing on language learning and teaching. The European Union has also developed a fundamental commitment and fostered several action projects in this field. Both institutions are mainly concerned to promote the social and cultural value of language learning, and to put in place a form of education directed by and towards linguistic diversity. In order to pursue these common aims, the European school systems have to redefine curricula and language education. In this perspective, it becomes important to implement a scientifically-based concept of plurilingual competence and to consider linguistic development in the context of the information society and as a life-long learning activity.