European models of bilingual education: Practice, theory and development

Abstract

The relationship between European Community initiatives in language management are linked to educational models involved in promoting active mastery of at least three languages. The Luxembourg model outlines a trilingual programme destined for the entire school population, the European School model illustrates a complex multilingual programme where all involved are on an equal footing with respect to language constraints, while the Foyer Project reveals how immigrant minorities can be handled in a mainstream school network that evolves in an already bilingual environment. The different models are analysed in terms of theoretical considerations which attempt to clarify how similar outcomes are attained, in spite of different strategies, with particular emphasis on contextual variables, some of which can be manipulated by programme designers and others which cannot.