National Report on European Language Label in the Czech Republic

1. National Report on European Language Label in the Czech Republic NELLIP project Second partner meeting 13-14 November 2012 Florence, Italy Raya Stanachkova Project coordinator KU TU Ltd. Sofia, Bulgaria

2. The European Language Label in Czech Republic • The ELL in the Czech Republic is being managed by the National Agency for European Educational Programmes (NAEP) • NAEP is responsible for implementation of the Lifelong Learning Programme and other educational programmes in the Czech Republic • The ELL in the Czech Republic provides support to new activities in the field of language education in order to promote the educational community and inspire others to implement such activities in language teaching • Organisations of all types can participate in the European Language Label initiative in the Czech Republic

3. The Label Campaigns • The Label campaigns in the Czech Republic is organised by NAEP and focus on the following phases: • promotion of the opportunities offered by the European Language Label • publication of the call for tender • selection and awarding of candidates • organization of the award ceremony • follow-up activities on dissemination of the labeled initiatives and popularization of the good practices • The promotion activities for the Label include: • NAEP website (www.naep.cz) • Promotional materials • Information provided during events organised by NAEP on national level or focused on language promotion • Information shared through NAEP’s informational channels and network of partners and associates • The call for tenders is published on NAEP’s website and advertised through the dissemination channels described above • Selection criteria are published every year against which the submitted proposals are being evaluated • At the award ceremony the winning organizations are provided with the opportunity to present the awarded initiatives, and where applicable, to demonstrate their products

4. Priorities For the 2012-2013 Campaign, the priorities defined by the European Commission are: • language learning based on the new technologies • multilingual classrooms In the Czech Republic the national priorities for the 2012 European Language Label campaign are directed towards: • Use of new technologies in language learning • Multilingual classrooms • Language learning in vocational education • Language learning for disadvantaged people

5. Labeled initiatives in Czech Republic • In the Czech Republic the European Language Label was awarded for the first time in 2002 • In 2004a new category of the ELL was introduced - European language teacher of the year (granted once every two years) • Currently (2012 including) a total of 71 language initiatives have received the award in the Czech Republic • The highest number of awarded projects is focused on English, followed by German, Czech and French • “Lanterna Futuri” represented the Czech Republic at the Label of the Labels ceremony held in Cyprus on 26-28 September 2012.

6. Evaluation and Follow Up • KU TU Ltd has selected labeled good practices from the Czech Republic which address the current policies on language learning • The selected case studies and best practices cover all 4 identified sectors for language educations - School Education, Higher Education, Adult Education, Vocational Education and Training • The higher number of awarded projects concern the School Education sector, followed by the Vocational Education and Training, Higher Education and Adult Education sectors • Most of the awarded projects are in the area of raising intercultural awareness and raising the quality of language teaching and learning

7. Impact and Exploitation of the European Language Label • The most frequently stated reasons for applying for the European Language Label can be summarized as follows: • to ensure better visibility of the initiative • to ensure greater sustainability of the results • to ensure European quality recognition for the initiative and product • to ensure further dissemination opportunities • to create networking opportunities • The most frequently pointed out benefits from the impact of the award on the initiatives according to the interviewed promoters could be summarized as follows: • better visibility of the initiative • opportunity for creating new collaborations • sustainable dissemination of the project and better popularity • official recognition of the quality of the project and its outcomes

8. Recommendations • A number of recommendations were provided to future applicants: • defining the target groups and their specific needs • taking into account the award criteria during the project implementation • providing a description of the innovation of the products developed and their applicability with the target groups • explaining the transferability potential of the project in other context and different target groups • providing a clear plan for continuation of the project beyond the contractual period and sustainability of the achieved results • The following recommendations could be directed towards the Czech National Agency and the European Commission in order to improve the quality and significance of the ELL: • to organise wider dissemination campaigns for the European Language Label • to raise awareness of the benefits from receiving the Label to language learning providers and other interested organizations and individuals • to organise more events focusing on the exchange of information and experience among promoters of successful projects and good practices • to encourage more active cooperation between the labeled initiatives and the National Agency in order to spread the results of the successful projects more widely • to increase the attractiveness of the award

9. Best Practices • 4 best practices have been identified from the Czech Republic • They address the quality criteria for the European Language Label • Most important factors for selection: • successfully addressing the needs of the specific target groups • quality of the developed products and achieved results • the innovation in the used methods and approaches • transferability of the project • potential for sustaining the results in the long term