Key data on teaching languages at school in Europe – 2023 edition
Compared with nearly two decades ago, students in primary education start learning foreign languages at an increasingly early age. This is one of the key findings of the fifth edition of the report on Key data on teaching languages at school in Europe, which is out today.
Building on the four previous publications, this new report intends to contribute to the monitoring of the policy developments in the field of foreign language teaching in schools in Europe. While foreign languages are at the centre of the investigation, other languages are also considered (regional or minority languages, classical languages, etc.).
This report includes 51 indicators covering a wide range of topics relevant to (foreign) language policy at the EU and national levels, such as foreign language teachers’ transnational mobility for professional purposes and language learning support measures for newly arrived migrant students. The main data source of the report is the Eurydice Network, which provided qualitative information on policies and measures in the area of (foreign) language teaching in schools.
The Eurydice data are complemented by Eurostat data and data from two international surveys carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS).