European profile for language teacher education: Meeting the challenge for sharing common competences, knowledge, strategies and values

Abstract

This article aims to illuminate the structure of initial language teacher education in 25 European countries and to identify similarities and differences between different countries on issues concerning the content and structure of teacher training programmes in order for somebody to be qualified to work as a French language teacher in secondary education. The article provides a comparative analysis of academic curricula for the initial training of teachers of French in countries members of the European Centre for Modern Languages. The document of the European Commission European Profile for Language Teacher Education—a Frame of Reference (2004), which identifies 40 items as important items in foreign language teacher education, is a point of reference for conducting the survey. The primary aim of the survey is the formulation of conclusions for the academic curricula addressed to student teachers of French language, with respect to the structure, knowledge, strategies and values that the European academic curricula for initial language teacher education give emphasis on. It identifies best practices and recommends ways of improving the existing academic curricula for enhancing cooperation of all those involved in language teacher education policy.

Keywords

• initial language teacher education
• europe
• structure/skills/values/knowledge
• academic curricula
• language teacher competences
• pre-service teacher training (presett)
• educational policy
• european language teacher
• teacher education reform