The Indicators Project
In 2002 the European Council called for further action to 'improve the mastery of basic skills, in particular by teaching at least 2 foreign languages from a very early age', and for the 'establishment of the linguistic competence indicator'. This decision arose from the current lack of data on the actual language skills of pupils and the need for reliable data to measure the progress towards this new objective.
The European Commission presented the communication 'The European Indicator of Language Competence' in 2005. The European Survey of Language Competences aims to be a key tool for European governments to use in developing language-learning policies and is part of the European Commission’s aim to ‘improve the mastery of basic language skills in Europe’ and ‘establish a linguistic competence indicator’. It will help governments to understand existing levels of second language proficiency and how those levels compare to other countries. It will also provide information on how language proficiency relates to demographic, social, economic and educational variables. Information in the survey can then be used to influence policy and improve national standards.