The integration of migrants and the impact on it of their acquisition of competence in the language(s) of the host country are a focus for political debate and policy initiatives in a large number of Council of Europe member States, as is demonstrated by the surveys carried out to date by the Council of Europe.
Within the project focused on offering language support to migrants, based on the extended Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM) project, in existence since 2006, the Council of Europe provides policy guidelines and pedagogical resources for the authorities and educators in the member States receiving refugees and other migrants, adults and children alike.
Main aims:
- to provide assistance to member states in developing coherent and effective policies and in reviewing existing policies in keeping with shared Council of Europe values and principles;
- to provide practical support for the effective implementation of policy;
- to encourage good practice and high quality in the provision of language courses and in assessment of language proficiency;
- to offer a platform that enables member states to reflect on policy and practice in this area.
The aim of this website is to offer a practical means of pooling and accessing useful resources. It has been developed with the help of a group of experts in various fields.
Sections available in several languages
The Language Policy Unit expresses its thanks to the ALTE members (LAMI Group) who contributed the translations of certain sections of the LIAM website, making it possible to create this multilingual version. Translations are available in the following languages: Finnish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Russian and Slovenian.
More about the contributors can be found here
Guiding principles
The Council of Europe has elaborated standard setting instruments and recommendations which set out the principles governing actions in the migration field. These are complemented by language policy guidelines and reference tools developed to support their effective implementation in an inclusive approach based on shared values and principles.
Past events
4th Intergovernmental Conference on “Better Integration Through Learning: Language and knowledge of society policies and learning opportunities for migrants in Council of Europe member states. Strasbourg 16th October 2019
Webinar Training on the Council of Europe Toolkit 'Linguistic Support for Adult Refugees'
Language Support for adult refugees: a Council of Europe toolkit.
Leaflet
A website in 7 languages: www.coe.int/lang-refugees
LIAM SYMPOSIUM: the publication
The linguistic integration of adult migrants: lessons from research /
L'intégration linguistique des migrants adultes : les enseignements de la recherche
Published by De Gruyter Mouton for the Council of Europe (ISBN 978-3-11-047749-8) as the follow-up of the LIAM Symposium (Strasbourg, 30 March-1 April 2016): Programme and Abstracts of presentations
Bilingual Abstracts are available separately
Survey and Conference
- 4th Intergovernmental Conference on “Better Integration Through Learning: Language and knowledge of society policies and learning opportunities for migrants in Council of Europe member states. Strasbourg 16th October 2019
- Survey 2018 on Language Policies and Language Requirements for Migrants in the Member States
- Final report of the 4th Survey (2018)
- Final Report on the 3rd Survey on language policies for the integration of adult migrants (2013)
- Report of the 3rd intergovernmental conference on Quality in the Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM): from values to policy and practice (2013)
Official texts
Extracts from Council of Europe Conventions, Recommendations and Resolutions concerning Integration of Adult Migrants and Education (1968-2017)