Processes and Outcomes in the European Schools Model of Multilingual Education

This article discusses aspects of the European Schools model of multilingual and multicultural education, with a particular emphasis on its language component. European Schools (ES) cater to a linguistically and culturally diverse population and operate in up to nine languages at the same site. Pupils receive most of their education in their respective first languages but are required to learn at least two other languages in the course of their schooling. The complex structure of the ES program, with its teaching of languages and other subjects in the target languages and its regular mixing of different language groups, has been designed to promote multilingual proficiency and cultural pluralism at no cost to academic development. Key features of the ES model are outlined, and its outcomes are critically evaluated.