Bologna Process and strengthening of the positions of multilingualism and multiculturalism as the leading principlesof European language policies

The paper is devoted to the factors contributing to the development of the Bologna process of creating a Common European Higher Education Area and strengthening of the positions of multilingualism and multiculturalism on the European continent. It examines the role of effective multilingual and multicultural education in achieving the aims of the authors of the Bologna Declaration to overcome the fragmentation of the European education area and create conditions for unimpeded academic and professional mobility. The Bologna Process of coordination and harmonization of national education systems of member countries became possible as a result of the change in societal consciousness in the direction to the state and individual multilingualism, and the emergence of a new common European culture that does not recognize national borders on the basis of an electronic exchange of information, electronic teaching and learning and electronic commerce. The paper considers the mechanism of coordinating national education systems in the course of the Bologna Process, whose main instrument is the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The use of the system has removed the barriers between national education systems in Europe and provided the necessary conditions for increasing academic and professional mobility. Next, the paper presents an analysis of communicative situations and competences required from the participants in the Bologna Process involved in the academic mobility in the European higher education area, and a conclusion is made that the importance of the linguistic and cultural skills required for successful academic mobility is not taken into account sufficiently. The insufficient awareness of the role of language teaching and learning has called for more resolute measures on the side of the EU leadership directed at a more active participation of universities in increasing academic mobility through creating universities' own language policies. With this aim in mind, the European Commission initiated a contest to create a network project to summarize the best language teaching experience for the students of the first higher education cycle. The Bologna Process has demonstrated the difficulties of overcoming the rift between political decisions made at the top and decisions on the level of separate educational establishments. To formulate a policy in the field of language education based on the principles of linguistic diversity, plurilingualism and pluriculturalism, experts of the Council of Europe have prepared the Guide for the development of the language education policy in Europe published in 2007, which presents a conceptual shift in the approach to the aims and goals of the language education towards acquiring language skills and developing plurilingual and pluricultural competence as an ability to function in a multilingual environment. Summing up, a conclusion is made that closer cooperation and harmonization of the national education systems on the basis of the Bologna Process have led to the activization of language policies of multilingualism and consolidating of the positions of multilingualism and multiculturalism not only in the sphere of education, but in other spheres of life in European countries.

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