Dear LICOM members, colleagues and friends,
the last conference in Madrid was a real success for all participants, for the whole EAIE and of course for our professional section LICOM. In the evaluations and in a lot of discussions we learned that the participants really admired the content and realization of our sessions and work shops.

But we have to look forward and not to rest on our laurels. And looking forward means to look forward to Nantes: Our ideas, aims and issues under discussion are documented in new sessions and work shops. We consider these sessions and work shops as part of an innovative and challenging conference programme, which will address current issues and reflect on practical concerns of the professionals in our field.

During the last JLM the LICOM board discussed again priorities of our future work. This list could be a thought-provoking impulse for the future-- for the time until Nantes AND for the 2010 election period:

Issue 1: quality management: language testing and teaching in a multicultural context

1. What do academic institutions need to know about their candidates' English-Language skills before admission?
2. What do academic institutions need to know about their teaching staff's English-language skills in the context of international degrees?
3. What do the test & assessment makers need to know about university needs in order to design valid instruments of measurement?
4. What evidence do academic institutions need to gather to show that they provide quality teaching?
5. What tools can assessment makers provide to institutions to gather evidence that they provide quality teaching?

Issue 2: role of institutions offering (intercultural) language training

1. What objectives - related to language use in the light of the Bologna declaration - have to be defined for each single institution?
2. What are tools to ensure transparency and comparability between institutions and languages?
3. What qualities should a highly qualified (university) language teacher possess to enhance learner motivation?
4. What specialist language degree programs - leading to qualifications relevant to the (European) labour market - should be offered?
5. What degree of cooperation between institutions is necessary (and convenient) to strengthen institutional priorities and language policies and a common European dimension?

Issue 3: inclusion of new countries in terms of language proficiency

1. Increased interest in language learning (facts).
2. Adaption to EU requirements in training systems and quality assurance.
3. New perspectives to study abroad from a different viewpoint.
4. Language teaching aspects of vocational training for enhancing workforce mobility.
5. International students at universities of new EU members.

Issue 4: study and work oriented language training

1. Should language teaching (LSP, LAP, LPP) be integrated with the substance teaching of other subjects, and how should it then be organised to achieve the maximum benefits and best results?
2. How is quality assurance guaranteed in SWO teaching? Should the future employers, businesses etc. have a role in it? Questions of assessment, criteria, feedback, cultural competencies etc. need to be tackled. Are our sole aims in SWO higher mobility and better employability?
3. Are languages an organic / essential part of the degrees in your country?
4. How is the two-tier degree system changing SWO language teaching in your country: increasing, reappraising,...? Which level, Bachelor's or Master's, is likely to include the core language courses?
5. To what extent do subject departments or degree programmes expect language centres/ departments to provide training in communication skills such as presentation, argumentation, negotiation, (inter)cultural competence and other skills required in today's world, in study and work situations? Can we train high-quality communicators for any profession in any language, by offering and "packaging" our teaching in different ways?

Issue 5: further implementation and use of the European Language Portfolio / Common European Framework of Reference

1. What has been done (in your institutions) to familiarise teachers and students with the ELP?
2. Could/should the ELP/CEF serve as a common tool for description of students' intercultural skills?
3. What is/could be CEF/ELP's role in quality assurance in language learning and teaching?
4. How to assure smooth transition from school level to university level with the ELP? Should universities consider elaborating their own ELP's to suit their own students needs?
5. How do you see CEF/ELP's role in enhancing European mobility and employability?

Issue 6: Socio- and Intercultural skills as essentials for language competence

1. Can there actually be language teaching/learning without (at least) some sociocultural and intercultural skills integrated? What should be the focus on a language course?
2. How are socio- and intercultural skills integrated in the language studies at your institution?
3. Are separate programmes in socio- and intercultural studies needed? Who should be responsible for these programmes/courses?
4. Teacher training - who should/could teach socio- and intercultural skills? Are language teachers the right people to teach these skills? Should the teachers be native/can they be non-native?

What concrete steps could be taken to improve these skills in language teaching in your present circumstances?
Issue 7: Supporting bi- an multilingual universities in Europe

1. mother tongue plus two
2. language competence for non-native instructors
3. Multilingual universities for a multilingual Europe open to the world” (Nancy Declaration)