Austria
Did you know that…
“Proficiency in German is regarded as the key to integration. Immigrants to Austria have to pass a language exam (level A1) before entering the country. With these prerequisites, Austria is similar to Germany, France, Denmark and the Netherlands (Bundesministerium für Inneres 2011).
Due to the demographic development, the expansion of Muttersprachlicher Unterricht (immigrant language education), especially on the primary level is regarded as a government priority. The aim of Muttersprachlicher Unterricht is defined by the curriculum as enabling bilingualism and equality of mother tongue and German.”
The Austria launch takes place on 19 June 2012 in the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.
The programme is as follows:
09:30 registration
10:00 welcome & opening
- Michael Girardi, Head of Integration department, Ministry of the Interior
- representative of the integration department, City of Vienna
- Martin Gilbert, Director British Council Austria
10:15 Key note Language Rich Europe – Austria results in the European context
- Guus Extra, Chair of Language and Minorities at Tilburg University (in English)
11:00 coffee break
11:30 Panel discussion
- Eser Akbaba, ORF
- Natasha Gulam, winner of the “Sag’s multi!” public speaking competition and law student
- Hans Staud, Entrepreneur, Staud’s Feinkost
- Guus Extra, Chair of Language and Minorities at Tilburg University
- Moderation Michael Wimmer
13:00 END
