European profile for language teacher education: Meeting the challenge for sharing common competences, knowledge, strategies and values

This article aims to illuminate the structure of initial language teacher education in 25 European countries and to identify similarities and differences between different countries on issues concerning the content and structure of teacher training programmes in order for somebody to be qualified to work as a French language teacher in secondary education. The article provides a comparative analysis of academic curricula for the initial training of teachers of French in countries members of the European Centre for Modern Languages. The document of the European Commission European Profile for Language Teacher Education—a Frame of Reference (2004), which identifies 40 items as important items in foreign language teacher education, is a point of reference for conducting the survey. The primary aim of the survey is the formulation of conclusions for the academic curricula addressed to student teachers of French language, with respect to the structure, knowledge, strategies and values that the European academic curricula for initial language teacher education give emphasis on. It identifies best practices and recommends ways of improving the existing academic curricula for enhancing cooperation of all those involved in language teacher education policy. Subjects: Curriculum Studies; Education; Education Policy & Politics; Higher Education; Language & Education; Language Policy & Planning; Language Teaching & Learning; Modern Foreign Languages; Teaching & Learning *Corresponding author: Marianthi Karatsiori, Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, Hellenic Open University, A. Papandreou 37, Maroussi, Athens, Greece E-mail: mkaratsiori@gmail.com Reviewing editor: Kris Gritter, Seattle Pacific University, USA Additional information is available at the end of the article ABOUT THE AUTHOR Marianthi Karatsiori has worked as an education programme expert at the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs in Greece, as a lecturer at the Master’s in education (MEd.) in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) at the Hellenic Open University, as an ESP teacher at many Higher Institutions and Universities in Greece and as a teacher of French and English in secondary education. She worked in the Technical Assistance Programme of the International Bureau of Education (UNESCOIBE) and provided support to governmental representatives for improving quality education. Her main interests are teacher education and professional development, educational policy guidance and reform. PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT The article provides a comparative analysis of academic curricula for the initial training of teachers of French in 25 member countries of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML). It aims to illuminate the structure of initial language teacher education in 25 European countries and to identify similarities and differences between different countries on issues concerning the content and structure of teacher training programmes in order for somebody to be qualified to work as a French language teacher in secondary education. The document of the European Commission European Profile for Language Teacher Education—a Frame of Reference (2004), which identifies 40 key elements as important items in foreign language teacher education, is a point of reference for conducting the survey. Received: 02 February 2016 Accepted: 03 June 2016 Published: 24 June 2016 © 2016 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. Page 1 of 29 Marianthi Karatsiori

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Marianthi Karatsiori has worked as an education programme expert at the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs in Greece, as a lecturer at the Master's in education (MEd.) in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) at the Hellenic Open University, as an ESP teacher at many Higher Institutions and Universities in Greece and as a teacher of French and English in secondary education. She worked in the Technical Assistance Programme of the International Bureau of Education (UNESCO-IBE) and provided support to governmental representatives for improving quality education. Her main interests are teacher education and professional development, educational policy guidance and reform.

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
The article provides a comparative analysis of academic curricula for the initial training of teachers of French in 25 member countries of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML). It aims to illuminate the structure of initial language teacher education in 25 European countries and to identify similarities and differences between different countries on issues concerning the content and structure of teacher training programmes in order for somebody to be qualified to work as a French language teacher in secondary education. The document of the European Commission European Profile for Language Teacher Education-a Frame of Reference (2004), which identifies 40 key elements as important items in foreign language teacher education, is a point of reference for conducting the survey.

Introduction
The enlargement of the European Union makes language learning for all European citizens a priority. The Bologna declaration emphasizes the academic mobility and employability across national borders and it seeks to establish a framework of convergence towards a European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Both the development of EHEA and the goal of flexible employment across borders depend heavily on foreign language learning, and subsequently on the quality of language teacher education. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the structure of initial training of language teachers and formal requirements needed in order for somebody to become a teacher of French in 25 European countries. At first, the theoretical background and the methodology of the survey are presented. Then, the 25 academic curricula are described and the analysis of the survey data takes place. Finally, the article identifies best practices, recommends ways of improving the existing academic curricula in a European scale and discusses if initial teacher education can provide tomorrow's teachers with the competences allowing them to become agents of effective improvements in the quality of European education.

Theoretical background and remit of the paper
Over the past decade there has been a growing concern about initial language teacher education across European countries in order to help language teachers develop a European frame of mind (Willems, 2002). The report The Training of Teachers of a Foreign Language: Developments in Europe (Kelly et al., 2002) proposes ways in which language teacher training can be strengthened by actions at European level, and sets the grounding principles for the European Profile of Language Teacher Education-a Frame of Reference (Kelly, Grenfell, Allan, Kriza, & McEvoy, 2004), hereafter referred to as EPLTE. In 2003, the ECML published the book Facing the Future: Language Educators across Europe that examines the future of language education and its impact on initial language teacher education. OECD's report Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers (OECD, 2005) provides an international analysis of trends and developments in the teacher workforce in 25 countries around the world and teacher policy options for countries to consider. Also, OECD's Teaching and Learning International Survey TALIS (2013) aims to cover key issues that affect lower secondary teachers in their work, including aspects of professional development, teacher beliefs, attitudes and practices, teacher appraisal and feedback and school leadership. OECD (2009) distinguishes between teaching competences and teacher competences. Teaching competences are focused on the role of the teacher in the classroom, directly linked with the "craft" of teaching-with professional knowledge and skills mobilised for action (Hagger & McIntyre, 2006). Teacher competences imply a wider, systemic view of teacher professionalism, on multiple levels-the individual, the school, the local community, professional networks (European Commission, 2013). The Common European Principles for Teacher Competences (European Commission, 2005) and the commission's communication Improving the quality of Teacher Education (Commission of the European Communities, 2007) have identified teacher education as a key factor in securing the quality of education in European countries. Teacher education has thus moved from representing a national concern towards becoming part of the discourse around Europeanization. In this context, the present paper sheds light on the policy for initial language teacher education adopted by 25 countries in an attempt to make possible a Europe-wide mapping of the content knowledge and minimum qualifications needed, a process that could contribute towards the introduction of a "European Benchmark Statement for Language Teacher Training" (Kelly et al., 2002) by coordinating the ideal profile of prospective language teachers between member states.
In this context, the research question formulated intends to identify the similarities and differences of academic curricula for prospective teachers of French in the Member States of the ECML and could be divided into three sub questions: (1) To what extent do the academic curricula for initial language teacher training converge or diverge relating to the duration of schooling? Do the four-year academic programmes provide the same competencies, skills, knowledge and values compared to those of five and six year duration study programmes? What are the minimum official requirements that a language teacher must be entitled to in order to work in public schools of the country? To what extent do qualifications differ from one European country to another? What are the main differentiating factors between academic curricula for pre-service French teachers?
(2) Is there a difference between the academic curricula that specialize in only one language and those specializing in two or more languages or other subject areas with regard to the integration of the 40 items of the EPLTE?
(3) Do the current academic curricula for initial language teacher education provide the essential linguistic (item: 17), pedagogical The first two research questions deal with external characteristics which have to do with the structure of academic curricula. The last question is focused on the academic curriculum in terms of the content knowledge, competencies and skills they provide to prospective language teachers.

European profile for language teacher education-a frame of reference-Profile
The European Profile of Language Teacher Education-a Frame of reference (Kelly et al., 2004) was commissioned by the European Commission's Directorate General for Education and Culture. A team of researchers at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom conducted and wrote the report. The EPLTE corresponds with the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for languages (Council of Europe, 2001), both in its use of terminology and references to levels of linguistic competence. A database of sources relating to teacher education, language teaching and learning provided key information for developing the EPLTE, along with a network of teaching organizations and eight experts in European language teacher education that formed a Consultative Group. The experts were chosen to represent a wide geographical spread across Europe and a broad range of areas of expertise. The EPLTE proposes a toolkit for language teacher education in the twenty-first century and "has been established as a non-mandatory frame of reference containing examples of good practice and innovation, as well as information about the issues language teacher education programmes encounter (p. 9) … the Profile aims at providing guidance for practice at a national and European level, and at helping institutions and educators develop their education programmes for trainee foreign language teachers. It can be used as reference point for European providers of language teacher education, leading to greater transparency and portability of qualifications. Wider aims could include improving mobility, the creation of dual qualifications and recognition of education components at various levels of professional language teacher education (p. 12) … The Profile deals with the initial and in-service education of foreign language teachers in primary, secondary and adult learning contexts and it offers recommendations for language education policy makers and language teacher educators in Europe (p. 4) … it is limited to examining the education of teachers of foreign languages, and does not include teachers being educated to teach their own mother tongue (p. 11) … It aims to serve as a checklist for existing teacher education programmes and a guideline for those still being developed (p. 4) … One way of thinking about the Profile is as a toolkit that allows institutions to improve the programmes they offer. Another way is to see it as a set of building blocks that policy makers, teacher educators, teachers and trainee teachers can assemble to support their provision of foreign language teacher education. Some of the Profile items could form 'add-ons' to existing teacher education programmes. However, one of the key concerns of the Profile is to promote an integrated approach to language teacher education" (p. 19). The EPLTE's remit "was to summarize the principles of foreign language teacher education, focusing on the structure, content and values of teacher education programmes" (p. 11). It proposes that foreign language teacher education should include items that "deal with the structure of educational courses, the knowledge and understanding central to foreign language teaching, the diversity of teaching and learning strategies and skills, and the kinds of values language teaching should encourage and promote" (p. 4). The EPLTE contains 40 items which are divided into the aforementioned four sections. The structure section contains items describing the different constituent parts of language teacher education and indicates how they could be organized; the knowledge and understanding section contains items relating to what trainee language teachers should know and understand about teaching and learning languages as a result of their initial and in-service teacher education; The strategies and skills section contains items relating to what trainee language teachers should know how to do in teaching and learning situations as teaching professionals as a result of their initial and in-service teacher education; and the values section contains items relating to the values that trainee language teachers should be taught to promote in and through their language teaching.

Methodology, instrument and resources
This survey attempts to provide a descriptive analysis and an evaluation of academic curricula for the initial training of teachers of French language in the member states of the ECML. It concerns the academic curricula, which train prospective teachers of French to teach in upper secondary education (ISCED 3 1 ). It should be noted that the evaluation concerns only the reported academic curricula and not similar academic programmes in the same country. Also, it should be noted that the evaluation performed is based on the detailed description of the study programme of each academic curriculum, i.e. the "nominal" existence of a course whose description covers at least one item of the EPLTE. 2 Consequently, this study attempts to capture the external image of the academic curricula regarding the integration of courses that are consistent with the 40 key elements of the EPLTE.
This paper provides information about the minimum requirements needed in order for somebody to become a language teacher in upper secondary education, the duration of studies, the degrees needed, the institutions qualified to offer initial language teacher education and the status of language teachers working in publicly funded schools. The main instrument of data collection was the evaluation table. The first part of the evaluation table presents the university and the minimum qualifications required in order for someone to be able to teach foreign languages in publicly funded schools of each country. This practically means that there are countries where only one academic curriculum is assessed (e.g. in Cyprus, the possession of the four year bachelor's degree provides the right to teach in all levels of secondary education); while in other countries a postgraduate degree and/or certificate of pedagogical studies are also a prerequisite. The evaluation, therefore, takes into account all necessary stages of education. The second part of the evaluation table presents the 40 items recommended by the EPLTE, which operate as evaluation criteria. All evaluators were educators 3 at the relevant university department and, in most cases, they taught courses such as: Methodology of teaching and learning, curriculum design, didactics, pedagogy, ICT and its use in the classroom. At the first level, the researcher, after detailed study of the academic curricula involved, filled in the evaluation table in order to facilitate the work of the evaluators. Then, the researcher sent the evaluation table electronically to at least one educator at the relevant university department for data confirmation or for possible corrections. The educator filled in, made any corrections needed, rated the evaluation table accordingly and returned it to the researcher. The data collection procedure lasted from June 2009 to September 2011.
Apart from the evaluation table, the following sources were also used for the data collection: (1) Ministries of education.
(2) National reports of Eurydice 4 from the Eurydice Network of European Education and systems.
(3) ECML (communication with national representatives from member states).
(4) Higher education institutions: Personal communication with instructors in foreign language departments.
(5) The country dossiers 5 of the International Bureau of Education (UNESCO-IBE).
It is worth mentioning that the validity of the data presented in this article was last checked in June 2012, since in a number of countries the process of improving teacher initial education is still going on.

Method of analysis
The method of analysis used was a mixed-methods research. The term mixed-methods research is used to refer to all procedures collecting and analysing both quantitative and qualitative data in the context of a single study (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). Researchers have been conducting mixedmethods research for several decades, and referring to it by an array of names. Early articles on the application of such designs have referred to them as multi-method, integrated, hybrid, combined and mixed-methodology research (Creswell & Clark, 2007, p. 6). Some researchers have taken issue with the term mixed methods to describe research designs that consciously blend both approaches within or across the stages of the research process (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). They suggest the term mixed model be used to differentiate research designs integrating qualitative and quantitative data from those who merely employ both types of data. These include transformative designs that change one form of data into another (most often qualitative to quantitative data) so that the data collected by mixed-methods designs can be merged (Greene, Caracelli, & Graham, 1989;Onwuegbuzie & Teddlie, 2003). The 40 items of the EPLTE were quantized to create a single comprehensive data-set. Quantizing refers to the process of assigning numerical values to qualitative data collected through the instruments of data collection (questionnaires, interviews, observation techniques, etc.).The existence of a course, that covers each one of the 40 items in the academic curricula examined, takes a numerical value. At a second level of analysis, the comprehensive data-set consisting of the 40 items of the EPLTE takes a score, which is compared to three independent variables that are (1) the academic qualifications required for teaching in secondary schools; (2) the specialization in one or two disciplines; and (3) the duration of studies.

Research issues
The original aim was that all 34 countries member states 6 in 2011 of the ECML would participate in the research. For this reason, the researcher contacted (via emails and/or phone calls) representatives from the Ministry of Education or/and University departments in all countries. However, communication for confirming the validity of data was not possible with Albania, Armenia, Austria, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, N. Ireland and Spain. Consequently, these countries were not included in the research, along with Andorra and Liechtenstein which do not have any higher institutions offering initial language teacher education programmes. Moreover, because of the lengthy process of the data collection, there were some countries that needed to be re-evaluated, since there have been changes in their higher education system (e.g. France, Germany).

Sample selection
The 25 countries that participated in the research are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland. The total sample of countries that participated in the survey consists of 25 questionnaires. The sample of the academic curricula was selected by random sampling. The researcher was looking at the websites of the university departments for the study guides of the minimum degrees needed to each country in order to be eligible to work as teacher of French in secondary education of publicly funded schools. Where practicable, there was an attempt that the minimum required qualifications (e.g. bachelor, master, pedagogical studies) were offered by the same academic institution. Therefore, the choice of universities was based on the availability of the above. It is noted that the evaluation concerns exclusively the selective academic curricula of the specific universities.

Presentation of the academic curricula
This part presents the basic characteristics of the university and the academic curriculum for initial training of teachers in the 25 countries that participated in the research. With regard to the academic programmes that require studies in a second or third specialization, the evaluation performed did not include the second or third specialization, but only the academic curricula for studies addressed to prospective French language teachers were evaluated. This is distinct in the cell "Degree description" in the tables below.
(1) Bosnia-Herzegovina: University of Sarajevo Specialist (or semi-specialist) in one, two or three language(s)/subjects: Specialist in French (major) and minor in another language or in education/pedagogy Other prerequisites in order to work as a language teacher in secondary education: It is difficult to talk about the general rules at the state level due to a complicated and complex political, economic and educational structure of the post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina (2 entities, 1 district, 10 cantons in the Federation of Bosnia). In Sarajevo Canton after obtaining a Master in Language Teaching, it is needed to spend one year as a novice teacher in the public school after which there are the exams supervised by the Pedagogical Institute, which officially qualify prospective teachers as foreign language teachers in public schools

Institutions training future language teachers: (1) Universities
Possibility to work (Both in secondary and primary/only in secondary): Primary and secondary education. After obtaining the Master's degree one can work in both primary and secondary education, and this applies only for Sarajevo Canton; other cantons have different policies and rules Status of teachers working in publicly funded schools: School teachers working in state schools are civil servants. They are employed by the school principal on the basis of a public vacancy announcement stating the requirements in terms of qualifications. Before they can take up employment in a school, a teacher must meet the requirements laid down in the Guidelines on the Type of Qualifications of Teachers and Associates in Schools

Specialist (or semi-specialist) in one, two or three language(s)/subjects: Specialist in French
Other prerequisites in order to work as a language teacher in secondary education: In order to acquire the professional qualification of teacher of French, students who have graduated in French philology also need to undergo training to gain the professional qualification of teacher. This can take place concurrently with the training for acquiring the respective educational and qualification degree or after graduation. When the concurrent option takes place, students who have graduated and who have met the unified state requirements for acquiring the professional qualification of teacher, are awarded the professional qualification of philologist and teacher of French at secondary schools Institutions training future language teachers: (1) Universities

Possibility to work (Both in secondary and primary/only in secondary): In secondary and primary education
Status of teachers working in publicly funded schools: Teachers are not civil servants. They work under labour contract and are employed by school principals (6)   Specialist (or semi-specialist) in one, two or three language(s)/subjects: Possibility to choose: Specialist in French only or French with another subject. The university offers a variety of options and students have the chance to choose if they want to become specialists in one or two languages. After the above-mentioned "licence" there is a variety of options concerning masters, the one chosen to be evaluated is considered to be most appropriate for teaching Other prerequisites in order to work as a language teacher in secondary education: Future language teachers have to present themselves at the "aggregation" exams (holders of a master) or "CAPES" exams (holders of a licence) Institutions training future language teachers: (1) Universities Possibility to work (Both in secondary and primary/only in secondary): Secondary. To work in primary schools, success in another type of national contest is needed: The CRPE exams. Primary school teachers are nowadays encouraged to teach foreign languages as well. But sometimes there are still specialized teachers who teach foreign languages in primary education Status of teachers working in publicly funded schools: The majority of teachers working in state schools are civil servants Master study guide: http://www.epb.uni-hamburg.de/files/Vorlaeufige%20Pruefungsordnung%20Master%20of%20 Education%20der%20Lehramtsstudiengaenge_0.pdf Degree description: ECTS: BA: 180 ECTS + MA: 120 ECTS = 300 ECTS. The bachelor programme comprises three phases: Initial phase, construction phase, deepening phase. The modules include usually several courses and conclude with a test module. An internship is also required. At the end of the BA, students must submit a thesis and present it in front of a committee. In order to enter into the BA programme, a B2 level in French is required. In order to enter into the MA programme, a C1 level in French is required, B1 in another language and knowledge of Latin Duration of studies: Bachelor: 3 years + Master: 2 years = 5 years Specialist (or semi-specialist) in one, two or three language(s)/subjects: Specialist in French and another language or subject and a minor (2 majors + 1 minor). Students always have to study at least two subjects which they both will teach later on at school, and they have to take classes in pedagogy as well. After successfully completing the two year traineeship (written exams, papers, evaluations, final exam) they become qualified teachers and can apply for a position (they cannot choose the school but they are being sent to a school where they are needed)

Evaluation of academic curricula for initial teacher training of teachers of French
In this section, there is an attempt to assess the academic curriculum for initial teacher training of teachers of French based on the 40 items set by the European Profile for Language Teacher Education-A Frame of Reference. Each criterion takes the values "0" or "2, 5". The survey questionnaire takes the form of an evaluation table 7 whose maximum possible score is 100 (40 items x 2, 5). In order to ensure the objectivity of the evaluation table, the rating "2.5" is justified by the existence of at least one course, present in the curriculum at any of the required academic qualifications for teaching languages in secondary education. Only the item "period of work or study in another country" (item 7: Structure of the curriculum) takes the additional value "1.25" to differentiate curricula that incorporate a period of stay abroad as a compulsory part of the curriculum and take the value "2.5", from curricula where the period of study abroad is not mandatory and take the value "1.25". The value of "2.5" is represented by "√", "1.25" by "*" and when the value is "0" the cell remains empty. The items are presented in the four sections distinguished by the EPLTE and there is also an evaluation table presenting the overall assessment of the 25 academic curricula. Table 1 performs a comparative analysis of the items relating to the structure of the academic curriculum for initial language teacher education. The following are observed:

Comparative review of the items: structure
• The item 6: "Participation in links with partners abroad, including visits, exchanges or ICT links" was not awarded to any academic programme, as according to the EPLTE this item refers to "the creation of a website for language teachers in Europe to centralize Europe-related pedagogical information. The aim should be to encourage teachers to be active contributors, not only consumers. The website would contain information useful for both teachers and teacher educators" (Kelly et al., 2004, p. 32). The increased availability of educational resources via the worldwide web, including Open Educational Resources, means that both teaching staff and learners have, potentially, a much wider range of learning materials at their disposal and teachers will increasingly need the competences to find, evaluate and deploy learning materials from a wider range of sources, and to help learners acquire these competences (European Commission, 2012). Therefore, the integration of item 6 by creating a website that will encourage communication with partners abroad, exchange of best practices and dissemination of pedagogical information for all stakeholders involved in teacher education seems very feasible.
• Only 12 academic curricula incorporate training for school-based mentors in how to mentor (item 12). But even in these academic curricula, there seem to be significant disparities in the role given to school-based mentors, in their training and in the ways that the concept of mentorship is established in each country. In Luxembourg, for instance, those wishing to become school-based mentors have to attend a full or a part of a master's degree 8 at the University of Luxembourg, while in other countries school-based mentors receive a few hours training.
• The academic curricula of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Montenegro do not provide close links between trainees who are being educated to teach different languages (item 13). Academic curricula for initial language teacher education could provide close links between trainees of different languages by integrating a number of courses, seminars or/and workshops that would be of a common interest to all future language teachers. These courses could focus on the European Dimension, on the concepts of plurilinguism and multilinguism, pluriculturalism, interculturalism, European tools for learning and teaching languages such as the • Moreover, it should be noted that the only countries that integrate into their teacher education programme a mandatory period of stay abroad for study are England, Finland and Luxemburg.   Table 2 depicts a comparative analysis of the seven items included in the "Knowledge and Understanding" section of the EPLTE. The following can be observed:

Comparative review of the items: knowledge and understanding
• The items that do not appear to be incorporated by all academic curricula are item 17: "Training in Information and Communication Technology for pedagogical use in the classroom", and item 18: "Training in Information and Communication Technology for personal planning, organization and resource discovery". Both of them refer to the use of ICT, though there not seem to be any national constraints preventing the integration of ICT in the academic curricula, it could be deduced that there is still a minority of initial teacher education programmes that do focus as much as needed in developing teachers' competences in ICT for pedagogical use in the classroom due to contextual reasons (probably lack of infrastructure) or other unknown reasons.
• Similarly, two academic curricula do not implement the items 20: "Training in the critical evaluation of nationally or regionally adopted curricula in terms of aims, objectives and outcomes" and 21: "Training in the theory and practice of internal and external programme evaluation". Both items refer to evaluation, making it possible to assume that there might be no national or contextual constraints that prevent their integration into the curriculum. Table 3 examines the items of the EPLTE, which concern the existence of courses that enhance strategies and skills. It is found that the majority of the items are incorporated into the academic curricula, with only exceptions the items 30: "Training in developing relationships with educational institutions in appropriate countries", 33: "Training in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)" and 34: "Training in the use of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) for self-evaluation". The item 33 is covered only by eight academic curricula; CLIL is a competence-based teaching approach that implements methodologies and strategies for teaching another subject through the medium of a foreign language and encourages cooperation with colleagues from different disciplines. Though CLIL is gaining ground in European education systems, it is not yet implemented in the majority of the initial language teacher education programmes. The item 34 is not covered by eight academic curricula. In addition to ELP, student teachers of languages should also be trained to the use of the  Table 4 concerns the values, which should strengthen the academic curricula, as recommended by the EPLTE. The following can be observed:

Comparative review of the items: values
• It is found that only the academic curricula of Cyprus, France, Poland and Switzerland cover item 38: "Training in teaching European citizenship". Poland, for instance, integrates the following two courses in the bachelor's degree of the academic curriculum of student teachers of French "Knowledge of Europe" and "Teaching and learning in the European Society". "European citizenship corresponds to a set of shared values and beliefs in democracy, the rule of law, the free press and a shared cultural heritage. EU citizenship more specifically confers a set of legal and civic rights and duties on citizens, allowing them to work and travel freely between EU member states. European citizenship can be incorporated into teaching content through promotion of these shared values, choice of teaching materials and intercultural and multicultural networks and exchanges" (Kelly et al., 2004, p. 86). It is thus important for the concept of European citizenship to be incorporated into initial language teacher education.
• The item 39: "Training in team-working, collaboration and networking, inside and outside the immediate school context" is not covered by five academic curricula. Indicative title of courses that cover the item are "Language Policies in Europe-Common European Frame of Reference and other European Tools" (France), "Building networks with other professionals" (Ireland),   Table 5 presents the evaluation of academic curricula for the initial training of teachers of French. The cell "degree(s) description" mentions briefly all required academic qualifications for teaching in secondary schools in each country.

Survey results
The present study does not verify or reject the first research question that the academic curricula, which focus on specialization of two languages, equip trainee teachers with more skills. As shown in Table 6, the highest score is received by the academic curriculum of the University of Luxembourg, which includes expertise in only one language. The academic curriculum of Switzerland, which provides trainee teachers with specialization in two disciplines, is second. Then, the academic curricula of Hungary, Norway and Finland, providing training in two disciplines, and Iceland with the Netherlands, which provide expertise in only one discipline, seem to follow. Consequently, the conclusion drawn is that the specialization in two disciplines, does not exclude the optimal development of skills, which tomorrow's teachers should develop. England and Malta are not included in the table, as they provide trainee teachers the opportunity to choose whether they wish to specialize in one or two disciplines.
Additionally, regarding the second research question of whether lengthier academic curricula provide trainee teachers with a better learning context for developing the competencies recommended by the EPLTE, it is found that the lengthier academic curricula (University of Luxemburg and Switzerland) have received the most favourable score. As seen in Table 7, the lengthier curricula have received better rating, but this does not exclude shorter curricula with equally good rating (e.g. Norway, England). The main differentiating factors between academic curricula are the institutional framework and organizational structure rather than the content of the curricula and the subsequent development of competencies. Heterogeneity is found in the academic curricula with regard to the minimum academic qualifications required in order to teach in secondary education in different countries, and in other external features. Specifically, there is variety in the names of the bachelor degrees as shown at Table 8, the structure of academic curricula, the minimum required ECTS (varying from 240 to more than 360 ECTS), the minimum academic qualifications, 9 the recruitment process for teaching in publicly funded schools in secondary education 10 and the status of teachers (civil servants, not civil servants) in each country. On the other hand, the study affirms that all academic curricula adopt the ECTS system, as a means of promoting cooperation between different institutions and student mobility.
In reference to the third research question, the study reveals that the academic curricula implement the majority of the items of the EPLTE. The only item, that is not covered by any academic  curriculum is the item 6, which is about creating a multimedia tool, which will enhance the cooperation and communication between educational institutions, trainee teachers and other stakeholders involved in planning and implementation of academic curricula for the initial training of language teachers. Regarding the overall evaluation of the items of the EPLTE, the maximum divergence between countries are in the range of 25 points (95 = highest score, minimum score = 70).
Last but not least, the study confirms that items of the EPLTE referring to the development of linguistic, pedagogical and methodological skills are covered to an absolute degree by all academic curricula in question. On the contrary, only a limited number of the academic curricula integrate courses that enrich student teachers' capacity in the use of the European Language portfolio for self-evaluation and in European citizenship.
In conclusion, although the differences between the external features of academic curricula for initial training of language teachers are evident, the optimistic conclusion seems to lie in the fact that the implementation of the 40 items of the EPLTE into the academic curricula for initial language teacher education does not seem utopian. On the other hand, it was pointed out that the great variety between countries in teacher education policies hinder the introduction of the "European Qualified Language Teacher Status", which will provide the opportunity to work in all Member States of the European Union and the introduction of the title "European language teacher", according to the recommendations of the report the Training of Teachers of a Foreign Language: Developments in Europe (European Commission: 2002, Kelly et al., 2002.

Limitations
This survey captured the external characteristics of the 40 key elements of the EPLTE and provided information about the correspondences between different aspects of academic curricula and the key elements. The survey provided the general image of initial French language teacher education in 25 different countries.
It appeared that the majority of key elements are present in nearly all curricula. Consequently, more differences between curricula could be further discovered with specific elaboration on key elements. The survey did not elaborate in the specific ways in which student teachers were introduced

Names of the bachelor degrees University
to the competences and key elements, in the quality (specific methodologies used, quality of pedagogical support by the mentor), means (infrastructure, ICT, networking) and time (for instance number of hours devoted to teaching practice compared to theories) devoted to the development of teaching and teacher competences. The list of courses 11 of every academic curriculum could provide the basis for a more detailed analysis of every key element.
In addition, the study examined only one academic curriculum of every country. The analysis of more academic curricula in the same country would probably provide more information about the ways that the 40 key elements of the EPLTE are integrated. Moreover, the existence of more evaluators for every academic curriculum would deliver a more objective and concrete overview of the academic curricula.

Recommendations
In a rapidly changing world, the education and professional development of teachers should be a coherent continuum, starting from initial teacher education (with a strong "teaching practice" component), induction, in-service and ongoing professional development. Within this context it would be useful to recommend the following: • • It would be advisable to encourage the mobility of trainee teachers in order to make periods of learning and teaching abroad the rule rather than the exception. Though the ECTS system is adopted by almost. 12 • Academic curricula should integrate a course about European citizenship that is currently been taught only in four out of the 25 academic curricula in question. They should also integrate courses that would reinforce the use of the European Language Portfolio for self-evaluation and the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of language-EPOSTL (Newby, 2007).
• Academic curricula should ensure that teaching practice provides opportunities for student teachers to integrate theory and practice and work collaboratively with and learn from experienced teachers-mentors. Student teachers should be encouraged to evaluate their own teaching experiences through discussions with mentors and university lecturers via teaching practice student teacher gain experience in managing and evaluating class work; in maintaining discipline and order in the classroom, find their own teaching style and become acquainted with school organization and administration. Effective teaching practice can be ensured when both school-based mentors and university tutors work in tandem and the university provides training courses and any other support needed to school-based mentors. Special mentor training programmes are necessary and can be offered, for example, by teacher education institutes. This will lead to benefits not only for beginning teachers, but also for mentors themselves.
• Research should be carried out on beginning teachers to determine the efficacy of initial teacher education programmes and to assist in the design of induction and continuous professional development programmes (Conway, Murphy, Rath, & Hall, 2009).
• Educational programmes, which are the key factors of knowledge supply, attitudes and competences for ensuring continuous professional development of teachers, should be of high quality, reconciling academic research with teaching practice, in order to meet the changing needs of the current fast evolving society and, encourage in this way student mobility and employability in other European countries. Therefore, there is a need to focus on quality initial teacher education, induction programmes to support the professional growth of new teachers, improvement of in-service teacher education and opportunities of continuous professional development for teacher educators, teachers and all stakeholders involved in teacher education policy.

Discussion and conclusion
The heightened expectations of teachers have led to an unprecedented political, professional and research interest in teacher education worldwide. This is evident in the number of reviews in various countries and cross-national studies of teaching and teacher education in the last few years, including OECD's The OECD (2005) has asserted that: "… countries need to have clear and concise statements of what teachers are expected to know and be able to do, and these teacher profiles need to be embedded throughout the school and teacher education systems. The profile of teacher competencies needs to derive from the objectives for student learning, and provide profession-wide standards and a shared understanding of what counts as accomplished teaching. The teacher profiles need to encompass strong subject matter knowledge, pedagogical skills, the capacity to work effectively with a wide range of students and colleagues, to contribute to the school and the profession, and the capacity to continue developing … A clear, well structured and widely supported teacher profile can be a powerful mechanism for aligning the elements involved in developing teachers' knowledge and skills, and for providing a means of assessing whether teacher development programmes are making a difference".
On their turn, Ministers of Education, meeting in the Education Council, have on three occasions (European, 2007;European Union, 2009) committed themselves to improving the whole continuum of Teacher Education by improving the recruitment and selection of teachers, raising the quality of their Initial Teacher Education, providing systematic support to beginning teachers and improving the relevance and quality of career-long opportunities for CPD. Concerning specifically the competences of teachers, Ministers have recognized that: the knowledge, skills and commitment of teachers, as well as the quality of school leadership, are the most important factors in achieving high-quality educational outcomes.
The Supporting Teacher Competence Development for better Learning Outcomes report (2013) emphasizes that the development of comprehensive frameworks that define and describe the competences that teachers are expected to deploy, can bring numerous benefits to education systems. Since teaching is much more than a task, and involves values or assumptions concerning education, learning and society, the concept of teacher competences may resonate differently in different national contexts. Teacher competences frameworks have been used to the design of programmes of initial teacher education, induction (early career support) and continuing professional development (CPD). On the other hand, the report does not fail to mention that the presence of teacher competence descriptions does not, of course, in itself guarantee the quality of teaching, since what counts is their purposes and the way they are applied, which are embedded in specific cultural contexts and constraints (European Commission, 2013).
As stated in a UNESCO report (Schwille & Dembélé, 2007), there seems to be a lack of international consensus on the best options for the policies and practices of teacher education, since institutional attempts to tackle open issues mostly reflect either national traditions or assumptions and decisions based on practical considerations. The activity of teaching, in as much as it is socially and contextually based, naturally reflects ideas and priorities about the aims and desirable outcomes of education and schooling, with underlying values and cultural traits, which are deeply rooted in national histories and traditions. Conceptions and beliefs about the ideal teacher, the ideal citizen and the ideal institutions for student and teacher preparation usually go hand in hand, complementing each other.
In conclusion, teacher education needs to consider diverse points of views and the multiplicity of relationships between teaching, training, schooling, learning processes, actors and contexts. Such complexity is increased when it aims to qualify itself with a European dimension. One suggested strategy for coping with complexity of a European teacher education curriculum, might consist in strengthening and extending academic networks for research and practice exchanges in a reciprocal way (Snoek & Žogla, 2009). Initial teacher education which comes from both research and practice from diverse academic backgrounds could enable tomorrow's teachers to primarily consider their own learning needs, to be versatile and knowledgeable, to be resourceful in order to foster a culture of knowledge generation and sharing in schools, to respond to new demands and develop greater responsibility for their own lifelong learning, to be active participants in policy development and to be agents of effective improvements in the quality of European teacher education.