SCILT, Scotland's National Centre for Languages, was established in 1991. Our vision is for a multilingual Scotland where all languages are valued and where lifelong language learning is recognised as a key skill, one that makes a significant contribution towards the creation of a fairer, smarter, more successful Scotland.
SCILT receives a grant from the Scottish Government to fund its core activities. There are 4 key strands to our work:
We are leading providers of professional development for language educators in Scotland, convinced that excellence in language teaching is critical to the realisation of our vision.
Professional Development therefore represents a large part of our work. We are committed to facilitating professional exchange and development among language educators in all sectors and offer a flexible approach to organising and delivering tailored events across Scotland. Our CPD Programme also includes national conferences as well as virtual events via Glow and other web-based technology.
Our work is underpinned by the belief that reflective professionals will draw on relevant research to inform and review their practice. To this end, we provide information on SCILT research and publications, as well as collate and analyse findings from various language research projects, conducted at individual, institutional, national, UK-wide, or international level. We also provide information on policy documents and statistics.
Our electronic journal, Scottish Languages Review, aims to be THE electronic journal for language practitioners in Scotland and brings together research and examples of best practice from language professionals across Scotland.
SCILT supports languages professionals across Scotland through the provision of relevant information. A weekly news bulletin summarises the week’s news in languages and languages education, including language related events across Scotland. We offer an enquiry service relating to statistics, trends and aspects of languages learning, teaching and research. If you have an enquiry, please contact our Information Officer.
Visit our News pages to read the latest languages news in Scotland and to sign up for our weekly news bulletin.
Our Events Calendar gives an overview of all languages events in Scotland.
Suggested websites and other online resources to support language practitioners can be found through our Information and Resources pages.
We promote the celebration of success in language learning by encouraging involvement of schools and local authorities in national and European initiatives such as the Scottish Education Awards, the European Day of Languages (EDL) and the European Language Label (formerly European Award for Languages).
For more information on these awards and the other ways we promote and celebrate languages, visit the Promoting Languages section of our website.
