CLIC is pleased to announce the conference "The Multilingual University: Challenges, Innovations, and Future Perspectives", which will be held on 25 and 26 April. On 25 April, the event will take place at U-Residence on the VUB campus, and on 26 April, it will be hosted at the Flemish Parliament (De Schelp Hall).
The event is organized by CLIC member Ann Peeters, Jo Angouri (University of Warwick/VUB) and Stefanie Keulen (VUB).
For the full programme, please click here:
Summary
Multilingualism is often seen as a desired priority in higher education, but in practice, it typically remains a profiling exercise referring to the sum of national languages students/staff in an education context are reported to have as a mother tongue. In many other cases, multilingualism is reduced to the use of a global language (more often than not English) as a lingua franca for teaching and learning. In both positions, the linguistic diversity of academic communities and, fundamentally, the linguistic capital of multilingual students and staff are left in the periphery. Starting with the former, ‘language’ in education is commonly associated with one particular variety, that of a national language/s of a country. The problems associated with this position are well documented; labelling a language as ‘standard’ is a political choice coinciding with the power of dominant groups in a socioeconomic context, while the linguistic repertoire of the speakers includes a number of other varieties, often seen dialects, and which are excluded as inferior to the standard. Similarly turning to the second issue, using one language (typically a global or so-called major language) flattens down cultural differences and language diversity, rather than allowing students to use the full extent of their linguistic repertoires. This narrow framing of multilingualism has a double effect on the learner: it distances the learning process from their own linguistic capital and, by extension, makes it less relevant to them and it does not enable to apply, grow and enrich from the wealth of skills and competences that come from using all the semiotic resources of meaning.
The conference will focus on challenges, innovations as well as future perspectives related to the multilingualism in higher education.
