Tagungen > Tagungsausschreibung

18.04.2009

Professionalising Multilingualism in Higher Education

  • Ort: Luxembourg
  • Beginn: 04.02.10
  • Ende: 06.02.10
  • Disziplinen:
  • Sprachen: Sprachenübergreifend

Professionalising Multilingualism in Higher Education: Developing Plurilingual

Individuals and Multilingual Institutions

 

Following previous conferences dealing with multilingual Universities, the 2010

conference will address the issue of professionalisation in relation to the

development of institutional multilingualism and individual plurilingualism. In

order to deal with this issue, firstly, the figure of a non-native speaker or

learner, trying to bridge the gap to the native speaker, is replaced by the more

complete figure of the learner as a social actor. Secondly, complex interactions

are considered in space and time as they are interconnected along four

independent dimensions.

 

Please see:

www.multilingualuniversities.net

 

Call for Papers

 

Five thematic strands have been identified according to the conceptual framework

of the conference.

 

Thematic Strands

 

1. Becoming a plurilingual professional in a multilingual world.

Research has emphasized the role of higher education in the development of

plurilingualism and multicultural areas. From this point of view, the training

issue and the question of vocational teacher training is of core interest: which

characteristics have to be developed in professionals in teaching (not only in

teaching languages)? Which challenges and contexts have to be managed by the

plurilingual professionals?

 

2. Multilingualism in higher education and research: an economic perspective

Multilingual universities represent the economic dimensions of multilingualism

today. On the one hand side, university administrations have to handle costs and

validations regarding documents and the set-up of administration in different

languages. On the other hand, they are key players in the creation of added

value with regard to the future economic success of candidates in a multilingual

world and the enhancement the potentials of a region which hosts a multilingual

university.

 

3. Plurilingual biographies and professional identities

Everyday life at university engages biographical, linguistic and professional

backgrounds as regards acting in formal and informal multilingual communication

at university in scientific, technical or administrative domains. Moreover,

multilingual biographies and professional practices serve as training tools for

multilingualism in professional contexts outside the academic framework.

 

4. Multilingual higher education: implementing multilingual study programmes and

assessment

Multilingual higher education settings raise the question of the implementation

of standards and normalization efforts for multilingualism and/or multilingual

practices. Moreover, experiences and observations of multilingual study

programmes and their successful implementation demonstrate new models of

assessment and evaluation, which cannot (only) be based on monolingual standards.

 

5. Language policies for multilingual universities

Beyond linguistic imperialism and historical implications, languages compete in

relation to their roles in vocational domains, geographic areas, individual

practices, institutional rules and political regulations. Firstly multilingual

universities, here the university of Luxembourg, have issues of territorial,

societal and educational multilingualisms. Secondly, in general, the

transferability of the model of the multilingual university needs to be

investigated and further developed.

 

Guidelines on submission formats etc are available from:

www.multilingualuniversities.net

 

Von:  gudrun ziegler

Publiziert von: jd