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Jeudi le 2 juin

Room 300

8:00–9:00 Registration

9:00–9:30 Opening

9:30–10:30  Plenary session

Enrica Piccardo: Apprendre et enseigner les langues dans une perspective plurilingue et stratégique : enjeux et implications.

L’enseignement des langues se trouve confronté à des défis de taille liés à la mobilité croissante des individus qui traversent toute sorte de frontières : géographiques, culturelles et sociales.

Dans ce scénario, tout acteur de l’éducation est appelé à réfléchir sur la nature même de la compétence langagière, sur son caractère dynamique, sur les apports de la trajectoire langagière de chacun et de son répertoire. En partant du concept de plurilinguisme, cette présentation discutera les caractéristiques de la compétence plurilingue et pluriculturelle, ainsi que la dimension stratégique et de médiation qui l’accompagne aux différents niveaux. Les descripteurs du nouveau Cadre européen de référence (Conseil de l’Europe, 2020) seront utilisés comme levier pour une réflexion sur les avancées dans la recherche et dans la pratique de la didactique des langues. Des témoignages tirés d’un projet de recherche récent sur l’utilisation d’une approche actionnelle plurilingue seront aussi montrés dans le but de contribuer à la réflexion collective.

Dr. Enrica Piccardo is a Professor in the Languages and Literacies Education Program (Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning) and the Head of the Centre for Educational Research in Languages and Literacies at OISE. Her research is centered around Second/Foreign Language learning and teaching, plurilingualism and mediation, the impact of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) on language teaching and assessment, complexity theories, and creativity in language acquisition.

10:30–11:00  Coffee break

11:00–13:00  Presentations

Barbara Hofer, Birgit Spechtenhauser-Mayr: Plurilingual competencies as emergent properties of dynamic multilingual systems

In an increasingly multilingual world plurilingual competences form a vital part of speakers’ resource repertoire. Monolingual native-speaker competences which have traditionally been the benchmark in educational contexts, no longer suffice to equip the younger generations for life and work in multilingual societies. The present paper discusses plurilingual competences from a holistic DST perspective. It first provides a definition of plurilingual competence based on Herdina and Jessner‘s (2002) Dynamic Model of Multilingualism (DMM) and on Cook’s notion of multicompetence (2016). The present authors espouse a dynamic view on plurilingual competence as a complex emergent property of the multilingual system. In line with DMM they regard multilingual awareness (MLA) as a key factor of plurilingual learning and consider plurilingual development as supported and enhanced by robust synergetic effects as result from the interplay of multiple linguistic systems in the mind and speakers‘ extensive metacognitive knowledge. The definitional introduction is followed by the presentation of recent research into early plurilingual competencies in the multilingual context of South Tyrol, Italy. Hofer reports on two studies into plurilingual competences at the primary level and contrasts the linguistic, metalingustic skills of young learner groups in traditional and multilingualism-oriented educational settings as well as pupils‘ performance in a range of crosslinguistic tasks. The test procedures employed comprise language tests in German/Italian/English as the three curricular codes, a metalinguistic measure (MAT-2), interviews with a subsample of participants, and a plurilingual competence test inclusive of a linguistic and a metacognitive dimension. The former assesses childrens’ crosslinguistic understanding, the latter elicits learners‘ verbalisation of their respective metalinguistic reflections. Spechtenhauser’s research focuses on teenage learners’ MeLA (metalinguistic awareness) in the three instructed languages (German, Italian, English) over a three-year period and examines whether transfer of MeLA is possible. For this purpose, Pinto’s test battery was tailored to the trilingual situation. Spechtenhauser investigated how her participants, who after the MeLA testing phases were divided into a LowMeLA, MediumMeLA and HighMeLA group, decode a novel linguistic system. Concurrent data gathered in interviews are discussed with a view to how learners' dimensions of multilingual awareness (MLA) developed over the observed three-year period.

In support of DMM, our studies found MLA to be a major characteristic of learners’ emerging plurilingual competencies. These findings, in this sense, argue against the insular role of language teachers and show that treating curriculum languages as separate units is reductive as it does not take into account learners' plurilingual experiences. In this light, a holistic perspective that does not consider learners' competences in an isolated manner can be supported by plurilingual approaches, that see learners as multifaceted individuals and, in addition, can promote metacognitive and crosslinguistic thinking.

Mehrsprachige Benutzer haben ihre eigenen spezifischen linguistischen Profile und Kompetenzen, die nicht als autonome Sprachprofile in den jeweiligen Sprachen erforscht werden können. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die mehrsprachige Kompetenz aus einer ganzheitlichen DST-Perspektive diskutiert. Zunächst wird eine Definition der plurilingualen Kompetenz auf der Grundlage des dynamischen Modells der Mehrsprachigkeit (DMM) von Herdina und Jessner (2002) und des Konzepts der Multikompetenz von Cook (2016) gegeben. Die anwesenden Autoren nehmen eine dynamische Sichtweise auf die Mehrsprachigkeitskompetenz ein, die als eine komplexe emergente Eigenschaft mehrsprachiger Systeme betrachtet wird, und gehen davon aus, dass das mehrsprachige Bewusstsein (MLA) durch synergetische Effekte, die sich aus den interagierenden Sprachsystemen ergeben, verstärkt wird. Auf diese definitorische Einführung folgt die Darstellung des aktuellen Forschungsstandes. Hofer illustriert die Ergebnisse zweier Studien zu plurilingualen Kompetenzen auf der Primarstufe, und Spechtenhauser berichtet über eine zweigeteilte Langzeitstudie zu plurilingualen Kompetenzen von Teenagern. Die Studien belegen, dass MLA ein wesentliches Merkmal der sich entwickelnden plurilingualen Kompetenzen von Lernenden ist und unterstützen damit das DMM. Da reduktionistische Sichtweisen auf die plurilingualen Kompetenzen von Lernenden immer noch weit verbreitet sind, werden aus diesen Ergebnissen pädagogische Schlussfolgerungen gezogen.

References:

  • Cook, Vivian (2016): Premises of multi-competence. In: Cook, Vivian & Li Wei (eds.): The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multi-Competence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1-25.
  • Herdina, Philip & Jessner, Ulrike (2002): A Dynamic Model of Multilingualism. Perspective of Change in Psycholinguistics. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
  • Hofer, B. (2019). Mehrsprachige Kompetenzen in der Grundschule. In: Philip Herdina, Elisabeth Allgäuer-Hackl, Emese Malzer Papp (Hrsg.) Mehrsprachensensibel? Monolinguale Sprachenpolitik trifft auf mehrsprachige Praxis - Multilingual sensibility? Monolingual policies meet multilingual practice. ISBN 978-3-903187-55-9.
  • Hofer, B. & Jessner, U. (2019). Assessing components of multi-(lingual) competence in young learners. Lingua doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2019.102747.
  • Jessner, U. (2006) Linguistic Awareness in Multilinguals: English as a Third Language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Jessner, U., 2017. Multicompetence approaches to language proficiency development in multilingual education. In: Garcia, O., Lin, A., May, S. (Eds.), Bilingual and Multilingual Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. 3rd ed. Springer, Cham, 161--173.
  • Spechtenhauser, B., 2022 (forthcoming). Many languages – one mind: exploring multilingual competencies.

Barbara Hofer is lecturer at the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano and a longstanding member of the DyME research team at Innsbruck University. Her research interests are multilingual acquisition and plurilingual competencies, amongst others. She has carried out research in the field of multilingualism and multilingual learning and has published on metalinguistic awareness and plurilingual competences. In her current research she investigates early plurilingual competences from a DST perspective. Barbara Hofer is herself multilingual and presently engaged in the study of Chinese.
E-mail: hofbar@libero.it

Birgit Spechtenhauser-Mayr After studying linguistics, German and English at the University of Trento, she obtained her teaching qualification at the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano. She taught in secondary schools and in recent years has mainly been involved in teacher training and as a lecturer at the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, where she taught English at various university levels. She is also a member of the DyME research group (Dynamics of Multilingualism with English) at the University of Innsbruck and has recently completed her PhD, which looked at plurilingual awareness in multilingual learners. Her scientific work focuses on observing the development of plurilingual awareness and competences, strategy use in multilinguals and language contact phenomena.
E-mail: birgit.spechtenhauser1@unibz.it

Hugues Sheeren, Walter Zidarič: « WellbeIntercomprehension », un projet universitaire pour développer l’intercompréhension interfamiliale entre langues romanes et germaniques

L’intercompréhension est une approche dont on commence aujourd’hui à connaitre et reconnaitre les atouts en milieu universitaire et qui se développe de plus en plus dans les pays latins. Se basant sur la notion de « répertoire langagier », elle abat le cloisonnement entre langues et préconise l’abolition de l’équation « une classe = une langue » (Escudé-Jamin, 2010) caractéristique de l’enseignement traditionnel, grâce à un travail en parallèle sur plusieurs idiomes de la même famille.

Valorisant le plurilinguisme et la pluralité culturelle, l’intercompréhension (IC), qui est née au départ dans les pays scandinaves au siècle dernier, s’est pourtant développée par la suite pour les langues romanes, à partir des travaux de Claire-Blanche Benvéniste au début des années 90, les langues germaniques ayant peu ou prou abandonné cette approche, préférant, sans doute, recourir à une autre langue germanique universelle qui leur est proche : l’anglais.

Démarré en 2021, le projet « Wellbeintercomprehension » financé par le consortium Euniwell (www.euniwell.eu) regroupe actuellement 4 universités (Florence- Nantes- Semmelweiss et Linnaeus) et a pour objectif de créer du matériel didactique pour l’intercompréhension entre langues germaniques mais aussi de développer l’intercompréhension interfamiliale, soit entre deux langues de familles différentes. Ainsi, nous avons produit du matériel didactique intercompréhensif (dialogues audio, vidéos, textes de compréhension, exercices…) où deux locuteurs s’expriment l’un dans une langue germanique l’autre dans une langue romane et parviennent à se comprendre. Créé en 12 langues (NO-SE-DA-NL-EN-DE-PT-ES-CA-FR-IT-RO), le matériel est principalement destiné à un public universitaire et aborde des thèmes liés à la mobilité estudiantine (recherche d’un logement, informations sur les cours à suivre, différences culturelles, soins de santé etc.).

Grâce au matériel didactique qui sera mis à la disposition de nos étudiant.e.s (mais aussi des étudiant.e.s et des collègues du monde entier) via un site/une plateforme, nous souhaitons promouvoir une forme de communication ne se limitant pas au « tout anglais » mais au contraire basée sur l’échange paritaire, la reconnaissance de l’Autre dans sa différence, le dialogue « éthique « où chacun peut s’exprimer dans sa langue tout en faisant un effort pour se faire comprendre et pour comprendre l’Autre. Une modalité communicative qui, selon nous, pourrait devenir un modèle dans l’Europe de demain et qui n’est pas impossible à réaliser, même entre des langues apparemment éloignées.

Il progetto interuniversitario WellbeIntercomprehension coordinato dall’Università di Firenze e che vede coinvolte 4 università europee mira a diffondere l’intercomprensione come approccio didattico e come modalità comunicativa del futuro. Ha per obiettivo di sviluppare l’intercomprensione fra lingue germaniche - trascurata in questi ultimi decenni mentre si è sviluppata molto per le lingue romanze – ma soprattutto intende sviluppare una forma di comprensione reciproca meno scontata che è quella tra le lingue di ceppi linguistici diversi. Grazie alla creazione di materiale didattico di varie tipologie (video con giochi di ruolo, dialoghi, testi…), destinato a degli studenti e delle studentesse universitari, i membri del progetto intendono promuovere la capacità a capirsi tra un parlante di lingua germanica e un parlante di lingua neolatina dando delle strategie e sviluppando delle competenze di comprensione scritta, orale e di interproduzione.

References:

  • Caddéo, Sandrine & Jamet, Marie-Christine. (2013). L’intercompréhension : une autre approche pour l’enseignement des langues. Paris, France : Hachette FLE.
  • De Carlo, Maddalena. & Anquetil, Mathilde (2019). (2019). Un Référentiel de compétences de communication plurilingue en intercompréhension. REFIC, dans EL.LE, 8(1), p. 163-234. Venezia : Italia : Edizioni Ca’ Foscari.
  • Cortés Velásquez, Diego. (2015). Intercomprensione orale. Ricerca e pratiche didattiche, Firenze, Italie : Le Lettere.
  • Escudé, Pierre & Calvo del Olmo, Francisco. (2019). Intercomprensão. A chave para as linguas, São Paolo, Brésil: Parábola editorial.
  • Escudé, Pierre & Janin, Pierre. (2010). Le point sur l’intercompréhension, clé du plurilinguisme. Paris, France : CLE International.

Hugues Sheeren enseigne le français langue étrangère depuis 1997. Il a travaillé dans plusieurs universités du nord de l’Italie (Bologne, Ferrare, Vérone) en tant que chargé de cours ou comme lecteur de langue française. Il est actuellement « collaborateur et expert linguistique » au Centre Linguistique et au Département de Langues, Interculture, Littératures et Psychologie de l’Université de Florence. Ses domaines d’intérêt et de recherche concernent principalement la didactique des langues, la variation linguistique dans l’enseignement du FLE et l’intercompréhension entre langues romanes qu’il enseigne depuis 2017. Il est coordinateur du projet WellbeIntercomprehension (financé par Euniwell) et est membre du comité d’administration de l’APICAD.
E-mail: hugues.sheeren@unifi.it

Walter Zidarič è professore ordinario di Letteratura e Civiltà italiana all’Università di Nantes con un’esperienza più che ventennale nell’insegnamento della lingua italiana. Ha pubblicato varie monografie, in italiano e in francese, sulla librettistica e sui rapporti tra musica, letteratura e società nel XIX e XX secolo. È all’origine della recente riscoperta di Ercole Luigi Morselli di cui ha pubblicato tutto il teatro e le opere in prosa. È anche librettista con Lars Cleen: lo straniero, per la musica di Paolo Rosato, libretto plurilingue tratto dalla novella Lontano di Luigi Pirandello; con Orione, tratto dall’omonimo dramma di E.L.Morselli, e L’ambasciatore, tratto dalla Morte di Ivan Il’ič di Tolstoj, entrambi per la musica di Simone Fermani.
E-mail: walter.zidaric@univ-nantes.fr

Dorothée Ayer: L’enseignement bilingue dans l’enseignement supérieur : une étape vers le plurilinguisme ?

L’enseignement bilingue connaît un certain succès à différents niveaux de l’enseignement, du primaire au supérieur. S’il a été bien documenté pour l’école obligatoire et le secondaire (Duverger, 2009), il reste encore peu interrogé au niveau tertiaire.

Dans l’enseignement supérieur, l’enseignement bilingue consiste à proposer aux étudiant-e-s un programme d’études dans deux langues. Les cours sont ainsi dispensés dans l’une ou l’autre langue, selon des dispositions propres à chaque institution.

Les formats de dispositifs d’enseignement bilingue varient selon divers paramètres comme le volume d’exposition aux langues d’enseignement, la répartition des deux langues en fonction des disciplines dites non-linguistiques, le profil linguistique des étudiant-e-s, le soutien institutionnel prévu pour favoriser l’apprentissage dans les deux langues ou encore les objectifs sociaux (Brohy et Gajo, 2005) visés par ces programmes d’études. Ceux-ci peuvent répondre à des besoins variés, comme le maintien d’un potentiel bilingue ou la possibilité de proposer un enrichissement linguistique, et donc dépendent fortement de la situation géographique des universités ou des besoins et attentes de la société.

Ne répondant pas totalement aux critères définissant les dispositifs CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) ou EMILE (Enseignement de Matières par Intégration d'une Langue Étrangère), ne correspondant pas tout-à-fait non plus à de l’EMI (English as Medium of Instruction) ou encore à de l’immersion, l’enseignement bilingue est pourtant associé à l’une ou l’autre étiquette sans y satisfaire pleinement.

Toutefois, l’enseignement bilingue peut représenter une approche participant au plurilinguisme, si tant est que les deux langues d’enseignement ne soient pas abordées de manière cloisonnées (Candelier, 2008, Gajo, 2006)

A partir de divers exemples de programmes bilingues menés dans des universités aux contextes linguistiques variés, cette communication propose de questionner la portée de l’enseignement bilingue dans l’enseignement supérieur dans l’optique de la didactique du plurilinguisme, comme un outil à disposition des étudiant-e-s désirant développer leurs compétences langagières dans plusieurs langues. Comme tout dispositif pédagogique, il est nécessaire de respecter certaines conditions pour proposer un parcours de formation à la fois cohérent, accessible à toutes et à tous, donc soutenant. La construction du programme ou la formation des enseignant-e-s de DdNL (Ayer, à paraitre) sont autant d’éléments à prendre en considération pour faire de l’enseignement bilingue un outil au service du développement des compétences plurilingues.

There is still little study of bilingual education in higher education. However, it meets certain expectations of society for various purposes, such as maintaining bilingual potential of an area or enriching language skills. This type of programs contains various parameters, such as the volume of exposure to the languages of instruction, the distribution of the two languages according to the non-linguistic disciplines, the linguistic profile of the students or the institutional support provided to promote learning in both languages.

It is still difficult to put a clear label on bilingual education, in the sense that bilingual education does not exactly correspond to CLIL (Content and Language Learning) or EMI (English as Medium of Instruction), for example. Nevertheless, can bilingual education be seen as a step towards plurilingualism?

This presentation addresses this issue by concerning the various conditions under which bilingual education can be considered as a component of plurilingualism didactics.

References:

  • Ayer D. (à paraitre), Support for teachers in a bilingual university: an example of training, in Proceedings of 5th International Conference Contemporary Challenges in LSP Teaching, Zagreb, 1-2 July 2021.
  • Brohy C. et Gajo L. (2008), L'enseignement bilingue : état de situation et propositions, vers une didactique intégrée. Conférence intercantonale de l'instruction publique de la Suisse romande et du Tessin, Neuchâtel.
  • Candelier M. (2008), Approches plurielles, didactiques du plurilinguisme : le même et l’autre, in Recherches en didactique des langues et des cultures [En ligne], n°5.
  • Duverger (2009), L’enseignement en classe bilingue, Hachette, Paris.
  • Gajo, L. (2006), D'une société à une éducation plurilingues : constat et défi pour
  • l'enseignement et la formation des enseignants, in Synergie Monde, n° 1. pp. 62-66.

Dorothée Ayer est enseignante à l’Université de Fribourg et participe à la formation des enseignant-e-s. Titulaire d’un doctorat en didactique des langues et cultures, elle s’intéresse à l’enseignement bilingue dans divers contextes de formation, du secondaire à l’enseignement supérieur.
E-mail: dorothee.ayer@unifr.ch

Nemira Mačianskienė, Kris Peeters, Vilma Bijeikienė: The APATCHE project - Adding Plurilingual Approaches to Language Teacher Competences in Higher Education

Arguably, European language policy is mainly aimed at the creation of more inclusive societies in Europe that embrace the idea of linguistic and cultural diversity. Such societies can only prosper if citizens’ plurilingual and pluricultural competences are fostered and developed. These competences are needed in order to facilitate mobility, cooperation and inclusion, and are associated with social and professional benefits, and even imply cognitive and health benefits. However, the longstanding efforts of the Council of Europe and EU-funded training programs and frameworks of reference (The 2018 Companion Volume to the CEFR; FREPA or PLURCUR) are aimed primarily at lower or mid-levels of education (secondary education, more recently also primary education) and at language teachers in secondary schools. As a result, very little efforts have been undertaken to train the trainers, i.e. higher education teachers who form the secondary school teachers of the future. Projects involved with higher education (such as MAGICC or LANQUA) were mainly aimed at the creation of descriptive frameworks and quality benchmarks for language learning in higher education rather than at training the trainers. Although such approaches were very much needed and very useful, there also is a clear need for didactic skill development in higher education.

It is to fill this need that the EU-funded Erasmus+ project APATCHE was developed, and its main aims and objectives, as well as its methodology, will be presented in the conference. The project aims at Adding Plurilingual Approaches to language Teacher Competences in Higher Education, implying several objectives related to the ‘What?’ question (raising awareness of, providing and disseminating knowledge, the necessary skills and attitudes to be developed and fostered on plurilingual approaches in language learning in HE); the ‘Why?’ question (the importance and usefulness of plurilingual approaches in the HE classroom), and the ‘How?’ question (creating ways that allow HE teachers to familiarize themselves with possible methods and scenarios to bring plurilingual approaches to their classrooms while acquiring the necessary competences). The project will also provide and disseminate a descriptive scale of plurilingual competence usable in HE and the currently lacking evidence-based policy recommendations for the implementation of plurilingual curricula in higher education (as a first step of this long-term goal). The project is implemented by a team of 5 universities and has received funding under Erasmus + key action 220 (collaboration in higher education), for a period of 2 years (2022-2023).

Arguably, European language policy is mainly aimed at the creation of more inclusive societies in Europe that embrace the idea of linguistic and cultural diversity. Such societies can only prosper if citizens’ plurilingual and pluricultural competences are fostered and developed. The EU-funded Erasmus+ Key Action 220 project APATCHE (2022-2023) aims at adding plurilingual approaches to language teacher competences in higher education, implying several objectives related to the ‘What?’ (knowledge, the necessary skills and attitudes); the ‘Why?’ (the importance and usefulness of plurilingual approaches in the HE classroom), and the ‘How?’ questions. The project will also provide and disseminate a descriptive scale of plurilingual competence usable in HE and the currently lacking evidence-based policy recommendations for the implementation of plurilingual curricula in higher education (as a first step of this long-term goal). The project aims and objectives, as well as methodology and expected intellectual outputs will be presented in the conference.

References:

  • Joana Duarte (2020) Translanguaging in the context of mainstream multilingual education, International Journal of Multilingualism, 17:2, 232-247, DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2018.1512607
  • Linda Fisher, Michael Evans, Karen Forbes, Angela Gayton & Yongcan Liu. (2020). Participative multilingual identity construction in the languages classroom: a multitheoretical conceptualisation, International Journal of Multilingualism, 17:4, 448-466, DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2018.1524896
  • Åsta Haukås (2016) Teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism and a multilingual pedagogical approach, International Journal of Multilingualism, 13:1, 1-18, DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2015.1041960
  • Lídia Gallego-Balsà & Josep Maria Cots (2019) Managing the foreign language classroom translingually: the case of international students learning Catalan in a study abroad situation, International Journal of Multilingualism, 16:4, 425-441, DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2018.1545020
  • Susana Pinto & Maria Helena Araújo (2016) Language learning in higher education: Portuguese student voices, International Journal of Multilingualism, 13:3, 367-382, DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2015.1102917
  • Laura Portolés & Otilia Martí (2020) Teachers’ beliefs about multilingual pedagogies and the role of initial training, International Journal of Multilingualism, 17:2, 248-264, DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2018.1515206

Nemira Mačianskienė is full professor at the Institute of Foreign Languages at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania, coordinator of APATCHE project, and editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Sustainable Multilingualism. Her research interests include applied linguistics, language policy and plurilingual education.
E-mail: nemira.macianskiene@vdu.lt

Kris Peeters is full professor of French language, text analysis, literature and translation and chair of the department of Applied Linguistics / Translation and Interpreting at the University of Antwerp, researcher in plurilingualism, esp. in cross-linguistic mediation, which is an important yet often underdeveloped part of plurilingual competence.

Vilma Bijeikienė is associate professor at the Institute of Foreign Languages, the Vice-rector for Communication at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania, and a deputy editor of the Scopus-indexed scientific journal Sustainable Multilingualism. Her general research interests include applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, language policy, ESP, EMI, CLIL and plurilingual pedagogy.
E-mail: vilma.bijeikiene@vdu.lt

13:00–14:00  Lunch break

14:00–15:30  Presentations

Josef Mueller: Collaborative mediation with plurilingual language learners

Plurilingualism arising from the internationalisation of higher education as well as migration, creates favourable conditions for language education, which have not yet been sufficiently exploited for language teaching pedagogy (Reimann & Rössler, 2013). Foreign language classrooms with plurilingual learners present an opportunity to use mediation (another feature highlighted in the CEFR Companion Volume of 2020) as a teaching tool that allows the use of a wide range of linguistic resources present in the classroom.

So far, the potential of mediation for a plurilingual pedagogy (integrating L1, L2 and L3) are not being utilised in the context of UK language education, where mediation hardly features in research and in teaching practice. More widely, some of the literature on the implementation of mediation in language teaching focuses on its use in formal assessment, some focuses on teaching practice, but empirical studies on the experience of learners with mediation tasks are almost entirely missing (De Florio-Hansen, 2013; Kolb, 2016).

This paper presents the results of a study exploring how plurilingual adult language learners experience collaborative mediation tasks. It investigates how L3 language learners interpret, approach and perform mediation tasks in a plurilingual context, with L2 (English) as the language of instruction, when they mediate from L1. It investigates whether the experience of engaging with mediation affects the feeling of connectedness with other group members.

Specifically, it asks:

  • What influences learners’ level of engagement with the mediation task?
  • What is their experience of mediating from L1?
  • How do mediation tasks influence the sense of social cohesion within the group of learners?

The sample is drawn from university students learning French, German and Spanish as part of an institution-wide language programme, who undertook a mediation task (role playing a job selection panel). To incorporate plurilingualism, the source texts for the mediation task were either in the TL (L3), English (L2, the language of instruction), or students’ L1. Data were collected through interviews with 11 participants from four different classes. It was anticipated that the mediation task would have a positive effect on social cohesion and that mediating from their L1 would give students a sense of validation of their plurilingual skills, vis-à-vis fellow group members. The results show differences in learner experience depending on level of ability (intermediate or advanced), degree of identification with the simulated role, language identity, and existing group cohesion in online learning situations.

Durch Mehrsprachigkeit und Multikulturalität geprägte Diversität der Studierenden im Fremdsprachenunterricht an Hochschulen bietet die Gelegenheit, Sprachmittlung als allgemeines Unterrichtsprinzip einzusetzen, und ermöglicht damit die Nutzung der breiten Palette von sprachlichen Ressourcen, die unter den Studierenden vorhanden sind. Im Kontext des britischen Hochschulunterrichts hatten Sprachmittlung und Mehrsprachigkeit bisher keinen großen Einfluss auf die Sprachunterrichtspraxis, und es fehlen empirische Studien über die Erfahrungen von Lernenden mit Sprachmittlungsaufgaben.

Dieser Vortrag stellt die Ergebnisse einer Studie vor, die untersucht, wie mehrsprachige Fremdsprachenlernende eine kollaborative Sprachmittlungsaufgabe (Gruppensimulation) in einem mehrsprachigen Kontext mit Englisch als Unterrichtssprache durchführen, wenn sie von ihrer Erstsprache aus mitteln. Es wird untersucht, welche Faktoren das Engagement der Lernenden für die Aufgabe beeinflussen, wie sie die Mittlung aus der Erstsprache empfinden und wie diese Aufgabe das Gefühl des sozialen Zusammenhalts innerhalb der Gruppe beeinflusst.

References

  • Beacco, J.-C., Byram, M., Cavalli, M., Coste, D., Egli Cuenat, M., Goullier, F., & Panthier, J. (2016). Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for plurilingual and intercultural education. Council of Europe.
  • De Florio-Hansen, I. (2013). Sprachmittlung in alltagsweltlicher Kommunikation. Eine komplexe Herausforderung für Fremdsprachenlehrer und -lerner. In D. Reimann & A. Rössler (Eds.), Sprachmittlung im Fremdsprachenunterricht (pp. 65–92). Narr Verlag.
  • Kolb, E. (2016). Sprachmittlung: Studien zur Modellierung einer komplexen Kompetenz. Waxmann Verlag.
  • Reimann, D., & Rössler, A. (Eds.). (2013). Sprachmittlung im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Narr Verlag.

Josef Mueller is Lecturer and Coordinator for Language Learning at Queen Mary University of London, and in charge of the university’s IWLP. He has 15 years’ leadership experience of HE language departments. His teaching experience covers German as a foreign language, intercultural communication, and teacher training on working with international students. His research interests include mediation in language learning, internationalisation in HE, and teaching highly diverse classrooms. He is undertaking an EdD at the Institute of Education, UCL.
E-mail: josef.mueller@qmul.ac.uk

Suvi Kotkavuori: Classroom as a plurilingual and -cultural space: teachers’ experiences of collaborating with native peers as teaching assistants

The multiculturally complex societies of the 21st century reshape modern language education. Foreign language teachers are at the heart of this ongoing change and challenged to constantly reflect on their teaching and classroom practices. They need to equip language learners with diverse competencies for various real-life situations, such as plurilingual- and cultural as well as mediational skills (CEFR, 2018).

This presentation is part of a PhD research which set out to explore how the practice of using native peer assistants (NPA) can support holistic foreign language learning in the context of higher education. In this practice, international students act as native peers to local students who learn their native language. Drawing on the vygotskian concepts of expertise and mediation, the study focused on classroom interaction with the NPAs through the teachers’ lenses. Van Lier (1996) argues that classroom interaction is the most important element of the curriculum. He sees it as a complex and dynamic system where new practices evolve partly in unpredictable ways. As a new mediational element in the language learning process, a native peer assistant is likely to transform its dynamics and relationships (Wertsch, 1998). The data of the study included individual interviews of ten Language Centre teachers from three European universities whose experience with the practice ranged from two to seven years. The semi-structured interviews were held in autumn 2021 and the data were analysed by qualitative content analysis.

The findings indicate that collaborating with native peer assistants in the language learning process diversified classroom interaction in multiple ways. According to both native and non-native teachers, the NPAs’ participation brought forth the diverse voices and speech genres of the target language (Wertsch 1991; 1998). As experts of their regions, language use, areas of interest and study field, they complemented the teachers’ expertise by displaying linguistic and cultural diversity. Conversation activities, which are characterized by a high level of communicative equality (Van Lier, 1996), not only increased but became platforms for practicing plurilingual- and cultural skills: both learners and NPAs engaged with mediating concepts and facilitating understanding of each other’s’ languages and cultures (CEFR, 2018) often around off topic discussions too. Overall, collaborating with NPAs was a long-term learning process including trial and error: while the teachers’ role in managing the complex learning situations grew significantly (Gazeley & Slater, 2019), they also learned flexibility and openness which led to a more equal interaction with the students.

Cette présentation rapporte les expériences des enseignants de langues étrangères sur la pratique d’assistants de langue dans leurs cours où ceux-ci agissent en tant que pairs natifs aux côtés des apprenants de leur langue. Se focalisant sur l’élément essentiel du curriculum, l’interaction en classe, cette étude qualitative discute les notions d’expertise et de médiation. L’analyse du contenu de dix interviews semi-structurées a montré que les types d’interaction se sont diversifiés tout en devenant plus complexes. En se servant des connaissances et perspectives des assistants, les enseignants ont pu montrer diverses réalités linguistiques et culturelles de la langue cible qui évolue constamment. Quant à l’interaction entre les étudiants, la présence des pairs natifs a augmenté le temps consacré aux discussions contenant des sujets spontanés aussi. Favorisant des échanges plurilingues et pluriculturels d’égal à égal entre étudiants et assistants natifs, ces discussions leur ont ainsi permis de développer des compétences en médiation.

References:

  • Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Learning, teaching, assessment. Companion Volume. 2018. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
  • Gazeley, Louise & Slater, Edwina. 2019. Deploying teaching assistants to support learning: from models to typologies. Educational Review 71(5), 547–563.
  • Van Lier, Leo, 1996. Interaction in the Language curriculum. Awareness, autonomy & authenticity. London: Longman.
  • Wertsch, James, V. 1991. Voices of the mind. A sociocultural approach to mediated action. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf
  • Wertsch, James, V. 1998. Mind as action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Suvi Kotkavuori. I am a Doctoral Researcher in Language Didactics and a University Instructor in French at the University of Helsinki Language Centre. I have been working full-time at the Language Centre since 2012 and began using native peers as teaching assistants on my courses in 2014. My research focuses on the implications of this practice for the teaching-studying-learning process especially from the perspective of mediation and expertise. Currently on study leave for research purposes, I also enjoy participating in my colleagues’ language courses in the spirit of lifelong learning and plurilingualism.
E-mail: suvi.kotkavuori@helsinki.fi

Jonathan Merlo, Rodolphe Pauvert, Elena Tea: Grenoble, Siena Poitiers. Lockdown e e-tandem : ripensare l'acquisizione della L2

Segnato dalla situazione pandemica, l’anno accademico 2020/2021 è stato caratterizzato, anche nelle università, da un ricorso significativo alla Didattica a distanza. In questo contesto, gli insegnamenti di lingua straniera figurano fra le discipline che hanno subito l’impatto maggiore nel passaggio dall’aula reale a quella virtuale, principalmente per la difficoltà a impostare nuove modalità di interazione, scritta e orale, sia tra gli apprendenti e l’insegnante sia tra gli apprendenti stessi. Per ovviare in parte a questo deficit di interazione, è stato condotto un esperimento di e-tandem francese-italiano che ha coinvolto 172 studenti, per metà italiani e per metà francesi, appartenenti a 3 università.

L’iniziativa è stata ideata e attuata in un contesto emergenziale che ha impedito di fatto valutazioni pragmatiche e scientifiche preliminari, proprio per la necessità di gestire una situazione non prevedibile come il passaggio repentino alla Didattica a distanza. In particolare non è stato possibile uniformare a priori i vari dispositivi, dovuti a forti differenze – istituzionali e pedagogiche – tra le tre realtà universitarie. Di conseguenza, è proprio il carattere plurale dell’esperimento ad aver dettato la struttura di questo lavoro condotto in tre ambiti universitari diversi nonché da tre insegnanti di lingua straniera appartenenti a indirizzi scientifici diversi: due specialisti di glottodidattica e uno specialista di Langue et Civilisation italienne contemporaine.

Si è, di conseguenza, scelto di collocare il presente esperimento di e-tandem in una cornice teorica plurale di riferimento in quanto associa le caratteristiche della pedagogia a progetto (Schleminger 1995) a quelle dell’apprendimento in autonomia (Holec 1981), costituendo così uno degli strumenti potenzialmente più efficaci – sia in termini di sviluppo delle competenze linguistiche sia di motivazione (Ryan, 2014) – per sopperire al deficit di interazione derivante dal passaggio alla Dad (Little & Brammerts, 1996; Lewis & Stickler, 2007; Vassallo & Telles, 2006).

Si è poi resa necessaria la presentazione di ognuno dei tre dispositivi attuati per la presente ricerca, specificando per ciascuno:

  1. a) le tipologie di studenti coinvolti e le modalità di organizzazione e svolgimento,
  2. b) le metodologie seguite per raccogliere i feedback dei partecipanti all’e-tandem, costituire i corpora ed analizzare i dati,
  3. c) i primi riscontri emersi mettendo in relazione le osservazioni raccolte da ogni autore con i propri approcci teorici e glottodidattici.

Questo ha infine permesso di condurre una discussione plurima tra i tre autori che, sulla base dei dati pragmatici raccolti -al di là della pluralità degli approcci teorici, delle diverse metodologie e delle specificità inerenti ai tre contesti- hanno potuto constatare quanto le criticità e i benefici emersi dalle tre situazioni sperimentali siano convergenti e consentano di identificare varie piste di riflessione in particolare riguardo alla figura dell’insegnante che, come spesso sottolieato nell’attuale quadro teorico, risulta marginale rispetto alla relazione tra i partner dell’e-tandem.

During the academic year 2020:2021, foreign languages ranked among the most affected by the shift from face-to-face teaching to online Teaching.

With the intent to partly overcome this deficit of interaction an experiment of franco-italian e-tandem was carried out, involving 172 students, half Italian and half French, from three different universities.

This e-tandem experiment was set in a pluri theoretical frame of reference since it combines the features of the project-based didactic with those of autonomous learning, which potentially generated one of the most efficient tools - both in terms of development of linguistic skills and of the motivation of students - to balance the deficit of interaction due to the shift to online Teaching.

From a discussion between the three authors it came out how much concerns and benefits from the three experimental environments were converging and allowed to identify several points to be considered for future research specifically regarding the role of the teacher.


Jonathan Merlo. Sociolinguista di formazione (Lidilem, Grenoble, Francia), Jonathan-Olivier Merlo insegna Lingua francese presso l'Università per Stranieri di Siena (Italia). Ha pubblicato vari contributi nei campi della glottodidattica nonché degli studi quebecchesi (è membro dell'Association Internationale des Études Québécoises). Ultimamente le sue ricerche vertono sulla relazione tra apprendimento linguistico e didattica on-line.

Rodolphe Pauvert è Professore associato presso l'università di Poitiers dove impartisce corsi di Langue et civilisation italiennes contemporaines. È stato uno dei fondatori e presidente dell'AILEA (Association Internationale des Langues Etrangères Appliquées) che federa una quarantina di università francesi e oltre una ventina per il mondo. Le sue ricerche vertono sulla società e la lingua italiana contemporanee (aspetti socio-economici). È membro del centro di ricerca MIMMOC (Mémoire(s), identité(s), marginalité(s) dans le monde occidental) dell'università di Poitiers.
E-mail: rodolphe.pauvert@univ-poitiers.fr

Elena Tea lavora presso il Service des Langues dell'Università Grenoble Alpes dove è insegnante di italiano a stranieri. Le sue ricerche vertono sulle nuove tecnologie applicate alla didattica e all'apprendimento linguistico in modalità blended. La sua esperienza professionale le ha inoltre permesso di occuparsi di percorsi di auto-apprendimento online e di linguaggi specialistici in formazioni socio-culturali.

15:30–16:00 Coffee break

16:00–17:30  Presentations

Silvia Toniolo, Alice Siviero: “Il monolinguismo è curabile! Prima si inizia, meglio è”

L’obiettivo del presente contributo è di presentare delle attività per la scuola dell’infanzia in lingua non materna, nello specifico in tedesco, che si possono svolgere già in età prescolare per sensibilizzazione la consapevolezza linguistico-culturale (Sprachaufmerksamkeit/Language awareness) voluta e consapevole, come migliore antidoto contro una visione monolingue e monocorde del mondo.

Tale antidoto è strettamente legato alla capacità, attraverso il gioco e i principi della didattica ludica, di acquisire soft skills di natura interculturale per interpretare in maniera aperta e rispettosa messaggi verbali, non verbali e para-verbali da prospettive diverse dalla propria, in un’attitudine di lifelong learning.

Capire che ogni lingua articola il mondo in modi diversi, e che quanto prima si inizia a uscire dalle (pseudo)certezze consolidate, tanto prima si svilupperà un modo versatile e creativo, non più univoco, di vedere il mondo, significa allenare l’intelligenza culturale che non ha nulla a che vedere con il nozionismo, bensì con aspetti riconducibili al concetto di intelligenze multiple Gardneriane.

Cosa possono fare gli insegnanti e i genitori per educare ad essere ed interagire in maniera interculturale i propri figli?

Un’ ipotesi ormai assodata è la valorizzazione delle specificità e delle comunanze per creare ponti e legami. Si dovrebbe iniziare giá in tenera età, sperimentando il così chiamato “accostamento linguistico”. Esso si differenzia molto dall’insegnamento e dall’apprendimento proprio di età diverse. È caratterizzato da un approccio ludico, dall’empatia, da relazioni significative, naturali, quotidiane, ricche di componente emotiva, orientato al piacere. Si tratta di interagire con i bambini utilizzando esclusivamente la lingua che si rappresenta, senza fare ricorso alla lingua madre dei bambini né tradurre. Il linguaggio non verbale e paraverbale costituito da gesti, sguardi, espressioni facciali, tono della voce, silenzi e postura precede quello che diciamo con le parole. È particolarmente favorevole a quest’età perché si sfrutta la maggiore plasticità cerebrale basata sull’alto tasso del fattore di crescita neuronale, che caratterizza il bambino.

Bambini entusiasti oggi, saranno gli adulti e i cittadini del mondo rispettosi, coraggiosi e dalla mente aperta di domani.

The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate how language training at any age, and particularly at pre-school age, benefits human skills that go far beyond linguistic proficiency. Soft skills can be developed through play in multicultural contexts, which contribute to an openness towards an increasingly interconnected and intercultural world. These soft skills include emotional intelligence such as empathy, active listening, problem solving and the ability to support others. There are strong arguments to suggest that training is needed in transversal skills and the ability to adapt "to the new" including respectful and effective interaction as well as the capacity to pay attention to detail.

By presenting activities carried out in kindergartens in Italy, we would like to demonstrate how playful educational methods including collective games, movement, music and drama can lay the foundations for the growth of curiosity in today's children.

References:

  • Balboni P. E., Caon F. (2018) La comunicazione interculturale, Marsilio, Venezia
  • Campi, E., Toniolo, S. (2019) #cittadinidelmondo si diventa. Una scelta di vita per oggi, domani, sempre, New Book Edizioni, Rovereto
  • Dodman M. (2013) Linguaggio e plurilinguismo-apprendimento, curricolo e competenze, Erikson, Trento
  • Fabbro F. (1996) Il cervello bilingue. Neurolinguistica e poliglossia, Astrolabio, Roma
  • Toniolo S. (2017) Autostima e soft skills, un salto oltre la comfort zone, Tangram Edizioni scientifiche, Trento
  • Toniolo S., Vulcan C., Siviero A. (2020) Di necessità virtù: educare in tempi ibridi. La pedagogia del rischio tra mondo reale e digitale, La Gazza Edizioni, Pistoia
  • Toniolo S. (2020) "La comunicazione al tavolo di mediazione. Profili cross-culturali" in Le parti in mediazione: strumenti e tecniche. Dall'esperienza pratica alla costruzione di un metodo. A cura di Silvana Dalla Bontà, Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento https://iris.unitn.it/handle/11572/269082#.XxgmUCWpWEd

Silvia Toniolo, laureata presso l’Istituto per Interpreti e Traduttori SSLMIT, dell’Università di Trieste, abilitata all’insegnamento della Lingua Tedesca, specializzata in didattica e comunicazione interculturale, insegna lingua tedesca presso il Centro linguistico dell’Università degli Studi di Trento, è formatrice di insegnanti delle Scuole dell’Infanzia per la Provincia Autonoma di Trento e membro del Team “Conflict Managers of tomorrow” presso la Facoltà di giurisprudenza dell’Università degli Studi di Trento.
E-mail: silvia.toniolo@unitn.it

Alice Siviero è collaboratrice didattico-scientifica per la lingua tedesca presso la Libera Università di Bolzano. Laureata in germanistica presso la Julius-Maximilians-Universität di Würzburg in Germania e specializzata nell´insegnamento della lingua italiana a stranieri presso l`Università Ca´ Foscari di Venezia, è esaminatrice presso il Goethe Institut e docente di lingua tedesca e italiana L2.
E-mail: alice.siviero@unibz.it

Linda Doleží, Kateřina Müllerová: Plurilingual Competence in a Child: Case Study

We would like to present data from a study involving spontaneous speech collection by Müllerová (2022) focusing on a 4-year-old plurilingual child whose mother tongue is Hebrew and who has been acquiring Czech as a second language as well as other foreign languages such as English, Spanish and French. This child´s linguistic profile thus includes five languages some of which are typologically very different and are used in various situations and contexts. We analyse the data in terms of interlanguage relations and try to see if, to what extent and how the individual languages interact with each other. We pay attention to borrowings, interference, code-switching and agrammatisms and also try to explain matters that do not fall in the previously mentioned categories.

With regard to the discussion concerning autonomy versus interconnectedness (for terminology discussion concerning the terms multilingualism and plurilingualism see Piccardo, 2016) it seems that to a very small extent some elements seem to blur the boundaries among so many languages and create brand new and unique items such as “violéta” (violet colour) a “salmonová” (salmon colour). Generally speaking the child managed to keep her languages separate and corresponding to the developmental levels as far as we and the parents can judge. There were only a few cases of interference, borrowings, code-switching and agrammatisms. Of particular interest to us is Czech as a second language. We have found examples of agrammatism which are also typical for Czech as a mother tongue, i. e. adjectival superlatives as illustrated in “já jsem nejrychlá než (gebarty)” (I am the fast(est) than cheetah) in which superlative form using only the superlative prefix and not the suffix is used in a comparative syntactic context and cases of agrammatisms typical for Czech as a foreign language, such as “ ta holka potřebuje šála” (The girl needs a scarf) where accusative ending is missing in the word “šála” instead of the correct form “šálu”.

We believe that by observing the plurilingual repertoires and competences we can contribute to understanding how the plurilingual languages acquisition works and apply this knowledge in all the fields related to plurilingualism. By closely observing this particular family´s language policy (for details see Kopelovitch, 2013) we can gain an insight into what encourages successful acquisition and usage of multiple languages.

V našem příspěvku věnujeme pozornost jazykovému profilu čtyřletého dítěte a sledujeme, zda, do jaké míry a jakým způsobem spolu interagují jazyky, které ovládá. Jedná se o pět jazyků, a to o hebrejštinu, češtinu, angličtinu, francouzštinu a španělštinu. Zaměřujeme se především na výpůjčky, interferenci, přepínání kódů a agramatismy. Jazyková data analyzujeme v úzkém sepětí se situacemi a osobami, v nichž se objevují.

References:

  • Kopelovitch, S. (2013): Happylingual: A Family Project for Enhancing and Balancing Multilingual Development. In: Schwartz, M., Verschik, A. (eds.): Successful Family Language Policy. Parents, Children and Educators in Interaction. Springer, Dordrecht. 249−276.
  • Müllerová, K. (2022): Vliv vícejazyčného prostředí na osvojování češtiny jako druhého jazyka u dětí. Diplomová práce. Ústav českého jazyka, FF, MU Brno. /The Influence of a Multilingual Environment on L2 Czech acquisition in Children. M.A. thesis, Department of Czech Language, Faculty of Arts, MU Brno./
  • Piccardo, E. (2018): Plurilingualism: Vision, Conceptualization, and Practices. In: Pericles Trifonas, P., Aravossitas, T. (eds.): Handbook of Research and Practice in Heritage Language Education. 207−225.
  • Selinker, L., Baumgartner-Cohen, B. (1995): Multiple language acquisition: “Damn it, why can’t I keep these two languages apart?” Multilingualism and Language Learning. Language, Culture and Curriculum. 8, 2. 115−123.

Linda Doleží is a language teacher and teacher trainer. She works as an Assistant Professor at Masaryk University Language Centre, Masaryk University. Linda Doleží is a former methodologist of the State Integration Programme and she specializes in language support for children-foreigners, in particular refugees. She focuses on teaching methodology, language acquisition and psycho- and neurolinguistics in multilingual contexts. Her current interests include language attrition phenomena and the role of emotions and trauma in language acquisition and attrition.
E-mail: linda.dolezi@cjv.muni.cz

Kateřina Müllerová has finished her M.A. studies at the Department of Czech Language, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University Brno. She is a qualified teacher of Czech as a second/foreign language and she is particularly interested in language support in children-foreigners.

Joachim Schlabach: Plurilinguale Kompetenz für die internationale Geschäftskommunikation. Theoretische Verortung, didaktische Umsetzung und Beispiele aus der Kurspraxis

In der internationalen Geschäftskommunikation gehören plurilinguale und interkulturelle Fertigkeiten zu den Schlüsselkompetenzen. Mitarbeiter in internationalen Unternehmen nutzen mehrere Sprachen gleichzeitig, wechseln zwischen den Sprachen und mitteln zwischen Sprachen und Kulturen. Bislang jedoch zielte der traditionelle Sprachenunterricht in der universitären Wirtschaftsausbildung auf den Aufbau von (mehrfach) einzelsprachigen Kompetenzen. Vorgestellt wird hier ein Konzept, das auf den bisherigen monolingualen Curricula aufbauend sich an den mehrsprachigen Anforderungen ausrichtet.

In diesem Beitrag werden zunächst die Begriffe zu mehrsprachigen Kompetenzen im Kontext von Mehrsprachigkeitsforschung und Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik eingeordnet. Dargestellt werden anschließend zentrale Ergebnisse einer mehrsprachig ausgerichteten Bedarfsanalyse im internationalen Geschäftsleben mit Fokus auf die Art der erlebten mehrsprachigen Situationen, auf dort auftretende Probleme sowie auf Faktoren, die das effiziente mehrsprachige Kommunizieren sichern. Davon abgeleitet werden plurilinguale Fertigkeiten und Strategien wie Sprachenwechsel, Sprachenmittlung/Mediation und Transfer, die unter dem Begriff Plurilinguale Kompetenz gebündelt werden. Die curriculare Umsetzung dieses Lernziels erfolgt an der Universität Turku in plurilingualen Lernangeboten im Fach ‚Multilingual business communication‘ (www.utu.fi/tse-multilingual), das zwei verschiedene mehrsprachendidaktische Charakteristika verbindet: Der Ansatz nimmt sowohl auf die vorgelernten Sprachen Bezug und verfolgt zudem Sprachen verbindende Fertigkeiten und Strategien als Ziele und Inhalte. Das Konzept wird anhand von Beispielen aus der Kurspraxis weiter erläutert. Den Abschluss bilden Überlegungen zur Adaption dieses Ansatzes auf andere Zielgruppen sowie ein Blick auf aktuelle Studien zur Umsetzung.

In international business communication, plurilingual and intercultural skills count among the key competences. This presentation will introduce a concept that is based on previous curricula with several individual languages and is targeted at the multilingual requirements in business life.

After an overview of concepts related to plurilingual competences, key results of a plurilingual needs analysis are presented. These results are the base for the term Plurilingual Proficiency, which comprises plurilingual skills and strategies such as language alternation and code-switching, cross-linguistic mediation, and transfer. This learning objective is being implemented in the curriculum at the University of Turku in plurilingual learning courses in the subject 'Multilingual business communication' (www.utu.fi/tse-multilingual), which has a double multilingual orientation. On the one hand, the approach refers to pre-learned languages and, on the other hand, aims at skills and strategies that bridge the gap between languages. The concept is further illustrated with examples from course practices.

References:

  • Hufeisen, Britta (2018): Models of multilingual competence. In: Bonnet, Andreas & Siemund, Peter (Hrsg.): Foreign Language Education in Multilingual Classrooms. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 173–189.
  • Kursiša, Anta & Schlabach, Joachim (2020): Zur Gestaltung von plurilingualen Kursen: Theoretische und didaktische Grundlagen. In: Kursiša, Anta & Schlabach, Joachim (Hrsg.): Pluri◦Deutsch – plurilinguale Kurse mit Deutsch. Handreichungen für die Entwicklung von Seminaren in der Germanistik und von studienbegleitenden Kursen. Helsinki: Helsinki University Library, 11–31. https://doi.org/10.31885/9789515150097.2.
  • Lüdi, Georges (2021): Promoting Plurilingualism and Plurilingual Education. A European Perspective. In: Piccardo, Enrica; Germain-Rutherford, Aline & Lawrence, Geoff (Hrsg.): The Routledge Handbook of Plurilingual Language Education. New York: Routledge, 29–45.
  • Piekkari, Rebecca; Welch, Denice E. & Welch, Lawrence S. (2014): Language in international business: The multilingual reality of global business expansion. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  • Schlabach, Joachim (2016): Plurilingual proficiency as a learning objective for a multilingual curriculum in the study of business in Finland. Language Learning in Higher Education 6: 2, 495–507. https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2016-0027.

Joachim Schlabach ist Lektor für deutsche Sprache und Wirtschaftskommunikation am Zentrum für Sprachen- und Kommunikationsstudien KieVi der Universität Turku / Turku School of Economics sowie wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter im Fachgebiet Sprachwissenschaft – Mehrsprachigkeit an der Technischen Universität Darmstadt. Schwerpunkte in Forschung und Lehre sind Mehrsprachendidaktik mit den Aspekten plurilinguale Kurse und Gesamtsprachencurriculum.
E-mail: joachim.schlabach@tu-darmstadt.de

19:30 Conference dinner

Hlídka Špilberk (map)


 

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