Webinars on language education and multilingualism

• Thursday, June 18, at 4pm CEST
• With the participation of: Emmanuelle Le Pichon Vorstman (University of Toronto and University of Utrecht), Jim Cummins (University of Toronto) and Nathalie Auger (University of Montpellier)

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the importance of the capacity of schools and families to use the potential of digital technologies to ensure learning continuity (in case of disruptions of formal learning), but also enhance inclusion. The use of digital technologies in language learning provides opportunities to foster plurilingualism in a diverse classroom through the integration of students’ home language(s) into instructional practices. In addition, digital technologies can become tools enabling teachers to support all students in a multilingual classroom setting, as they may not speak all (or any) of their students’ home languages. In this webinar, we will further explore how online language learning tools can be used in multilingual settings and help multilingual children succeed, featuring the instructional tool Studi/Binogi as an example.

• Thursday, June 25, at 4pm CEST 
• With the participation of: CertiLingua Network representative (tbc), Ellen-Rose Kambel (Rutu Foundation), Audrey Rousse Malpat (University of Groningen) and Jim Cummins (University of Toronto)

Many studies suggest that the capacity of today’s complex and fragmented education systems to learn and share knowledge is an important enabler for the spreading and sustaining of innovations in teaching and learning. Working in connection with diverse networks of schools and professional learning communities can help to build innovative learning environments and teaching practices. This is also true for language education. School networks and partnerships can promote collaboration in the development of plurilingual pedagogies, while also encouraging knowledge exchanges and networking among teachers and other educational stakeholders.

How such cross-border networks and partnerships foster plurilingualism and systematically promote an inclusive, multilingual ethos across systems will be explored in this webinar. We will talk about two inspirational examples of school networks and labels – CertiLingua and Language Friendly School, as well as reflect on innovative language learning methods (such as AIM), which can be promoted through such networks.

• Wednesday, July 1, at 4pm CEST
• With the participation of: Marisa Cavalli (European Centre for Modern Languages), Jon Andoni Duñabeitia (University of Nebrija), Jenni Alisaari (University of Turku) and Dragana Avramov (NESET)

Bi- or trilingual education models have been integrated in many countries for several decades due to large-scale immigration, or in contexts in which non-dominant groups have historically been concentrated geographically (for instance, in Luxembourg, the Basque country and in Northern Italy). As a consequence, these education systems have had a chance to experiment with different strategies and select those that were most effective when it comes to adapting to multilingual classrooms. In such places, reforms of curricula have been carried out since the 1980s, implementing bi- or multilingual education to include the use of community languages.

However, even in this context, the growing presence of languages other than the ones spoken by long-standing minorities challenges established systems of bilingual and trilingual education. During this webinar, we will reflect on how traditional bi/multilingual models can evolve to address the needs of plurilingual students, by looking at the cases of the Basque country and Aosta Valley in the Northern Italy.

In this webinar we will also learn about the alternative approach of Finland and its language sensitive curricula, to recognise and support multilingualism in every learner.

• Wednesday, July 8, at 4pm CEST 
• With the participation of: Emmanuelle Le Pichon Vorstman (University of Toronto and University of Utrecht), Hanna Siarova (PPMI), Jim Cummins (University of Toronto) and Nathalie Auger (University of Montpellier)

Historically, schools around the world have sought to create homogeneity by bringing diverse groups closer to a national language standard. One of the consequences of this is that students who speak minority languages have been discouraged from using their mother tongue, or even from learning new languages. At the same time, the limited selection of foreign languages offered by schools, usually taught in isolation from other disciplines, has prevented most students from developing effective plurilingualism.

The first three webinars from this series zoomed into specific approaches and policies that challenged this belief in various parts of Europe.

In this final webinar we will take stock of the lessons learnt from the various approaches and strategies for language teaching and reflect how these can inspire educators and policy makers to innovate and implement forward-looking policies and practices in language education fostering plurilingualism.