Diversity and multilingualism: context, beliefs and barriers

The staff week we propose seeks to build on the vision outlined in the report “CIVIS Agenda for Multilingualism” to enable a concrete exploration of the realities of multilingual practice in our universities, drawing on the perspectives of students, academics, researchers and staff members. The week will be underpinned by theoretical discussions around diversity and multilingualism, encouraging participants to question embedded policies and practices which may be hindering innovative models of teaching, learning and management.

The week will address three core themes. Firstly, the importance of understanding the complexities of the multi- and plurilingual contexts of universities, whether it be the experiences of local staff when interacting with scholars, or barriers to Erasmus’ students’ integration in the local linguistic life of their guest institution.

Secondly, it will explore the role played by beliefs relating to languages and language practices, and their potential use in teaching, learning and wider university activities. We will examine where these align (or otherwise) with the pragmatic realities of multilingualism.

Finally, the staff week will explore the notion of barriers to identifying levers for change. This involves reflecting on the complex interface between an institution’s vision for internationalisation, the language policies intended to support this, the experiences of actors on the ground and the strategies they deploy to overcome challenges.

• Peer and expert exchanges on the opportunities and challenges of multilingualism in our universities
• Presentation and cross-institutional analysis of the University of Lausanne survey: ‘Languages and inclusion’ survey results:  language practices and needs of researchers and administrative staff at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland).
• Possible re-development of this survey by other institutions
• The development of a future inter-university project, to strengthen our respective capacities to operate multilingually in an effective and efficient way

Pr. Isabelle Meuret, Vice-Rector for Diversity and Academic Policy

Pr. Philippe Van Parijs, Emeritus professor, Université Catholique de Louvain, Chair of the first Brussels Council for Multilingualism

Philippe Van Parijs holds doctorates in philosophy (Oxford) and the social sciences (Louvain). He was the founding director of UCLouvain’s Hoover Chair of Economic and Social Ethics from 1991 to 2016 and is now emeritus professor at UCLouvain and special guest professor at KU Leuven.  He is a member of Belgium’s Royal Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the British Academy and doctor honoris causa of Laval University (Québec). He was awarded the Francqui Prize in 2001 and the Ark Prize for Free Speech in 2011. He chairs the Advisory Board of the Basic Income Earth Network, which he co-founded in 1986, and the Brussels Council for Multilingualism, set up by the government of the Region of Brussels-Capital in 2020. 

Pr. Alexander Duchêne, Full Professor in the Sociology of Language, University of Fribourg

Prof. Alexandre Duchêne’s research is situated at the interface between linguistics and social science and is concerned with the role of language in the production of differences and social inequalities. He is a member of the board of directors of the Institute of Multilingualism, Head of the research group Language and social inequalities at UNIFR. He was invited professor at ENS Lyon (France), the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), the Université Laval (Canada) and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (USA). He is the General Editor of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language and a member of numerous editorial boards of international journals.

Ms. Sylvia Goetze Wake, Director of the University of Lausanne Language Centre

Sylvia Goetze Wake is the Director of the University of Lausanne Language Centre. She is currently one of the co-coordinators of the CIVIS Multilingualism Expert Group. She also coordinates the Social and Environmental Justice Special Interest Group for the English Teachers’ Association of Switzerland. Her interests include intercultural communicative competences and the use of corpora to support academic writing teachers. She has also trained, managed and collaborated in teams in multicultural and multilingual environments in French, English and German.

Dr. Margareta Strasser, research associate at the Language Centre of the University of Salzburg

Margareta Strasser is a research associate at the Language Centre of the University of Salzburg, which she has also headed since 2011. Her research focuses on plurilingual education, digitalisation in language education and informal/non-formal learning. For many years, she has also been involved in various national and international projects in these areas. She is currently co-coordinator of the Erasmus+ project PEP (2023-1-FR01-KA220-HED-000160820) with a focus on plurilingual education; she also coordinates the University of Salzburg's working group in the Erasmus+ project CLEVER-AI (Erasmus+, 2025-1-FR01-KA220-HED-000358119), which focuses on AI and plurilingual education.

Pr. Laurence Mettewie, Professor of Dutch language & linguistics and multilingualism, Université de Namur

Laurence Mettewie’s research revolves around a common theme: languages and multilingualism in the Belgian community context. She studies the impact on language acquisition of relationships between dominant linguistic communities, socio-psychological factors and contact situations in the school environment; the context and results of bilingual education; the multilingual needs of companies in Brussels and the resulting costs; and the linguistic landscape (and reactions to it) as an indicator of relationships between linguistic communities.