INCLU-LINGUAM: Language policies and inclusion in the internationalized university: Sociolinguistic and educational focus to promote equity, diversity and interculturality (Ref. PID2022-141945NB-I00) (PI Mireia Trenchs Parera)

The project aims to bring the inclusion and equity dimensions to (1) the growing research on internationalization at universities, and (2) the design of higher education plurilingual language policies. It is a continuation and an extension of our previous Translinguam-Uni project, which investigated multilingual, multicultural university classrooms with full English-Medium Instruction (EMI) and students’ linguistic, attitudinal, and identitary development. The former project, however, like other sociolinguistic and acquisitional ones, paid little to no attention to the needs of students who have specific physical, cognitive or socio-economic needs or a refugee status. Nor are they explicitly mentioned in language policies even if universities provide curriculum adaptations and support. However, such students may be at a linguistic and interactional (ultimately, academic) disadvantage in the context of an internationalized university. INCLU-LINGUAM sets out to make research-based recommendations for higher education plurilingual language policies that explicitly consider inclusion, equity, diversity and interculturality. We will do so by investigating the nature and development of these students’ (1) plurilingual practices, and (2) attitudes towards languages and interculturality. We will then add an exploration of individual and contextual factors acting as drivers and deterrents for the plurilingualism and interculturality promoted by universities nowadays.

 

TRANSLINGUAM-UNI - Transcultural competence in multilingual and multicultural university classrooms with full english-medium instruction. Languages, attitudes, intercultural sensitivity and identity - PGC2018-098815-B-I00 (PI Mireia Trenchs Parera)

The TRANSLINGUAM-UNI Project aims to investigate whether multilingual and multicultural undergraduate university classrooms with full English-medium instruction foster the development of transcultural competence among students, and to what extent. A novel contribution includes understanding this competence from an interdisciplinary perspective (educational sociolinguistics, language acquisition, linguistic anthropology and social psychology) and measuring it along four dimensions: (1) linguistic (individual progress in English and translingualism), (2) attitudinal (towards the languages present in the classroom), (3) affective (development or not of intercultural sensitivity) and (4) identitary (development or not of a cosmopolitan identity). The project is an extension of a previous project on linguistic practices and attitudes in secondary school classrooms (FFI2014-52663-P). As in those classrooms, present-day university classrooms foster social networks where, due to international migration and growing academic mobility, young people from different origins co-construct adult attitudes and identities and may develop multilingual skills and intercultural sensitivity. To study the four dimensions, the project will develop a case study of an undergraduate classroom with full English-medium instruction that exemplifies the linguistic and cultural diversity discussed above. We will follow a mixed-methods approach for collecting and analyzing data for the study of linguistic attitudes and practices and identity affiliations. The design will include a control group and a longitudinal component. The understanding of these processes of development of multilingualism and transcultural socialization in such an internationalized educational context and of their consequences will support our transfer objective: the design of a quality certification model for university teaching in English. This certificate (EMICERT) will be part of the internationalization mission of the university and, therefore, of use to those responsible for higher education institutions and their instructors. The ultimate goal of the project will be to provide knowledge and tools to academic and political leaders interested in solving some of the challenges posed to present-day educational systems and in promoting better preparation of young people for multilingual and multicultural academic and professional contexts.

 

TRANSLINGUAM - Translingual and transcultural processes in students of local and foreign origin. A study of language attitudes and multilingual practices in contexts of superdiversity (FFI2014-52663-P)

From a sociolinguistics, education and social psychology intersection, this project has the aim of investigating multilingual and translingual practices of secondary school students in Catalonia as well as their attitude towards these practices and the languages spoken inthe school environment. The project explores the relation between linguistic attitudes and communicative practices, as well as the construction of the identity of young people. The investigation is carried out from an ethnographic point of view, with participatory observation and a variety of data collection tools.