“We must train people capable of using different languages depending on the occasions and the targets”, Prof. Edgar Marc Petter
“We must train people capable of using different languages depending on the occasions and the targets”, Prof. Edgar Marc Petter
“We must train people capable of using different languages depending on the occasions and the targets”, Prof. Edgar Marc Petter
From 4 to 7 October, the UPF’s Multilingualism Unit participated in the 5th ICLHE (Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education) Congress, held at the University of Copenhagen. For two days, language policy specialists from the main European universities dealt mainly with the implementation of EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) in universities.
For years one of the problems that EMI set out was the language training and accreditation of both teachers and students. “Teaching in English is not only about improving one’s language skills but reinventing oneself as a teacher”, said Jennifer Valcke, a professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. For this reason, last year the UPF launched an interuniversity accreditation test of English for teachers, which will take place again this year at the end of the academic year.
During the conference multiple voices raised in favour of maintaining also local languages. “The local languages of the students must be reflected on the language ecosystem”, claimed Ofra-Inbar-Lourie of the University of Tel-Aviv. “Think globally but act locally”, added Emma Dafouz of the Complutense University of Madrid. The trilingual policy of the UPF, in this sense, is a reference model for many universities.
Finally, several linguists appealed to the need of introducing languages other than English into university systems. “We must train multicompetent people capable of using different languages depending on the occasions and the targets”, explained Prof. Edgar Marc Petter of the University of Zurich in Applied Sciences. To date the UPF’s Vice-rectorate for Teaching-related Projects is working jointly with the Multilingualism Unit on the implementation of a fourth language in the University.
ICLHE is an association that promotes initiatives, experiences, debates and research programmes related to the interconnection between content and language in the field of higher education. This year its conference was attended by 135 participants from around 30 different countries, including the UPF’s Multilingualism Unit.