The conference series "Multilingualism as a chance" highlights the lived multilingualism of people in multilingual regions and countries from a theoretical, didactic and practical perspective. In the course of a three-day conference, various concepts for the promotion of individual and social multilingualism will be made visible at European level. The focus is on questions of how linguistic needs in elementary school, middle school, universities of teacher education and university contexts are dealt with in multilingual regions of Europe and what significance is attached to the development and enabling of linguistic identities in educational institutions. In addition to the aspect of regional multilingualism and the acquisition of foreign languages, immigrant movements add further languages ​​of origin to pupils, which should be taken into account in preschool, school and university education. The thematization and the critical consideration of dealing with real multilingualism in different European educational institutions should contribute to the benefit of linguistic knowledge of children, adolescents and young adults in the field of education for the benefit of people and institutions.

The conference in Carinthia will thus demonstrate living multilingualism at regional, national and international level as well as analyzing the theoretical, practical and didactic perspectives of people in multilingual education processes and countries. The overarching aim of the conference is to raise the awareness of education officers (elementary educators, teachers, university lecturers, student teachers) through a thematic and international discourse on multilingualism, identity and education. The insights gained from the conference will feed into educational concepts for bilingual and multilingual living environments of young people.

The event will be held in time for the 26th of September, the European Day of Languages, to celebrate the goal of appreciation for all languages ​​and cultures.

For the sections of the conference contributions to the conference topic from various disciplines are desired, which should deal with the following key questions:
 

Please submit abstracts (about 250 words) in German or English for the following forms of presentation and assign your contribution to one of the above sections:

Lecture (with or without media support) (30 minutes plus 15 minutes discussion)

Poster (5 minutes presentation with handout as part of a guided poster session followed by a discussion). The three best posters are awarded prizes!

Deadline: 18th December 2019

Call for Papers: Form
Call for Posters: Form

The event is supported by the consortium "Multilingualism as Opportunity", founded by scientists and practitioners from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Austria and Switzerland, to exchange experiences and concepts on multilingualism. The conference language is German. Lectures in English are possible.

For more information, see: Mehrsprachigkeit als Chance