Language needs as a topic for researchers on multilingualism
The Institute for Multilingualism, a joint venture between the University of Vaasa and Åbo Akademi University, hosted an expert seminar at the University of Vaasa on 4th–5th of June 2015. The seminar was the first meeting for an international research network on multilingualism called Workshop on Multilingualism. The purpose of the seminar was to plan future cooperation and establish connections between different countries and fields of science. The theme of the first seminar was language needs.
The highlighted theme during the seminar was language needs from the viewpoint of education, work and society. The seminar began with a presentation of multilingualism in Finland from the three viewpoints but the discussion broadened the theme to an international context. Researchers from different countries, universities and research institutes presented current or controversial topics within their field of study. Even though the researches represented various disciplines such as linguistics, sociology, education, social studies and economics they were able to identify interesting interdisciplinary interfaces. The presentations and group discussions constituted a starting point for mapping the current state within research on multilingualism but also the needs for new research topics.
The next expert network meeting will be held in January 2016 with focus on professional multilingualism.
More about the seminar can be found on project director Katri Karjalainen’s expert blog
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