Multilingualism

This Action Line is coordinated by the Multilingualism Board, chaired by Leipzig University, and has the following main objectives:

• Ensuring that students and instructors have the language proficiency and cultural competence they need for their studies and future professional activities.
• Ensuring that subject-specific and language learning go hand in hand
• Promoting multilingualism and multiculturalism in university programmes, academic discourses and administration.
• Promoting the use of inclusive and non-discriminatory language

Overview of planned activities

1. Arqus Charter on Language Policy: a joint policy document on the role of language and the promotion of multilingualism in Higher Education
2. Symposium on language policy: a symposium on language policy with participants from the consortium and beyond
3. Joint strategy for staff development: defining standards for multilingual and cross-cultural competence for academic and administrative staff
4. Arqus certificates of language and cross-cultural competence: agreement on automatic recognition of existing certificates at partner universities and setting up joint and automatically recognized certificates, through the Arqus Academy, to document achievements in language and crosscultural competence for students and staff, based on the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework for Languages
5. Workshop series in language and cross-cultural competence: a joint workshop series through the Arqus Academy for staff at partner universities in order to increase their language and cross-cultural competence and to ensure inclusive and gender-appropriate language
6. Sharing language and cross-cultural preparatory courses for academic mobility: sharing existing and new courses tailored to the demands of academic mobility; certifying respective competences attained
7. Volunteer language and culture programme: establishing a service-learning programme for language teaching assistantships of mobile Arqus students at arqus.misquembri.com schools
8. Exchange of language assistants for partner universities: postgraduate students or ESRs from partner universities on long-term mobility in the field of language and culture
9. Online terminological database for terms in Higher Education: building online terminological resources in all languages of the partners in order to facilitate effective multilingual communication
10. Joint Arqus Translating and Interpreting Programmes: building on existing joint standards to enhance student and staff mobility and to establish joint Master’s programmes

Highlights

• The Arqus Café
• The Arqus Lounge
• Online terminological data base

Action Line Board Chair and contact person: Olaf Bärenfänger (baerenf@uni-leipzig.de)