A strategic partnership for the study of Portuguese in multilingual settings

Category: Outreach

Multilingualism in São Tomé and Príncipe: Opportunities and challenges

 

On 16th March 2022, The Camões Institute’s Centro de Língua Portuguesa em São Tomé organized a roundtable to discuss the opportunities and challenges of multilingualism in São Tomé and Príncipe, as well as the relationship that can be established with formal teaching and learning of the Portuguese Language.

The topics discussed at the event included the preservation of local creoles; the opportunity for multilingualism as a factor of cognitive development and social progress; the state of Portuguese language teaching; and the importance of mastering it as an instrument of citizenship and democratic participation.

The panel was attended by São Toméan specialists in Linguistics, Sociolinguistics and creoles: Abigail Tiny Cosme, professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Technologies (FCT), Researcher at the University of Lisbon and Coordinator of the IILP for São Tomé and Príncipe; Caustrino Alcantara; the writer Frederico Gustavo dos Anjos; and the Coordinator of the Department of Languages ​​at FCT, Beatriz Afonso. It also included Elebrak Costa, a recent graduate in Portuguese who won the 1st prize for his graduation thesis in the 1st IILP/Itamaraty contest for scientific articles on the Portuguese language, moderated by Guilherme Figueiredo, CICL Reader in São Tomé. Teachers of primary, secondary and university education and undergraduate students in Portuguese were also present.

The event also included the participation of the group Leji-tela (roots of the earth), whose members presented a moment of dialogue themselves and the public using the various mother tongues spoken in the country: Portuguese, Santome, Angola and Lungu’ie.

Translated from The Camões Institute’s website.

HL2C Seminar: Joana Moscoso (Native Scientist) and Julia Schiefer (Tübingen), Exploring the effectiveness of an innovative science outreach programme for migrant students

We are excited to announce our next HL2C seminar, taking place on Thursday 31st March 2022, from 3pm to 4pm (Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London).

Presenters:

Joana Moscoso (Native Scientist) and Julia Schiefer (Tübingen)

Title:

Exploring the effectiveness of an innovative science outreach programme for migrant students

How to join:

Our seminars are free to attend. Simply sign up to the HL2C Mailing List to receive the link to join us via Microsoft Teams link. You do not need a Teams account to access the talk.

Abstract:

Inspiring ethnic minority and migrant students to pursue higher education or careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) challenges many European countries. This target group often underperforms in STEM subjects due to various reasons, including specific linguistic and educational needs. We will present the results of a randomized controlled trial testing the impact of an innovative science outreach program, which connects migrant students with scientists of the same linguistic and cultural background. The Native Scientist project (www.nativescientist.com) follows a science and language integrated learning approach bringing together real-world STEM professionals and migrant students to discuss science topics and science careers in the students’ heritage language. The interaction between scientists and students happens through workshops whose effectiveness has been studied for both the students and the scientists. We observed increased attainment value, intrinsic interest, self-concept, and intention to future participation in science, and increased intrinsic interest and self-concept of ability for the students’ heritage language immediately after the workshop. We also identified a range of challenges and benefits for participating scientists. Overall, results indicate a positive effect of the workshops and that it is possible to foster migrant students’ motivation for science through their participation in a science outreach program

HL2C YouTube Channel now online!

HL2C YouTube Channel now online

It is a pleasure to announce that the HL2C YouTube Channel is now up and running. We are using this channel to share video content of activities involving the Consortium and its constituent partner institutions.

You can access our channel by clicking this link.

We grateful to the speakers of our HL2C Seminar Series for their stimulating talks and for agreeing to share the recordings with the wider heritage language and second language community. Thank you also to Luiz Amaral, who suggested the creation of this channel, and to Sophie Bennett for editing the videos and co-managing the channel.

We hope you enjoy the YouTube Channel!

 

PFMO project supports the second edition of the training program for Timorese judges in Portugal

 

On 31st January  2022, the Camões Institute, IP, welcomed six Timorese judges who started a training programme in Portugal. This programme will run for a period of six months and includes a theory component to be taught by the Centre for Judicial Studies in Lisbon, and an internship period in Portuguese courts.

This is the second edition of the programme, and the first in the post-pandemic period, which will not only involve specialising in technical legal matters, but also developing and strengthening techniques for the application and use of legal terminology in Portuguese. This experience is also intended to build and strengthen the relationship, in the long term, between Portuguese and Timorese institutions, and between their professionals.

The training program is supported by the PFMO project – Reinforcement of Public Finance Management and Supervision in Timor-Leste, funded by the European Union and co-financed and managed by Camões, IP.

Translated from the original news item, published by Camões Institute.

 

Children’s literature festival celebrated in Berlin: “Os Dias do Conto”

On Friday, November 5, 2021, the 32nd “Os dias do Conto” children’s literature festival was celebrated as part of the Berliner Märchentage at the premises of the Camões Institute, Centro Cultural Português, in Berlin.

The Berliner Märchentage is one of the largest children’s literature festivals in the world, celebrating traditional fairy tales, legends, myths and fables. The theme of this year’s festival was “The Purple Flower”.

The Portuguese Embassy in Berlin, together with the Portuguese Education Department in Germany, organised the presentation and reading of a Portugese short story, “Beatriz e o Plátano”, by Ilse Losa. The story was translated into German by Isabel Remer and edited in a bilingual version by Oxalá, with illustrations by Lisa Couwenbergh. Carla Gago and Patrícia Santos, teaching staff from the Elizabeth-Shaw Grundschule school in Berlin, read the story to a class of 24 pupils aged between 7 and 8, in the presence of translator Niki Graça.

The event aimed to promote Portuguese literature, to raise awareness of multilingualism and diversity in Europe and to encourage children to learn the Portuguese language.

For additional information, please visit the Coordenação Ensino Português Alemanha Facebook page or see the original news source.

Enrolment opens for free Armenian language and culture courses

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Earlier this academic year, the University of Lisbon, one of the HL2C founding institutions, established a new cooperation agreement with the Armenian Virtual College, Yerevan State University, and the Portugal-Armenia Friendship Association.

As a result, we are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for those interested in learning a new language. The Armenian Virtual College (AGBU) invites anyone interested in Armenian language and culture to enrol in various free online courses, from 3rd until 19th December 2021. The language courses start from 10th January until 15th March 2022 and provide the opportunity for students to enrich their knowledge  of Eastern Armenian, Western Armenian, the history of Armenia,  Armenian architecture, Armenian music and chess. More information about the courses can be found here.

The courses stem from a set of initiatives laid out in the cooperation agreement; they aim to strengthen the links between the various educational institutions and to promote Armenian language ​​and culture in Portugal and Portuguese language and culture in Armenia.

For more information, please visit the original news source (University of Lisbon).

 

 

Porto MOOC receives IELA Honorable Mention

We are pleased to announce that Porto University’s Introduction to Portuguese MOOC has received an  Honorable Mention in the Academic Division of the 2021 International E-Learning Awards under the E-Learning category. Congratulations to all colleagues involved!

The MOOC (Massively Open Online Course) was co-produced by Porto’s Faculty of Arts and by the Educational Technologies Cluster. The MOOC is a free online course hosted by the AcademiaUP platform, and the scheme of work aims to explore first contact with Portuguese in everyday situations. The course is based on a fiction series consisting of 8 episodes, recorded by TVU Networks, involving professional actors in different areas of the city of Porto. The teaching materials were developed by a team of trainers with experience in teaching Portuguese as a Foreign Language, and the audiovisual work was carried out by the Educational Technologies Nucleus.

Below you will find a brief video introduction to the course.

The International E-Learning Association (IELA) hosts the annual competition to recognise candidates who show an outstanding ability to promote learning, professional development and job performance through the use of technology. Successful candidates in this Award demonstrated this through the application of E-learning, blended learning and mobile learning, and were evaluated based on criteria such as “soundness and effectiveness”, “usability”, and “overall significance”.

The Faculty of Arts and the Educational Technologies Cluster at the University of Porto deserve a huge “congratulations” for their achievement. For more information on the MOOC, please contact Professor Fátima Silva, mhenri@letras.up.pt.

 

 

Webinar: Raising a Bilingual Child Today

On Wednesday 6th October, 2021, the challenges and opportunities surrounding language learning and bilingual development were discussed by a panel of leading experts. These included Paul Dunne, Headmaster of St. John Bosco College in Battersea; Patrick Rebuschat, Professor of linguistics and cognitive science at Lancaster University and Director of the Heritage Language 2 Consortium; Federica Piedimonte, Teacher of Italian language and culture teacher; and Agnieszka Derleta,  Head of Polish/English as an Additional Language (EAL) Department at St Thomas More in Bedford.

Both the presentations and audience’s contributions  were very insightful and the webinar offered some very exciting leads to further discussions.

The event was a joint initiative of St. John Bosco College, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, the Camões Instiute, and the Italian General Consulate in London.

Please see the YouTube link below to watch the webinar in full.