Month: December 2021

Call for papers: Graduate student conference @ NOVA, XVI Fórum de Partilha Linguística

December 22, 2021 / Patrick Rebuschat

The Early-Career Cluster (Núcleo de Jovens Investigadores) at NOVA’s Research Center for Linguistics (CLUNL) has just published the call for papers for their annual graduate student conference (XVI Fórum de Partilha Linguística).

This is a wonderful opportunity for graduate students to share their research and to provide peers with feedback on their studies. The XVI Fórum de Partilha Linguística takes place on July 1-2, 2022 (online format); the event is integrated in NOVA’s Summer School in Linguistics 2022.

Abstract submission deadline: March 4, 2022.

For more information, please vist the organizers’ website or email jiclunl@fcsh.unl.pt

Call for papers : Special issue, Diacrítica

December 17, 2021 / Sophie Bennett

Revista Diacrítica has recently published a call for papers for a special issue on “Teaching, learning and acquisition of foreign languages – interconnections”. Diacrítica is a multidisciplinary journal, edited by the Center for Humanistic Studies of the University of Minho (CEHUM), one of the HL2C founding institutions. For questions about the special issue, please email the editors below or visit the journal website.

Submission deadline: February 28, 2022

Online submission: Please follow the link

About the volume:

Editors: Jorge Pinto (CLUL), Lili Cavalheiro (CEAUL), Maria del Carmen Fondo (FLUL), Ana Cea (CEHUM)

Teaching, learning and acquisition of foreign languages – interconnections

The purpose of this thematic volume is to present recent studies that explore relevant issues related to the acquisition, learning, and teaching of foreign languages in different contexts, highlighting the heterogeneity and complexity that characterize them. Regardless of the different target languages on which research is carried out, in many cases their outcomes and implications may be transferred to the teaching and learning of other languages.

As the fields of acquisition and teaching and learning intersect, this volume aims to gather papers that do not exclusively focus on acquisition theories, but also address aspects of linguistics applied to the teaching and learning of foreign languages.

Finally, considering that the foreign language learning/teaching landscape has greatly changed in the last few decades, we expect works that reflect this, especially concerning multilingual contexts of classrooms. For example, the role of previously acquired languages, teachers’ attitudes towards multilingual approaches, and the advantages of a pedagogy which promotes the students’ interlinguistic development (e.g., translanguaging) versus monolingual bias.

In short, this thematic volume adopts a broad approach on the concepts of foreign language acquisition, teaching and learning, namely: 1) how foreign languages may be more easily learned and acquired, 2) which difficulties may arise when learning a foreign language, and 3) how foreign language learning has changed in view of our increasing multilingual society.

Considering the specific focus of this volume, articles related to sign language (e.g., LIBRAS, LGP) will not be considered for submission.

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Título do volume: Ensino/aprendizagem e aquisição de línguas estrangeiras – interconexões

Prazo de submissão: 28 de fevereiro de 2022

Submissão online em:http://diacritica.ilch.uminho.pt/index.php/dia/about/submissions

Apresentação do volume:

Este volume temático pretende reunir estudos atuais que explorem questões relevantes relacionadas com a aquisição, aprendizagem e ensino de línguas estrangeiras em diversos contextos, salientando a heterogeneidade e a complexidade que as caracterizam. Entende-se que, independentemente das diferentes línguas-alvo sobre as quais os estudos são realizados, os resultados obtidos e as suas implicações, em muitas situações, podem ser aplicados ao ensino e aprendizagem de outras línguas.

Como as áreas da aquisição e do ensino e aprendizagem se cruzam, pretende-se congregar trabalhos que não se concentram exclusivamente em teorias de aquisição, mas que abordem também aspetos da linguística aplicada ao ensino e aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras.

Por fim, considerando que o panorama do ensino e aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras mudou muito nas últimas décadas, esperam-se trabalhos em que isto se reflita, sobretudo considerando os contextos multilingues das salas de aula. Por exemplo, o papel das línguas previamente adquiridas, as atitudes dos professores em relação às abordagens plurilingues e os benefícios de uma pedagogia que promova o desenvolvimento interlinguístico (e.g. translanguaging) dos alunos versus o preconceito monolingue.

Em suma, este volume temático visa adotar uma abordagem ampla sobre os conceitos de aquisição, ensino e aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira, a saber: 1) como as línguas estrangeiras podem ser mais eficazmente aprendidas e adquiridas, 2) quais as dificuldades que podem surgir na aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira e 3) como a aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras mudou, considerando a nossa sociedade multilingue em crescimento.

Tendo em conta o foco específico do volume, não serão considerados artigos para submissão relacionados com a linguagem gestual (e.g. LIBRAS, LGP).

Editores:

Jorge Pinto (CLUL)

Lili Cavalheiro (CEAUL)

Maria del Carmen Fondo (FLUL)

Ana Cea (CEHUM)

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

December 9, 2021 / Sophie Bennett

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.

Hector Foundation pledges 19M EUR to support educational research at Tübingen

December 4, 2021 / Patrick Rebuschat

The Hector Foundation has 19M EUR of funding to support empirical educational research at the University of Tübingen.

This significant funding will go towards the strengthening of the Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, one of the HL2C founding institutions.

The Hector Institute was founded in 2014 with a generous endowment from the Hector Foundation. The grant will help to strengthen the institute’s international visibility in the long term and secure its position as one of Germany’s leading educational research institutions.

Close to 80 scientists work at the Hector Institute, where they investigate and empirically validate the quality of educational offerings and educational processes.

Professor Ulrich Trautwein, Director of the Hector Institute, said: “Education is the most important resource we can pass on to the next generation. The generous grant will enable a new generation of scientific studies that will help to understand and improve educational processes.”

For more information, please see the press release. For more information, please visit the Hector Institute website or see the video below.

Heritage language teacher receives Portuguese Medal of Merit

December 4, 2021 / Patrick Rebuschat

Last month, Isabel Geyer, a teacher of the Camoes Institute’s extensive heritage language network (rede EPE), received the Portuguese Medal of Merit in recognition for over forty years of service to the Portuguese community residing in Germany.

The Medal of Merit of the Portuguese Communities (Medalha Mérito das Comunidades Portuguesas) was awarded by the Portuguese Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities Berta Nunes during the annual language teaching workshop organized by the Camões Institute and the Portuguese Embasssy in Berlin.

Ms Geyer began teaching Portuguese as a heritage language on September 12, 1979, until she retired on November 30, 2020. Throughout this period, she served the Portuguese community in several German cities with exceptional dedication, merit and professionalism.

The Medal of Merit recognizes individuals who, regardless of their nationality, make a valuable contribution to strengthen the affective and cultural ties that bind all Portuguese citizens, living in Portugal or abroad.

For more information on learning Portuguese in Germany, please visit the following website or contact Rui Vicente de Azevedo. To read more about the event, please see the original news source on the Camões Institute website.

From left to right: Embassador Francisco Ribeiro de Menezes, Isabel Geyer, Secretary of State Berta Nunes, and Rui Vicente de Azevedo, Coordinator of Camoes Institute network in Germany.

LX Proficiency: New automatic proficiency classifier launched

December 4, 2021 / Patrick Rebuschat

The Camões Institute and the University of Lisbon have recently launched a new version of the LX Proficiency classifier, a computational tool that supports the classification of Portuguese texts on the scale of proficiency levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

The LX Proficiency classifier was first developed in 2013 as part of a cooperation agreement between the Camões Institute and the University of Lisbon’s Speech and Natural Language Processing Group (NLX), which is directed by Professor António Branco.

The classifier automatically determines the level of difficulty and readability of texts written in Portuguese, based on the CEFR levels. It can be used, for example, to aid teachers in the selection of texts for heritage or foreign language classes or to support the creation of more reliable items for Portuguese proficiency exams. This revised and improved version is based on a greater language corpus and more advanced computation tools.

This important resource is free to use and can be accessed at the PORTULAN CLARIN website, a repository for research infrastructure for the Science and Technology of Language. Please visit the following page to use LX Proficiency.

British Council award for Lancaster team’s comics app to support language learners

December 2, 2021 / Sophie Bennett

A Lancaster University-led project team have won a highly prestigious British Council ELTons Innovation Award for work on an imaginative comics app to help dyslexic and non-dyslexic learners learn a second language.

The project was also given a Judges’ Commendation for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

The CIELL App project was led by Dr Julie-Ann Sime from Lancaster’s Department of Educational Research and also included Professor Judit Kormos, Professor of Second Language Acquisition at Lancaster and HL2C Scientific Advisory Board member, as well as colleagues from Germany, Greece and Cyprus. The project was co-funded by ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union.

This very important award in the world of English language teaching is given in recognition of their international project “Comics for Inclusive English Language Learning” (CIELL) which aims to develop the competences of second language learners by promoting the use of comic art and other visual representations. The project also aims to enhance the quality of language teaching materials used for teaching writing in a second language by supporting the needs of dyslexic learners in a socially inclusive manner.

The CIELL App offers an inclusive, gamified approach to learning how to plan an essay at intermediate and advanced levels of English language proficiency. The award recognises that the app is designed to support students, with and without dyslexia, and offers an inclusive, gamified approach to learning how to plan an essay.

Dyslexia is a specific learning difference characterized by difficulties with word decoding, spelling, handwriting, reading, memory and attention span which affects around 10% of the population.

Many congratulations to all those involved in this important project!

For additional information, please visit the the CIEL app website, the original news source (Lancaster University website), or contact Dr Julie-Ann Sime.

Enrolment opens for free Armenian language and culture courses

December 2, 2021 / Sophie Bennett

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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).

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