The ECSPM is involved, as a coordinating institution, in A CASE STUDY ON LINGUISTIC MEDIATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION (Etude de cas sur la médiation linguistique dans l’enseignement supérieur). It is Action 2 of the project led by the University of Strasbourg – funded by AUF – under the title “Le multi-/plurilinguisme dynamique, terreau de l’excellence inclusive dans l’enseignement supérieur” (January 2023 – to January 2024). The participating universities are: Université de São Paulo (Brézil), Université Babes Bolyai (Roumanie), Université de Ngaoundéré (Cameroun), Université de Strasbourg (France), and Université de Sofia (Bulgarie).

Overall objective

To offer university teachers and students an opportunity to participate in a programme that aims to cultivate the ability to mediate across and within languages – an ability constitutive of a plurilingual and pluricultural ethos of communication, as described in detail by the Common European Framework for Reference: Companion Volume [Cadre Européen commun de référence pour les langues : apprendre, enseigner, évaluer – Volume complémentaire]  (Council of Europe, 2020). Intra- and cross-linguistic mediation can be taught/learnt/assessed in educational settings, but it can also be exploited to support communication between teachers and learners and between learners themselves, as well as to facilitate the teaching and learning process and enhance collaborative pedagogical processes.

Specific objectives

By taking part in this case-study instructors are:

  • To be motivated to map the languages their students bring into their class – languages other than the official language of instruction
  • To investigate when/how students and in what circumstances their students (may) resort to cross-linguistic and intra-linguistic mediation
  • To collaborate and negotiate on designing a programme with their colleagues from other universities (with whom they don’t necessarily share a common language)
  • To gain knowledge regarding the theory and practice of linguistic mediation
  • To develop awareness regarding plurilingualism in action
  • To discover ways of implementing a plurilingual pedagogy in their classes by collaborating with their colleagues from other universities.

By taking part in this case-study, students are:

  • To cultivate their intra- and cross-linguistic mediation competence, skills, and strategies
  • To collaborate through mediation with their own classmates and/or with students from the other universities
  • To use cross-linguistic mediation for their learning experiences by utilising language technology (tools and services), reference materials, social media
  • To share those experiences with other students and to document the process.