Mehrsprachigkeit in Europa: Plurilinguismo in Europa ... - EURAC

Preface
This volume collects contributions from the conference “Multilingualism in Europe,” which was
held at the European Academy Bozen (Italy) on 24-26 August 2006. The conference marked
the completion of “Language Bridges,” a project which made a comparative investigation into
multilingualism in six European border regions.
The linguistic diversity within Europe has become increasingly valued and is receiving
attention not only as an element of identifi cation, but also as a fundamental source of the
cultural richness of Europe. The goal of the conference on multilingualism in Europe was to
bring together experts in the fi elds of linguistics, language teaching, and language policy from
throughout Europe for discussion and exchange of fi ndings and perspectives.
Multilingualism is clearly an aspect that will shape the future of many parts of Europe.
Today there are already many European border regions which serve as a model for the handling
of multilingualism and diversity. One aim for this conference has been to present reports on
research and examples of good-practice from such regions, where individual and institutionalized
multilingualism already forms a part of the tradition.
Where does the motivation for language learning come from? What are the needs of
European regions in the fi elds of multilingualism? How can experience and the fi ndings of recent
researches in language learning be transferred to other regions? How much potential arising
from multilingual situations can still be discovered in European regions? These were among the
many questions considered at the conference.
Several trends and desiderata for the promotion of multilingualism were sketched by the
four keynote speakers:
It is essential to study and document the handling of multilingualism within language
border regions, with the goal of an “ethnography of multilingual communication in language
border regions,” according to Prof. Rita Franceschini, rector of the Free University of Bozen.
Furthermore, the way in which the language learner is viewed should be made more systemic.
Language learning does not belong only in the classroom; much more important is a “learning
environment in 360°.”
It is also important that not only content be transmitted in the classroom, but rather, that
students become familiar with acting in the target language, stated Professor Christer Laurén of
the University of Vasa in Finland. Teaching staff must take on a new role and must increasingly
become “experts in the background” within the classroom.
A stumbling block to European multilingualism, according to Professor Oskar Putzer from
Innsbruck, is the continuing prevalence of the idea of “one language, one nation.” According
to this idea, language is seen as the most important sign of group identity. Over the years, this
conception has led to the view of language minorities as a disturbing element, or at least as an
element of uncertainty.
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