Over forty experts in linguistic research from around the world gathered on Friday 14 March, at the Barcelona campus to take part in the 10th edition of the Spring Research Conference, organised by the GRAM Research Group at the Institute for Multilingualism. This year, the event centred on developments in multilingual teaching and learning.
Under the title “Advances in Multilingual Learning and Teaching”, the conference featured international speakers from countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Belarus, India, China, Japan, Israel, Chile, the United States, and Canada. The event consolidated its position as a key platform for exchanging methodological perspectives on bilingualism and multilingualism.
The keynote lectures were delivered by Dr Francisco Lorenzo from Universidad Pablo de Olavide and Dr Pilar Mur Dueñas from the University of Zaragoza. Dr Lorenzo focused on adapting the Common European Framework of Reference to disciplines such as history, mathematics, and science in multilingual contexts, highlighting the need for specific indicators to assess academic language proficiency. Meanwhile, Dr Mur Dueñas presented a professional development programme for university lecturers teaching in English, emphasising the importance of continuous training for successful teaching of content in foreign languages.
The day included various parallel sessions, with presentations on topics such as second and third language acquisition, the impact of technology on language teaching, and educational practices in multilingual environments.
For ten years now, the Institute for Multilingualism at UIC Barcelona has organised the Spring Research Conference with the aim of promoting research and academic debate on language acquisition in multilingual contexts. This annual event has become a benchmark in the study of linguistic diversity and the educational challenges it brings.
