University of Nicosia Faculty at the International Symposium “University Language Policies”

UNIC Faculty members Dr Antroulla Papakyriakou and Dr Avra Xepapadakou participated in the International Symposium “University Language Policies” which was organised by the Université de Tours in the framework of the NEOLAiA University Alliance. The symposium took place in the city of Tours in France on 16 – 18 October 2024, as part of the Alliance’s Work Package 7: Towards a plurilingual and intercultural European University.

The symposium included presentations delivered by very reputable scholars in the area of multilingualism, language policy and education, as well as roundtable discussions and formal interviews with decision makers in the area of multilingualism.

Both UNIC delegates presented original papers: Dr Papakyriakou from the Department of Languages and Literature delivered a presentation on “Linguistic Ecologies in the Context of Promoting Plurilingualism in Higher Education: The Case of Cyprus” and Dr Xepapadakou from the Department of Education, together with Dr Eleni Papalexiou from the University of the Peloponnese, presented the paper: “Creating Thymele, an Open-access Dynamic Multimedia Dictionary of the Performing Arts: a contribution to the European venture of linguistic multiformity and empowerment of national languages”.

An important highlight of the symposium was also the launching of the publication “Language Policy White Paper”, a joint publication of a group of experts from the NEOLAiA University Alliance. Whereas the first two days of the symposium had the form of a conference, the third day was devoted to the drafting of the Language Policy Charter. Both publications, the Language Policy White Paper, as well as the Language Policy Charter, are meant to serve in the future as useful tools for European universities and to support their efforts to promote plurilingualism.

Presenters and participants agreed on the fact that although European societies at large are multilingual, due to migration and many other factors, and although university communities are also multilingual with students coming from a variety of countries, multilingual programmes that would target the development of plurilingual citizens are very rare They agreed that efforts should be made for the development of multilingual programmes at european universities, and especially of programmes that would go beyond English-medium instruction. The two-day conference gave a very clear message on the fact that internationalisation of universities should in no way equal to Anglicisation of academic programmes.

The symposium organisation served as a good example for linking theory to practice. Presenters and participants had the possibility to communicate their ideas in several languages since they could rely on simultaneous interpretation.