Scientific conference
Multilingualism and minority languages in a global context – 10th conference of the international consortium “Multilingualism as a Chance”

The conference on “Multilingualism and minority languages in a global context” will take place in Davos, Grisons (Switzerland) from 21–23 May 2025. The conference is organised by the University of Teacher Education of the Grisons (PHGR) in cooperation with the University of Teacher Education Lucerne (PHLU) under the patronage of the international consortium “Multilingualism as a Chance”. Partner organisations include the Department of Education and Learning/University of Teacher Education (SUPSI/DFA, Ticino) and the University of Teacher Education Valais (HEPV-S).

The DAZ conference (German as a Second Language) is part of the conference “Multilingualism and minority languages in a global context”. Further information will follow with the publication of the programme.

Date

21 – 23 May 2025

Schedule

- see programme -

Venue

Davos Congress Center (Switzerland)

Registration deadline

30 April 2025

Organisers

University of Teacher Education of the Grisons in cooperation with the University of Teacher Education Lucerne

Everything you need to know about the conference

Background information about the conference

The linguistic and cultural diversity, the promotion and preservation of both minority and endangered languages, the recognition of sign languages in the society and in the educational context, communication between language communities and the associated role of digitalisation have long been the focus of research, practice and development worldwide. This conference will include wide discussions on the topic of autochthonous and migration-related language minorities within various contexts. Switzerland, part of multilingual Europe, with its four national languages and numerous other spoken languages, is an example of social, institutional and individual multilingualism. In particular, due to its diverse sociolinguistic structure, the trilingual Canton of the Grisons is the ideal venue for an international conference that aims to shed light on issues relating to multilingualism and linguistic minorities in a global context.

Aim of the conference

The conference aims to provide a platform for exploring and understanding the multiple dimensions of multilingualism, translanguaging and linguistic minorities, sign languages and Indigenous languages in a global context. Several aspects of these dimensions will be discussed in the spirit of constructive debate, which should make it possible to open up discussions on language learning and teaching with a view to socially responsible language education. In addition, the conference will shed light on the impact of digital transformation and particularly of artificial intelligence (AI) on the promotion of multilingualism.

Target audience

The conference is aimed at experts on research, education and language policy, as well as teachers, students and other interested parties who deal with (socio)linguistic, educational policy and didactic issues relating to multilingualism and minorities in the broadest sense.

Call for papers

The Grisons, Lucerne, Valais and Ticino (Switzerland) Universities of Teacher Education and the international consortium “Multilingualism as a Chance” are calling for submissions for the international conference entitled “Multilingualism and minority languages in a global context”. Academics, researchers, educators and practitioners are invited to submit proposals for presentations, workshops, posters, audiovisual works or art performances.

Presentations

Workshops

Posters

Audiovisual work / Art performance

Presentations will address selected problems and issues from ongoing or recently completed research and development projects. They will be situated within the context of the conference theme and will last a total of 30 minutes (20 minutes presentation, 10 minutes discussion). The presentations can be held in German, French, Italian, Romansh, International Sign (with slides in English) or English (if possible with slides in one of the other conference languages).

Workshops will address selected problems and issues from ongoing or recently completed research projects or current development projects, but will have an explicitly applied character. In a workshop, the audience should be given the opportunity to participate in the topic in an applied form. Workshops last 45 minutes and can be held in any of the conference languages. If English is the language of the workshop, the workshop leaders will endeavour to design the workshop in such a way that English and at least one other conference language are taken into account. If the language of the workshop is other than English, the organisers will endeavour to provide some explanations/materials also in English.

Research papers can also be submitted as posters. The papers presented in this way will comprise a research question and then, depending on the state of the research, the initial results or further questions that are situated within the context of the conference topic. This format is particularly suitable for research projects that are in the early stages or that offer starting points for further studies. The format is DIN A0 (portrait). Posters will be presented in short 10-minute presentations and may be prepared and presented in German, French, Italian, Romansh or English.

The conference theme can also be approached in a creative or artistic form. Audiovisual works, creative documentaries, art performances and the like that deal with aspects of the conference theme in an unconventional and possibly experimental way are possible. These presentations last a maximum of 30 minutes and any language may be used.

Scientific board

Angerer-Pitschko, Magdalena (Pädagogische Hochschule Kärnten, Österreich)

Angster, Marco (Sveučilište u Zadru, Hrvatska)

Arnold, Gustav (Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern)

Asgari, Marjan (Freie Universität Bozen, Italien/Libera Università di Bolzano, Italia)

Berchio, Giulia (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden/IfM/UNIBE, Schweiz)

Berthele, Raphael (Université de Fribourg, Suisse)

Bitterli, Dieter (Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern)

Blanchet, Philippe (Université Rennes 2, France)

Bleichenbacher, Lukas (Pädagogische Hochschule St. Gallen)

Borloz, Erica (Pädagogische Hochschule Wallis)

Boudreau, Annette (Université de Moncton, Canada)

Büchler, Andrin (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden)

Bumann, Corinna (Pädagogische Hochschule Wallis)

Caglia, Dominique (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden)

Candelier, Michel (Le Mans Université, France)

Cathomas, Rico (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden, Schweiz)

Cerruti, Massimo (Università degli Studi di Torino, Italia)

Cordóba Hernández, Lorena (Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca, México)

Dal Negro, Silvia (Università di Bolzano, Italia)

Dammeyer, Jesper (Københavns Universitet, Danmark)

Dittmann, Alina (Państwowa Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Nysie)

Domínguez, Luisa (Universidad de Buenos Aires)

Ferrarotti, Lorenzo (Università di Bergamo, Italia)

Finco, Franco (Pädagogische Hochschule Kärnten, Österreich)

Giblak, Beata (Państwowa Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Nysie)

Giudici, Alberto (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden, Schweiz)

Grünert, Matthias (Universität Freiburg, Schweiz)

Hashiguti Tiemi, Simone (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil)

Hatoss, Anikó (University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia)

Hilsdorf Rocha, Claudia (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil)

Imhof, Andreas (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden)

Konstantinidou, Liana (Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften, Schweiz)

Krompák, Edina (Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern, Schweiz)

Kunz, Aline (Universität Bern, Schweiz)

Lambelet, Amelia (Haute école pédagogique Vaud, Suisse)

Linderos, Petra (University of Jyväskylä)

Lucchetti, Cristiana (Universität Zürich, Schweiz)

Manna, Valeria (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden, Schweiz)

Manno, Giuseppe (Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Schweiz)

Marina, Olena (Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern)

Meier, Kirsten (Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich)

Menghini, Luigi (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden, Schweiz)

Micali, Irene (Università di Firenze, Italia)

Moody, Zoé (Pädagogische Hochschule Wallis)

Moretti, Bruno (Universität Bern, Schweiz)

Moskopf, Maria Chiara (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden, Schweiz)

Murray, Clíona (University of Galway, Ireland)

Natale, Silvia (Universität Bern, Schweiz)

Negrinelli, Stefano (Pädagogische Hochschule St. Gallen, Institut dal Dicziunari Rumantsch Grischun, Schweiz)

Oechslin, Katharina (Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern)

Pfau, Roland (Universiteit van Amsterdam, Nederland)

Picenoni, Mathias (Pädagogische Hochschule St. Gallen, Schweiz)

Pons, Aline (Università degli Studi della Valle d’Aosta, Italia)

Rathmann, Christian (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Deutschland)

Rellstab, Daniel Hugo (Pädagogische Hochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd)

Rosiak, Karolina (Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Polska)

Rotzer, Bernhard (Pädagogische Hochschule Wallis)

Ruberval Franco, Maciel (State University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil)

Salzmann, Sebastian (Pädagogische Hochschule Wallis)

Schmid, Stephan (Universität Zürich)

Schubiger, Patricia (Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern, Schweiz)

Šimičić, Lucija (Sveučilište u Zadru, Hrvatska)

Sorgo, Lara (Inštitut za narodnostna vprašanja Ljubljana, Slovenija)

Todisco, Vincenzo (Pädagogische Hochschule Graubünden, Schweiz)

Tomasuolo, Elena (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italia)

Witt, Monica (Państwowa Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Nysie, Polska)

Wolfrum, Jutta (Universität Bamberg)

Wyss, Stefanie (Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern)

Conference programme

The conference begins on Wednesday 21 May 2025 at 10:30 (registration from 09:30) and ends on Friday 23 May at 17:30.
A detailed programme will be released at a later date.

Exhibitors at the conference:

Ingold-Biwa
Hueber Verlag
Klett Sprachen
Klett and Balmer AG
Association Babylonia Switzerland
Ernst Klett Sprachen GmbH

More will follow

Keynotes

Evangelia Adamou

The adaptive bilingual mind: A closer look within and beyond WEIRD*
(*Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic)

Evangelia Adamou is a senior researcher in Linguistics at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France (CNRS). She specialises in the analysis of under-described and endangered languages with a focus on language contact and bilingualism, combining corpus and psycholinguistic methods. She has conducted extensive research in the Balkans (on Romani and Balkan Slavic) and in Mexico (on Ixcatec and Romani).

She serves as associate editor of the journal Language and is also a member of the editorial board of Glossa Contact.

Her latest books include Endangered Languages (in press) for the MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series, Understanding Language Contact (2023, Routledge) with profs Barbara Bullock and Jacqueline Toribio, and The Adaptive Bilingual Mind: Insights from Endangered Languages (2021, Cambridge University Press). She also co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Language Contact with Prof. Yaron Matras (2021).

Bernard Cathomas

Rumantsch Grischun yesterday, today and tomorrow:
On the creation and implementation of a supra-regional Rhaeto-Romance written language
[Discussion with Dominique Caglia]

Bernard Cathomas held a PhD from the University of Zurich and has held senior positions at the Lia Rumantscha language organization, at the Swiss cultural foundation Pro Helvetia and at the Swiss radio and television company SRG. He initiated the standard Romansh written language, Rumantsch Grischun, and promoted its spread and acceptance. His latest publication is Ein Weg zur Einheit in der Vielfalt. Plädoyer für Rumantsch Grischun (2023).

Dominique Caglia

Ruschun Grimantsch in therapy (literary discussion with German translation)
[Discussion with Bernard Cathomas]

Dominique Caglia (née Dosch) studied psychology, education and Romansh and is a research assistant at the University of Teacher Education of the Grisons. She is currently preparing her doctorate on the subject of German as a foreign and second language in Rhaeto-Romance schools.

She writes various texts in Romansh as a sideline activity, including the fantasy novel Sindoria (2013), a cycle of poems Rieischs an muvimaint for musical compositions of the project Rieischs by the choir Viril Surses (2023), short texts that appeared in the Rhaeto-Romanic-French work 5 idioms 5 dunnas (2023) and the humorous story Ruschun Grimantsch e Misurana - En'istorgia per pitschen e grond (forthcoming).

Alexandre Duchêne

Multilingualism and inequalities: A dialectical relation?

Alexandre Duchêne is full professor of Sociology of Language at the University of Fribourg and co-director of the Institute of Multilingualism. His research is situated at the interface between linguistics and social science and deals with the role of language in the production of differences and social inequalities. He has been an invited professor at ENS Lyon (France), the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), the Université Laval (Canada) and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (USA). He is the general editor of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language and a member of numerous editorial boards of international journals. Together with Deborah Cameron, he co-edits the Routledge series The Politics of Language.

Kijan Espahangizi

What language does post-migrant Switzerland speak?

Kijan Espahangizi is a German-Iranian-Swiss historian and private lecturer at the University of Zurich. He teaches and researches the history of migration as well as the history of knowledge and globalisation and is responsible for teacher training in the Department of History. He is co-founder of the post-migrant think and act tank Institut Neue Schweiz INES, and a member of the expert commission of the Pro Helvetia cultural foundation. 2023 saw the publication of the second edition of his book Der Migration-Integration-Komplex. Wissenschaft und Politik in einer (Nicht-) Einwanderungsgesellschaft, 1960-2010 (Konstanz University Press 2022).

Ofelia García

Southern decolonial multilingualism lessons for a global context

Ofelia García is professor emerita in the PhD programmes for the Urban Education and Latin American, Iberian and Latino Cultures at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. García has published widely in the areas of bilingualism/multilingualism and bilingual education, language education, language policy and sociology of language, and has received numerous awards. In the US, she has been elected as a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences (2023) and the National Academy of Education (2018). For more information, visit www.ofeliagarcia.org.

David Kroik

Teaching, learning and revitalisation of Indigenous languages: A Saami perspective

David Kroik is an associate professor in the Faculty of Teacher Education and Arts at the Nord University, Norway. His areas of expertise include South Saami, linguistics, language teaching and learning. Kroik is also the head of the transdisciplinary Saami research group at Nord University. In his current research Kroik investigates South Saami teachers’ professional development through the narratives of their experiences of language acquisition. Kroik is also actively involved in linguistic landscape studies, where he applies a critical Indigenous perspective to examine colonial spaces in Saepmie. As an adult learner of South Saami, David Kroik is dedicated to helping others learn their own heritage language. Kroik’s work sheds light on the importance of preserving and revitalising Indigenous languages, especially within educational contexts. His dedication to South Saami language teaching and learning exemplifies his commitment to Indigenous language revitalisation.

Photographer Helena Andersson Holmqvist

Annelies Kusters

Global mobilities through sign languages

Annelies Kusters is a professor of Sociolinguistics at Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh), where she has worked since 2017. With a passion for ethnographic research, she has conducted extensive fieldwork across diverse locations including Ghana, India and the United Kingdom. She is recognised for her expertise in the study of language practices, language ideologies, transnationalism, mobilities and sign language media. Professor Kusters has created seven documentary films grounded in linguistic ethnography.

Conference venue

The conference will take place at the Davos Congress Center (Graubünden, Switzerland).

Address:
Talstrasse 49a, CH-7270 Davos Platz

Further information:
davoscongress.ch

Parking:
A number of parking spaces are available in front of the Congress centre (subject to charge).

Registration

Registration from 30 June 2024 to 30 April 2025

For the conference
For the Conference Dinner

Conference fee and payment conditions
The conference fee will be invoiced to conference participants in advance of the conference or can be paid by credit card.

Cancellation
After the registration deadline, registrations are binding, entitling the participant to attend the conference and obliging the participant to pay the full conference fee.

Conference fee

Conference participation fee, incl. meals and Conference Dinner

CHF 280
CHF 190 (for early researchers)

Conference fee incl. meals, without conference dinner

CHF 200
CHF 110 (for early researchers)

Accommodation

Rooms:

For your accomodation from 21–23 May 2025, rooms are available in the following hotels:

Kongress Hotel Davos ****
Promenade 94, CH-7270 Davos
www.hotelkongress.ch

Standard room at a special price: CHF 120
incl. breakfast, excl. visitor’s tax.
(Offer valid from 21 to 23 of May 2025)

Parking at Hotel Kongress:
40 free outdoor parking spaces are available. Garage parking can be rented for CHF 15.00 per night.

Hotel Grischa****
Talstrasse 3, 7270 Davos
www.hotelgrischa.ch

Standard room at a special price: CHF 110
incl. breakfast, excl. visitor’s tax. This special price is valid at Hotel Grischa for both nights.
(Offer valid from 21 to 23 May 2025)

Parking at Hotel Grischa:
Free outdoor parking spaces are available. Garage parking space can be rented for CHF 20.00 per night.

Hotel Hilton Garden Inn Davos****
Promenade 103, 7270 Davos
www.hilton.com

Standard room at a special price: CHF 110
incl. breakfast, excl. visitor’s tax
(Offer valid from 21 to 23 of May 2025)

Reservations
You can reserve your room at info@hotelkongress.ch and benefit from special offers using the code “GA000025”.
Hotel Grischa: info@hotelgrischa.ch, Code “Tagung Minderheitensprachen”.
Hotel Hilton Garden Inn: davos.reservations@hilton.com, code “GPAD24”.

We recommend that you make your room reservation well in advance.

Private accommodation
Airbnb

For further accommodation options, please refer to the Davos Klosters Tourism website.
davos.ch

Arrival

The Davos Congress Center is located in the centre of Davos and is easily accessible by public transport as well as by car.

All information on how to get here by public transport or by car can be found at davoscongress.ch

Organisation

University of Teacher Education of the Grisons

Overall organisation

Lilian Ladner, Project Manager Rectorate Staff (Management)

Dragana Damjanovic, Conf-Tool

Scientific content

Vincenzo Todisco, Professor of Italian and Italian Didactics PHGR (Management)

Edina Krompák, head of the Institute of Language Learning and Teaching and Educational Linguistics at the University of Teacher Education Lucerne (Management)