Exploring Multilingualism

Linguistic diversity is a fact of human life – as is the imbalance in status between languages.

In the current context of globalisation, this imbalance is manifesting itself most strikingly in the rise of ‘global’ English as the universally recognised lingua franca, and the pressure this in turn puts on other less globally ‘useful’ languages.

The features in this section will present findings from our evolving research on the interaction between multilingualism and creativity, but also address aspects of the context in which our research is taking place. From the difficulties and opportunities of Modern Languages in schools to insights into the impact Brexit will have on languages and their status in the UK, we will be looking at social and political issues to better understand how we can make linguistic diversity more visible, valued, and vibrant.

Word cloud of languages spoken by attendees

From bilingualism to multilingualism: promoting language learning in Wales

Multilingual Cymru conference brought together academics, teachers, policy makers and practitioners to discuss the future of multilingualism in Wales.

Multilingualism at Voila! Europe Theatre Festival

Voila! Europe is a festival which brings together European and British theatre makers. Some of the shows are bilingual or multilingual, and many include performers from more than one country. This year, the performances explored different aspects relating to Britain’s relationship with Europe with themes including history, classics, environmental issues, war and technology.

Running a multilingual film competition

The Connecta project, a multilingual short film course, competition and festival run by the University of Roehampton, was awarded funding by Creative Multilingualism, a research programme led by the University of Oxford and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of the Open World Research Initiative.

What can we learn from studying multilingual moon idioms and stories?

The year 2019 will be remembered by some as the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings. It has been for Moon enthusiasts the chance not only to reflect on Armstrong’s first steps but also what the Moon means to them on a more personal level. The Moon has been compared to a mirror that reflects our passions and beliefs.

As Philip Morton in ‘The Moon. A history for the future’ wrote:

Literature Must Fall: Decolonising Mother Tongues

Decolonising Mother Tongues, a workshop on Punjabi poetry, supported by Professor Rajinder Dudrah as part of Creative Multilingualism’s Slanguages research project, took place at Literature Must Fall, in Birmingham, on Saturday 28 September.

Photo of home language project in classroom

Unleashing the creative potential of linguistic diversity in our classrooms

Many of our students are already multilingual, but our classrooms often don’t reflect this. In our action research project, we were amazed by the transformation that occurred when we invited students to use their home languages in class.

@Flyingless and sustainable research? Some snapshot responses from academics

Like most people, I worry about climate change. This blog considers climate change and air travel.

Creative Multilingualism at the University of Pittsburgh

People from around the globe gathered at the University of Pittsburgh on the weekend including and following September 5th to attend a symposium made up of a one-day workshop: Artificial Intelligence in the World of Languages and a three-day conference:

Photo from We Are Children of the World concert

We are Children of the World film shortlisted for award

In 2018, Creative Multilingualism, in partnership with the Oxford Festival of the Arts, held a concert with 500 school children in the University of Oxford’s magnificent Sheldonian Theatre.

Uncovering hidden language stories

In June this year we ran Act Yourself! Uncover your Hidden Language Story at both the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon (hosted by Prime Theatre) and at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. These creative workshops were open to all ages and were designed to help people explore their lives through the languages they know (and to some extent those they don’t!). There were drama games and exercises, arts activities including graffiti, filming and challenges based around translating.

Translanguaging has made it to Scottish primary education and it is alive and 'coleando'!

All the World is Our Stage: primary pupils never lost in translanguaging, a multilingual performance showcasing heritage and school languages, has brought pupils and teachers from Whinhill Primary School together with actress-singer, Rebecca Cameron, and creative language learning social enterprise, The Language Hub.

Photos from Creative Multilingualism events

Public engagement with languages research: what’s your experience?

Creative Multilingualism has been alive and kicking for three years now. Part of our mission is to make languages more visible, valued and vibrant. To achieve this, we’ve run lots of public engagement events and activities to help share our research and to showcase the fun and creative side of multilingualism.