English as a Lingua Franca – perspectives from CIP on language practices in international contexts

Researchers from CIP frequently participate in a variety of research projects and conferences focusing on subjects such as language policy in practice and the use of English as the common teaching and working language.

On April 21-22, Associate Professor Janus Mortensen will speak at an Online Symposium arranged by Dr. Marie-Luise Pitzl from the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The Symposium is a two-day event which brings together experts in areas such as English as a lingua franca, inter-/transcultural communication, sociolinguistics, and multilingualism under the heading: ‘English as a Lingua Franca and Transient Contexts: Research for Applied Linguistics’.

Four speakers have been invited to contribute, and the aim of the symposium is to critically reflect on current concepts, methods, and research practices in (applied) linguistics and to identify future perspectives for applied linguistic research that may emerge in the light of the lingua-cultural diversity and fleetingness of many international, local, and virtual communicative settings.

Janus’ contribution to the symposium is entitled ‘Transient multilingual communities and language policy in theory and practice’, and he will be talking about, among other things, how transient communities (where individuals from different lingua-cultural backgrounds come together to collaborate on shared projects of various kinds for a limited period of time) constitute ripe sites for the study of social and linguistic norms in the making.

The talk draws on examples from the project Transient Multilingual Communities – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk), which was funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF) and ran from 2016 to 2019 with Janus as the PI.

The symposium will consist of talks, discussions, and interaction with forum participants.

If you are interested in the subject or wish to participate in the symposium, you can read more about the programme and sign up here: English as a Lingua Franca and Transient Contexts: Research Perspectives for Applied Linguistics (oeaw.ac.at)

Participation in the symposium is free.

Dates: 21-22 April

Times: 14.00-18.00 and 14.00-18.15