The NEOLAiA Alliance is actively shaping the future of multilingualism in higher education through its recently produced White Paper on Language Policy. This document addresses the key challenges of multilingual education and provides concrete recommendations to foster a truly international academic environment.
In an interview, Bielefeld delegate Grace Dolcini talks about her contributions to the White Paper and the role of Work Package 7 (Towards a plurilingual and intercultural European University), of which she is a member together with Suanne Hecht and Johanna Domokos. One important initiative that has emerged from this work is the Language Assistant Exchange Programme (LAEP), which is due to launch in 2025 and aims to support universities in implementing multilingual programmes and improving language exchange opportunities.
By bringing together different perspectives from across Europe, the White Paper emphasises the importance of striking a balance between English as a lingua franca and the preservation of local languages to ensure that language policies remain inclusive and adaptable to different university contexts.
Read the full interview here: https://blogs.uni-bielefeld.de/blog/neolaiaen/entry/bridging-language-gaps#mainSection
