“Multilingual Universities and Colleges: Practice and Standards” was the title of the International Congress organised by the University of Fribourg in Switzerland on 19 – 20 September. The Free University of Bozen/Bolzano was the only example at the Congress of a trilingual university.
The Congress, attended by over 80 representatives from 12 countries speaking 25 languages, explored and analysed the benefits of a multilingual institution compared to a monolingual one, as well as the challenges that face students, professors and administrative staff when confronted with studying and teaching in languages that are not their mother tongue. The Free University of Bozen/Bolzano was represented by Jemma Prior, English language coordinator at the Language Centre and Monika Stufferin, director of the secretariat of the Faculty of Design and Art.
The Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, in this case, differs radically from most other multilingual universities as it promotes integrated multilingualism, where students have to take courses and sit exams in three languages, whereas in Fribourg (Freiburg), for example, most courses run in parallel and students have the possibility to either attend the monolingual French or German section.
The Congress also presented many new ideas and ways to promote multilingualism in universities, including the importance of a committee to oversee and endorse multilingualism in an institution. Implementation of certain of these ideas could contribute to an even stronger language policy at the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, which will benefit not only the students, but the whole community at large.