The many faces of multilingualism: Myths, emotions, and the pandemic

While multilingualism is a natural potential available to every normal human being, many of its complex mechanisms remain shrouded in mystery or myth. The talk will start off by dispelling the most frequent misconceptions and prejudices surrounding the notions of bi-/multilingualism and bilingual education. I will then move on to the benefits brought about by speaking two or more languages, in terms of both verbal and non-verbal abilities. Two languages in the mind not only affect the cognitive structure and functioning, but also have subtle—and sometimes non-trivial—influence on the speaker’s decisions. I will discuss how bilinguals’ language choices impact moral decision-making in a way that cannot be accounted for by merely invoking an emotion-based explanation. Lastly, I will demonstrate how multilingualism moderated teachers’ and learners’ coping with the transition to emergency remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, basing on survey data from nearly 9,000 respondents from 118 countries.

If you would like to participate in the talk, please send an e-mail to Maria Obojska: maria.obojska@uni.lu