MIRAS presents the results of the NEW ABC project on multilingual education at school

01/03/2024

The Faculty of Translation and Interpreting of the UAB welcomed a dissemination session  on multilingual education at school by  MIRAS research group to showcase the results of the NEW ABC research project, . Collaborating researchers as well as teachers, families, and students from the primary and secondary school El Viver , where some of the project's actions have been implemented, also took part in it.

Firstly, Olga Torres, dean of the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting at the UAB, Montserrat Montagut, Head of the Foreign and Origin Language Service of the Department of Education of the Government of Catalonia and Marta Arumí, coordinator of the NEW ABC project at the UAB and principal researcher of MIRAS, welcomed the audience.

Afterwards, Gema Rubio Carbonero and Mireia Vargas-Urpí presented the NEW ABC project and explained that it is made up of 13 partners from 9 different European countries, in addition to talking about the 9 pilot actions carried out in the framework of the project. Next, Federica Ceccoli, professor and researcher at the University of Bologna, presented one of the pilot actions implemented by her team  related to minors and young people who act as language brokers.

Dolors Masats, from the  GREIP research group (UAB), went on to confront some myths about multilingual education. For instance, one of the most important issues Masats addressed is the misconception that multilingual environments are chaotic and lead to situations of misunderstanding.

Next, Valeria Tonioli and Claudia Vallejo, from the UAB, presented the repiloting of the UAB at El Viver. The researchers then gave way to the the real protagonits of the pilot action: families, teachers, and children. Carol Vázquez, Cristina Rodríguez and Mònica Martinez spoke about their experience with the co-creation of a multilingual tale  with the collaboration of families. Mothers and children explained what their participation in the project had been like and what it had brought them.

Isabel Rodríguez, Irene Costa and Sílvia Álvarez then presented the activity " San Martino, a legend from here and there, ", while Alba Reina, Mireia Sanz and Míriam Salazar did the same with "What do I take it in my suitcase? The traveling suitcase". Finally, the day concluded with reflections on  multilingualism  and the impact of the NEW ABC project in the school., by Sílvia Álvarez, Valeria Tonioli, Cristina Rodríguez and Claudia Vallejo.

This information is related to the following SDG

• Reduced inequalities
• Gender equality
• Quality education
• Partnerships for the goals