The author aims at answering the question: “What activities do the authorities undertake to manage the multiculturalism of the city-state which is situated at the intersection of three cultural spheres (the Chinese, Indian and Islamic) and which constitutes a unique mosaic of religions, denominations, beliefs, ideologies, ethnic and language groups? To what extent do the undertakings of state authorities affect social behaviour of citizens and their mentality?”. Using the document analysis (especially of legal acts), the author discusses: demographical issues, with special regard to the policy of positive discrimination towards autochthonous population of Singapore – Malayans; religious pluralism and secularity of the state which promotes religious harmony; some examples of reactions of the society and officials to the attitudes and statements posing threat to religious harmony; the linguistic policy called multilingualism (with special focus on the role of Singlish – the language which is becoming an attribute of the Singapore identity); the values which school implants in learners so that they could live together and build inclusive society. The author concludes that – in the conditions of Singapore – multiculturalism is becoming a socially functional phenomenon, which enhances the construction of inclusive society and its successful economic, social and cultural development. In the face of the European crisis of multiculturalism, the author encourages researchers to pay more attention to the positive experiences of the countries which do not belong to the European cultural circles.

Conference on Opportunities for Law Graduates as Lawyerlinguists with the EU. Dublin, (7 March 2018), The Honorable Society of King’s Inns

Multilingualism is now considered as the mean of achieving common goals on the European ground. This term can be referred to speaking several languages at the same time, and as to an official requirement for the employees of an organisation or a company who should communicate internally and externally by using more than one language and finally, as to multiculturalism which can apply to an individual’s capability to master several languages. But since the EU has extended equal treatment to 24 languages spoken in all of its member countries, there is a huge demand for translators, interpreters, linguists and lawyer-linguists. The Irish language, being a working one, while not yet a XX language is an interesting example of achieving the largest scope of multilingualism in the EU.

Italian Eurolect: an analysis based on articles of the European constitution

The following article discusses the linguistic features of legal Italian and the notion of Eurolect; the analysis is based on articles of the European Constitution. The information provided herein aims to demonstrate that legal Italian has a different set of qualities in comparison with those that apply to Eurolect. The author of the article describes the principal characteristics of the Italian language that is used in the institutions of the European Union, a language that is the result of translating the Community legislation, drafted primarily in English or French, and is different from the actual linguistic norms of Italian. It is grammatically correct, yet its quality is not satisfactory for a native speaker. This problem is called attrito linguistico and is a new term in Italian linguistics. Due to this problem, these texts are often criticised for being low-quality translations, but their quality is the result of requirements imposed on translators. The third part of this article then goes into detail about the main features of translated Italian texts and focuses on the analysis of some of the articles present in the European Constitution in order to elaborate on the choices made during the translation and to suggest further solutions.

Language heterogeneity in the classroom is quite a common phenomenon. For experts, it is a challenge; for teachers and parents, it is most often a problem. This challenge or problem will be discussed on the basis of the theory of multilingual education and migration pedagogy. The aim of this contribution is to present an app that can be regarded as a universal tool for fostering multilingualism and explaining it from the viewpoint of parents, since they are an important but often ignored aspect of multilingual education. The research analysis will illustrate and interpret the research results of a qualitative study in which parents from different countries participated. It is not country specific, but it highlights the key aspects that can foster multilingual education and that at least partly match with the underlying theory.

The sociolinguistic scenario for the teaching of Italian. Problems  and challenges

The recent migration flows have changed the linguistic balance in some European countries that are more exposed than others. Italy is among them. The Barcelona Agreement states basic rights for the promotion of all linguistic varieties, but language differences may represent a barrier to human promotion. Unfortunately, immigrant students in Italian schools accumulate delays in their career, even if they are of second generation (born in Italy), and this is due to hindering linguistic competences. Thus the teaching of Italian as a foreign language at school in such a situation of new multilingualism requires the activation of dynamic teaching techniques more oriented to communicative skills than to grammatical rigor.

From the acquisition of the mother tongue to the multilingual competences of a child at a younger school age

The aim of the article is an attempt to describe the main challenges for the language development and mother tongue education of a child at an early school age in the context of common multilingualism, resulting from the compulsory learning of a foreign language at the stage of preschool education, international mobility of families and migration. At the heart of the research is the relationship between the mother tongue and other languages of the child. The place and role of the first language in acquisition / learning new languages was discussed in the light of the findings of psycholinguistics and comparative glottodidactics. Theoretical reflection only illuminates the more important aspects of this complex issue. It is guided by the thesis that cultural and linguistic diversity gives rise to the need to think about language education in a holistic way, that is, one in which there is an integration of paradigms, approaches and recommendations of mother tongue teaching with methodologies of foreign language teaching. Scientific assumptions and concepts regarding the development of a child’s multilingual competence are supported by examples of specific didactic solutions used in countries with a rich tradition in the field of intercultural education. The conclusion of the considerations is – it is worth using innovative pedagogical strategies, activities and resources that could support students’ multilingual competence whom we work in schools in Poland.