Video Conference: “Mother tongue: a multi-faceted, changing concept”

21-02-2008 - 21-02-2008 (Belgium) 

A conference organised by the Multilingualism Sector, Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission.

 
This bilingual conference (FR/EN) will aim to give a broad overview of the mother tongue issue and its practical impact on language learning and language use in businesses.

The speakers will be Dr Laurence Mettewie, who contributed to Rudi Janssens’ study on the use of languages in Brussels, and her colleague Luk Van Mensel.

They will question the relevance of the mother tongue concept and explore the European Union's language policy with the help of concrete examples.

They will focus in particular on linguistic attitudes as an incentive or an obstacle to learning languages in bilingual communities and on multilingualism as an asset or a constraint for businesses.