08.02.2026
The impulse conference “Focusing on Migration Languages – Le rôle des hautes écoles svizzere” at Bern University of Teacher Education (PHBern) highlighted migration-related societal multilingualism and the impact of projects at universities of teacher education. The focus was on languages of origin, migration-related multilingualism and the role of universities of teacher education in research, teaching, teacher training and educational policy development.
The aim of the conference was to showcase the results of the project “Learning in Migration Languages” funded by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC), to strengthen the exchange between science and practice, and to discuss perspectives for sustainably promoting migration languages in the educational system.
The presentation by Edina Krompák (Lucerne University of Teacher Education) highlighted key issues relating to the recognition of languages and international developments in heritage language research and translanguaging, with a view to future-oriented perspectives for educational practice related to HLT (Heritage Language Teaching). The programme was complemented by 13 parallel workshops that highlighted the wide range of practical, developmental and research work on initiatives in the field of HLT.
The multilingual orientation of the conference was consistently put into practice: the event offered AI-supported simultaneous translation in more than 30 languages; at the same time, multilingualism was also evident on the podium, where speakers switched between German, French, English, Portuguese and Italian. The multilingual lunchtime performance by Zoë Më (Switzerland's representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025) further emphasised that multilingualism is also a living practice in artistic forms of expression.
Thus, a day full of inspiration, exchange and networking came to an end – a strong sign of the importance of heritage languages and linguistic diversity in the social reality of the Swiss educational system.
Further Links: