A selection of language-related events. Does not claim to be comprehensive or represent the views of SCILT.
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Edinburgh / hybrid
The two-day interdisciplinary conference organised by Bilingualism Matters is open to researchers as well as practitioners, irrespective of their affiliation with Bilingualism Matters.
The BMS aims to stimulate a productive dialogue between researchers in different academic disciplines and practitioners in different sectors of society.
BMS25 is a hybrid conference. The main focus will be on in-person presentations taking place in Edinburgh 24-25 March. but online participation and discussion will be possible.
Visit the website for more information and to book your place. Please note this is a paid event, but delegates registering via SCILT communications can receive a discount of 20% for online attendance by inserting the coupon: “SCILT@BMS”.
More information
Online
Join Heriot-Watt University's Multilingual Debate online on Wednesday 26 March, from 1.30pm to 3.00pm. Leading experts will debate on the following motion in their native languages: “This House believes that lifestyle influencers cannot be trusted to provide sound, well-informed well-being advice.”
The event will feature speeches in Spanish, French, BSL, Chinese and German, and interpreting from these languages will be delivered by our very own MA and MSc students.
Visit the website to book.
Join the NCLE webinar focusing on transition from primary to secondary school.
We will be sharing innovative approaches to curriculum planning, discovering more about Content and Language Integrated Learning, and showcasing exciting initiatives exploring the role of languages in developing life-long skills.
Visit the website for more information and to register for the online event.
Upper primary and lower secondary teachers are invited to this launch event showcasing the new musical element of A’ Adam’s Bairns?, an educational resource to support learning around Scottish Identity and Diversity through the Expressive Arts.
Created in collaboration with professional musicians, music teachers, children and young people, this new resource for music classrooms is designed to help learners explore how music can shape identity.
Visit the website for more information and to register for the free, online event.
This online workshop, run by King's College London, is aimed at students studying A-level German (or Higher/Advanced Higher in Scotland).
Hear talks by lecturers from King’s College London on different aspects of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s post-war drama and its contemporary resonance, and have the chance to practise your German language skills. The workshop is designed to help with A-level (or equivalent) studies and give a taste of what studying German at university can involve.
Although different languages make use of different vocabulary, they are all similar in that in each language there is a small amount of vocabulary that accounts for over 90% of the words used in spoken and written texts. This can be called the high frequency vocabulary of that language. This talk looks at that vocabulary and how it is best learned.
London / Hybrid online
The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at King's College London is hosting a workshop aimed at secondary educators on the theme 'Making Assessment Fit for Purpose.'
Participants at the workshop will hear some of the innovative assessment practices that are being pioneered in the DLLC and elsewhere, about inclusivity and assessment, about student perceptions, and about the uses and abuses of AI.
The workshop takes place on Tuesday 29 April (registration from 10:30am; a wine reception to close the event at 5pm). It is a hybrid event so online participation can be booked by visiting the website.
Technology and digital tools can inspire and motivate learners. They can create a more engaged environment and can help encourage active participation in many aspects of learning in the classroom. For language learning specifically, digital tools provide many opportunities for learners to communicate, collaborate and practise their language skills in creative ways using tools that are engaging, motivating and fun.
In this workshop, we will consider how digital tools can be used effectively to support language learning and assessment. We will share examples of how schools are making use of digital technologies in the context of languages and explore some of the resources available.
This is a SCILT open access workshop for primary teachers and primary education students in Scotland.
Edinburgh
Working with the Chinese Testing Centre (CTI) the Confucius Institute in Edinburgh will be running the next in-person exams at the Institute on Saturday 17 May 2025.
The HSK is a globally run standardised test of Chinese language proficiency for non-native speakers. A HSK pass can help holders ensure eligibility for scholarships to study in China or gain an advantage in the job market or simply provide a source of learner motivation!
Visit the website for more information and to register for the exam by 14 April 2025.
Portobello High School in Edinburgh is delighted to offer your students in S3 and S4 the opportunity to take part in our International Space Challenge. This is a cross-curricular event showing how the combination of languages and STEM can open up opportunities in future careers.
The space tourism race is on, and your challenge will be to design a space hotel for a European consortium. The overall design will have to be smart and practical, and the hotel needs to be full of innovative ideas that have real potential to work in space. Furthermore, teams will have to work in a foreign language with continental materials suppliers and make a presentation to the European investors in French, German or Spanish.
This is an opportunity for your students to put their STEM and language knowledge into context in a fun environment, improving their employability skills along the way.
Full details about the challenge can be found in the attached document. Please note there is a charge to participate.
Following last year’s inaugural Future of French en Écosse conference held at the University of Strathclyde, we are delighted to open registration for this year’s event: The Future of French en Écosse: The Way Ahead.
The conference will take place in Edinburgh on Monday 23 June and aims to provide a forum for all stakeholders by offering a place and time for assessing the situation and for building a positive future for French in Scotland, with a specific focus on learner’s voices.
The conference will be followed by a drinks reception at Institut français d’Écosse.
Visit the website for more information and to register. You can also register via the link and QR code on the attached flyer.
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