Challenge Question
How can bilingual and multilingual community members leverage their linguistic skills to support research across language barriers?
Partner: Globally Networked Learning
Project Summary
One of the most common obstacles faced by users of international learning platforms is how to address language barriers between participants. We believe that mobilizing plurilingual competencies in the context of research, learning, and working in global environments can create an inclusive, collaborative solution to this problem. Plurilingualism means that an individual knowing several distinct languages is able to switch between various languages to enable easier communication. The goal of this project is to build an online website or app, hosted by York International, for students speaking different languages to train and mentor each other in researching and finding multilingual sources in their respective languages. Concretely, while facilitating the collection of resources, the project aims to develop a collaborative environment for students to learn from and teach each other to develop team-building skills in a global context. The objectives of this initiative are to: allow students to easily switch from one language or dialect to another while working with multilingual sources; understand terms better by inferring their meaning from the context of different languages; bridge the gap between students speaking different languages in research environments to find solutions to global challenges; enhance the learning and research process of each student from a linguistic perspective; collect multilingual resources for globally networked research and working environments, including team building and student research; and encourage users/students to contribute to discussion around multilingual communication. Our goal is for this application to be used by students and instructors in the context of internationally co-designed courses or other experiential learning and research environments that foster global conversations. Students interested in this project might have backgrounds in communications, linguistics, international studies, digital communication, and the social sciences, and should be interested in collaborative research. Because the objective of this project is to produce an online-based website/app, the team should include some members with knowledge of front-end frameworks, back-end frameworks, database language, API (preferably Google Translate in the context of this website), and platforms that share live video/audio discussion and subscripts. Non-technical assets include knowledge of non-colonial languages and knowledge about learning and working processes involving various languages/cultures in the world.
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Partner Video
Organizational Profile
Globally Networked Learning (GNL) refers to an approach to research, learning, and teaching that provides students, faculty, and non-academics from all over the world with a platform to collaborate with one another. Participants are able to engage in knowledge-making processes and concrete learning projects that enhance experiential education with the aid of various forms of technology, including learning management systems, video conferencing software and hardware, cloud computing, and social media. The GNL project at York University began in 2015 and currently operates under York International, bringing researchers, instructors, and students together to imagine and experiment with the idea of ‘global thinking’ as a critical skill for globally networked working environments. Sponsored by York International and the GNL team, participants are brought together to collaborate on projects that bring diverse perspectives to produce a richer, more nuanced understanding of the issue(s) at hand. GNL environments support student-centred learning and teaching for the twenty-first century university. They support the development of global competencies among both students and instructors who need to adapt, thrive, and succeed as global citizens engaged in complex, intercultural problem-solving. As a form of experiential education that transcends borders, the promise of GNL can be reinforced through open pedagogy, development of digital literacy and production, and other forms of innovative knowledge-making practices across cultures.
Partner Website
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Additional Resources
Key Words
- Foreign Languages
- Research Methods
- Global Communication
- Digital Platform