Conference

This conference seeks to highlight how the synergistic connection between the arts, museums, and (language) classrooms can create third spaces (Bhabha 2010) or, in Li’s terms, “translanguaging spaces” (Li 2011, 2018). In such spaces, language users actively draw on their full range of resources and modalities (including visual, embodied, sensory, and social) to construct meanings in interaction, embracing their inner spaces, personal journeys, and aesthetic sensibilities (Anderson et al. 2018; Bradley et al. 2018; Lytra et al. 2022; Abdelhadi et al. 2020). Research has shown that promoting plurilingual communicative and pedagogical practices across different learning contexts (e.g. museums, botanical gardens, city spaces, etc.) and in integration with various art and creative methods (e.g. collage making, drama, creative writing, a/r/tography, etc.) can have a positive impact on learners’ deep and meaningful engagement with content, metalinguistic awareness, creativity, self-expression, and democratic citizenship (Bradley 2025; Meneghetti and Fazzi 2025; Macleroy and Shamsad 2020; Arshavskaya 2021; Futro 2022). Moreover, promoting plurilingualism in public spaces can help challenge linguistic and social hierarchies by integrating new narratives and perspectives, promoting the inclusion and empowerment of often marginalised communities, and supporting intercultural understanding (Meneghetti 2024; Fazzi 2025; Deroo 2022; Matras 2023; Lehman et al. 2018). 

---

Call for papers

We thus welcome proposals for: 

• full presentations (20-minute presentation plus 10 minutes for discussion)
• pitch presentations (5-minute individual presentations followed by a discussion moderated by the organising/scientific committee)

that showcase compelling research, innovative case studies, and bold theoretical perspectives that demonstrate the transformative potential of plurilingual education across these vital domains. In addition, we strongly encourage that presenters share any artefacts produced during their research or practical activities, either by bringing physical samples or displaying them through images and QR codes.

Presentations should be bilingual (i.e. slides in one language and oral presentation in another). For the oral presentation, we suggest using romance languages or English. For the slides, any language can be used but if it's not a romance language then it should be accompanied by an English translation. To ensure a rich exchange of ideas and intelligibility, we invite speakers to explore proactive mediation techniques that bridge potential language gaps and make their work resonate across our diverse audience.

Topics

Suggested topics for submission include, but are not limited to:

• Plurilingual Practices in Museum Education: strategies for making exhibitions and programmes inclusive, accessible, and engaging for plurilingual visitors; challenging dominant cultural and linguistic norms; impacting visitors’ linguistic, social, emotional, and cultural connections
• Arts-Based Plurilingual Pedagogies: using art and creative methods to promote learners’ linguistic and (inter-)cultural experimentation across different learning contexts. These include, but are not limited to, art-based lessons (e.g. collage-making, a/r/tography), drama and improv-focused activities, language arts lessons (e.g. creative writing, digital storytelling, podcasting, etc), and linguistic landscaping.
• Multimodal and Multiliteracies Pedagogies: research on how multimodal orchestration of teaching and learning can be applied to arts-based approaches; investigation of students’ multimodal meaning-making as part of their learning experience; investigation of students’ engagement with plurilingual/translingual literature.
• Curriculum Development: designing integrated curricula that connect language education, art appreciation, and cultural heritage across the classroom and the region.
• Professional Development: training formal and non-formal educators to implement plurilingual practices in multilingual arts and museum contexts effectively; fostering the collaboration between schools and other institutions/practitioners to promote plurilingualism.
• Social and Educational Impact: research on how plurilingual approaches in public spaces contribute to social justice, identity construction, and community engagement.

We are particularly interested in submissions featuring practical applications and best practices from diverse international contexts and actors, including researchers, educators, teachers, and artists.

Committees