Fostering multilingualism is one of the key elements of the mission of the Transform4Europe European University. Students and employees of particular universities in the Alliance speak German, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Lithuanian, Estonian, Bulgarian, and – of course – Polish; however, they are united by English. They are facing the difficult task of designing a common language strategy thanks to which they will speak various languages. Paweł Zakrajewski, PhD, the leader of the Polish team responsible for promoting multilingualism in the Transform4Europe Alliance, tells us about different initiatives to bring us closer to that goal.

Małgorzata Kłoskowicz, PhD: Numerous tasks are carried out at our European University. One of them is working towards multilingualism, with the University of Silesia acting as the leader. Work on developing a common linguistic strategy for the entire Alliance is currently underway. What does this task mean for each of us?

Paweł Zakrajewski, PhD: Our partner in this task is the St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University. We want to approach the idea of developing a common linguistic strategy that would follow from a broader language policy adopted for the entire Alliance. It seems complicated, but what it means in practice is that we need to develop an action plan thanks to which students, PhD students, graduates, and employees of the European University will speak English at least at B1 level, and the second language of choice from the eight languages of the Alliance at least at the basic level.

M.K.:  It is an intriguing prospect. However, universities differ regarding their educational offer. In our case, a foreign language course is compulsory during studies, and students can choose between five languages. At some of the universities, a language course is part of the curriculum only for two semesters. I was amazed by the extremely rich offer of the Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. Students of the Lithuanian university can choose between over 30 languages, including Hebrew, Old Norse, Japanese, and Yiddish. How to develop a common action plan?

P.Z.: This is exactly what our job is about. As we are getting to know each other, we consider which model will work out best for the Alliance. We will also test various original solutions to check whether these methods are effective. We want to create opportunities for our students, PhD students, and employees to move around the Alliance universities without any language barriers to their mobility. On the one hand, we improve their language competencies; on the other, the appropriate level of language courses is to guarantee that a student or an employee who visits another university does not have to additionally prove that they have the required level of language proficiency. In this case, we talk about the language level recognised by the partner universities, of course.

M.K.: One of such original ideas is called Languages for Lunch. What is it about, and who can benefit from it?

P.Z.: Languages for Lunch is one of the three forms of foreign language learning we want to offer to students, PhD students, and all employees of the partner universities, including the University of Silesia in Katowice. We hope that, finally, we will be able to travel safely to the countries of the Alliance. We would like to invite people leaving and arriving to take part in a simple language event. Let’s imagine that a student or an employee plans to stay at the University of Trieste for one semester. During the stay in Italy, he or she can decide to teach the interested Italians some Polish. However, the teaching will not take the form of classes or a language course, but social meetings at lunchtime, so that they can simply get to know one another and talk in Polish, in this case. We are also considering open access to such meetings for people from outside the university. The other two forms of foreign language learning are Transform4Europe summer (or winter) language schools and intensive language courses for students, PhD students, and employees preparing for their trips to partner universities.

M.K.: Participation in certain initiatives, such as foreign language courses, will be compulsory, while in others, optional. How to convince our community members to perceive the offer of the Alliance as an opportunity for developing their language competencies?

P.Z.: I think, or even firmly believe, that today there is no need to convince anyone of the need to learn foreign languages. People seeking a job know that speaking English is a must. A second foreign language becomes a new norm. This is what the labour market is like… and the European Union recommendations. Corporations, international organisations, and prestigious institutions, including universities, sometimes have several “official languages” and seek employees with appropriate qualifications, among which the knowledge of foreign languages is an absolute necessity. Moreover, our University cooperates with a number of foreign research and economy centres. How can you do that if you don’t speak foreign languages? Therefore, we should provide education in at least two foreign languages. Thanks to the Alliance, we can establish cooperation with qualified native speakers more easily. As a result, we can provide courses on a very high level with an interesting and diverse offer of the languages of the Alliance. Our University with its excellent School of Polish Language and Culture is a good example. We can invite students, PhD students, and employees of the partner universities to make use of our experts’ knowledge and try to learn Polish. I would also like to refer to a relatively new term that is becoming trendy in the European labour market: micro-qualifications. More and more often, our graduates will be required to have additional qualifications beyond the scope of knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired during mandatory university classes. The Alliance provides such possibilities: the Transform4Europe Week, summer language schools, and festivals of culture, to mention only a few. I strongly recommend everyone to participate in and to get involved in the organisation of these initiatives, which also develop our language competencies.

M.K.: I suppose that German, Italian, and Spanish might be very attractive for us. However, the Alliance’s language array also includes Estonian, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, and obviously Polish. The multilingualism of the Alliance means that all the languages are equally important. How to make sure that the less popular yet equally interesting languages are promoted as well?

P.Z.: Within the Alliance, we will have the opportunity to learn popular languages, such as the already mentioned Spanish, but also the one-of-a-kind chance to learn languages spoken by relatively small populations around the world. In this way, we increase our advantage in the labour market. Lithuania might be a prime example. Only 4 million people speak Lithuanian. This is a developed country, an EU member, and one we have already cooperated with in terms of education and economy. Thanks to the Alliance, we can travel there, meet the natives, see their living conditions, and, obviously, learn the language. I think that the idea of multilingualism is an extraordinary opportunity for universities to promote their own culture. We will be very happy to see our friends from Italy, Germany, Spain, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Estonia learning Polish.

M.K.: It should be emphasised that the offer will be available not only for students or PhD students, but for all of us, whether we are scientists, teachers, or administrative staff. My last question is which language are you planning to learn?

P.Z.: As a linguist, I specialise in English, and I absolutely adore French; however, within the Transform4Europe Alliance, I am considering taking up Italian or Bulgarian. To be honest, I would be happy to learn a little of each of the languages. You might ask why, and my answer is: because I am given the chance, because the Alliance offers such opportunities, and because learning through one’s entire life is the basis for functioning in the contemporary world.

M.K.: Thank you for the interview.

Paweł Zakrajewski, PhD | Photo by Julia Agnieszka Szymala

Prof. Tullia Catalan works at the University of Trieste (Italy), one of the partners of the University of Silesia in Transform4Europe alliance. During the first meetings, when the concept of common European university project was being developed, she got to know Assoc. Prof. Małgorzata Myśliwiec, Professor of the University of Silesia, and Assoc. Prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski, Professor of the University of Silesia. As a result of joint discussions, the Italian researcher was invited to the University of Silesia.

Prof. Tullia Catalan offered to give a monographic lecture on the analysis and comparison of Upper Adriatic and Upper Silesia from the perspective of public history („Public History and Border Regions. Collective Memories in the Upper Adriatic and Silesia”). In the meantime, the coronavirus pandemic broke out around the world, and had a significant impact e.g. on the operation of universities. Therefore, the classes were held entirely online.

‘Although the monographic lecture was not organised under Transform4Europe, our alliance was the source of it. Due to the difficult situation that the whole world found itself in, we were able to test an important kind of cooperation based only on distance learning. Therefore, I would like to share my observations. There are many challenges for us’, commented the scientist from the University of Trieste.

We encourage you to read the interview with Prof. Tullia Catalan, in which she tells e.g. about the similarities and differences in running classes in Italy and Poland during the pandemic, and about building relationships with students in this difficult time.

Dr Małgorzata Kłoskowicz: Professor, you are the author of a monographic lecture on the border regions of Upper Adriatic and Upper Silesia, prepared for students of political science at the University of Silesia. I must admit that this is rather an unusual “geographic” connection…

Prof. Tullia Catalan: I’m a historian, employee of the University of Trieste. I specialise in Jewish studies, racism-related phenomena and ethnic minorities, especially in the context of border regions. While we were working in a wider, international group, I had the pleasure to meet Prof. Małgorzata Myśliwiec and Prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski from the University of Silesia. We talked about our scientific interests. They found that the subject I focus on could be interesting for students of the Polish university. This is why they invited me to cooperate. I agreed and prepared a series of meetings on comparing border regions and collective memories of inhabitants of Upper Adriatic and Upper Silesia. Let me also add that there had been no pandemic at that point. I thought that I’d be able to come to Poland, to Katowice. I was hoping to get to know the city, its buildings, museums, monuments and streets with students, to read the urban space from the perspective of public history, which is very close to me. The later events changed the plan a lot, but I did not give up the cooperation. We decided to test the form of lectures fully based on the distance learning rules.

M.K.: So can we talk about the similarities and differences in running classes with students in Trieste and in Katowice from the perspective of challenges that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic?

T.C.: I think that our students got used to working with using various mobile devices and apps. However, they are active mainly in the area related to spending free time nicely. When they meet during an online lecture or classes, nobody wants to show their face or speak. I’m sometimes under the impression that I talk to a black screen, I only see initials or avatars, and I’m not sure if anyone listens to what I say. This is something that Polish and Italian students have in common.

There is, however, one significant difference that I want to highlight.

In Italy I had the possibility to meet my students directly, which was of key importance for building our relationships. I know what they look like, and we got to know one another a bit. Then it was easier for me to address them directly during online classes. I knew their names and remembered their faces. Unfortunately, I did not have this possibility in Poland, because the lecture was delivered during the winter semester of the academic year in progress, when all classes were carried out online. Please imagine that I was giving the lecture without seeing the faces or hearing the voice of my audience. It’s very difficult to build any relationship between the lecturer and students in such conditions.

M.K.: Why are students so unwilling to show their faces or speak during a lecture or classes?

T.C.: There are many reasons for that. At the University of Trieste all online meetings are recorded. This is why young people are not willing to comment on the subject of classes. They do not want to publish their image either. I do understand this argument, although it does not apply to Polish students, whose classes are not recorded. I think that some of them do not want to show their houses or flats. Many of them also say that they have technical problems with the Internet connection, and with video cameras switched on, there may be disruptions that make the meetings difficult. This is also true.

The English language is definitely a barrier. If my Italian students don’t want to speak in their native language, then why would Polish students want to speak a foreign one… I don’t know what their level of English is. I try to speak slowly, use presentations to help me, and I’m not a native speaker of English. I believe that they understand what I say to them. However, there is something that makes them silent.

M.K.: What does it mean for our future joint actions under Transform4Europe project?

T.C.: The last few months were for us a valuable lesson for us in the context of designing common directions for the future within Transform4Europe, which, to a large extent, will be conducted online. When the pandemic is over, I would suggest organising at least one direct meeting of the lecturer with students, as far as this is possible, so that we have the opportunity to get to know one another. This will really make it easier to conduct distance classes and lectures later on.

I would also consider introducing the obligation for students participating in classes to turn their online cameras on. We may try to provide them with technical support to avoid problems with Internet connection.

Moreover, we should apply certain methods to activate students, so that they want to talk, especially in a foreign language. Let me add that Transform4Europe will allow both employees and students to develop their language competencies. I cannot imagine a whole semester of silence.

Let’s talk to students and develop solutions together. This is one of inherent Transform4Europe elements, and my recommendation.

M.K.: Transform4Europe also means the possibility of strong cooperation with the region…

T.C.: What I teach students in Italy is mainly public history. This scientific discipline enables us to look at the regions surrounding us through historic monuments, street names, museums, monuments, public holidays, festivals etc. I study the way the community inhabiting a specific area represents itself. This is a very interesting research area. We would like the university graduates not only to work as teachers or journalists, but also to act as advisors in local and national units that have a real impact on shaping the future of their region and country. Such activities are intended to strengthen Transform4Europe alliance.

In the first question you pointed to the unusual “geographic” connection of the regions that do not have a lot in common at first sight. I look at them from the perspective of historic and social changes. This is why I can notice various similarities, which have become the subject of my monographic lecture. In particular, these are border regions, although the very notion of “border” can be understood broadly. It is not only about the geographic meaning, but also the social one – invisible, more difficult to capture, concerning the identity, ideology, nationalisms, coexistence of creeds, multilingualism, migrations etc. This is all stored in the memory of city inhabitants, its physical presence, in the buildings and monuments that either still exist or were “wiped out”, demolished, moved. If we know the past, we may better understand the presence and design the future.

It is precisely in such border regions that the leader of our consortium, Saarland University, noticed a unique opportunity, which we will try to use precisely within Transform4Europe project.

This special type of cooperation is mainly intended to develop the skills and competencies of students, open-minded people, who will use their knowledge in practice in the future. They will work in different institutions. They will be experts. Many of my Italian students are convinced that what we have achieved in our country, for example in the context of the existing rights, will last forever. Well, it won’t. The history may change, and we should be aware of it.

I also think that students from various European countries don’t know anything about one another. Transform4Europe project opens up the possibility for my students to see what studies look like across Europe, not only in Italy. We will definitely have to find a way to get them interested in this subject, to make them want to meet young people from other countries. It won’t be easy. I think that this is another challenge out of multiple challenges faced by all European Universities, including our, Transform4Europe.

I will be pleased to travel not only to Spain or Germany, but also to Tallinn, Vilnius, Kaunas, and obviously to Katowice, when it is finally possible. Then we will meet again, this time without a microphone or video camera.

M.K.: I’m also looking forward to it. Thank you for the interview.

Prof. Tullia Catalan from the University of Trieste

The University of Silesia in Katowice, together with six universities from abroad, forms a prestigious European University as part of Transform4Europe alliance. Anna Rizzo, a doctoral student of the Doctoral School at the University of Silesia in Katowice in the field of law, took part in work on the project.

Olimpia Orządała: Why did you get involved in the implementation of Transform4Europe project?

Anna Rizzo: I was the Vice-Chair of the Student Government of the University of Silesia. I learnt about the preparations for the implementation of Transform4Europe project during a conversation with Prof. Tomasz Pietrzykowski, Vice-Rector for International and Domestic Cooperation. I decided to take part in the initiative. The subject of internationalisation is very important both for me, and for the University of Silesia, so I agreed to cooperate in the consortium.

O.O.: What do you think about the Transform4Europe project? What do you expect from it?

A.R.: The potential of the project is enormous. Although there are different and numerous internationalisation efforts, e.g. Erasmus+ programme addressed to students and academics, Transform4Europe allows for much closer cooperation between universities. In fact, we are becoming a “superuniversity”. This is not just about us, the University of Silesia, but about all universities in the consortium, which have become a unity. Our cooperation will be very close and at a high level. Academic exchange of students and the possibility to conduct e.g. one subject in cooperation with a number of universities is something extraordinary. These are options provided by the “superuniversity”, a new unit which has not been named yet.

O.O.: “Superuniversity” is an international campus.

A.R.: Yes. This is also one of Transform4Europe assumptions – to form an international campus. Our work on forming the consortium was in progress before the coronavirus pandemic, the global situation was different, but there were already the ideas to create an online platform where everyone could be part of one big academic family connecting students, doctoral students and employees of these seven universities.

O.O.: What can Transform4Europe project offer to students, doctoral students, employees and the University itself?

A.R.: I think that, apart from internationalisation, the project will allow the academic community to expand the intellectual horizons, because the universities which form the consortium are different. We have academies of art, classical universities, technical universities, which allows us to create interdisciplinary scientific bonds.

O.O.: The project also enables us to build the European identity.

A.R.: Definitely yes. This is the spirit of the project, although I prefer to look at more down-to-earth things that could bring the concept of Transform4Europe closer to each member of our academic community. I think that in the future there will be more possibilities to make use of this international cooperation. First there were talks on forming the consortium, now the implementation work stage has begun, but it’s already worth talking about the project, so that we wait in tension and excitement for what Transform4Europe brings us in the future.

O.O.: What have you learnt thanks to working on the project so far?

A.R.: Patience [laughs]. When you cooperate with other people, you must learn to be more flexible. For me international cooperation is an inherent element of the academic life, but I’ve learnt to look at other people’s ideas in a more open-minded way.

O.O.: What sort of experience have you got when it comes to such type of cooperation?

A.R.: Already as a student I had the opportunity to cooperate with different universities and I made a lot of friends and acquaintances during numerous international conferences. Additionally, my dad is Italian and in fact I’ve never lived in a single place for too long. In my opinion, the concept of nationality is dying these days, because we are becoming inhabitants of the so-called global village. We can go abroad and get to know new people who are very similar to us, despite coming from different cultures.

O.O.: Why is it so important for students and doctoral students to get involved in Transform4Europe project? Can we say that thanks to it they will have impact on the future of Europe?

AR: Definitely yes. Such involvement influences the way we think about other countries and allows to overcome stereotypes that distort out perception of other nations. Transform4Europe gives the possibility of shorter mobilities, not necessarily semester-long, like in case of Erasmus+ programme. I think that it’s definitely important for students. A majority of us think that yes, we do need to know the language, but we see mobility as holiday. It’s worth getting to know people from other countries, who may bring a lot to our scientific life. Students and doctoral students may develop a lot if they are open to our consortium partners.

O.O.: How would you encourage other students and doctoral students to get involved in the implementation of goals related to Transform4Europe project?

A.R.: We only study once and it only depends on us how we use it. Nowadays, it doesn’t make sense to study just for the sake of studying: we need to do something more and get involved in all initiatives. I know that pro publico bono work is not currently popular, but gaining new skills and getting to know other people may give us a lot in our future job, which is something I found out many times. An entry in our CV saying that we have taken part in an international project shows that we are open to new challenges.

O.O.: Thank you for the interview.

Anna Rizzo is a doctoral student of the Doctoral School at the University of Silesia in Katowice in the field of law. She took part in the talks concerning the preparation of international project Transform4Europe, under which the University of Silesia, together with six other universities,, forms a prestigious European university. | Photo from the archive of A. Rizzo