An international conference “Second Language Teaching/Acquisition in the Context of Multilingual Education” was opened at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) on February 15. Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze; Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Lia Gigauri; First Deputy State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Lasha Darsalia; Marc Fumagalli, senior advisor of OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities; Georgian and foreign professors, experts, students and invited guests attended the event.
Rector Giorgi Sharvashidze said that “a very important international conference is being held for the third time. The conference will discuss a very important topic related to ethnic minorities’ integration into our society, language teaching policy. The Tbilisi State University had a tradition of bilingual and multilingual teaching. I am sure that our specialists, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Office of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, who deal with multiculturalism, will receive many practical recommendations.”
“Similar scientific conferences are very important as they are held with the participation of representatives of many countries, who have both theoretical knowledge and practical experience, who are aware of the best models existing in the world. It is very important for Georgia’s education and scientific system. We are now at the moment, when we should review the existing model. Now, we are working on selecting a new, more effective model. Thus, the recommendations provided at the conference will become an important base that will help us in developing and introducing an effective model,” Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Lia Gigauri said.
Dean of the TSU Faculty of Humanities, Professor Nana Gaprindashvili said that “multilingual education – its theory and practice is extremely important for our country, as well as many other countries. For our country, it is important in terms of its social, political and cultural situation and ethnic background. I am sure that the conference will help us receive very interesting and important recommendations, which will be useful for the public interested in these issues.”
Up to 100 speakers from 17 countries are participating in the conference that will last for three days. Georgian and foreign experts will discuss the following issues: theory and practice of multilingual education; aspects of intercultural education; methods and strategies of second language teaching/acquisition; integrated teaching of language and subject; aspects of electronic/distance learning and multimedia in the context of second language teaching/acquisition; planning language policy and its importance in the context of multicultural education and second language teaching; socio-cultural and pragmatic aspects of language teaching.
“The conference is important for each country. I am grateful to Georgian colleagues who regularly organize similar conferences; it is a good platform for international groups to meet each other. It is an international conference and it is definitely valuable,” Ligita Grigule of University of Latvia said.
“The purpose of multilingual education is to establish communication in intercultural context, to introduce culture in terms of language teaching. The acquired knowledge, the skills necessary for developing critical thinking will promote public integration,” TSU Associate Professor Giuli Shabashvili said.
The purpose of the conference is to discuss and establish as a common concept the opinions of local and foreign experts about the approaches and strategies of the second language teaching in the context of multilingual education.
The conference is being held with the financial support from Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation. Its co-organizers are the University of Tartu (Estonia) and the Center for Civil Integration and Inter-Ethnic Relations (Georgia).
