EDMONTON, Alberta – The Ukrainian Language Education Center (ULEC) recently co-hosted Dr. Mònica Pereña, the president of Linguapax, an international organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of linguistic diversity worldwide.
Dr. Pereña, a specialist in Catalan Philology and French Studies, currently also serves as the deputy director of the Language and Multilingualism Department in the Ministry of Education of Catalonia in Barcelona. She works on the design, implementation and supervision of language policies for the education system of the Catalonia province.
Dr. Monica Pereña with the ULEC staff (from left to right): Dr. Pereña, Dr. Alla Nedashkivska, Dr. Olenka Bilash and Ph.D. candidate Olena Sivachenko.
Dr. Pereña shared her extensive experience in language teaching, teacher training and the development of language programs and learning and teaching resources as well as language assessment with teachers and academic communities in Edmonton on October 18-21.
During her visit, Dr. Pereña presented a workshop on “Autonomous Learning: New Practices in Assessment of Language Learning” and a lecture on “The Catalan School: a Framework for Plurilingualism.” Her workshop, co-sponsored by ULEC and Edmonton Catholic Schools, was attended by more than 30 language teachers and instructors from secondary and post-secondary institutions in Edmonton and the neighboring area.
In this workshop, Dr. Pereña reinforced the audience’s knowledge of the language descriptors, detailed in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, and focused on assessment and self-assessment practices as means of fostering learner autonomy in foreign language learning. Her talk stirred lively discussions among the audience and raised many shared experiences and issues faced by the teachers in diverse foreign language classrooms.
The lecture, co-sponsored by ULEC and the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta, gathered an audience of academic staff, graduate students, representatives of the International and Heritage Languages Association (IHLA), and community members. Dr. Pereña provided a wide-ranging examination of the language situation in Catalonia and showcased the policy of plurilingualism implemented in the provincial educational system. The lecture concluded with a reflection on the advantages and challenges of plurilingual education with an active question-and-answer period that followed.
On October 20, Dr. Pereña acknowledged the work of the International and Heritage Languages Association with the 2016 award from Linguapax International for IHLA’s 40 years of promoting, supporting and nurturing heritage languages in Alberta and Canada. This is a very prestigious award with international recognition given by Linguapax under the auspices of UNESCO.
The Ukrainian Language Education Center promotes and develops Ukrainian language education in Canada and abroad by: supporting bilingual programs and professional development of Ukrainian-language teachers and instructors; creating learning and teaching resources at both the secondary and post-secondary levels; conducting research on topics related to Ukrainian-language education and related fields; and fostering international links and community engagement. For more information on the Center, readers may visit www.ualberta.ca/ulec.