COMBI Conference: Migrants and Minority Languages in Health and Social Care

From: 12 Apr 2019, 8 a.m.
To: 12 Apr 2019, 5 p.m.
Location: Taliesin Create, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PZ, Swansea

On 12th April 2019, the COMBI project (communication competences for migrant health care workers in bilingual areas) will hold a conference at Swansea University on migrants and minority language learning in bilingual workplaces. The COMBI project, funded by Erasmus+, is a partnership of six organisations from five multilingual regions: Elhuyar and Banaiz Bagara, the Basque Country (Spain); Swansea University, Wales (United Kingdom); Axxell, Finland; Danilo Dolci, Sicily (Italy) and Mercator European Research Centre (Fryske Akademy), Fryslân (the Netherlands).

During the conference, three keynote speakers will discuss the use of minority languages in the workplace and the challenges and opportunities that migrants face in this respect:
- Meri Huws, the first Welsh Language Commissioner (April 2012-March 2019),
- Professor Sari Pöyhönen, Professor in Applied Linguistics at Jyväskylä University, specialising in language education, policy and migration in Swedish communities in Finland,
- Gwerfyl Roberts, former Director of the LLAIS Research Centre working on the Welsh language in health and social care services.

In addition, the COMBI project will present its research and tools for language teachers, vocational trainers, and policy makers and demonstrate how pathways for migrants learning minority languages may be improved.

Finally, in the round table sessions, participants at the event will discuss topics including bilingualism in the workplace and teaching methods for migrants, as well as provide feedback and input on COMBI's work.

If you would like more information or wish to register for the event, please get in touch with Gwennan Higham, at g.e.higham@swansea.ac.uk.

Contact: Gwennan Higham (Email: g.e.higham@swansea.ac.uk)

Event created by: joshua.beard