The project “How much longer until a B2” investigates the time needed to attain a targeted level in a foreign language, with a specific focus on organisations associated with the Swiss federal government. These organisations generally require their staff in middle and senior management to have at least B2-level skills in two official languages.

The placement of learners in literacy courses according to skill level is often faulty, and the resulting heterogeneity in such classes poses difficulties for both teachers and learners; in addition, the inefficient use of government funds earmarked for integration is also problematic.

Language is what distinguishes human beings from all other species. However, its evolutionary origins remain poorly understood. In addition, today's communicative environment is being reshaped by digitisation and artificial intelligence: the way we learn and use language has changed, raising the question of how language might develop in the future.

Immigrant families need to make choices on which language(s) to favor in their everyday life. Those choices have been extensively investigated in recent decades under the label of family language policy (FLP). Early research has focused on explicit and overt language planning in Western middle-class families, a focus that has been criticized for being too elitist, while more recent research focuses on the role of FLP as a coping and defence mechanism, especially in contexts of trauma...

Vocabulary learning in a second or foreign language can take place in many different ways. In our project, we want to better understand how learners learn words incidentally or intentionally through the use of digital tools. Our project covers several language combinations and is being conducted in two countries in parallel, Poland and Switzerland. In Poland, we study learners who are Polish monolinguals and learn English as a second language (L2).

For more than three decades, the Canton of Valais “Bureau des Echanges Linguistiques” (office for language exchanges) has been responsible for coordinating language exchange programmes in the canton’s two language regions as well as outside the cantonal borders. In addition, exchange activities in the canton are also organised independently by families, school classes or schools.

The Inventar des zweisprachigen Unterrichts (inventory of bilingual education) provides an overview of bilingual education in Switzerland, specifically of all bilingual education programmes currently in progress (2021/2022 school year) at compulsory schools and upper secondary schools.

Digital translation tools and dictionaries have become an indispensable part of language use. DeepL, Leo and Co. are used extensively and for various purposes, however, their benefits for foreign language teaching and learning remain contested. Some consider these tools to be of educational value, while others express their doubts on the sustainability of their contribution to language learning. This project examines the advantages and limitations of digital translation aids with regards...

When asked about their goals, students learning a foreign language generally say they want to speak the language. Despite the value placed on speaking, however, various studies on the foreign language competence of Swiss school students reveal that many learners have difficulty in meeting the learning outcomes set for spoken language (Peyer et al. 2016, Wiedenkeller/Lenz 2019).