On the afternoon of June 13th, 2018, Prof. Michael Byram was appointed as the International Academic Advisor of ACLR. Prof. Li Yuming, Director of ACLR, attended the appointment ceremony and issued the letter of appointment to Prof. Michael Byram.Prof. Xu Baofeng, Executive Director of Chinese Culture Translation and Studies Support (CCTSS), Associate Prof. Wang Lihong, Associate Prof. Pan Weiwei and Liu Liu were also present.
After the ceremony, Director Li Yuming, Prof. Xu Baofeng and Prof. Michael Byram conducted in-depth exchanges on the topics of language policy and European identity, and language teaching from a global perspective. On the issue of language policy comparison between China and Europe, Director Li and Prof. Byram discussed multi-ethnic and multilingual identity, language identity and language policy. When they talked about language protection, Prof. Michael Byram proposed to adopt an ecological model and establish a language seed bank. The seed would take root and sprout to resurrect the language if a language was dying out. Director Li Yuming said that one of the main objectives of ACLR is to collect data with sufficient linguistic attributes, aiming to resurrect a language; ACLR will also explore and utilize modern technology such as virtual reality technology to display language, provide resources for learners, and carry out foreign language education, so as to achieve the purpose of language protection.
Introduction of Prof. Michael Byram
Michael Byram is Professor Emeritus at Durham University, UK, and Guest Professor at University of Luxembourg. As a renowned scholar in international intercultural research, he specializes in intercultural communication research and intercultural foreign language teaching theory. He has edited Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning and made great contributions to promoting the intercultural theory and practice of language teaching. His academic monographs Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communication Competence and From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship have always been classic works of foreign language teaching. He was the former Adviser to the Council of Europe Language Policy Division and participated in editing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, and currently involved in Reference Framework for Democratic Cultural Capacity in Europe of the Council of Europe. His academic and social activities have influenced the language teaching policies of the UK and EU countries and have exerted an important influence on foreign language teaching and intercultural communication research in the world.
