Multimodal, transmedial, and trans-European perspectives for online language teaching and learning: II YUFE – Ukraine seminar

This review explores the Second YUFE – Ukraine seminar, held from November 12th to 14th, 2024. Young Universities for the Future of Europe is a European University alliance of 10 higher education institutions. Hosted by the University Centre for Foreign Languages at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń—one of Poland’s largest state universities—and supported by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA), the seminar marked a significant trans-European collaboration. This event brought together foreign language educators and researchers from Poland, Ukraine, Cyprus, Finland, Georgia, and Belgium, focusing on the theme of online language teaching and learning, which underscored its relevance. Although multimodal and transmedial teaching and learning practices have become popular for ESL and other educational contexts, several additional questions have emerged, including the development of students’ multimodal literacy through online learning, the need for a more critical approach to the assessment of student achievements, and a focus on fostering both professional skills and cultural and social values among students. The event centered on the application of modern multimodal and transmedial tools in teaching foreign languages and translation. These tools include digital technologies such as H5P, ChatGPT, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, as well as innovative pedagogical approaches like project-based learning and design thinking. Discussions culminated in identifying prospects for joint international projects, particularly in teaching business English (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The proposed initiatives aim to involve students from various European partner universities in collaborative language education.