On April 28, we celebrated International Mother Language Day 2026 in the central hallway of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM).
In this third edition, students in the Bachelor’s program in Modern Languages, Culture, and Communication presented the projects they had developed in the course Multilingualism and Languages in Contact. In all of them, there was, to a greater or lesser extent, a desire to transform the current sociolinguistic order.
Many of the projects stemmed from a common idea: to make visible the languages and cultures present in our faculty and at the university, but which are often neither recognized nor valued. This is the case with minority languages—such as other languages within Spain, including Asturian and Catalan—as well as the languages of migrant communities.
To this end, the students designed a wide variety of proposals: games, music playlists, literary materials… Other groups focused on denouncing linguistic discrimination and accentism, particularly toward the Latin American population and other racialized people, and encouraged the sharing of more examples and experiences.
One of the projects focused on the Francophone world, examining French alongside other languages spoken in France and highlighting how state-driven and colonial homogenization efforts influence its teaching. The effects of linguistic standardization were also brought to light.
Other groups focused on the students’ own linguistic trajectories, highlighting complex experiences marked by mobility and language contact.
Overall, all the projects aimed to encourage critical reflection among the audience. Additionally, some proposed concrete changes at the university, such as incorporating more languages into signage. Some of these initiatives will continue, for example at the Humanities Library.
The activities saw high participation and were very well received. The public particularly appreciated the interactive and original nature of the proposals.
Below, we’ve included short audio clips in which the students explain why they chose their projects and what they entail.
Thank you very much for participating!
¡Muchas gracias por participar!
