The first day of the conference on Cohabitation and Sustainable Development in a Multilingual Context: Challenges and Perspectives featured many interesting presentations. Scholars from different areas came together in various breakout rooms to discuss the role of language, translation and socio-economic development.
In Breakout Room1( Literature and Translation), moderated by Ulrich Duo, Okafor Chioma Nnamdi Azikiwe Presented on the “The Search of Belonging in Venance Konan’s Caterpilla Chef du Village”. Ms. Okafor explored how the novel reflects the struggles of the African Diaspora, focusing on the challenges of belonging and identity. Another key presentation was by Emmanuel Kodotse Danyo, Theodecia Asare Mintah and Theophile Kwame Atonon, who discussed “The Role of Translation in Ghana’s Socio-economic development”, showing how translation drives economic progress.
Breakout Room2 (Didactics and language), led by Baaba Sagoe,featured a Talk on “Religious Representation in MTN Nigeria Advertising :Eid al-Fitr and Christmas
In the Third Jury,( Language and Linguistics) moderated by Elias Kiaza, presentation included “Lexico-Semantic Creativity and Grammatical Alteration in Cameroonian Digital Franco-graphy” by Rodolphine Sylvie Wamba Herman Atiobou Voukeng. Alimatou Aboubakari’s presentation , “the decline of local languages among Modern Parents and Inter-Ethnic Marriages: The case of Ghana”, also provided an in-depth look at how language use is changing in Modern Ghana.
The Day ended with a plenary session led by Prof. Julia Ndibnu-Messina, who spoke on “Initial Teacher Training in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Common European Framework of Reference: What Standards should Highlight Bilingualism and Multilingualism?”
Day Two of the Conference: Exploring Linguistic and Cultural Challenges.
The Second day of the Cohabitation and sustainable development in a multilingual context conference focused on the linguistic challenges faced by students and the role of languages in education and culture
In Jury 7( Language and Didactics),moderated by Malik Garba, presentations explored the linguistic difficulties faced by Burundian Students learning Swahili, presented by Mathieu Bamporubusa, Belem Hamidou, in an online presentation, discussed the balance between speaking international language and promoting national ones, considering both pragmatic and cultural implications.
Under linguistics and French Language Teaching, moderated by Gohi Jonas Ta Bi, included Emmanuel Kwame Afari’s talk on the issue of cohesion in the written narratives of French as a Foreign Language (FLE) students at the University of Education Winneba. Ojo Babatunde Noah also gave a brief overview of the syntactic structure of the French language.
In the Sociolinguistics/FLE/FLS session, moderated by Edwin Nutak,Olusola Oguntola and Mujibat Opeyemi Omotokese examined code-switching in Verre Casse by Alain Mabanckou,while Aime Desire He, in an online presentation, discussed whether the Commonwealth and Francophonie represent diversity or opportunities for African Countries in terms of linguistic and cultural benefits.
The day concluded with a Plenary session led by Dr.Rissikatou Babalola, Director of CEBELAE, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin. Her presentation, titled “Multilingualism and Translation in the Era of Globalisation”, was chaired by Prof. A. Ilukpeju, Dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos. He emphasized the evolving role of translation in the globalized world and its impact on Multilingual communities.
Day Three of the Conference: Language, Culture and Technology.
The last day of the conference on Cohabitation and Sustainable Development in a Multilingual context focused on language, Culture and Religion
In Jury 16 (Language, Culture and religion), moderated by Emmanuel Nkono, Rissikatou Moustapha-Babalola talked about the challenges of translating African creative writing.Samuel Buabeng evaluated Automatic translation systems in Ghana and Konkone discussed Translation theories based on his experiences in Tamale.
Under Bilingual/Multilingual Education and Development, moderated by Ibrahim Os, Featured Harriet Emefa Kornu, who spoke about the future of Ghanaian languages in schools.
In Jury 19(Professional Training and Language Teaching) moderated by Emmanuel Afari also featured Pamela Amoah, who presented on the effects of language and immersion programs for traininig interpreters. There were other presentations on Translation and Terminlogy Management and literature and cultural identity.
The conference ended with important discussions on the value of Multilingualism and Cultural exchange in our world today