On Sunday, 27 March 2022, professors dr. Amna Brdarević-Čeljo and dr. Vildana Dubravac held a lecture on the role of language in the process of peacebuilding and conflict reconciliation in the Balkan region to a group of MA students from Middlebury Institute for International Studies (Monterey, California). The professors discussed the linguistic situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the positioning of foreign languages throughout history and the role English has in this sociocultural context. Different functions English performs in the media, business, science and academic publishing, and education were also elaborated, and the results of diverse findings on English language acquisition in this sociocultural context were presented. The interactive question-answer session that followed was enriched by the students’ interesting questions and insightful comments on the possible role of English in the process of reconciliation in this area. We would like to offer special thanks to Ms. Svetlana Kijevčanin, the organizer of this Balkan tour, for her kind invitation and reception.
29.03.2022