An Innovative World Language Centre : Challenges for the Use of Language Technology

The Vigdis International Centre of Multilingualism and Intercultural Understanding at the University of Iceland will work under the auspices of UNESCO. The main objective of the Centre is to promote linguistic diversity and to raise awareness of the importance of multilingualism. The focus will be on research on translations, foreign language learning, language policy and language planning. The centre will also serve as a platform for promoting collaborative activities on languages and cultures, in particular, organizing exhibitions and other events aimed at both the academic community and the general public. The Centre will work in close collaboration with the national and international research community. The Centre aims to create state-of-the-art infrastructure, using Language Technology resources in research and academic studies, in particular in translations and language learning (Computer-Assisted Language Learning). In addition, the centre will provide scholars with a means to conduct corpus-based research for synchronic investigations and for comparative studies. The Centre will also function as a repository for language data corpora. Facilities will be provided so that these corpora can be used by the research community on site and online. Computer technology resources will also be exploited in creating tools and exhibitions for the general audience.