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Multilingualism is a phenomenon related to individuals and societies. On a societal level, managing multilingualism involves language and translation policies, whether official or unofficial. These policies manifest themselves in decisions on what languages are used in official contexts such as legislation and government or what languages are taught at school. Translation policies define what texts are translated from e.g. the majority language to minority languages and in what contexts the aid of an interpreter is provided. Translation practices also influence the choice of texts to be translated more broadly.

On the level of spoken and written communication, individuals negotiate their communicative practices in context. The linguistic resources available to each speaker and their interlocutors, each writer and their (assumed) readers are unique to each communicative situation and the choice of mono- or multilingual practices depends on these resources. In multilingual communicative situations, it is common to see mediation, where individual speakers take it upon themselves to translate and interpret the communication of others in order to facilitate the exchange of information. This can also take the form of accommodation, where speakers or writers adjust to the linguistic proficiency of others.

This course investigates the linguistic choices societies and individuals make to facilitate or impede communication. The relevant research has been carried out in both linguistics and translation studies, and the course combines viewpoints from both fields. In addition to language and translation policies, approaches such as translanguaging, mediation, translatorial action, and identity work are covered.