Embodying Pluriliteracies in a Multilingual University

In today’s increasingly interconnected academic environments, fostering pluriliteracies is essential to support meaningful, inclusive, and deeper learning across languages and disciplines. Pluriliteracies can be defined as pedagogical approaches that recognise and promote the hybrid, dynamic, and situated nature of literacy practices. They highlight the interplay of multiple languages, discourses, and modalities (including today’s digital affordances), and aim to equip learners and teachers with the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural competencies needed to become responsible global citizens (Meunier, 2025; Coyle & Meyer, 2023). After a brief introduction to the concept of pluriliteracies, the presentation will illustrate how these can be practiced and embodied in everyday academic settings, and how such practices can meaningfully contribute to building more multilingual and inclusive universities. I will discuss a Master's level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course. In this course, students work on their MA thesis topics (which may focus on linguistics or literature, and be written in or about a variety of languages, depending on the students' academic backgrounds and specialisations). They are encouraged to draw on their full linguistic repertoires, engage with academic sources in multiple languages, use the affordances of digital and AI tools, collaborate in building knowledge, and reflect critically on both content, processes, and ethical issues. Although the course is taught in English and students’ written and oral presentations are made in English, the course is designed as a plurilingual and multimodal space where mediation (see e. g. Council of Europe, 2020), agency, and disciplinary literacies come together in support of knowledge (co-) construction. I will also discuss how such pedagogical experiences not only enhance academic learning but also have the potential to inform more communal and cross-functional dimensions of university life, particularly within European University Alliances, by fostering plurilingual practices at all levels of institutional engagement. References Council of Europe. (2020). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Companion volume. Council of Europe Publishing. https: //www. coe. int/en/web/commoneuropean-framework-reference-languages/cefrcompanion-volume Coyle, D. , & Meyer, O. (2023). An introduction to the special issue ‘Towards pluriliteracies approaches to language teaching and learning: Theories and principles for transformative practices’. English Teaching & Learning, 47, 263–270. https: //doi. org/10. 1007/s42321-023-00157-6 Meunier, F. (2025). Pluriliteracies. In: McCallum, L. , Tafazoli, D. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Computer-Assisted Language Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https: //doi. org/10. 1007/978-3-031-51447-0₂44-1