Discription
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is a Flemish (Dutch-speaking) and internationally oriented university located in Brussels, Belgium. It prides itself on its commitment to academic excellence, freedom of thought, and societal engagement. The university’s mission revolves around fostering critical thinking, promoting multilingualism and diversity, and conducting cutting-edge research with a global impact. The CLIL team of the VUB is embedded within a collaboration between the teacher training department (MILO) and the Faculty of Languages and Humanities (LW). As such, it serves to bridge theory and practice by merging fundamental and applied research initiatives, with a strong focus on addressing the challenges that are posed by the cosmopolitan and multilingual context of Brussels.
Team
Esli Struys is a Full Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Faculty of Languages and Humanities of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He teaches multiple courses on multilingualism from cognitive, educational, and applied perspectives. Within the Brussels Centre of Language Studies, he leads an international research team that is funded by multiple fundamental and applied research projects on multilingual education, multilingualism and cognition, and interpreting. As a CLIL expert, he is a member of the Advisory Committee on CLIL of the Flemish Department of Education.
Jill Surmont is an Assistant Professor at the Multidisciplinary Teacher Training Institute (MILO) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She teaches courses on Linguistic Pedagogical Content Knowledge and serves as the head of the educational board of MILO. Her research focuses on multilingualism in the classroom, particularly in the form of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) and linguistic diversity. As a CLIL expert, she is an alternate member of the Advisory Committee on CLIL of the Flemish Department of Education.