What are the benefits of learning multiple languages?

Five countries, five languages, one aim: to show that it makes sense to learn more than just one foreign language. This idea was at the beginning of the International Symposium on Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Research, which was jointly hosted by the Goethe-Institut Tokyo and the German Academic Exchange Office (DAAD) Tokyo, and which this volume documents. Based on the latest findings of cutting-edge research, the symposium aimed to examine the potentialof multilingualism and plurilingualism for individuals, educational institutions, and societies; it also aspired to establish and strengthen synergies between researchers and teachers of the five languages which are the most popular second languages after English in Japan: Spanish, Korean, German, French and Chinese. However, it not only targeted the research community itself but also had the ambition to bridge the gap between the research community and the general public interested in foreign language learning and research. We believe this multi-faceted approach - both interms of the different languages involved and the audience - is also reflected in the articles compiled in this book, which span from scientific papers to an interview with Kawashima Eiji, a member of the Japanese national soccer team.

Matthias VON GEHLEN / Manuela SATO-PRINZ: Preface · / · OHTA Tatsuya / SAKAI Kazumi / Manuela SATO-PRINZ / MARUYAMA Tomoko: Introduction · / / / · - - · YOSHIMURA Masahito: Practices of Multilingual Education: Examining its Significance in Japanese Primary and Secondary Education · John C. MAHER: Language, Learning, and Persons: The Phenomenology of Being Someone through Language · C. - - · / - - (WEI Youyuan / YANG Guangjun: Chinese Language Education in a Non-Chinese Language Environment - A Case Study at J. F. OberlinUniversity) · / - · (NISHIYAMA Noriyuki: Multilingualism and Curricula: Reflection from the Point of View of Plurilingualism) · NISHIYAMA Noriyuki: Le multilinguisme et les curricula: du point de vue du plurilinguisme · Nicole MARX: Progressing, Spiraling, or (Re-)Cycling? On the Development of Plurilingualism Research and Its Impact Today · - - · (CHUNG Hyeon-Hee: "Multilingualism and Society"- Observations during a Korean Language Course for Junior- and Senior High-School Students -) : ' ' - - · (KOMATSU Sachiko: Workshop Report. Multilingualism and Personal Development) · KOMATSU Sachiko: Compte rendu de l'atelier «Apprentissage multilingue et développement personnel» · Montserrat SANZ YAGÜE: Workshop Report. Multilingualism and the Classroom · . · (NAKAGAWA Masaomi: Workshop Report. Multilingualism andCurriculum Planning) · ' ' · · CHEN Jing (OTANI Hitomi): Workshop Report. Multilingualism and Research · (SAKAI Kazumi: Workshop Report. Multilingualism and Society) · SAKAI Kazumi: Workshop-Bericht. Mehrsprachigkeit und Gesellschaft · 2 (OHTA Tatsuya: Closing Panel Discussion: What are the Benefits of Learning Multiple Languages?) · OHTA Tatsuya: Abschließende Podiumsdiskussion: Was sind die Vorteile des Lernens mehrerer Sprachen? · : · KUMEKAWA Mario: The Impact of Learning Foreign Languages. Interview with KAWASHIMA Eiji, Japan National Soccer Player