Following the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Gibraltar Cultural  Services and the University of Gibraltar, both entities will be hosting a bilingual language study and a  public lecture at the John Mackintosh Hall.  

A statement from the Government follows below:

The research is being conducted by the University of Valladolid, (UVA), with representatives visiting  Gibraltar next week. The study conducts research on English and Spanish bilingual acquisition, and  makes use of linguistic theory, as well as spontaneous and experimental data, to account for different  linguistic phenomena that are related to language contact situations.  

The study is inviting the participation of persons aged 18 and over who are available for a couple of  hours on either the 25th, 26th or 27th of January. For further information and anyone wishing to sign  up can do so by email: [email protected] 

Additionally, a public lecture will be given by Raquel Fernandez Fuertes from the University of  Valladolid titled ‘What does it mean to be Bilingual? Myth and Science’. The talk will be held at the  Charles Hunt Room, John Mackintosh Hall on Tuesday 25th January 2022 at 6.30pm. The talk is  concerned with the contact between English and Spanish and, more specifically, with the phenomenon  referred to as code-switching, a very common practice in Gibraltar.  

UVA believe this bilingual behaviour is not arbitrary but is governed by rather specific linguistic  principles, and it is well-proven that a dense code-switcher is an extremely proficient speaker in both  languages. UVA’s study involves the use of research techniques which are presently used in  experimental psychology, linguistics, and psycholinguistics. 

The talk is free to attend, but you need to secure your seat by purchasing the ticket(s) from Buytickets.gi.  Patrons will need to present proof of double vaccination or negative lateral flow test, within the  previous 24 hours, along with their ticket.