About the course
The Polyglot Playground is a dynamic and collaborative course designed to empower future language educators through innovative, game-based and plurilingual approaches.
Content
This blended intensive program brings together students from multiple universities to co-create educational language games and AI-applications rooted in cultural understanding, learner agency, and social justice. Through lectures, hands-on workshops, peer exchange, and field testing, participants explore how to foster plurilingual, inclusive, playful, and emancipatory language learning environments.
Learning outcomes
After the course, students will be able to:
- Understand core concepts of educational game and AI-based design for language learning.
- Be able to critically evaluate and adapt games to support plurilingual and inclusive teaching practices.
- Gain practical experience in collaborative development of language learning materials.
- Strengthen their intercultural competence through peer exchange and local engagement.
- Learn to integrate principles of social justice and citizenship education into language pedagogy.
- Be equipped to transfer creative approaches into their future classrooms and national education systems.
Programme
Pre-Activity (autonomously, online):
- Participants work creatively on their semiotic repertoires by designing digital language portraits. Furthermore, they note their favorite game, considering its implications for language learning.
Onsite Week (April 13–17, 2026 – dates to be confirmed):
- Day 1: Getting to know to each other, the lecturers and breaking the ice . Introduction to key themes such as 21st-century language learning, intercultural exchange, and citizenship education. Jointly playing a plurilingual game.
- Days 2–3: Workshops and lectures by experts on plurilingual game design, motivation in language education, and digital escape rooms. In groups, students begin developing their own language games and plurilingual activities.
- Day 4: Pilot testing of selected games with pupils in a real classroom environment (YLAB), followed by group-based refinement.
- Day 5: Presentation of all developed games via gallery walk/poster session, peer feedback, and a closing reflection on future implementation in national contexts.
Post-Activity (Online):
Groups present how they adapted and applied their games in local teaching settings, discussing links with theory, challenges and strategies for promoting plurilingual education.
Assessment
Active Participation during the BIP, Game development, peer feedback and literature based reflection paper (5-7 pages) after the post activity. Deadline: 30.06.2026 (Transcript of Records: 15.07.2026)
Lecturers
Birgit Schädlich (Georg-August- Universität Göttingen)
Michaela Hroteková (Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave)
Joana Duarte (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen – to be confirmed)
Course dates
On-site (dates to be confirmed): 13-04.26-17.04.26, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Department of Romance Languages / YLAB) 9am-5pm
Online:
- Pre-activity (autonomously, 01.-10.04.2026)
- First get-together online: 08.04.26: 16-19h
- Post-activity in the week May 18-22.05.26
Deadline for Essays: 30.06.26
How to apply?
Entry requirements: Students enrolled in modern languages/philologies specialising in language teaching (Master of Education or similar) from all ENLIGHT partner universities are eligible to apply for participation in this course. Applications must be submitted through the respective home university during the application period from 01 october to 15 November 2025.
Prior to applying, students are advised to consult their faculty or degree programme coordinators to ensure that the course can be integrated into their individual study plan and that the academic recognition of the awarded ECTS credits is guaranteed. Home universities are responsible for identifying an appropriate module or curricular space in which the course’s ECTS credits and associated workload can be recognised.
Students will be selected at each of the sending universities separately. Students interested in the course need to apply via their home university.
In addition to 10 local students of the University of Göttingen, the course offers 25 places to ENLIGHT students, initially allocated as follows:
- 10 students from the University of Groningen
- 10 students from the Comenius University Bratislava
- 1 student from each of the other ENLIGHT universities
Should any of these places remain unfilled, they will be reallocated to applicants from other ENLIGHT partner universities. A waiting list will be maintained for this purpose.
The home university will select the permitted number of students, inform the students as soon as possible, and then send these names to the host institution.
Please select your home university below and contact your ENLIGHT coordinator for further information on the application process or consult the linked information.
- University of the Basque Country:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - University of Bern: Application instructions for students at the University of Bern
- University of Bordeaux:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Comenius University Bratislava:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - University of Galway:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Ghent University:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (see information about BIP's) - University of Groningen:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - University of Tartu: Application instructions for students at the University of Tartu
- Uppsala University: Application instructions for students at Uppsala University.
The names of selected students from each university will be forwarded to the host institution who will notify all students about next steps in December 2025.
For local students from the University of Göttingen:
You will be able to regularly enroll for summer term 2026 via StudIP for modules such as M.Frz.L. 305 for French as well as equivalent modules in Master of Education courses of English (contact:
Upon successful completion, students will receive a Transcript of Records. It will be issued as follows:
- May 2026 for students in their final year
- 15 July 2026 for all other students