The proposed project will assess bilingual, trilingual, and quadrilingual speakers of different combinations of Romance, Germanic, and Slavic languages on their phonological acquisition of an entirely foreign language- Modern Hebrew. This will be the first study to compare phonological acquisition of consonant clusters in a typologically distinct language between speakers of two, three, and four languages, allowing us to contribute to a long-standing debate in the field: do multilinguals have a cognitive advantage in subsequent language learning, or are they only transferring knowledge from previously acquired languages? This study will yield valuable theoretical implications in language acquisition and applications in the field of foreign language learning. First, from a theoretical perspective, it will allow us to tease apart mechanisms of language acquisition to understand whether phonological acquisition is a general language function (wherein more acquired languages lead to a greater ability to acquire new phonologies) or specific to the known languages (wherein the ability to acquire a new phonological system depends on the phonologies of previously learned languages). Second, although studies on bilingualism are now abundant, and L3 acquisition is a steadily growing field, little work has been conducted on the acquisition of further languages, and less still within the field of phonology. Thus, this study will pave the way in understanding how increasingly multilingual systems may differ amongst each other and facilitate the acquisition of new languages. In the field of language learning and pedagogy, this research will elucidate the ways and extent to which prior language experience can be harnessed when acquiring a new language. As part of the dissemination aspects of this project, the researchers will collaborate closely with local teachers and language instructors, as well as language-learning companies, to maximize the practical impacts of our findings.

MultiDiverse will design a new multidisciplinary highly integrated transnational EMJM in Multilingualism and Cultural Diversity by bringing together expertise from three EU universities and four disciplines in a complementary way. The University of Konstanz together with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Jagiellonian University, and with the input of academic and non-academic stakeholders will jointly design the curriculum and develop common processes and mechanisms related to quality assurance, accreditation, and recognition of degrees and credits. MultiDiverse will have a significant impact on the universities, future students, the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), and the society at large. It will enable the universities to develop a new partnership and improve the quality and innovation of their programmes; increase their internationalisation, competitiveness and attractiveness towards talented students; and set up new partnerships with academic and non-academic stakeholders. The innovative aspects of MultiDiverse will contribute to the attractiveness of the EHEA. The EMJM programme will train young talented people with a background in linguistics, education, psychology, or sociology on multilingualism and cultural diversity across disciplines to respond to the labour market needs within the academic and non-academic sectors. Students will obtain high-quality training, will become part of an international network, and will develop key competences that can significantly improve their employability. Training in digital skills and science communication will enable them to raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of multilingualism and cultural diversity at national and local levels. This can lead to better understanding of multilingualism and cultural diversity by policymakers as well as the general public and can result in better understanding and implementation of policies on multilingualism and cultural diversity in Europe and beyond.