Welcome to OLBI!
I'm delighted to welcome you to the University of Ottawa's Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute, a national and international centre of excellence.
We have been pursuing the key role played by the Second Language Institute within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ottawa since July 2007. But our mission is even broader. OLBI is a breeding ground for innovation and fresh ideas, where anyone dedicated to expanding and sharing our knowledge of bilingualism can join forces with others in achieving that goal.
A leader in the fields of official languages and bilingualism in Canada, OLBI provides an ideal setting for analysis, research and development designed to serve university communities, as well as public, private and paragovernmental agencies and organizations in the area of official languages, bilingualism and language planning.
On the strength of our vibrant and highly qualified team, OLBI stands as an important reference for professors, researchers and students. Its expertise reaches out not only across Canada, but around the world.
We promote exchanges, interdisciplinarity and research partnerships through the Canadian Centre for Studies and Research on Bilingualism and Language Planning (CCERBAL).
Our programs, at the cutting edge of teaching science, meet the French and English second-language learning needs of a large and diverse population. We are also at the forefront of the design and application of language-proficiency measurement tools for the benefit of universities, government, paragovernmental organizations and the private sector.
The United Nations has declared 2008 the international year of languages. And truly, the ability to communicate in more than one language greatly affects relationships between groups and social cohesion. We are very proud of OLBI's commitment to promoting bilingualism and official languages. We will continue to innovate to ensure that all those who join us enjoy a thoroughly enriching experience.
Richard Clément
Director and Associate Dean
Profile
Richard Clément is the Director of the University of Ottawa's Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute, as well as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University. A full professor in the School of Psychology, he has conducted internationally recognized work in the area of bilingualism, social identity and communication. In 2002, he received the Robert C. Gardner Award of the International Association of Language and Social Psychology, as well as the Otto Klineberg Award for Intercultural and International Relations of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. He is a fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association.