Olaf Bärenfänger

Professor, Leipzig University, Germany

Prof. Dr Olaf Bärenfänger is the director of the Language Centre at Leipzig University. The Language Centre offers a wide range of courses in many modern foreign languages, as well as in Latin and Ancient Greek, for almost 4,000 students each year. In addition to general language courses that are open to students from all departments, the Language Centre offers modules for specific purposes.  

Olaf Bärenfänger studied German Philology and Philosophy at Heidelberg University and at the Université de Paris-Sorbonne. After receiving his M.A. from Heidelberg University in 1998, he was employed as a research fellow in the Department of Psychology at Heidelberg University,  in the Department for German as a Foreign Language at Bielefeld University, and at the TestDaF-Institut in Hagen. Olaf Bärenfänger received his Ph.D. from Bielefeld University with a thesis on research methodology. In 2016, Leipzig University awarded him the venia legendi for German as a Foreign and Second Language.  

Olaf Bärenfänger’s research interests include multilingualism, language(s) for academic and specific purposes, assessment, quality management, research methodology, and foreign and second language acquisition research.  Olaf Bärenfänger has published widely to these topics in international journals. He also directed a considerable number of research projects covering the topics mentioned above. Olaf Bärenfänger has lectured at many universities in Germany, in Europe, and overseas. He is also a frequent instructor in staff training. Olaf Bärenfänger is president and co-founder of the Institute for Test Research and Test Development (ITT). He is member of the academic boards of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and of the Goethe Institute. 

Presentation title: Growing together: How Language Policy Can Contribute to Build the Common European Area of Higher Education