The majority of our research activities concern areas to which members of our research group have making significant contributions at an international level for many years and, in certain cases, for decades. The results presented in a number of conference papers and invited lectures given in various places in Europe and on other continents (Aachen, Almunecar, Antwerpen, Bogota, Bruxelles, Cagliari, Klagenfurt, Florence, Granada, Gorizia, Frankfurt, Leuven, Luxembourg, Murcia, Neuchatel, Novi Sad, Opatija, Pamplona, Paris, Potsdam, Poznan, Regensburg, Rome, San Francisco, Seul, Tarvisio, Trieste, Udine, Zagreb, Zaragoza) have been received very favourably by the international research community; a great part of them have already been integrated into contemporary general linguistics and, in particular, into contemporary Romance linguistics. They represent a sound and original contribution of Slovene researchers to the linguistic discipline, especially in relation to the following research fields and topics: - contrastive studies of the textual functioning of the Romance languages and of Slovene at different levels (from the textual to the phonological level); when possible, English has also been taken into account; - lexicological, lexicographical and translation-related studies; - empirical research on the bilingual situation (Italian-Slovene) in the Slovene Coastal region and in the eastern part of the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia; - studies of diachronic language change based upon research on language contact between Slovene and Italian (in western part of Slovenia and in eastern part of Italy), and between Slovene and Spanish (in the Argentinian Slovene community).