“I feel like it’s giving me a lot as a language teacher to be a learner myself”: Factors affecting the implementation of a multilingual pedagogy as reported by teachers of diverse languages

Raees Calafato

doi:10.14746/ssllt.2021.11.4.5

Abstract

To boost the foreign language learning process, language teachers need to know how to implement a multilingual pedagogy, that is, they should be able to draw on their and their students’ knowledge of other languages during lessons. This qualitative study explored the extent to which 21 foreign language teachers in Norwegian and Russian upper-secondary schools were willing and able to implement multilingual teaching practices and the factors that they thought affected this implementation. The findings revealed three main factors, namely, their language knowledge, their positioning as language learners, and the level of support they received, which the participants reported as strongly influencing the extent to which they were able and willing to draw on their and their students’ multilingualism as a pedagogical resource. The findings also indicated that participants did not implement multilingual teaching practices differently based on the languages they taught, although there were differences between the participants from Norway and Russia concerning the teaching of English. The study has important implications for research on language teaching and learning in multilingual environments, educational institutions, and teacher development programs.

Highlights

Governments around the world are implementing initiatives in schools and universities that encourage younger generations to learn multiple foreign languages (FLs) so that individuals can develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the cultural and linguistic diversity that surrounds them and acquire the skills to secure themselves professionally and personally in a globalized world (Calafato, 2021a; 2021b; Gao & Zheng, 2019)
While this study explored the implementation of multilingual teaching practices (MTPs) in a small sample of teachers (N = 21), it did so in a way that revealed the specific factors that FL teachers reported as influencing their implementation of MTPs, how they related to the languages they taught, and how they viewed their multilingualism, something that was not explored during the project’s quantitative phase
The interview data provided notable insights into how the participants felt about their multilingualism, the factors they reported as affecting their ability to implement MTPs, as well as some meso-level differences between the teachers from Norway and Russia regarding their reported implementation of MTPs

Summary

Introduction

Governments around the world are implementing initiatives in schools and universities that encourage younger generations to learn multiple foreign languages (FLs) so that individuals can develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the cultural and linguistic diversity that surrounds them and acquire the skills to secure themselves professionally and personally in a globalized world (Calafato, 2021a; 2021b; Gao & Zheng, 2019) As part of these initiatives, the ministry of education in some countries, such as in Norway (UDIR, 2013), for example, encourage FL teachers, most of whom know multiple languages (i.e., they are multilingual) (Calafato, 2019), to implement multilingual teaching practices (MTPs) during lessons. In light of the multilingual initiatives promoted by governments and the emphasis on using MTPs in FL teaching, it becomes important to understand the extent to which FL teachers can implement these initiatives, what they think about the use of MTPs, and the extent to which they are able and willing to implement them

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion