Multilingual Educational Contexts Research Articles

Multidimensional Assessment Performance Analysis: A Framework to Advance Multilingual Learners’ Scientific Equity in K-12 Contexts

Evaluating science learning through written assessments for Multilingual Learners (MLs) can offer a critical source of information for educators aiming to adopt culturally and linguistically sustaining practices. However, without careful planning and design, written assessments for MLs can yield unreliable data. This conceptual article addresses this challenge by first examining the complexities of the written language of science and its impact on student learning. It then explores current literature and presents the Multidimensional Assessment Performance Analysis (MAPA) framework, a multimodal model for analyzing writing answers in multilingual educational contexts. MAPA integrates Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to evaluate language use and Topic Models to allocate students based on their cognitive reasoning and thinking patterns. The article concludes with recommendations for classroom teachers and researchers to enhance assessment practices in science education for MLs.

Teaching Russian in a Multilingual Educational Context

In this article the author refers to her own extensive experience of teaching Russian as a foreign language in an academic multilingual environment. When teaching Russian in multilingual academic contexts, especially with beginners, the problem inevitably arises of finding correlations between the students’ established language structures and the new imparted knowledge. In conditions where the entire educational process at university takes place in three official languages, Russian is offered as an optional course. The teacher is then faced with a series of tasks involving the organization of work within a diverse group of students with different language and cultural backgrounds, as well as the need to choose a metalanguage. The methods of observation and analysis allow conclusions to be drawn about the significant influence exerted by various linguistic characteristics of the second language, including its phonetical, lexical, and grammatical aspects, on the process of learning Russian as a foreign language. The process of teaching Russian not as a “second” language but rather within a “third” language paradigm in a multilingual context inevitably implies taking into account the previous experience of students, which serves as both a catalyst and a delaying mechanism. In the article the author describes how teaching Russian as a foreign language in a bilingual German and Italian academic context stimulates the students’ mechanisms of reflection and awareness of the peculiarities of their own languages. This includes the opportunity offered to students to distance themselves from their native language and, through the prism of the second language with which they are already familiar, examine their own native language as well as the new language being studied. The experience of teaching in a multilingual environment allows conclusions to be drawn about the effectiveness of the principles of intercultural communication, including when the students’ native languages are different. As a rule, research carried out on such principles has shown their effectiveness within groups of speakers of close languages.

School actors navigating between implementor & arbiter – a qualitative study on the dynamics in multilingual schools’ language policy

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, heightened migration has increased linguistic diversity in schools. For schools to cope with this multilingualism, many governments impose a monolingual policy where only the language of instruction is allowed. Although many schools adopt such a policy, the classroom practices may differ since multilingual students often revert to translanguaging-as-practice. Drawing on three key conceptual language policy (LP) models (Bonacina-Pugh, 2012. Researching ‘practiced language policies’: Insights from conversation analysis. Language Policy, 11(3), 213–234; Johnson & Johnson, 2015. Power and agency in language policy appropriation. Language Policy, 14(3), 221–243; Ricento & Hornberger, 1996. Unpeeling the onion: Language planning and policy and the ELT professional. TESOL Quarterly, 30(3), 401–427), this study explores LP formation across macro (government), meso (school), and micro (classroom) educational levels in Flanders, Belgium. Macro-level analysis involves scrutinizing policy documents from the Educational Department of Flanders. Meso-level investigation includes policy documents from three secondary schools, compared with insights from interviews with the schools' principals and language coaches. Semi-structured interviews with teachers (n = 18) and classroom observations (n = 138 hours) provide nuanced perspectives at the micro-level. Triangulating data reveals declared, perceived, and practiced language policies at various levels. The study underscores LP's intricate nature within a multilingual educational context. Results highlight the contrast between macro-level policy straightforwardness and the complexity faced at meso- and micro-levels, where context-specific challenges arise. As schools navigate linguistic diversity, the role of language coaches becomes pivotal in creating inclusive and effective educational settings.

Countering English-prioritised monolingual ideologies in content assessment through translanguaging practices in higher education

This paper presents the use of translanguaging in the assessment of content subjects in the context of Nepal’s higher education. Since its proposition in the 1990s, translanguaging has been receiving much scholarly attention in multilingual educational contexts. In such contexts, individuals’ language practices show a shift from the understanding of languages as separate autonomous systems to the recognition of integrated and heteroglossic practices. Drawing on the analysis of relevant policy documents and examinees’ answer sheets of formative assessment, and interviews with eight purposively selected teacher educators teaching at the master’s level at a university in Nepal, this paper reports that examinees’ translanguaging practices in responding to assessment questions exhibit their translanguaging instinct resisting unplanned English-prioritised monolingual policies. It also reveals fluidity and simultaneity in examinees’ use of diverse linguistic resources defying demarcated language boundaries as aspired by the institution’s English-prioritised policies. The study further reports layered translanguaging exercised by examinees which educators acknowledged as an attempt to enhance efficacy in content communication. Examinees’ translanguaging practices and educators’ acknowledgment of translanguaged writing indicate collective resistance from the bottom-up countering monoglossic ideologies in assessment systems. This implies consideration of examinees’ and educators’ roles in promoting translanguaging for future language policy changes to facilitate effective assessment.

PROTOCOL: Language of instruction in schools in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.

To address the evidence gap in making effective language of instruction (LOI) decisions, we propose a systematic review of the role of LOI choices in education programs and policies on literacy outcomes in multilingual educational contexts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Grounded in a multidisciplinary theory of change (ToC) describing what factors link LOI choices and literacy outcomes, we will gather, organize, and synthesize the evidence on the specific role of the three LOI choices described in the ToC (teaching in mother tongue [MT] with later transition, teaching in a non-MT language, or teaching in two or more languages at one time) and its impact on literacy and biliteracy outcomes. We will focus our systematic review and meta-analysis only on quantitative and qualitative intervention studies from LMICs as these have the highest relevance for decision making in multilingual LMIC contexts. We will also only include languages that are relevant and commonly spoken in LMICs. For example, we will likely include studies that examine Arabic to English transfer, but not Arabic to Swedish transfer.

Life-story pedagogy for identity

Identity as a life story is constructed in social interaction with the surrounding world in a narrative continuum through language. When given pedagogic recognition for active meaning-making and construction of personal identity, the student is encountered in a just and holistic manner. In school, skills related to identity construction are taught especially in language education. In Finland, the central aim established in the Core Curriculum for learning mother tongue and literature is to teach students linguistic skills with which to word, interpret, understand, make meaning and construct oneself and the world in interaction with others. Although the identity-mission is shared by all curricular activities, the importance of mother tongue and literature gives reason to call it the ‘identity subject’ proper. Yet, in multilingual educational contexts, not everyone’s mother tongue is equal, as analysed in multi-professional interview data in this paper. For migrant-language speakers, there is a major expectation to learn one of the national languages for participation and active citizenship. This leads to undermining two things. First, the process can also take place vice versa: participation enhances feelings of belonging, which enhances language learning. Second, the first language plays a central role in constructing life-story identity. Although identity construction is cherished in the Core Curriculum, it is not automatically valued, offered, or endorsed in the context of migrant students learning their own first languages. Linguistic and cultural recognition helps to support the significance of life-story identity, and acknowledging it in structural support and in pedagogic practices will further promote all students’ equity and participation as active involvement.

LOTE (Languages Other than English) Teachers’ Emotions and Professional Identity in Response to Educational Reforms: A Social-Psychological Perspective

Teachers’ emotions and professional identities in response to educational reforms play a key role in teacher development and policy implementation. However, little attention has been paid to the shifting emotions of teachers of LOTEs (languages other than English). Taking a social-psychological approach, this study examines the emotional reactions and professional identities of LOTE teachers who were inspired to cater for the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. Semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis were used to probe the emotions and professional identities of 15 LOTE teachers in a Chinese foreign language university. The analysis identifies four categories of LOTE teachers’ identities: The enthusiastic accommodators, the lonely fighters, the drifting followers, and the passive executors. The findings indicate that current educational policies might lead to tensions among LOTE teachers without sufficient support, and suggest that the voices of LOTE teachers should be accommodated in the process of policy-making along with the affordances of support. The study reveals the necessity of adopting a social-psychological perspective on teacher development in the global multilingual educational context.

Language use in an English-medium instruction university in Lebanon

Abstract English-medium instruction (EMI) universities in non-English-dominant contexts often use internationally available tests of English (e.g., TOEFL) and/or locally developed tests to assess the academic English-language proficiency of applicants prior to admission. However, little research has been conducted to establish the extent to which either type of test reflects the real-world classroom discourse, and associated communicative demands, within these often multilingual educational contexts. In this paper, we report on one part of a larger study designed to address this research gap in a particular EMI environment – the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon. We collected and analysed samples of language use at AUB through non-participant ethnographic observations and video recordings of eight undergraduate classes across academic disciplines. Findings indicated that classes were varied in nature, shifted between registers and levels of interaction, involved a range of translanguaging and English as a Lingua Franca-oriented phenomena, and included meta-commentary about language use. We argue that speaking and listening constructs in English-language admissions tests used in EMI contexts ideally need to be localised or locally developed to best match the unique language use characteristics of these settings.

Language attitudes and third language writing in a multilingual educational context

The study explores the impact of language attitudes on third language (English) writing. A total of 40 participants (20 from the B2 level and another 20 from the C2 level) from an Official Language School in the Valencian Community took part in the study. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire adapted from Lasagabaster and Huguet (2007), together with and a written composition evaluated using Jacobs et al.’s (1981) taxonomy. Findings from the study show that students' attitudes towards languages are in line with the sociolinguistic status of each language in the Valencian Community. In addition, the present study shows that those students that use both official languages (Spanish and Catalan) at home got better results in the evaluation of their English writings. Our findings indicate the impact of multilingualism on students' L3 writing and suggest the advantages of multilingualism in language learning.

Developing cognate awareness through pedagogical translanguaging

ABSTRACT This article is on pedagogical translanguaging, understood as planned instructional strategies used with a pedagogical purpose in a multilingual educational context. The paper reports a study on cognate identification and cognate awareness carried out in a multilingual primary school. The study aims at analyzing whether the identification of cognates in three languages is related to linguistic factors and to teaching. The relationship between teaching cognates and metalinguistic awareness is also explored. Half of the participants took part in an intervention based on pedagogical translanguaging using multilingual resources from the students’ own repertoire while the other half followed regular classes. Participants completed a background questionnaire and a cognate recognition task. Information was also gathered by means of a think-aloud protocol and an interview. The results indicate that the identification of cognates is connected to the linguistic characteristics of cognates but not to having Basque or Spanish as a first language. Participants who had taken part in the intervention showed a higher development of cognate awareness but there were no significant differences between the groups in cognate identification. The results are exploratory but they indicate that using the languages in the students’ whole linguistic repertoire can create more opportunities for language learning.

Interpretar (a) la deriva

En este artículo describimos el lector implícito y empírico de la ficción digital The Empty Kingdom (Merlin Goodbrey, 2015) a partir del análisis mixto de una muestra de 50 cuestionarios llevados a cabo por alumnado de ciclo superior de dos escuelas primarias de la provincia de Barcelona, en el marco del proyecto “Enseñar a leer literatura digital” (GRETEL-UAB). Los datos permiten reconocer, por un lado, los modos de participación y los retos interpretativos que la obra digital propone a sus lectores y, por el otro, las principales dificultades que manifiestan los estudiantes en la experiencia concreta de lectura. Este análisis conduce a establecer y caracterizar tres perfiles lectores y a trazar diversas implicaciones relevantes para la mediación de las ficciones digitales, tarea en la que la escuela ha de comprometerse para no dejar a los lectores a la deriva en la construcción de sentido.

Representations as Metalinguistic Macro-Awareness: An Experiment on 11–12 Years Old Greek Students within the Framework of Pluralistic Approaches

Summary In order to transition from a monolingual foreign language course to a multilingual one, all the elements that are connected to students’ cognition should be taken into consideration in order to facilitate this shift. Working with classes of French as a Foreign Language involving 11–12 years old Greek students, our study revealed that by switching to multilingual teaching, students’ representations of language(s) start to emerge; these representations had in most cases been hidden, incoherent and fossilized in teaching monolingual classes. While considering metalinguistic awareness, a variable that is central to our research, as a prerequisite for resolving problems emerging in a multilingual educational context, this article seeks to show that the representations language learners make of themselves and their learning constitute metalinguistic reflection at a macro level, which may influence how metalinguistic awareness functions when performing multilingual tasks. This paper focuses on the processing of qualitative data: meta-discourse analysis of the learners participating in our study led us to establish a typology of representations that enabled us to highlight what aspects to focus on in the classroom so as to prepare students to reflect on language more intensively. This involved guiding learners towards modifying their representational framework, by addressing deficiencies and correcting their representations characterized as “unproductive”, in order to take full advantage of multilingual teaching/learning situations.

The Role of Language in Sustainable Development: Multilingualism and Language Literacy in India

The paper, out of the three major domains of sustainable development, brings its focus on socio-cultural sustainability. As human contacts and negotiation are essential to serve the purposes of sustainable development worldwide, language as a shared means of communication is worth paying attention to. The central objective of the paper is to deliberate on the significance of language and literacy in sustainable development. Firstly, it introduces the notion of sustainable development and conceptualizes language within its frame. Then, it explores the link between language, literacy and development; and elucidates the role this plays in attaining sustainable development goals. The paper further highlights the debate between English and mother tongue/local languages specific to the literacy programmes in India. Conflicts in language selection for the medium of instruction, deciding on the place of mother tongue and global language, etc are some obvious issues in the multilingual and multicultural education scenario. Therefore, the paper calls for the need of adopting a multilingual approach in order to address the linguistic diversity in the multilingual educational contexts. Both English and local languages have been equally emphasized for attaining social sustainability at the local and global plane. Some implications are also suggested to be utilized in language/educational programmes.

Plurilingual pedagogies at the post-secondary level: possibilities for intentional engagement with students’ diverse linguistic repertoires

ABSTRACTThis paper draws draw on conceptualisations of language as heteroglossic to examine whether and how multilingual practices and plurilingual pedagogies are enacted as instructional strategies in two multilingual English-medium universities in western Canada. Multilingual educational contexts have the potential to comprise ‘translanguaging spaces’ [Li, W. (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics, 39(1), 9–30. doi:10.1093/applin/amx039], wherein educators and students mobilise a range of semiotic resources for teaching and learning purposes. From a monolingual paradigm, such practice is often seen as interference or deficit; however, from a multilingual paradigm, this practice is seen as legitimate and unrestricted, with students free to use their linguistic resources as they wish to their own benefit. To conceptualise and analyse engagement with multilingual practice, we draw on Cenoz and Gorter’s [(2017). Minority languages and sustainable translanguaging: Threat or opportunity? Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(10), 901–912. doi:10.1080/01434632.2017.1284855] distinction between ‘spontaneous’ and ‘intentional’ translanguaging. To assist faculty to observe, act and reflect on implementation of plurilingual pedagogies, we propose a three-dimensional matrix comprising axes of (1) faculty- and student-initiated; (2) planned and spontaneous engagements with plurilingualism; and (3) plurilingualism as either a scaffold or a resource for curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.

Literacy acquisition in multilingual educational contexts: Evidence from Coastal Kenya.

Literacy is a powerful tool against poverty, leading to further education and vocational success. In sub-Saharan Africa, schoolchildren commonly learn in two languages-African and European. Multiple early literacy skills (including phonological awareness and receptive language) support literacy acquisition, but this has yet to be empirically tested in sub-Saharan Africa, where learning contexts are highly multilingual, and children are often learning to read in a language they do not speak at home. We use longitudinal data from 1,100 schoolchildren spanning three groups of native languages [Mijikenda languages (Digo, Duruma, Chonyi, and Giriama), Kiswahili, Kikamba] in coastal Kenya (language of instruction: Kiswahili and English). We find that baseline phonological awareness and receptive language are differentially important in predicting literacy skills in English and in Kiswahili, and these relations are moderated by the degree of shared cross-linguistic features between home and school languages. Importantly, the relative importance of these factors changes over development. Implications for language development and literacy acquisition in linguistically diverse contexts are discussed.

Translanguaging in the context of mainstream multilingual education

ABSTRACTIn the context of multilingual education, translanguaging has been put forward as a means of including several languages in education. However, teachers often assess translanguaging-based approaches as being too vague and idealist. This study discusses data from two settings (Luxembourg and Netherlands) in which teachers working in design-based projects operationalised the concept of translanguaging in order to include both migrant and minority languages in mainstream education. Examples from each dataset will be discussed in order to show the different functions of translanguaging in the two settings. Analyses of classroom transcripts provide insights into how official translanguaging can be used as pedagogical strategy to acknowledge migrant languages, achieve less language separation in traditional immersion models and to increase content understanding. Based on teachers’ own reflection on their use of translanguaging and on iterative interpretation of excerpts of the data, the study provides an overview of the functional use of different languages within moments of official translanguaging.

Translanguaging as Transformative Pedagogy: Towards a Vision of Democratic Education

ABSTRACT This paper is a reflection on the use of translanguaging as pedagogy. The primary aim of the paper is to discuss transformative potentials of translanguaging in multilingual educational contexts. To frame the discussion, I turn to Jacques Rancière’s critical works, and show how translanguaging may be an effective way of teaching democratic politics in the language classroom.

Promoting Cross-linguistic Awareness: English motion events in a multilingual teaching model

Abstract – The younger generations often learn English along with a number of other languages. Research into language learning seems to agree that multiple language acquisition and use is dynamic and concerns the whole mind system, where languages are interwoven (Cook 2016; Jessner 2008). This appears to encourage multilingual didactics, where the learners’ diverse languages are considered and transfer is viewed as an essential aspect of language development (Peukert 2015; Treffers-Daller, Sakel 2012). However, despite the existence of multilingual school programmes in the world, there seems to be a dearth of information on how teachers are prepared for multilingual teaching, a challenge that warrants attention in teacher education. Multilingual practices need to be informed by theoretical and practical knowledge and delivered by confident practitioners, who should have sound cross-linguistic awareness. The present article emphasises the importance of promoting cross-linguistic knowledge among primary teachers in education who will operate in multilingual educational contexts. It describes how Ladin student primary teachers in South Tyrol (Italy) are educated on how to develop and implement multilingual teaching strategies in the quadrilingual schools where they will work. At South Tyrolean Ladin schools, English is taught as a fourth language after Ladin, Italian, and German. More specifically, this article presents a qualitative case study on the teaching of English motion verbs within the multilingual didactic framework Integrated Linguistic Education at primary schools and in teacher education programmes (Cathomas 2015; Le Pape Racine 2007). The topic of motion events provided a good example of how students in education can be exposed to cross-linguistic research and of how theory and practice can be integrated.

Child shyness and peer likeability: The moderating role of pragmatics and vocabulary

The association between shyness and children's likeability by peers was examined, with pragmatic difficulty and receptive and expressive vocabularies as moderators. Participants were 164 preschoolers (72 boys, 92 girls) between 52 and 79months old in Singapore. Across-informant methodology was used, with peers and teachers contributing to separate peer likeability ratings. The findings highlighted a conceptual distinction between peer- and teacher-rated likeability by peers. For the latter only, a 3-way interaction involving shyness, vocabulary, and pragmatic difficulty was found, indicating that for shy children with low vocabulary scores, those who experienced less pragmatic difficulty tended to be seen by teachers as more well-liked by peers than those with more pragmatic difficulty. This suggests that pragmatic skills may serve a protective function especially for shy children with poor vocabulary skills. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Child shyness is related to poorer peer acceptance and social competence Expressive vocabulary and pragmatic competence each has a buffering effect for shy children What the present study adds? Shyness is related to poorer peer likeability as assessed by teachers Shyness is unrelated to peer likeability as assessed by same- or different-sex peers Pragmatic skills buffer the effects of teacher-rated shyness only for children with poor receptive and expressive vocabularies The buffering effect of language ability is shown in a multilingual educational context.

Study groups and peer roles in mediated academic literacy events in multilingual educational contexts in South Africa

This paper explores the role of study groups in mediating academic writing, particularly among multilingual black students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Using data from questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews, as well as academic texts generated by study groups, the paper focuses on the efficacy of study groups in mediating literacy events in multilingual educational contexts. Of particular interest here is the composition, i.e. the roles each member plays in the preparation and discussion of a particular topic.