Multilingual Environment Research Articles

AAiMLL: Acquisition Advantages in MultiLingual Learners: The Case of the Multilingual Child

Cognitive science has demonstrated that multilinguals (including children) show a cognitive advantage over monolinguals. Linguistics has provided evidence that multilinguals (including children) are able to successfully separate their lexicons and grammars and negotiate multilingual environments. Apart from these achievements, linguistics has generally failed to demonstrate a multilingual advantage related to the multilingual’s linguistic proficiency. The present article summarizes the current literature, which shows that there are first indications of an acceleration effect in multilingual children. This effect is discernable if the languages radically differ, if the child uses a ‘weak’ language (often a minority language), if the child acquires more than two languages from birth, and if contact with the language exhibiting the acceleration effect is delayed until kindergarten age. This kind of acceleration effect represents an explanation gap under current theorizing in cognitive science and linguistics, and calls for a new language acquisition theory, a best-of-breed solution for further research in language acquisition. AAiMLL (Acquisition Advantages in MultiLingual Learners) combines cognitive and linguistic aspects with a threshold theory. It is claimed here that the multilingual child learns from two cognitive acquisition strategies. One is fed by grammatical features, and requires the child to (re-)use already acquired knowledge by generalizing to new domains. The other strategy enables the child to consider rejected alternatives of earlier decisions in one language, for use in the other language. An acceleration effect related to the multilingual’s linguistic proficiency is indicative of the success of both strategies. The success of the strategies is argued to be related to a threshold of language usage from a quantitative or a qualitative perspective.

EXPLORING THE CORRELATION OF SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCE AND SPEAKING PROFICIENCY, AND HOW LEARNERS PERCEIVED THEM

This study aims to explore the correlation between sociolinguistic competence and speaking proficiency in language learners while examining their perceptions of these aspects. Conducted using a mixed-methods approach, the research gathered data from 65 participants across multiple universities in Lamongan Regency, East Java, Indonesia. Quantitative analysis involved Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores, structured surveys, and questionnaires assessing sociolinguistic competence. Qualitative insights were obtained from in-depth interviews, illuminating participants' experiences, beliefs, and challenges in diverse social settings related to language use. Quantitative findings indicate a strong correlation between sociolinguistic competence and speaking proficiency. The Pearson correlation coefficient for "Sociolinguistic Competence" was 1.000, confirming a perfect positive correlation, while the correlation between "Sociolinguistic Competence" and "Speaking Proficiency" was .688, signifying a robust positive correlation. Similarly, "Speaking Proficiency" exhibited a .688 correlation with sociolinguistic competence. Qualitative insights emphasized themes such as sociolinguistic norms, language preferences, and challenges in communicative contexts. Participants stressed the importance of adhering to sociolinguistic norms, showcased preferences for specific language styles in diverse contexts, and highlighted challenges in multilingual environments. The study solidifies the significant correlation between sociolinguistic competence and speaking proficiency among participants, emphasizing the pivotal role of sociolinguistic competence in enhancing speaking proficiency. These outcomes stress the reciprocal influence between these dimensions in language learning, emphasizing the need for tailored language learning strategies incorporating sociocultural dimensions. Future research may delve into implementing sociolinguistic approaches in language education to enhance learners' communicative skills and sociolinguistic awareness.

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.

Kielimaisemat kielikoulutuspolitiikan kohteena ja tekijänä kieliparikouluissa

This chapter examines the relationship between language ideologies, language education policies and linguistic landscapes in education. Our context is co-located Swedish- and Finnish-medium schools that share the school building but function as separate and administratively monolingual units. Basic education in Finland is organized separately for both national languages and the separation has been considered crucial to shelter Swedish as a de facto minority language. Therefore, co-located schools have raised some critical voices but more recently also increasing interest as multilingual learning environments. In this chapter, we examine co-located schools with a focus on linguistic landscapes and how they enable and constrain multilingual social practices and language learning. We conclude that even if co-located schools provide a linguistically diverse learning environment, the utilization of these linguistic resources for the purposes of language learning requires long-term planning.

Disalignment in the EU

Abstract European Union (EU) institutions are highly multilingual environments where international communication is very goal-oriented, as they produce and define policies and regulations applied to all member states. This paper aims at exploring how disagreements and conflicting opinions are conveyed in such contexts through the qualitative analysis of debates in recorded meetings of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Two meetings from two different parliamentary terms (2014–2019 and 2019–2024) will be analyzed. The study will adopt a pragma-rhetorical approach, drawing on studies on politeness and conversation analysis techniques and focusing especially on the management of Face Threatening Acts in English turns. Attention will also be paid to language choice, codeswitching, and to the international use of English. Results show that conflict and overt disagreements in the data are very rare, with speakers displaying instead careful mitigation of the language used, especially when English is employed.

Cultural and Linguistic Prejudices Experienced by African Language Speaking Witnesses and Legal Practitioners at the Hands of Judicial Officers in South African Courtroom Discourse: The Senzo Meyiwa Murder Trial

This article recognizes that linguistic prejudice (with its associated cultural biases) is a reality in any multilingual country, including South Africa. Prejudice is inherently human and the article suggests that it can be both positive and negative. In the case of the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial the article suggests that the linguistic prejudice experienced by witnesses and legal practitioners was largely negative. Even though the South African Constitution suggests an empowering multilingual environment where there are now twelve official languages, in contrast to this, the article takes as a point of departure the monolingual language of record policy that has been in place in the South African legal system since 2017. This is contrary to the constitutional imperatives. It is argued that this policy negatively impacts witnesses and legal practitioners and that the Meyiwa trial is a case in point. It is found that in this trial there is linguistic prejudice (practiced by the presiding judge) where there are linguistic or cultural voids related to communicative inequality and where the speaker does not have sufficient English vocabulary to proceed. It is concluded that the interpretation process also has its challenges and that ideally the use of African languages as languages of record in courts could only aid the delivery of social justice and the implementation of language rights in a multilingual and multicultural country such as South Africa.

Affinities Between Armenian and Persian Linguistic and Literary Forms in the Early Modern Period A Case Study of Two Poems by Grigoris Ałt‘amarc‘i

This paper analyses the poetic form and language of two poems by Grigoris Ałt‘amarc‘i, a prominent Armenian poet from the early modern period, in the multilingual and multireligious environment of Anatolia and Armenian highlands. Through an analysis of the forms, expressions and symbolism found in the poems Tał Astuacatur Xat‘ayec‘un i Grigoris kat‘ołikosē Ałt‘amarc‘oy and Du es aregak, as well as the linguistic data collected from them, this paper explores the stylistic kinship between early modern Armenian and new Persian poetry. It discusses the ways in which Ałt‘amarc‘i navigates the predominantly Persian and partly Turkish languages in the Islamicised milieu, and composed poems with an Armenian affiliation.

The Effect of Bilingual Environments on Education and Learning

It can be noticed that this world is vast and diverse when it comes to the matter of language. Also, one can notice that, in many countries around the world, various people with different cultures can appear. All of those people speak different languages. Also, those people will certainly speak with various accents. Such diversity can make multilingual environments. Such environments can be found in many schools in many countries. As a result, this research tries to focus on the topic of bilingual environment and its effect on education and learning. In addition, this research tries to explore the meaning of bilingualism. Moreover, this research will try to focus a little bit on the meaning of the bilingual family and its role in providing the best conditions to achieve a bilingual environment for their children. In addition, this research will show the different kinds of bilingual programs that can be presented to the students in the schools and the effect of bilingual environments in the classroom. Since this topic is really important, more research is required about it. As a consequence, it is important to make the Iraqi EFL college instructors know more about this topic. Therefore, it will be very helpful to hold a lot of educational workshops that cover this subject in order to increase their background understanding of it.

Children's language-based pedagogical preferences in a multilingual society.

A majority of the world's population is multilingual, yet children's language-based preferences have largely been studied in Western monolingual contexts. The present research investigated language-based preferences in 4- to 8-year-old children living in Hyderabad, India, a multilingual region with languages such as Telugu (official language of the state, and the native language of many children in the state) and English (medium of instruction in some schools). We presented to children novel objects and probed their selective preference to learn from different speakers (Telugu, British-accented English, or Indian-accented English). In addition, the current study assessed the flexibility of children's preferences by manipulating the learning goal (i.e., performance goal vs. enjoyment goal) and learning content (i.e., Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [STEM] objects vs. cultural objects). Children showed a preference for both English speakers over Telugu speakers, a tendency that increased with age. This preference was especially pronounced for performance learning goals and for STEM learning content. Furthermore, children whose native language was Telugu showed a less pronounced English bias. The results of this study provide new insights into the development of language-based biases in multilingual environments. First, they highlight dual and intersecting considerations of speaker familiarity and speaker status in guiding children's choices about from whom to learn. Second, the results suggest that children's language-based preferences in a pedagogical setting are flexible, as children integrate social cues (e.g., language-based attitudes) as well as contextual cues (e.g., the learning goal) strategically. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A Case Study of Chinese University Students' Portuguese Learning Strategies in a Multilingual Environment in Macau

Aiming at the phenomenon of a large number of Chinese students studying in Macao in recent years, this study investigates the language learning strategy behaviours of two Chinese international students at University A in Macao as well as two mainland students who went to Macao for a one-year exchange as case studies. Based on the relevant theories of second language acquisition, the interviews and observation records were qualitatively analysed, and the characteristics of Chinese international students' implementation of language learning strategies in a multilingual environment and the related influences were explored. The findings suggest that language learning strategy behaviour is a dynamic process of continuous interaction between the learning context and individual learners, reflecting individual variability and uncertainty. International students need to weigh the relationship between Portuguese and English learning strategies, and to complement each other's strengths in order to improve their learning strategies. Students who come to study in Macau should make full use of the multilingual environment in order to obtain the positive effects of this environment.

2 Effects of Early Exposure to More Than One Language in the Home on Language Skills and Brain Functional Network Organization in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Objective:Concerns that exposure to more than one language in the home might negatively impact language development in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are common among caregivers. Although research directly examining the impact of a multilingual home environment in ASD is scarce, emerging evidence shows that language outcomes might be equivalent or better in children with ASD exposed to more than one language (Romero & Uddin, 2021). However, no evidence to date exists on whether exposure to more than one language affects early brain functional development in children with ASD. The current study aims to examine the (1) cross-sectional and (2) longitudinal associations between home language environment (exposure to one v. multiple languages at home, H1l vs. H>1l) and receptive and expressive language skills in young children with and without ASD, and (3) to investigate links between home language environment and brain functional network organization.Participants and Methods:Participants included young children with ASD (n=67, mean age: 35±13 months, H>1l n=43) and typically developing (TD) children (n=39, mean age: 32±16 months, H>1l n=17) enrolled in a longitudinal study of early brain markers of autism. A subset of children with ASD for whom longitudinal behavioral data from two study visits were available (n=21, H>1l n=11) were used for exploratory analysis. Receptive language (RL) and expressive language (EL) skills were assessed by the Mullen Scales of Early Learning at each study visit. Data from 42 children with ASD (H>1l n=27) and 38 TD children (H>1l n= 15) for whom functional MRI data were acquired during natural sleep were included in functional connectivity (FC) analysis. ANCOVAs were employed to examine the effect of diagnosis, home language environment (H1l vs. H>1l) and its interaction on RL and EL skills while controlling for socioeconomic variables (i.e., maternal education level, income-to-needs ratio) and gestational age at birth. Linear mixed models were applied to explore the longitudinal effect of home language environment on RL and EL skills across two study visits in the ASD group. Lastly, FC analysis was conducted to compare functional connectivity across 7 canonical brain networks in children with and without ASD who were raised in H1l and H>1l.Results:We found significant diagnosis by home language environment interaction effect on EL skills, with children with ASD and H1l exhibiting the lowest EL skills. Longitudinal analysis identified a significant home language environment by study visit interaction effect on EL skills in children with ASD. Specifically, children with ASD and H1l showed lower EL skills at study visit 1 but equivalent EL skills at study visit 2 compared to children with ASD and H>1l. FC analysis revealed that children with ASD and H>1l displayed more typical brain network organization (similar to TD children) compared to those with H1l, specifically for FC between language, frontoparietal, and default mode networks.Conclusions:These results suggest that early exposure to more than one language in the home may be linked with better expressive language skills in young children with ASD. Results of functional connectivity analysis also suggest that exposure to more than one language may be associated with more neurotypical functional network organization, particularly involving language and high-order networks.

Multilingual Computer-Based Learning Environments For Stem Education And Language Awareness

Multilingual Computer-Based Learning Environments For Stem Education And Language Awareness

Character Education Values in English Classroom Within Teachers’ Practice of Code-Mixing and Code-Switching

The multilingual environment in English language learning as a foreign language raises doubts regarding the existence and teaching of character education values in secondary schools. This research aims to identify character education values integrated into teacher-student interactions through code-mixing and code-switching linguistic phenomena. The research findings highlight the integration of 16 values through code-mixing and code-switching. The frequency of code-mixing by high and junior high school teachers was notably higher than code-switching. The disparity in these data outcomes reinforces the notion that the atmosphere tends to be relaxed in code-mixing, often unnoticed by speakers. Conversely, code-switching, where speakers, in this case, teachers, consciously do so with specific intentions and goals, either to integrate dominant character education values such as communication or discipline or other character education values. These findings underscore that code-switching and code-mixing are not negative elements in language learning. Instead, they serve as tools for integrating character education values among secondary school students.

RUTELA AS A TOOL FOR REVEALING THE POTENTIAL OF UKRAINIAN SCHOOLCHILDREN WHEN STUDYING GERMAN IN AUSTRIA

This article is devoted to the RUTELA project, within the framework of which criteria have been developed that determine the possibilities and potential of a child for the development of German written speech competence. The relevance of this topic is due to the situation, as a result of which more than 10,000 school-age children ended up in Austria and were forced to integrate into the Austrian school system, learn a new foreign language for the majority, and adapt to a new team and teachers. The purpose of this study is to identify the potential of primary schoolchildren with Ukrainian as a native language based on the RUTELA working tool to determine the ability to produce written texts in German. To achieve this goal, a number of tasks were completed: samples of written texts were collected in the classes of an elementary school in the city of Vienna in Ukrainian and German, analysis and interpretation of the data were carried out. The object of the study is the early ability to write in German in elementary school children whose native language is Ukrainian. Identifying the potential of schoolchildren and using it to learn the German language is the subject of the research. Samples of written texts in Ukrainian and German are the material of this study. Elicitation was used as a method, implying actions that encourage the subjects to a productive type of speech activity. The presented study focuses on understanding the development of oral and written literacy in a multilingual environment according to the approach developed by Hans Reich, and also relies on the ELA (Early Literacy Acquisition) working tool, which determines the ability to produce written texts at an early age in Turkish and German. As a result of the analysis of the obtained data, it was possible to establish discrepancies between the realized and actual written competence, as well as to determine the child’s potential for the production of written texts at an early age. The obtained results and their interpretation make it possible to draw up a child’s language profile that describes his abilities, as well as to develop didactic and methodological approaches to support learning both German and his native language.

FEATURES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN SWITZERLAND

The article provides an analysis of the current problems of education in Switzerland. Based on the development of normative materials (national and cantonal levels), scientific research by foreign scientists (U. Bekolli, X. Bueler, U. Fredriksson, B. Getto, A. Gretler, T. Holzer, M. Keim, K. Maag-Merki, J. Zulliger) and generalization of the educational activities of practicing teachers (N. Boruvka, К. Кirr, R. Stuber) the Swiss education system is characterized, the latest trends and contradictions in its development are highlighted.In the course of the general historical and pedagogical discourse, it was emphasized that Switzerland has fundamental pedagogical traditions, which are reflected in the works of J. Pestalozzi (1746-1827), A. Ferrier (1841-1919), J.-Zh. Rousseau (1712-1778), E. Clavius (1837-1906). It has been established that modern education in Switzerland is decentralized and lies within the responsibility of cantons (administrative units), so certain features may exist in different regions of the country. However, the general principles of organizing the education system of the Swiss cantons are similar. Each canton establishes its own educational calendar, curriculum and didactic criteria.The basic structure of Swiss education includes the following levels: preschool education, primary education, secondary education (lower secondary education and upper secondary education), vocational education, higher education. One of the features of the education system in Switzerland is multilingualism. Four languages are officially recognized in the country: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Depending on the region, the language of instruction may differ. Foreign languages are highly valued in the Swiss education system. Most children and young people learn English and at least a second national language. It is also worth noting that the education system in Switzerland is quite flexible, there are different paths and programs that meet the needs of pupils and students with different educational goals and interests.It was found that the problems of education in Switzerland are studied by many scientists who specialize in the field of education, psychology and sociology. Among the most urgent problems of Swiss pedagogy, it is appropriate to single out the following aspects: digitalization of education and the impact of this process on the transformation of educational interaction between teacher and student, teacher and student (pedagogical creativity and cooperation in conditions of digitalization); organization of didactic communication in a multicultural and multilingual educational environment (approximately 25% of the population of Switzerland is made up of foreigners); professional development of teachers (lack of support for innovation, inflated expectations of society, instability of employment, etc.); application of labor education and productive work in the educational process; improvement of ties between educational institutions and basic enterprises, etc.

Multiliteracies and multilingualism in adult migrants

The communication paradigm has been restructured by globalisation and digitalisation, affecting the way we learn and adjusting language and literacy education. As adult migrants in urban contexts become socialised in learning environments with higher cultural complexity, a dynamic and flexible multiliterate and multilingual learning environment is needed in host countries to meet different needs. Of particular interest to the implementation of multimodal literacies is the consideration of recent advances in multilingualism proposed by the London Group mandate, which merges multilingualism and literacy. The aim of this study was to empirically investigate the interrelation of multiliteracy and multilingualism by conducting a systematic review that would shed light on how to grant ideological and implementational programmes for multilingual language education policy and practice in multiliteracy contexts. The study followed the PRISMA protocol to answer three research questions: RQ1: Has previous research incorporated multilingualism / plurilingualism into multiliteracy models for studies with adult migrants? RQ2: What research methods have been used for studies with adult migrants? RQ3: What is the quality of the research methods? Our results show that multilingualism is embedded in the various models of multiliteracy. However, the epistemological tradition in the field of multilingualism does not seem to have had a significant impact on the implementation of new educational programmes that meet the needs of adult migrants. We also found that quantitative research has rarely been used, and that there is a need to raise quality standards of research in this sub-discipline by reducing bias in the processes of designing, conducting and reporting research.

“記念錯過的DUET_T”: Negotiating translanguaging practices in the legitimate graffiti of a multilingual schoolscape in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s higher education institutions, with their unique socio-political context and global reputation, have presented multiple and diverse schoolscapes where multilingual students can collectively construct a shared repertoire to perform their desired identities and create specific meanings. Recognizing the semi-public whiteboards on a Hong Kong University library wall as a genre of schoolscape, this paper aims to explore the intricate ways in which students negotiate their varied linguistic and semiotic resources to create and engage with multilingual graffiti that is deemed legitimate on these whiteboards. Drawing upon the concept of translanguaging (W. Li, 2011, 2018), we employed a sociolinguistic ethnographic design and collected 151 photographs of graffiti. Through a semiotic and ethnography-informed analysis of the linguistic landscape data, we argue that these graffiti signs encourage students to establish the schoolscape as a collaborative translanguaging space by enabling them to collectively participate in translingual and transmodal practices for fun. The graffiti signs also invite students to perform translanguaging practices to substantiate their sense of affiliation with the institution and its people in the translanguaging space where their affective experiences can be constructed and shared. The study concludes by advocating for further ethnographic investigations to enhance our understanding of translingual practices within multilingual schoolscape environments.

Forming linguistic-cultural competencies in Kazakhstani students learning Russian as a non-native language

The formation of linguistic-cultural competence in the process of teaching Russian as a non-native language is becoming a priority in modern linguodidactics, in particular in the educational space of Kazakhstan. The relevance of the study is in the need to form and develop a fully educated secondary linguistic personality in the multilingual environment of modern society. This requires applying anthropocentric principle in teaching Russian as a linguistic-cultural phenomenon. The aim of the study is to form students' linguistic-cultural competence in precepting the features of the Russian picture of the world, traditional values, and mentality of the Russian ethnic group. The material of the study includes associative dictionaries of the Russian and Kazakh languages, the results of associative experiments with schoolchildren, scientific sources on psycholinguistics and cultural linguistics, Kazakh manuals and textbooks on the Russian language (in schools with Russian/Kazakh language of teaching). In the work comparative and associative experiments, pilot survey were used, as well as the methods of structuring (associative semantic gestalt according to the method of Yu.N. Karaulov), linguistic and cultural commentary, modeling situational exercises and analysis of communicative-speech acts. The results of the study illustrate the specificity of students' ethnolinguistic awareness at the associative level. The relevance of linguistic and cultural commentary for widening students' ethno-mental outlook and organising adequate intercultural dialogues is grounded. The effectiveness of associative experiments materials as a means of forming linguistic-cultural competence of students is shown.

Mother Tongues and Teaching English as a Foreign Language: A Case Study

This paper examines the role of mother tongues in the teaching of English as a foreign language at the University of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The purpose of the study is to determine the perfect mother tongue of students and to evaluate the efficacy of translanguaging methods in the teaching of English as foreign language. The research used three types of data, including quantitative, qualitative, and test data, as well as a survey conducted among 250 students at the Faculty of Arts. The results of the study suggest that translanguaging methods should be adopted to meet the needs of the country, particularly when English is combined with one of the local languages or French, in order to improve the understanding of students and their academic performance, particularly for those Congolese Learners of English who are not exposed to English often. The main problem in this study is that the learners at the University are learning English as an academic subject and a medium of instruction that they do not understand very well. However, the concept of’mother tongue’ (MT) is very important in learning other languages including a foreign language. This is especially true for students who live in a multilingual environment like DRC who have to follow and understand certain subjects taught in English. Most of them do not have their own unique and same mother tongue. For example, there are situations where a person speaks two basic languages, one is Congolese and the other is a second language. For example, someone who has been extensively exposed to a non-Congolese language like French since birth in addition to their Congolese language.

Role of L1 in ISLA: A Principled Approach in Belgium's Beginner Classrooms

This mixed-methods study investigates the role of the first language (L1) in facilitating second language acquisition (L2) among beginner learners in Belgium's unique multilingual environment. The research aims to bridge existing gaps in the literature on Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA) by focusing on beginner learners and assessing both cognitive and sociocultural implications of L1 use. A total of 300 students, aged 7-12, and 20 teachers participated in the study, employing questionnaires, standardized tests, classroom observations, and interviews as data collection methods. Results indicate a generally positive yet varied attitude toward the use of L1 in language learning, both among students and teachers. The findings contribute nuanced insights to the ongoing academic discourse on ISLA, specifically challenging polarized viewpoints. The study also aims to offer actionable guidelines for educators and policymakers in language instruction, particularly in linguistically diverse settings like Belgium.