Multilingual University Research Articles

Negotiating language use and norms in intercultural communication: Multilingual university students’ scaling practices in translocal space

This study explores the language practices and perceptions of local and international students engaged in translocal space of communication in a transnational university in China. It focuses on the process by which multilingual students, as scale makers, negotiated language norms, reshaped interactional contexts and strategically configured diverse resources embedded in various spatiotemporal scales to accomplish communicative activities. It is found that translocal space is open to plural norms and shifting power relations. Through scaling practices, multilingual students can create, define and refine sociolinguistic contexts to their own advantage. The findings also highlight multilingual students’ awareness of power issues involved in the relationship between language and norms, the development of more open and flexible attitudes towards language use and their capability in applying interactive strategies to negotiate linguistic differences to achieve communicative success in translocal space.

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.

Postgraduate students as plurilingual social actors in UK higher education

ABSTRACTThis paper sets out to develop a finer-grained understanding of the ‘plurilingual social actor’ within an Anglophone higher educational setting. Drawing on data collected as part of The Multilingual University project, I examine how a group of plurilingual postgraduate students taking modules in applied linguistics at a university in London viewed their linguistic repertoires as a resource for the taught curriculum and what their experiences can tell us about the plurilingual social actor. The study opened an institutional space for making linguistic diversity visible and for considering how it was a resource for the curriculum. The findings indicate that multilingual resources play an important role in supporting learning at postgraduate level and reveal ways in which familiarity with English medium education shapes how postgraduate students mobilise their multilingual resources in relation to the taught curriculum. Importantly, the study shows how the plurilingual social actor offers a dynamic, powerful and affirmative identity position that is well aligned with the teaching and learning agenda in higher education. It is my contention that a better understanding of this alignment will allow us to raise awareness of language-as-resource and advance plurilingual pedagogies in the sector.

Negotiating participation and identity in a second language: Mainland Chinese students’ English learning experiences in a multilingual university in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This paper investigates mainland Chinese students’ experiences of learning English as a second language (L2) in a multilingual university in Hong Kong, with particular attention to their negotiation of participation and identity. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews with a group of mainland Chinese students, the study revealed that their participation in L2 practices appeared to be shaped by the contextual conditions in different communities within the university and mediated by their agentic responses to the contextual realities of these communities. While they gained fuller participation in L2-mediated activities in the local student community and the classroom community as a result of their appropriation of the associated language practices and their display of knowledge and competence in the related social practices, they struggled to gain access to L2 interactional opportunities in the community of exchange students, where their negotiation of positionalities was subject to the perceived unequal power relations between native and non-native speakers of the English. It is argued that their participation in L2-mediated activities in the university could be understood as a complex, dynamic, situated and co-constructed process of negotiating access, competence, membership, positionality, identities and discursive practices associated with different communities.

Supporting educational developers in the era of internationalised higher education: insights from a European project

ABSTRACTIn the past decades, and as a result of the internationalisation processes experienced by higher education across the world, English-medium education (EME) has gained momentum in universities where well-established national and/or local languages had traditionally been the means of instruction. While this phenomenon is growing at a fast pace, professional support for the lecturers engaged is very often scarce and unsystematic. Against this backdrop, the EU project known as EQUiiP (Educational Quality at Universities for Inclusive International Programmes) takes as point of departure the support of a specific set of agents – educational developers (EDs) – who, although essential in the design and implementation of internationalised programmes, has attracted scarce research attention. Drawing conceptually on the ROAD-MAPPING framework (Dafouz, E., and U. Smit. [2016]. “Towards a Dynamic Conceptual Framework for English-Medium Education in Multilingual University Settings.” Applied Linguistics 37 (3): 397–415) and with the help of data from a baseline survey gathered by EQUiiP, this paper explores the roles, beliefs and practices of EDs in these concrete internationalised programmes. Our findings reveal great differences in these agents’ backgrounds and areas of expertise as well as different perspectives on the roles of language(s), and more particularly English, in the process of internationalising higher education.

Intelligibility Enhancement Assessment and Intervention: a single-case experimental design with two multilingual university students

ABSTRACT Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) may be approached by multilingual speakers wishing to improve their intelligibility in English. Intelligibility is an essential element of spoken language proficiency and is particularly important for multilingual international students given their need to express complex ideas in an additional language. Intelligibility Enhancement aims to improve the intelligibility and acceptability of consonants, vowels and prosody with multilingual speakers who are learning to speak English. This study aimed to describe the Intelligibility Enhancement Assessment and Intervention Protocols and determine whether the intervention changed multilingual university students’ English intelligibility. A multiple-baseline single-case experimental design was applied with direct inter-subject replication across two female participants whose home languages were Vietnamese and Putonghua (Mandarin). English intelligibility was assessed at multiple intervals pre, post and during intervention. The intervention protocol consisted of 11 weekly 1-h sessions with an SLP targeting English consonants, vowels and prosody. Following intervention, both participants displayed increased performance across most measures. For example, the Vietnamese participant’s percentage of consonants correct (PCC) increased from 62.5% to 85.0% in probe keywords. Effect sizes, when comparing baseline and withdrawal phases, were 5.5 for PCC, 4.6 for final consonants, 2.3 for consonant clusters and 1.6 for syllables indicating improvements in all variables measured. Her speech rate reduced, word stress increased in accuracy and she perceived less difficulty communicating in English. These promising results suggest further testing of the Intelligibility Enhancement Protocols is warranted to determine effectiveness as an intervention for multilingual speakers.

EMI teacher and student identities and linguistic practices

Abstract Although the incorporation of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in multilingual higher education institutions is widely accepted, it may be a source of tension for university professors for whom English is an additional language, particularly when both teacher and students share an L1 other than English. A need exists to examine how linguistic attributes of EMI are interpreted and executed by participants. This study focuses on dialogue between a content specialist and a language specialist during an EMI teacher development partnership at a multilingual Catalan university. Membership Category Analysis (MCA) explores the categories made relevant in interaction, category associated features and responsibilities, and their procedural relevance within the interaction. The article focuses on results relating to the emerging identities of EMI classroom participants and related linguistic attributes. The results shed light on tensions relating to language use in EMI, and may inform EMI teacher development processes and classroom language policy.

Speech-language pathologists’ support for multilingual speakers’ English intelligibility and participation informed by the ICF

PurposeTo use the ICF to classify characteristics and aspirations of multilingual university students and faculty who seek speech-language pathologists’ support for intelligibility in English and to identify activities, facilitators, and barriers that impact participation in society. MethodA retrospective record review was conducted on files of 175 clients attending a university clinic for intelligibility enhancement (accent modification). Participants came from 35 countries and spoke 28 different home languages. ResultsAssessment and intervention for intelligibility enhancement involved consideration of ICF components of Body Functions and Structures (e.g., articulating phonemes, rate, prosody), Environmental Factors (e.g., support), and Personal Factors (e.g., motivation). Consonant substitutions and deletions were common, although participants were often unaware of these. For example, only 25.6% of participants reported English dental fricatives (/θ/ and /ð/) were difficult to pronounce; however, 94.9% substituted them with other phonemes such as [t] and [d]. The combination of substitutions/deletions, fast speech rate, low speaking volume, and differences in word stress exacerbated poor intelligibility. More time conversing in English was associated with greater confidence and less difficulty communicating in English, although more time knowing English was not. Difficult communication situations were reported to be conversing over the phone, talking to strangers, and communicating in English on professional fieldwork placements. Participants were motivated to seek intelligibility enhancement for academic, employment, and social reasons. ConclusionsTo ensure multilingual speakers are able to participate fully in society, intelligibility enhancement requires a multi-pronged approach where speech and environmental characteristics interweave.

“We are not the language police”: Comparing multilingual EMI programmes in Europe and Asia

English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has rapidly increased over the last decade in Europe and Asia. However, this expansion has far outstripped research and many key questions remain unanswered. This study addresses a number of those questions related to roles and conceptualisations of English and other languages in multilingual university settings. Data is presented from an exploratory mixed‐methods (121 questionnaire responses and 12 interviews with lecturers and students), comparative study of higher education institutes in the UK, Austria and Thailand. Findings showed a move from monolingual orientations at management level, mixed responses to multilingualism in ideologies and beliefs, to extensive multilingualism and complexity in practices. Furthermore, unexpected similarities between the UK and Thailand as regards language proficiency and content learning were found.

Dictionaries as wealth of knowledge? Perceptions of multilingual education students on mobile LSP dictionaries

Studies in user research with regard to specialised settings have not received much attention in lexicography, as has the use of dictionaries on mobile phones. This study investigated the user perspective by referring to user situations, user needs and user perceptions in a multilingual university setting. The research undertaken was unique in the sense that the author investigated user perceptions of a language for specific purposes (LSP) dictionary on a mobile phone. It presents an empirical study on dictionary use by semi-experts in a multilingual higher education setting. The major aim of the study was to describe usage situations, user needs and user perceptions of education students on the use of a multilingual mobile dictionary. A multilingual university setting is described, where the language of teaching and learning is not necessarily the home language of a student, thus highlighting the need for a specialised multilingual dictionary to be used as a source of knowledge. In accordance with the view of a dictionary as a container of knowledge, students express the need for different types of dictionary information in specialised dictionaries. Findings include the affinity of students for a mobile dictionary.Keywords: Mobile LSP dictionary; user perspective; user needs; user perceptions; dictionary usage; multilingual university setting

Attitudes and motivation in English language learning amongst multilingual university students in the Balearic Islands: the effect of the L1 and other influential variables

ABSTRACTAttitudes and motivation seem decisive in successful language learning (Dörnyei, Csizér, and Németh 2006. Motivation, Language Attitudes and Globalisation: A Hungarian Perspective. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.). Research in Spanish multilingual contexts analysing the influence of the L1 on attitudes and motivation to learn foreign languages (FL) reveals mixed results. In the Basque country attitudes towards the FL were more positive amongst students with the majority language (Spanish) as their L1 than Basque speakers (Lasagabaster 2005. ‘Attitudes towards Basque, Spanish and English: An Analysis of the Most Influential Variables.’ Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 26 (4): 296–316.). However, Loredo Gutiérrez et al. (2007. ‘Language Use and Language Attitudes in Galicia.’ In Multilingualism in European Bilingual Contexts: Language Use and Attitudes, edited by David Lasagabaster, and Angel Huguet, 40–65. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.) in Galicia and Madariaga, Huguet, and Janés (2016. ‘Language Attitudes in Catalan Multilingual Classrooms: Educational Implications.’ Language and Intercultural Communication 16 (2): 216–34.) in Catalonia did not find significant differences among majority and minority language speakers. A later study (Lasagabaster 2016. ‘The Relationship between Motivation, Gender, L1 and Possible Selves in English-Medium Instruction.’ International Journal of Multilingualism 13 (3): 1–18.) targeting motivation in the Basque country determined that the L1 was not influential. This study analyses the effect that the L1 exerts on students’ attitudes and motivation to learn English in the bilingual region of the Balearic Islands. Data from L1 Spanish/Catalan university students (n = 1,021) was collected through a questionnaire. Statistical differences were found with Spanish L1 students displaying slightly more positive attitudes and motivation to learn English than Catalan L1 speakers, yet the effect size was small. This paper concludes that, in the Balearic Islands there are other factors determining attitudes and motivation such as linguistic self-confidence, cultural interest, international posture and instrumentality.

The English-medium paradigm: a conceptualisation of English-medium teaching in higher education

ABSTRACTThe discourse on English-medium teaching in higher education uses several terms and concepts to describe practices, very often synonymously. This contribution aims to fill the research gap of a conceptualisation of English-medium teaching in higher education. It will identify relevant approaches and their corresponding terminology, as well as clarify which approaches are most suitable for higher education. Given that the past decades have seen a substantial rise in the use of English as a teaching language in European compulsory schooling [Dalton-Puffer, C. 2011. “Content and Language Integrated Learning: From Practice to Principles?” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 31: 182–183], the paper will also draw parallels between the secondary and the tertiary levels of education. At the same time, it will also be shown why insights drawn from research conducted in secondary education cannot simply be transferred to the tertiary level of education.The main focus of the paper is on the ‘English-medium Paradigm,’ a framework created to identify prevalent instructional types in English-taught programmes at universities in non-Anglophone countries [Unterberger, B. 2014. “English-medium Degree Programmes in Austrian Tertiary Business Studies: Policies and Programme Design.” Dissertation, University of Vienna, 45–52]. The paradigm is based on terminological and conceptual considerations gained from the critical discussion of English for specific purposes, English for academic purposes, Content and language integrated learning and English-medium instruction literature [e.g. Bhatia, V. K. 1993. Analysing Genre: Language use in Professional Settings. London: Longman; Hyland, K. 2006. English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge; Dalton-Puffer, C. 2007. “Academic Language Functions in a CLIL Environment.” In Diverse Contexts - Converging Goals: CLIL in Europe, edited by D. Marsh, 201–209. Mehrsprachigkeit in Schule und Unterricht 6. Frankfurt am Main: Lang; Dafouz, E., and U. Smit. 2014. “Towards a Dynamic Conceptual Framework for English-medium Education in Multilingual University Settings.” Applied Linguistics. doi:10.1093/applin/amu034]. The paper therefore provides a timely conceptualisation of the varieties of English-medium teaching in higher education which also takes into account pedagogical considerations as well as implications for curriculum design.

ELF as multilingual “edulect” in a bilingual university

AbstractThe role of English at European universities outside English-speaking countries has recently been so dynamic and complex as to merit elaborate acronyms and frameworks of comparison to capture the actual diversity involved in each case of using English, for example in what Dafouz and Smit (Dafouz, Emma and Ute Smit. 2014. Towards a dynamic conceptual framework for English-medium education in multilingual university settings.Applied Linguistics37[3]: 397–415) subsume under English-medium education in the international university. This contribution, however, looks at ELFFRA, English as a lingua franca in academic settings at the bi- and multilingual University of Fribourg, Switzerland. When English first became officially acknowledged as an additional academic language in 2005, being preceded by a period of “unruly” emergence, it was often the marked case, even in and for its local disciplinary speech events. Its current use at UFR as the default in some English-medium study programmes is by no means uniform or monolingual either. Meanwhile in the promotion of bilingualism in French and German, English is mostly “included” – reminiscent of the semiotics of the 2005 nonce coinage of “bi(tri)lingualism.” This contribution will revisit ideas about the “edulect” role of ELFFRA (Schaller-Schwaner, Iris. 2017.The many faces of English at Switzerland’s Bilingual University: English as an academic lingua franca at the institutionally bilingual University of Freiburg/Fribourg – a contextual analysis of its agentive use. Vienna: University of Vienna doctoral thesis) but look for it in unusual and under-researched places where it is indeed “included” viz. in beginners’ university language courses teaching the local languages French and German. First explorations will be shared and discussed with a view to what this might mean for ELF(A) and edulect.

The usage of effective approaches in teaching a foreign language in the multilingual University groups

The usage of effective approaches in teaching a foreign language in the multilingual University groups

The multilingual university website (MUW) genre ecology

Abstract This article analyzes the content of Spanish university websites and the processes involved in translating them, with the aim of identifying the challenges internationalisation poses for these institutions and the technical, organisational, and translation-related solutions that have been adopted for managing their multilingual content, particularly in the case of universities in autonomous communities with two official languages. It examines the communicative situation of the multilingual university website (MUW) genre by applying textual genre analysis, with special emphasis on translation and localisation processes. The empirical study of the macrostructures, multilingual content, and strategies used by each university to translate its website is articulated through the notion of a genre ecology, as a complex conglomerate of genres based on distributed cognition and shared authorship. The analysis shows that the processes involved in creating multilingual content require adopting comprehensive translation and localisation strategies, establishing sole decision-makers for translation management and quality control, and providing the necessary resources to ensure the multifunctionality, dynamicity, interactivity, and adaptability we have identified in monolingual university websites. Finally, we offer suggestions for improving the creation, management and control of multilingual content, and define the profiles of the specialized translators required for this type of institutional website.

Visuality in Academic Writing: Reading Textual Difference in the Work of Multilingual Student Writers

With the growth of the teaching of English globally and increasing numbers of students in English language medium universities, students in academic English classrooms can be expected to be literate in two or more languages. Multilingual writers in the university engage in high stakes academic writing even as they navigate differences among languages and academic writing systems. While research and pedagogies addressing the question of difference in the writing of multilingual students in English have focused primarily on verbal features, writing has come to be conceptualized in terms of multimodality. Writing is also a visual mode, and multilingual writers draw on their knowledge of different conventions and writing systems as they compose. To reflect on the visuality of writing, this article considers examples of textual difference in the English writing of multilingual university students in Lebanon. Multilingual approaches to teaching writing are developing quickly, but instruction in visual aspects of writing is still predominantly prescriptive. Instructors of academic writing have a responsibility to contextualize visual dimensions of academic writing, especially for multilingual writers. Qualitative studies will help understand the perceptions and experiences of multilingual academic writers as they negotiate all of the modes of writing, including the visual.

Studying in a ‘multilingual university’ at home or abroad

The relatively recent phenomenon of the internationalisation of higher education (HE) in European non-English-speaking universities has resulted in more linguistically diverse student bodies and has forced universities in bilingual territories to reconsider their language policies. In this paper, we adopt a student perspective in order to explore the notion of a multilingual university in the bilingual territories of Catalonia, Wales and the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC). This also includes looking at how the students view the relationship and possible tensions between internationalisation (and its concomitant student mobility) and the language policies. In order to investigate the attitudes and beliefs of the students (both home and international) in connection with the notion of a multilingual university, we asked them to complete an open-ended questionnaire item regarding the advantages and disadvantages they see in such an institution. The results of the analysis point, in the first place, to different perceptions among students of a multilingual university depending on (i) whether English is the main or even sole means of instruction, and (ii) the perceived status of the minority language. Secondly, the analysis suggests the need to approach students’ attitudes towards a multilingual university by considering the ways in which the sociolinguistic context (in official, academic and experiential terms) may have an impact on their perception of the process of multilingualisation in universities.

L2 English Academic Speaking Development: Insights from a Multilingual University Context

Little is known about the development of second language (L2) capacities in L2 users located in multilingual environments where more than one language is a viable communication tool and users can decide which to use for which purpose. Adopting a socially-grounded perspective on L2 learning, this study explores L2 academic English development in a multilingual university context in Denmark through a longitudinal study of 10 students⿿ L2 performance in the academic register ⿿oral presentation⿿. L2 performance data were sampled on three naturally occurring classroom occasions during the students⿿ first, second and final year of undergraduate study. The presentations were analysed for students⿿ use of recurrent multiword sequences as a measure of development of routinized discourse production. This analysis was complemented by an analysis of the students⿿ language use habits and socialization patterns. The analyses revealed some positive L2 English development between first and second but stagnant development between second and final year L2 performance for the investigated categories (tokens, types, structure, discourse function). This language use pattern coincided with students⿿ orientation towards L1-based socializing by the final year. These results call for a reconsideration of academic L2 English instruction in multilingual environments outside native English-speaking settings, where L2 development seems to be susceptible to L2 users⿿ overall language use habits.

Identidades académicas en cambio en el seno de la universidad multilingüe

En este artículo se presenta un análisis de algunas de las consecuencias que ha tenido la internacionalización de la universidad en la reformulación de las identidades profesionales de los académicos que desarrollan su actividad en una lengua minoritaria. La hipótesis de la que se parte es que los procesos globales de cambio que están modificando la educación superior afectan a los roles e identidades profesionales de los académicos. Más concretamente, se pretende mostrar que las recientes exigencias profesionales a las que se están adecuando los docentes-investigadores comprenden también imperativos de orden lingüístico que van incorporándose progresivamente a las identidades cambiantes. El estudio empírico se ha llevado a cabo en un contexto universitario multilingüe con una lengua minoritaria, la Universidad del País Vasco, a través de entrevistas en profundidad que recogen las percepciones de docentes-investigadores vascoparlantes sobre su desempeño profesional. Este estudio, centrado especialmente en los componentes lingüísticos de la identidad profesional de los académicos, ha permitido identificar algunas tendencias de cambio reveladas a través del relevo generacional, que inciden en el desarrollo de la lengua minoritaria. En especial, la emergencia de fuertes orientaciones estratégicas en el diseño de las carreras académicas, la creciente centralidad de la identidad investigadora frente a la identidad docente, y la preeminencia de un ethos académico vinculado a las identidades disciplinares de las tecnologías y las ciencias experimentales

English and more: a multisite study of roles and conceptualisations of language in English medium multilingual universities from Europe to Asia

ABSTRACTThe rapid increase in English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education has resulted in the need for a greater evidence base documenting EMI in practice spanning a range of settings. Studies of EMI focusing on linguistic issues are beginning to emerge but there are few comparative studies looking at multiple sites, levels and stakeholders. In response to this, the study reported here examined the roles of and conceptualisations of English and other languages in three EMI programmes in Thailand, Austria and the UK. A mixed-methods approach was adopted making use of a student questionnaire (N = 121) and interviews (N = 12) with lecturers and students, supported by documentary analysis and observations. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed diverse roles of English and other languages, various levels of recognition of multilingualism, and a sophisticated range of conceptualisations of language by stakeholders. In particular, English as discipline-specific language use emerged as a key concept, straddling language and content learning and teaching, as well as problematising simplistic divides between language and content. Furthermore, the complex understanding of the diverse roles of languages by participants offers a counter to perspectives of English in EMI as an unambiguous, monolithic entity.