Plurilingual Approach Research Articles

Maximising the potential of plurilingual subtitled audiovisual input: learning L3 words and multiword units with L2 audio

ABSTRACT Purpose This study proposes the use of plurilingual audiovisual input, combining viewers’ L2 English audio with an L3 target language subtitles, to facilitate beginners’ acquisition from original version television. Methodology We divided 84 beginner learners of Spanish into experimental and control groups, assessing their learning of target single and multiword units using a pre-/posttest design, measured with a Vocabulary Knowledge Scale. The experimental group watched twelve episodes of a TV series in the original L2 English version with L3 Spanish subtitles. Findings Statistical analyses revealed that the experimental group was nearly ten times more likely to score higher on the posttest than the control group, demonstrating a strong impact of plurilingual audiovisual input on vocabulary learning. Additionally, multiword units were learned better than single words. Originality This study breaks new ground in audiovisual input research by providing empirical evidence that incorporating a plurilingual approach benefits language learning and teaching.

Translanguaging: A Promising Approach to Enhance English Learning in Saudi Arabia

New perspectives incorporating a more flexible plurilingual approach to language teaching have recently emerged. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that suggests a teaching policy methodology that enhances English education in Saudi Arabia. It includes a thorough revision of the nature of Saudi language pedagogy. The study argued for a better understanding of bilingual practices and for utilizing students’ pluralist resources of knowledge to develop their academic, communicative and literacy skills. It also called for a critical review of the conventional methodology of language education that is entirely based on adherence to the socially and politically defined boundaries between languages. As a result, it is suggested that translanguaging be implemented as a communicative strategy to support English education and encourage linguistic diversity in the Saudi context. Moreover, developmental recommendations regarding English teaching and translanguaging implementation that are useful both locally and internationally are incorporated.

Dewis Iaith Dramor Fodern fel pwnc TGAU – a oes dewis? Y blychau opsiwn a ffactorau eraill

The aim of the research which underpins this article is to identify the factors that influence pupils when choosing, or not choosing, to study a modern foreign language as a GCSE subject. In 2015, the document Global Futures was published by the Welsh Government to improve and promote Modern Foreign Languages (MFLs). However, statistics show that the numbers taking MFLs as a GCSE subject are continuing to fall (British Council, 2021). The Evaluation of Global Futures (Welsh Government, 2022a) acknowledged that not all the aims of the strategic plan were fully realised as no increase was seen in the number of pupils studying MFLs at examination level. This article focuses on one particular aspect of the data collected by the project, namely the factors that prevented pupils from choosing MFLs as a GCSE subject. Data was collected from 860 pupils in 10 secondary schools, and barriers at school level, such as option boxes and courses not running, were found to be key factors (Jones, 2021, Clayton, 2022). The perception that the subject was difficult was also a factor preventing pupils from choosing MFLs as a GCSE subject, and it should be noted that the foreign language for the pupils in this study (Fukui & Yashmina, 2021) was, at the very least, a third language. It is argued, in line with the British Council report (2021:6), that ‘urgent intervention’ is needed to reverse the decline in the numbers choosing to study MFLs as a GCSE subject. Some recommendations are offered on ways to increase numbers, with reference being made to such considerations such as choosing option subjects in Year 8, setting MFL classes and the need for more deliberate planning in order for pupils to succeed in learning a foreign language (Ofsted, 2021). The implications of the Curriculum for Wales and the multilingual and plurilingual approaches presented therein as ways to “ignite learners’ curiosity and enthusiasm” (Welsh Government, 2022b) are also considered.

Content and language integrated learning in bachelor programs in linguistics: Prospects and potentials

Communicative and active learning is recognized as a dominant didactic model in foreign languages teaching and learning paradigm, wherein Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) seems to be very promising. The key principle of CLIL is its dual focus: learning a subject through a language and learning a language through a subject. The focus of a CLIL lesson is on the subject content, which students need not only to understand and learn, but to interiorize in a foreign language. Being placed in a specific cultural context, the content gains certain linguistic and cultural features which are country specific for each professional sphere. The article also addresses how the students develop Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). The students not only master the subject but also improve foreign language skills by mastering lexico-grammatical patterns and discourse formulas focused on a specific subject area. Using several foreign languages (plurilingual approach) would allow the students to master the subject even more effectively.

The implementation of plurilingual language policies in Higher Education – the perspective of language learning students

AbstractIt is undeniable that English has become the worldwide lingua franca for the academic world. Many countries have therefore opted for Higher Education programmes fully in English, of which the Netherlands is the frontrunner. Language policies that include drawing on students plurilingual repertoires could offer the opportunity to employ several languages in the classroom (Duarte and van der Ploeg 2019). Although the attitudes of lecturers have been studied before, students are often overlooked when creating language policies and in particular students in language-related courses. This mixed-method study aimed to map the affordances and constraints associated with the implementation of a plurilingual policy from the students’ perspective. First, 20 h of classroom observations showed that plurilingual approaches were used when explaining concepts, yet were refrained from when struggling with the language of instruction. Second, a survey with 103 students attending language-related courses showed general positive attitudes towards using plurilingual approaches, in which being proficient in a large number of languages played a significant role. Overall, the affordances of a plurilingual policy, such as new ways of thinking, and the use of a student’s full linguistic repertoire, surpassed the constraints, such as the lack of inclusion, and as a result, the advantage for Dutch students was mentioned.

Plurilingualism and language and literacy education

In this paper, we discuss the place of plurilingualism in Language and Literacy Education. The article problematises English-only, monolingual-centric assumptions upon which much of Australia’s current literacy education policy discourse has been based, to instead advance pluriliteracies as an alternate, more generative lens through which to view literacy learners, literacy learning, and literacy capabilities. The paper begins with tensions inherent in how policy “imagines” learners in Australian schools, and the problem of imposing English-only, monolingual-centric notions of literacy when multilingualism is increasingly more the norm than the exception in many mainstream Australian classrooms. We consider how a pluriliteracy perspective on literacy education offers a more appropriate approach to addressing learners’ developmental literacy needs, with particular attention to students’ identity and agency. Finally, we consider effective implementation of plurilingual approaches to language and learning, with a focus on the intersection of ideology, practice, and policy.

English at the trilingual Free University of Bozen-Bolzano: exploring experiences and perceptions

ABSTRACT The increasing use of English in higher education around the world has prompted a large amount of research into the causes, effects and perceptions of this phenomenon, particularly relating to the introduction of English-medium instruction. While most previous research has focussed on institutions that have effectively ‘added’ English to existing teaching programmes, this paper investigates attitudes towards and experience of the presence and use of English in a somewhat different context: the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (unibz), which, since its creation in 1997, has offered teaching in English alongside the two local languages, German and Italian. This plurilingual approach, enshrined in the university statue, is explored through a thematic analysis of oral interviews with members of the unibz community (both staff and students). While some of the themes identified in the analysis mirror issues raised in studies of institutions elsewhere, a number of novel themes are also discussed and the overall picture to emerge is of a university whose language policy is relatively stable in terms of both acceptance and implementation, perhaps by virtue of the fact that a plurilingual approach has been adopted and supported since the university’s creation and has always been a key part of its identity.

Conscience collective et autoconscience dans l’enseignement / apprentissage du français langue seconde et de scolarisation : quand l’interculturel et le plurilinguisme sont en jeu

This article explores the issue of the collective consciousness and self-consciousness in teaching and learning foreign languages. A review of the literature on the current issues of interculturality and plurilingualism in relation to the notions of consciousness and self-consciousness is first detailed. The issue raised allows us to question the impact of this consideration in terms of the consequences of this work on class dynamics. In fact, can the awareness and self-awareness of learners regarding intercultural and plurilingual practices exist outside of a co-construction with other learners, with the teacher? The research methodology is based on an analysis of interactions in the language class which brings into play these intercultural and plurilingual approaches (resulting from the LISTIAC and FLSCAN projects). It reports significant results on the co-construction of consciousness and emerging self-consciousness in the language class about the singular universals of languages and cultures. The discussion shows the value of a collective, and no longer purely personal understanding (for the learner) of consciousness and self-awareness of these plurilingual and cultural experiences.

Colonialingualism: colonial legacies, imperial mindsets, and inequitable practices in English language education

ABSTRACT Translanguaging and plurilingual approaches in English Language Education (ELE) have been important for envisaging more equitable language education. However, the languages implemented in translanguaging or plurilingual classrooms predominantly reflect the knowledge and belief systems of dominant, nation-state, “official”, and/or colonial languages as opposed to those of endangered and Indigenous languages. This paper contends that privileging dominant colonial knowledges, languages, and neoliberal valorizations of diversity is Colonialingualism. Colonialingualism, covertly or overtly, upholds colonial legacies, imperial mindsets, and inequitable practices. Colonial languages carry colonial legacies and can perpetuate an imperialistic and neoliberal worldview. Languages can be disembodied from place and commodified as mere “resources”, important only for economic “value” rather than cultural importance, in a “modern” global, neoliberal empire. Colonialingualism resides in the “epistemological error” in dominant western thought, characterized by linguistic imperialism and cognitive imperialism; the view that humans are superior to nature; and white (epistemological) supremacy. This “epistemological error” dominates the current mainstream western worldview, institutions, pedagogies, mindsets, and ways of languaging. Colonialingualism is subtractive and detrimental to multilingual, multicultural learners’ identities and heritages; endangered, Indigenous languages and knowledges; minoritized communities; and our environment. This paper argues that: (1) colonialingualism illustrates the “transformative limits” of translanguaging and plurilingualism; and (2) an epistemic “unlearning” of the western “epistemological error” is required to enable equitable use of all languages, languaging processes, and knowledge systems, including those Indigenous and minoritized, in ELE. The example of heritage language pedagogy in the Canadian context will demonstrate how epistemic “unlearning” while languaging can take place.

The pertinence and feasibility of implementing a plurilingual approach in Quebec, Canada: the beliefs of pre-service ESL teachers

ABSTRACT The field of language pedagogy has increasingly advocated for the implementation of plurilingual approaches which promote learners’ ability to mobilize all linguistic resources at their disposal in order to communicate in different situations with various interlocutors [Cabré Rocafort 2019. “The Development of Plurilingual Education Through Multimodal Narrative Reflection in Teacher Education: A Case Study of a Pre-Service Teacher’s Beliefs About Language Education.” Canadian Modern Language Review 75 (1): 40–64; Coste, Moore, and Zarate 2009. Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence.]. The implementation of such approaches, however, relies greatly on teachers’ openness and ability to help their learners explore their linguistic and cultural repertoires. To date, the beliefs of pre-service teachers (PSTs) in Quebec regarding the implementation of plurilingual approaches remain under-researched. This exploratory study aimed at examining the beliefs of future teachers regarding the pertinence and feasibility of implementing a plurilingual approach, as well as the impact of teacher education and previous language learning experiences on these beliefs. An online questionnaire was shared with undergraduate ESL teacher education programs across the province of Quebec and answers from 52 PSTs were collected and analyzed. Results suggest that future teachers were reluctant to implement a plurilingual approach, despite holding positive beliefs towards certain underlying principles of plurilingualism. Findings also indicate that PSTs are heavily encouraged, during teacher education, to maintain a monolingual class policy. Pedagogical implications are discussed in light of research on plurilingualism and PSTs’ beliefs.

Autonomy, autonomisation and the Council of Europe: the interdependence of pedagogy and politics

The Council of Europe’s educational projects have always been designed to support its political purpose, which is to promote and defend human rights, democratic governance and the rule of law. This article traces the fluctuating fortunes of the Council’s engagement with the educational concepts of autonomy and autonomisation with reference to three main phases of its work: (a) the adult education project of the 1970s, which was the context in which Henri Holec wrote his ground-breaking report Autonomy and foreign language learning; (b) the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and its companion piece the European Language Portfolio (ELP), developed in the 1990s and launched in 2001; and (c) the concept of plurilingual and intercultural education as outlined in the CEFR and further developed in the 2000s in the project Languages in Education, Languages for Education, which offers a basis for the educational inclusion of migrants and minority-language students. The article argues that although the adult education project of the 1970s provided an enduring conceptual framework, the hope that the ELP would lead to the widespread autonomisation of language learners foundered on the absence of appropriately receptive pedagogical traditions. However, a radical interpretation of the so-called plurilingual approach to education returns autonomy and autonomisation to centre stage.

Language Teaching in Higher Education within a Plurilingual Perspective

The pedagogies that are currently being put forward within a broad multilingual paradigm in languages education endorse the general principle that learning is a collaborative and dialogic process engaging learners and teachers as partners that bring diverse linguistic, cultural and other knowledge into the classroom. The plurilingual approach to modern languages education adopted by the Council of Europe at the turn of the century is in line with the multilingual orientation embraced by educational linguists in the wake of migration and displacement on a global scale. This article deals with the implementation of the plurilingual approach in higher education, by focusing on the use of a particular type of cross-linguistic mediation in language teaching, namely written translation. Firstly, the article investigates how pedagogic translation is conceived of in applied linguistics. Secondly, it gives two examples of how translation is becoming an integral part of language teaching and testing in European universities. The concluding section contains some recommendations for future research.

Toward a Decolonizing Framework for Equity-Oriented English Language Teacher Education

Abstract In this article I critically review the current literature on English language teaching (elt), (neo)colonialism, and empire to advance a decolonizing framework for equity-oriented English language teacher education (elte). This framework first argues that teachers should be supported to understand and confront linguistic imperialism of the English empire to promote plurilingual approaches to elt while developing students’ critical awareness of power. Second, it contends that instead of asking elt professionals to apply Western centered pedagogies that are often ill-suited to their local instructional realities, they should be supported to develop their own praxis. Third, it calls for disrupting epistemological racism to reclaim local knowledge. Lastly, it emphasizes the need to unsettle colonial ontology of white supremacy and native-speakerism that render teachers of color and nonnative English speakers (nnes) as perpetual Others. The article concludes with a call for action to prepare language teachers to disrupt racism, (neo)colonialism, and inequality through their praxis.

“Very easy, it’s an English class, therefore they should not rely on a French text”

Abstract In the context of additional language (AL) learning, teachers need to focus on the development of language proficiency as well as on high-level literacy skills, for example, comprehending and evaluating information and creating new meaning. From a plurilingual perspective, AL learners’ first language (L1) is conceputalised as a useful tool in the development of target language proficiency; however, limited information exists concerning AL teachers’ beliefs towards the use of the L1 for high-level literacy instruction despite its potential utility for complex skill development. The aim of the present exploratory study was to examine the beliefs of in-service teachers of English as an additional language (EAL) working in the Quebec primary and secondary school system in francophone Canada regarding plurilingual approaches for classroom literacy practices and to uncover the factors that influence their beliefs. An online survey was distributed to in-service EAL teachers (N = 57) working in the province of Quebec, Canada. Findings suggest that teachers believe that it is most beneficial to adopt a monolingual lens to literacy instruction, a belief that denies learners’ use of their L1 and this, in a bilingual country. Implications for teacher education programs that challenge a monolingual lens are explored.

Leveraging Languages for Learning: Incorporating Plurilingual Pedagogies in Early Childhood Education and Care

Abstract: Children are members of families and communities, and the languages learnt within these contexts contribute to a child’s sense of “belonging, being and becoming” throughout life (Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009). Encouraging children to bring their home languages into early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings exposes all children to additional languages and supports key outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF; DEEWR, 2009). This article looks at the relationship between key tenets of the EYLF and conditions that support a plurilingual approach within ECEC settings, arguing that multilingualism can be encouraged and effectively supported within these environments. The authors outline Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of development which continues to be influential in Australian ECEC, emphasizing the importance of proximal processes in child development. Examples are provided of educator behaviours set out in the EYLF that encourage linguistic diversity and promote language learning. The influence of three key variables on the valuing of languages is discussed, namely language ideologies, teacher beliefs and attitudes, and plurilingual pedagogies. Recommendations relating to the positive positioning of languages and the integration of plurilingual pedagogies into Australian ECEC contexts are provided.

Conceptual Mediation through Translinguistic SCOBAs within C-BLI for Adult Learners of German

This article discusses conceptual mediation through translinguistic SCOBAs: mediation tools that allow learners to move from their spontaneous linguistic knowledge to an organized, theoretical knowledge and to explain a given concept with respect to both the learners’ additional languages (ALs) and their L1. Translinguistic SCOBAs are used within the Integrated Plurilingual Approach (IPA) (Esteve et al. 2017), which draws on Concept-based Language Instruction (C-BLI). The IPA blends communicative and reflective activities in didactic sequences, in which conceptual mediation leads to translinguistic conceptualization. Conceptual mediation aims to help learners to appropriate concepts that are contrastively relevant. Translinguistic conceptualization unfolds through a gradual enrichment of the learners’ initial Orienting Basis of an Action (OBA) by means of four reflective activities: preliminary learner reflection, relevant contrastive analysis for raising conceptual awareness, joint completion and use of a systematizing translinguistic SCOBA, and retrospective learner reflection. This group of activities was developed within two IPA-based didactic sequences that were designed separately: (1) the grammatical concept ‘verbal aspect’ within personal narratives and (2) the socio-pragmatic concept ‘distancing’ within a set of interrelated oral and written genres. Each sequence was framed within a course of German as an AL taught at a different level (beginners and advanced) to adult learners with Spanish or Catalan as L1 and English as their first AL. The learners’ verbalized reflections during both sequences show that the reflective process of conceptual mediation with translinguistic SCOBAs, carried out through the four activities, proved useful in promoting perceived concept appropriation.

Rethinking the ‘ideal native speaker’ teacher in early childhood education

ABSTRACT Current foreign language education policies advocate plurilingual approaches to learning and teaching languages and call into question the ‘ideal native speaker’ as the ultimate model. Observations within a teacher training context indicate that this ideal still holds considerable weight among pre-service teachers. A study was carried out with students enrolled on the degree programme in Early Childhood Education at a university in Catalonia to explore the extent to which the ‘ideal native speaker’ model prevails within this community. The study analysed data from different instruments applied within the context of a core module which includes an innovative approach to embedding English as a foreign language in the early years. Findings confirm the prevalence of the model and reveal beliefs and assumptions which not only perpetuate the ideal itself, but also reinforce disempowering and discriminatory attitudes which are incongruent with current policies regarding language education. Changes reported in post-intervention findings highlight the need to develop reflective skills alongside linguistic and didactic competences in Early Childhood EFL Education. One of the main contributions of the study is its identification of deficit views of non-specialist teachers and its call for collaborative practice in which all linguistic abilities have a place.

Translation as a pedagogical tool in multilingual classes

AbstractWhile translation has recently had a comeback in language pedagogy, its applicability in classrooms with students from diverse linguistic backgrounds has been underexplored. In countries with increasing immigration and high intakes of international students, which is the case of Canada, language classrooms are intrinsically multilingual. This multilingual reality provides unique opportunities for students to use their linguistic repertoire while learning English – one of Canada’s official languages –, but teachers may be hesitant to use translation as a pedagogical tool if they do not speak the languages of their students. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative study with three teachers and 40 adult learners of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in a Canadian university. All of the student participants had at least two languages in their repertoire, and 90% reported being plurilingual, that is, using several languages with varying levels of proficiency. With the exception of English, the language of instruction, the teachers did not share any of the languages spoken by the students. The study explored how the teachers used translation to engage students’ plurilingual repertoires and investigated students’ perceptions of translation practices. Data was gathered through student diaries and classroom observations. Results of deductive analyses show that translation, when used within a plurilingual approach, was helpful for making sense of English vocabulary. Moreover, students reported that translation across languages enhanced conceptual knowledge. The paper argues that translation as a process rather than an L2-L1 textual product can advance language learning in multilingual classes.

Plurilingual Approach to Improving Lexical Competence of Non-Linguistic Majoring Students

This paper presents innovative approaches to improving lexical competence of non-linguistic students. The authors analyze the concept of terminological vocabulary in professional discourse, paying special attention to peculiarities of teaching vocational-oriented vocabulary to non-linguistic majoring students. Pedagogical technologies based on plurilingual approach in teaching professionally oriented vocabulary are offered in this article. The authors disclose the main features of acquiring professionally oriented vocabulary in distance learning and its effect on the learning process. Furthermore, the best practices for the English-German-French combination are explored in teaching non-linguistic students professionnally oriented vocabulary from a plurilingual and communicative perspective. The findings also show that these activities not only motivate learners to be engaged in meaningful language learning experience, but also encourage them to improve their plurilingual communicative competence, therefore enrich their professionnally oriented vocabulary. The focus lies on exploring the use of plurilingual approach as an effective means for improving professional linguistic competence. Recommendations for teachers and non-linguistic students on mastering their professionnally oriented vocabulary are presented in this paper.

Use of translation and plurilingual practices in language learning

AbstractHere we will present a pedagogical framework for the implementation of an Integrated Plurilingual Approach (IPA) to language learning that has emerged from research and observation of best practices in primary, secondary, and higher education. Researchers, teachers, and students collaborated in three interconnected projects (2012–2015; 2015–2019) whose main aims were to help teachers and learners move towards acknowledging and explicitly connecting their linguistic repertoires to reframe their current classroom practices and engage in new ones. This implied a reformulation of their pedagogical practices, including the use of translation to acquire interlinguistic, intercultural and mediation skills in contexts other than professional translator training (TOLC). Two instruments resulted: one to help the teachers transform their perceptions and, so, their performance, regarding the plurilingual paradigm, afour-phase collaborative reflective cycle; and another to guide their instructional design, thefive-dimensional instructional framework (IPA-5DIF). Some classroom examples will be presented here, with special reference to a high-complexity secondary school context (118 students, 4 teachers).