Plurilingual Competence Research Articles

‘Localizing English in town’: a linguistic landscape project for a Critical Linguistics Education on multilingualism

ABSTRACT This article presents the outcomes of a 2-year pilot study of a teaching innovation project in an English-medium instruction course on sociolinguistics, in a languages degree at a Catalan university. Following the tenets of Critical Linguistics Education, our proposal aimed at promoting the students’ development of metalinguistic awareness of linguistic diversity; particularly, of Englishization phenomena in their socialization spaces. Firstly, we detail the project, based on the students’ interpretive analysis of the social meanings of a series of Linguistic Landscapes involving local and global languages that they gathered ethnographically. This required the use of two technologies of citizenship participation, employed as Foreign Language learning/teaching instruments: A geolocating map and a 2.0 web. We then analyze the students’ productions, and their marks, course ratings and project-assessment reports. We show that the required disciplinary content and advanced English level were attained. Students became knowledge generators of sociolinguistics phenomena and developed an intercultural, plurilingual competence in ‘localized Englishes’. We conclude that the use of Linguistic Landscaping is an effective means to develop the multilingual literacy, technoliteracy and learning-to-learn competences required by the European Council. This contributes to the design of pedagogical strategies fostering the students’ commitment to an ethics of respect towards multilingualism.

Multilingualism in Europe: Costs and Benefits

Europe is searching for unity in diversity. European Union is making efforts to convert Europe into a border-free, integrative, inclusive and knowledge-based society. Linguistic variations can pose perceived checks against this drive for cohesion. But European Union is not looking at linguistic variations as barriers rather it is seeking to preserve the rich linguistic diversity of the continent. Barriers or boundaries are being overcome through translation. For greater unity through integration, Europe seems to work for a new multilingual and plurilingual identity. European Union is promoting development of plurilingual competences among Europeans. To boost trans-Europe communication, EU is trying to interact with Europeans in their own diverse native languages. This preference for respecting Europe’s indigenous linguistic diversity may yield certain foreseen benefits but at the same time it involves complications and financial costs. This study juxtaposes the resultant costs and benefits of multilingualism in European Union.

Romance languages and EFL: friends or foes? A study on the effects of romance intercomprehension training on plurilingual competence and EFL reading skills in young learners

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the effects of a 21-hour Romance Intercomprehension (RIC) module on the plurilingual competence in Romance languages of no prior knowledge and EFL reading comprehension skills of a group of Italian schoolchildren aged 10–11. Data were collected pre- and post-training through a simple language identification and comprehension questionnaire (within subjects, n = 19), and an EFL reading comprehension test (between subjects, RIC group n = 15; control n = 23), to answer the following questions: 1) What type of plurilingual reading strategies and competence can a short RIC module develop in a school con-text? and 2) Do the competences and strategies acquired through such a RIC course affect proficiency in EFL reading comprehension? Comparisons of pre- and post-test results indicated not only that the RIC-trained group did develop an initial level of plurilingual competence in Romance languages, but also that their EFL reading comprehension skills improved more than those of the control group. Further research is needed to substantiate these data and confirm this strategy transfer. However, alongside validating Intercomprehension methodology for quick development of plurilingual reading competence, this study seems to indicate that such competence can be extended outside a language family even in young learners.

EXPLORING THE IMPORTANCE OF PLURILINGUAL COMPETENCE IN THE PRE-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING: A CASE STUDY OF TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGES OF ALGERIA

The present research paper highlights the importance of plurilingual competence to language education in pre-service teacher training at the Teacher Training College of Bouzareah-Algeria-. The study is designed to gain insight into the development of pluringual competence in the pre-service program that is addressed to the students of the departments of French and English. It aims at enhancing the teaching and learning of foreign languages in order to meet the universal requirements related to interculturality and plurilingualism.To achieve the above mentioned aims, the researchers interviewed ENSB teacher trainers to investigate their perceptions towards the teaching of that competence. A qualitative method was then employed by using a semi-structured interview with university teachers of Didactics and Language Studies in order to identify the extent of interest that is assigned to the development of plurilingual competence in the teaching practices as well as the syllabus content‎.

The multivoiced English-for-young-learners subject in Sweden: Spaces for plurilingualism?

Already in primary school in Sweden, English is one of several language subjects within a larger curriculum. Despite this, the curricular space for the English subject to leverage and contribute to plurilingual competence has hitherto received little attention. This study centres on the construction of the primary English subject in the 2011 (revised 2018) curriculum, also in relation to other language syllabi, using the concept of ‘voice as perspective on topic’ (Linell, 2009) to analyse ideologies that are salient, backgrounded, and absent in the English syllabus and those transcending language syllabi boundaries. Findings show that different voices are salient in the English subject in years 1–3 and 4–6, constructing an oral-based and fun subject contra an increasingly academic and communicatively-focused subject respectively. Monoglossic ideologies in English language teaching are challenged insofar as English is not positioned as a language belonging to specific nations or speakers. However, there exists no explicit space for plurilingual competence in assessment, where instead pupils’ monolingual performances are assessed. In addition, unlike other language syllabi, the English syllabus contains no explicit mention of multilingual awareness-raising of languages in the learners’ repertoire, thereby limiting explicit space for plurilingualism. Nevertheless, across the language syllabi, a functional view of language is salient, where communicative strategies, language form for functionally justified ends, and text genres form part of the core content of the education. This creates implicit spaces for teaching and learning in the English subject to leverage and contribute to developing underlying functional linguistic proficiency (see Cummins, 2000, 2007).

Primary Teacher Trainees’ Intercultural Education The Italian case

This study focuses on the importance of strengthening intercultural awareness among future Primary School teachers. Intercultural communicative competence plays a fundamental role in developing an honest and productive dialogue among people, whatever their origin, language or cultural heritage, and prospective teachers will be responsible for training the ‘good interculturalists’ of tomorrow. A survey was conducted among students attending a degree course for Primary Education Teachers to highlight what knowledge, practices and skills they have acquired regarding intercultural competence and whether they are able to deal with and successfully apply the notions of plurilingual and intercultural competence to their teaching practices.

Collaborative Online Learning: Plurilingual and Pluricultural Development

Background. The growing importance of international cooperation among universities have increased the number of joint training projects. Common Bologna principles followed by Russian and Spanish tertiary institutions helped perform a pilot study focused on telecollaboration and plurilingual and pluricultural competence implementation. The project aimed at forming plurilingual and pluricultural competence and communicative competence among students studying either English or Spanish or both through the integration of digital technologies into the learning process.Methods. This 7-month study took place in Moscow (Russian Federation) and Valencia (Spain) from November 2019 to June 2020. Participants were university students aged 20–23 from Teaching Training Faculties from Lomonosov Moscow State University and CEU Cardenal Herrera University. The undergraduates who volunteered to participate in the focus group took part in five telecollaboration sessions (March-May 2020). The participants were divided into two mixed (50% Russian and 50% Spanish learners) subgroups and discussed suggested topics during online studentled bilingual sessions. After each online interaction, researchers collected their opinions through questionnaires and discussion with a lecturer.Outcomes. All participants announced that the study gave them a chance to improve their language abilities, update their vocabulary and enhance their intercultural experience. None of the partakers reported having experienced any difficulty doing the project and only regretted that interaction time was too short. Additionally, lecturers were able to test new curricula implementation and assessment procedures.Conclusions. The pilot study was feasible to deliver and there was a clear, satisfactory result with the focus groups participants and teaching staff.

Curriculare Mehrsprachigkeit am Beispiel des Deutschen in Estland

Curricular Multilingualism using the Example of German in Estonia. In Estonia, as everywhere in Europe, multilingualism and plurilingual competence are widely discussed topics. The present article looks at curricular multilingualism in Estonia and highlights the effect of political changes on language curricula at school and on learning multiple languages. The article shows how German as the first foreign language can contribute to plurilingualism.

A Study on Communication Breakdowns between Native and Non-native Speakers in English Speaking Classes

English majored students have a positive influence on intercultural awareness in learning a foreign language. In their classes, they are often asked to discuss some academic matters in British cultural beliefs. Although they have a high level of proficiency in English communication, there often encountered misunderstandings between them when they interpret things or present academic matters. As a result, students cannot achieve plurilingual and pluricultural competence in the course. This paper was conducted to investigate communication problems between Vietnamese learners of English and Native teachers at HUFI. The data were collected from 28 participants who are third-year students and four different lecturers from different countries. The findings revealed that sources were mainly clustered for the following reasons: perceptual and language differences, information overload, inattention time pressures, distraction/noise emotions, complexity in organizational structure, and poor retention. The perceptual and language differences, information overload, and emotions were mainly responsible for the quality of communication. This paper can help students engage in awareness-raising activities that promote understanding in some contacts and discussions.

Plurilingual and pluricultural as the new normal: an examination of language use and identity in the multilingual city of Montreal

ABSTRACT As plurilingual/multilingual research advances, factors that contribute to or hinder individual’s flexible language use are still underexplored. Questions such as Why do some people identify as plurilingual and pluricultural while others do not? and What factors contribute to high levels of plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC)? remain unknown. This article presents results of a mixed methods study with 250 plurilingual participants in the multilingual city of Montreal, Canada. Data was collected through a demographic questionnaire, the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Identity Questionnaire (PPIQ) and the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence (PPC) scale. Results show that a vast majority of participants identified as plurilingual and pluricultural, and seven reasons for shaping this identity were found: rich repertoire, lived experiences, awareness of differences and similarities, transculturalism, adaptation and integration, translanguaging, and openness. Moreover, there was a significant difference in PPC scores between Canadian-born participants and participants born outside of Canada, suggesting that speakers of minority languages in Canada have lower PPC scores compared to speakers of Canada’s official languages. These results are significant as they enhance our understanding of language use and identity, suggesting that plurilingualism and pluriculturalism can be the new norm in multilingual contexts but minority languages need further recognition.

Launching a solidarity campaign: Technology-enhanced project-based language learning to promote entrepreneurial education and social awareness

To promote social consciousness and a sense of responsibility, educational proposals organised around the principles of technology-enhanced project-based language learning (Dooly & Sadler,2016) should engage students in a process of reflecting upon and responding to crucial social issues. Thus, in this paper we will present a project carried out by two groups of primary students who launched a solidarity campaign to collect money for four Syrian children living in a refugee camp in Greece. The project was implemented in a cross-disciplinary Arts and Crafts class taught through English and resulted in significant outputs in English (those addressed to the Syrian children) and in Catalan (those targeted at the local community). First, we outline the student-led project and then we analyse some fragments of student plurilingual practices during the project development that demonstrate their learning gains. Our findings reveal that our meaningful contextualised cross-disciplinary project favoured the natural integration of multiple skills, competences, and field knowledge form various disciplines while promoting a sense of social consciousness and empathy. First, it enabled children to put their plurilingual competence into play and take decisions regarding language choices to meet particular communicative objectives. Second, it contributed to the acquisition of 21st century knowledge, competence, and skills, while helping the learners gain social values. Third, it engaged learners in processes of problem solving, decision making and creative thinking that lead to the development of entrepreneurial competencies. To conclude we argue that when young learners are given responsibilities and opportunities to take up socially relevant challenges learning becomes meaningful for them and those around them.

LANGUAGE PRACTICE AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLURILINGUAL COMPETENCE IN THE CLASSROOM OF FFL

In recent years, the field of didactics has been marked by the development of consensus in the intercultural field, which is of concern to many specialists in linguistic and cultural diversity. However, the objectives of the Council of Europe’s guidelines are the development of plurilingual and pluricultural competence, which is essential for teaching and learning languages. Thus, our reflection is part of a research framework that focuses on language practices as important teaching tools for the learning of a new foreign language allowing learners to broaden linguistic and cultural knowledge in situation of authentic communication. Emphasis is placed on developing plurilingual competence for an adult audience using the linguistic and cultural prerequisites of the first foreign language, how participants react in a socio-cultural context with the activation of languages other than English and mother tongue during verbal interaction. It is obvious that social representations remain anchored in the conversational exchange between subjects emphasizing this self-image, and a recognition of the other that reflects symbolic traits by appealing to culturally associated knowledge abroad. Thus, the reinvestment of knowledge underlines this capacity which is useful in a varied communication situation for the awareness of the assets of other linguistic repertoires and the tolerance of others in the improvement of the communicative competence of the learner. Our study focuses on an interactive analysis that involves taking into account the language repertoire of the participant when confronting cultural values of another language in an institutional setting

French-Medium Instruction in Anglophone Canadian Higher Education: The Plurilingual Complexity of Students and Their Instructors

In this article, we analyze the plurilingualism of instructors and their students in a program taught through the medium of French at a multilingual, Anglophone university in Western Canada. We employ the lenses of plurilingualism and plurilingual competence in the analysis of data from a one-year qualitative study of plurilingualism across the disciplines at the university. We analyze interview data and students’ writing samples, focusing on how French and other languages are used by instructors and students in classes, and on the professional dilemma that instructors face in such courses: are they disciplinary experts and/or French immersion teachers? In our discussion, we suggest that instructors’ and students’ classroom practices are the result of several factors, including institutional discourses around plurilingualism and the French language, personal beliefs and ideologies, experiences of mobility from France and Quebec to British Columbia (instructors), and normative practices previously experienced in French immersion schools (students).

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.

Valutare per includere Il valore dei repertori linguistici plurali

This contribution illustrates a proposal for an inclusive plurilingual assessment, analysing the construct of plurilingual competence and the concept of intercomprehension between Romance languages. It also presents data from the first examination sessions of an innovative plurilingual test, developed within the EVAL-IC Erasmus+ project to assess intercomprehension competence among the five Romance languages of the project (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French and Romanian). It focuses on the written receptive dimension of intercomprehension, proving that a single test can highlight the value of the pluralistic repertoire of individuals.

Analysis of Statistical Methods on Plurilinguistic Quantitative Data

This multidisciplinary study deals with a population cluster of migrant multilinguals as a complex phenomenon of Social Physics with the help of the mathematical-statistical tools. It enlightens two statistical methods used to analyse the quantitative data on the plurilingual competence of the university students: the Rasch analysis and the T-test. These methods are able to give a more profound picture of the individual migrants’ plurilingual ability in terms of migration as a sociophysical phenomenon. We consider the strengths that each method has as the physical values in order to understand the linguistic behavior of migrant flow as a complex matter and each migrant student as a part of this flow. Our multidisciplinary study empirically investigates whether the positive impact of the statistical methods is relevant by using recent dataset on the example of the multilinguals’ social cluster. The main conclusion of the study shows the positive impact of the Rasch model in measurement of complex sociophysical matters with respect to the ability of a migrant social cluster to the plurilingualism, and results in the statement that this tool is capable to decipher the empirical data in a qualitative manner, in particular, for its application to the group educational trajectories. However, T-test showed the statistical insignificance of the current data set if this data set is used to predict further development of plurilingual competence.

Intercomprensione e plurilinguismo: studenti universitari di lingue e di discipline non linguistiche a confronto

: La ricerca confronta la capacità di intercomprensione dello spagnolo fra due gruppi di italofoni nativi, studenti universitari di lingue straniere e studenti universitari di discipline non linguistiche, prevalentemente di ingegneria, per verificare se la competenza linguistica plurilingue e la competenza metalinguistica più matura degli studenti di lingue determinino un vantaggio nella comprensione di un testo scritto in una lingua affine non conosciuta. Le analisi evidenziano analogie piuttosto che differenze fra i due gruppi sia sul piano della comprensione del contenuto, misurata in termini di comprensione globale, analitica e inferenziale, sia delle strategie di comprensione adottate. Il vantaggio degli studenti di lingue emerge solo nella rapidità di trasposizione del testo spagnolo in italiano. I risultati sottolineano così come l’intercomprensione fra lingue affini sia un fenomeno altamente spontaneo e incoraggiano ad impiegarla come risorsa efficace per incrementare la motivazione all’apprendimento di nuove lingue e promuovere il plurilinguismo.

Multilingual Awareness in L3 English and German Class in Primary School

The paper addresses the development of multilingual awareness of students in the fifth grade of primary school within the following language constellation L3 German after L2 English and L3 English after L2 German. The research focuses on two issues relating to the students’ ability to notice and verbalize cross-linguistic links in L3 – L2 – L1 systems. The research established that participants recognize, to a high degree, cross-lingual connections of the second foreign language (L3) with the first foreign language (L2) and the mother tongue (L1), and that the majority of students are able to verbalize them. What is more, a positive correlation has been established between noticing and explaining cross-lingual connections. The results show that 11-year-old students have the potential to develop elements of cross-linguistic and metalinguistic awareness based on which they can be exposed to systematic input directed towards developing multilingual awareness. Placing that finding in the context of previous research findings about the positive connectedness of the level of language awareness of multilinguals and their language competence, the paper discusses the need for introducing structured development of multilingual awareness into teaching third languages in primary school. Key words: cross-linguistic awareness; metalinguistic awareness; primary language education; plurilingual competence; third language acquisition

The Value of Plurilingualism or What Factors Affect the Development of Plurilingual Competences

Summary It is hardly possible to find a person who has never been faced with a challenge of learning another language. If asked, some would share their from-miserable-to-jubilant experiences of language learning at school, others would disclose the nail-biting moments of despair when a career chance just slipped from their hands due to the lack of the required language competences, whereas many would question if there is the best age to start learning a new language and if it should necessarily be one’s childhood. Having considered such popular queries as above, the present article has come to a conclusion that the early initial age of learning another language, while undeniably adds to the success of gaining good communicative competences and generates plenty of other benefits, does not deprive a person of a possibility to master a language in a mature age. Learning a language in adulthood, nevertheless, is more sensitive to the motivational and methodological decisions, but the benefits reaped from active plurilingual practices in the elderly age prove to be highly valuable. From a methodological perspective, it is a conceptual article inspired by a conference discussion1 and drawn on empirical evidence from previous relevant inquiries, longitudinal studies and international research projects. As such, the article is an attempt to pass the relay baton to further studies into the factors that have an impact on the successful development of plurilingual competences and add to the overall value of plurilingualism.

Pluralistic approaches for Japanese university students preparing to study abroad

AbstractIn today’s society, students are increasingly encountering various languages, different genres of language use, and new language norms in unexpected ways. Foreign language education at the university level should therefore equip students with the necessary metalinguistic competence to help them prepare for these linguistic and cultural differences. However, fostering such competence can be challenging when educational institutions enforce monolingual language education policies. This paper introduces a case study in which a pluralistic approach for learning about languages and cultures was implemented at a national university in Japan, in a course for students preparing to study abroad. After discussing the challenges in foreign language education at national universities in Japan, it describes the practice that was characterised by a specific pluralistic approach, Awakening to Languages. It then analyses what the students experienced and reported learning. The results suggest that even short-term use of the pluralistic approach helps improve metalinguistic competence. They also suggest that teachers should be more informed about educational measures that promote plurilingual competence, so that they can take more active roles in language education policy.RésuméDans la société actuelle, de plus en plus les élèves rencontrent diverses langues, différents genres d’utilisation des langues et de nouvelles normes linguistiques de manière inattendue. L’enseignement des langues étrangères au niveau universitaire devrait donc doter les étudiants des compétences métalinguistiques nécessaires pour les aider à se préparer à ces différences linguistiques et culturelles. Cependant, favoriser une telle compétence peut être difficile lorsque les établissements d’enseignement appliquent des politiques monolingues d’enseignement des langues.Cet article présente une étude de cas dans laquelle des approches plurielles des langues et des cultures a été mise en œuvre dans une université nationale au Japon, dans le cadre d’un cours destiné aux étudiants se préparant à étudier à l’étranger. Après avoir discuté des défis de l’enseignement des langues étrangères dans les universités nationales du Japon, il décrit la pratique caractérisée par une des approches plurielles, l’Éveil aux langues (Awakening to Languages). Il analyse ensuite ce que les élèves ont vécu et ce qu’ils ont cru avoir appris.Les résultats suggèrent que même l’utilisation à court terme de l’approche plurielle contribue à améliorer la compétence métalinguistique. Ils suggèrent également que les enseignants devraient être mieux informés sur les mesures éducatives qui favorisent la compétence plurilingue, afin qu’ils puissent jouer un rôle plus actif dans la politique d’enseignement des langues.