Plurilingual Competence Research Articles

Pidgin in Creative Works in English in Cameroon

Summary This study, which deals with code-switching and language choice in multilingual contexts, describes the use of Pidgin in creative works in English in Cameroon, with the focus on the forms that this language takes in the works, the types of characters who are made to speak this language, and the functions that this language plays in these works. The data comprise three plays and two novels, all published between 2000 and 2006 by experienced writers who have a good command of English and yet make their characters speak in Pidgin. The analysis shows that Pidgin in the corpus takes the form of individual lexemes like salaka (libation, sacrifice) and relatively short utterances like This sun fit kill man (This sun is so hot that it can kill someone.). The characters who speak Pidgin in these literary works are generally low-ranking and rural people, illiterates and other people who are hardly looked up to in the Cameroonian society. Finally, Pidgin helps writers to realise some stylistic effects such as variations on the scale of formality, with English being used when addressing a superior person and Pidgin when addressing an inferior person. Most importantly, creative writers reproduce in their works what is observed in the Cameroonian society and this can be regarded as a formal way of enhancing their readers’ plurilingual competence.

Plurilingualism amid the panoply of lingualisms: addressing critiques and misconceptions in education

ABSTRACTToday, scholars and students face an array of lingualisms: bilingualism, multilingualism, polylingualism, metrolingualism plurilingualism, codeswitching, codemeshing, and translanguaging, among others. Plurilingualism can be understood as the study of individuals’ repertoires and agency in several languages, in different contexts, in which the individual is the locus and actor of contact; accordingly, a person’s languages and cultures interrelate and change over time, depending on individual biographies, social trajectories, and life paths. The term ‘plurilingual competence’ adds emphasis on learners’ agency, and constraints and opportunities in educational contexts. We discuss where and how plurilingualism fits among the other lingualisms, its similarities and differences, with an example of plurilingual pedagogy and practice from a university in Vancouver, Canada. In doing so, we challenge three common critiques of/misconceptions about plurilingualism: (i) that it is based on an invalid static binary between the social and the individual, (ii) that it is over-agentive, and (iii) that it can serve to reinforce social inequities within a neoliberal world order.

In This Issue

In This Issue

Using English as a gateway to Romance language acquisition

The paper focuses on Romance language acquisition through English acquired as the first foreign language. A conscious approach to relations between languages enables learners, who acquired certain knowledge, attitudes and skills while learning one language, to learn other languages more easily. Research is based on contrastive analysis of two Romance languages – French and Spanish – and their relations to English. Learning those two Romance languages was carried out through the knowledge of some principles of how languages function and are related to each other. The analysis of vocabulary and grammar focuses on similarities between the three mentioned languages, emphasising the level of intensity in similarity on one hand, and possible problems related to spelling, pronunciation and meaning on the other hand. The research supports the idea of language plurality in education, and the necessity to help learners construct and continuously broaden and deepen their own plurilingual competence. Keywords: pluringuialism; multilingualism; FREPA; contrastive analysis;

Erasmus student mobility and the construction of European citizenship

The Erasmus student mobility programme allocates three explicit objectives to the experience of spending a few months studying in another European country: (1) to benefit students educationally, linguistically and culturally; (2) to promote co-operation between institutions and (3) to contribute to the development of a pool of well-qualified, open-minded and internationally experienced future professionals [European Commission. 1996. The Obstacles to Transnational Mobility. Green Paper. http://aei.pitt.edu/1226/1/education_mobility_obstacles_gp_COM_96_462.pdf (accessed April, 2015)]. The programme has also sometimes been referred to as one of the most powerful tools of European integration. However, little research has so far been undertaken on how it may alter students’ attitudes towards aspects of European identity and sense of European citizenship. Our study investigates the extent to which the Erasmus experience affects the sense of self as European citizens of a cohort of students from the University of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain). It also explores the students’ position towards the notion of European citizenship and how this relates to the development of their plurilingual competence. Two questionnaires, one before and one after the study-abroad experience, provided quantitative data while qualitative data were obtained through the analysis of discussion groups focusing on aspects of European vs. national identity and citizenship.

Examples of practice: an intercultural approach to translate Romanian children’s folklore into Spanish

Due to the great number of Romanian pupils in Spanish public school, the local administration organises extra-curricular Romanian courses in order to preserve the Romanian language and culture. This is a way to contribute to build and consolidate a bicultural and bilingual profile of the young people. Besides, it is also an opportunity to align with plurilingual and pluricultural competence established by The Common European Framework of References for Languages (2002). Based on the premise that “children's literature is an intercultural instrument”, I choose as corpus the Romanian children's folklore represented by games, formula-songs, recital-stories, household words, incantations, riddles and lullabies to translate into Spanish. After the translations, Romanian children had to find similarities and differences between the Romanian and Spanish children's songs, in order to augment the knowledge about both cultures.

Advertising as a Space of Plurilingual Interaction and Intercultural Learning

In this paper we examine the use of advertising in order to develop Spanish studentś plurilingual competence and linguistic attitudes associated to the use of languages in advertising. The point of departure is the analysis of two teaching-learning experiences with Spanish university students forwarded to practice plurilingual exposure through the intercomprehension approach to language learning (Hidalgo Downing & Vela Delfa, 2011). Through the analysis of the two experiences, we examine the degrees of lexical comprehension, the importance of paratext in textual schemata processings and the learners’ expression of values and attitudes associated to languages.

An Overview of Models of Bilingual Education

Bilingual education is considered to be an effective way of learning a new language and in many countries of the world, it represents an increasingly popular pedagogic approach. In Europe, bilingual education using predominantly the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) methodology has evolved as a response to the commonly recognized need for the development of plurilingual competence. In this article, we present forms of bilingual education that are recognized according to worldwide research as well as varying purposes behind using different languages as the medium of instruction in schools. We begin by outlining the emergence of bilingual education in general and by stating the different purposes that lead to the occurrence of various actual school systems of bilingual education. The paper focuses on a taxonomy of common patterns of bilingual education, based on worldwide research sources. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s1p186

Peculiarities of professional plurilingual competence of future international business activities managers

Peculiarities of professional plurilingual competence of future international business activities managers

Teacher identity construction and plurilingual competence: a longitudinal study about language teaching in multilingual contexts

This article is part of a thesis dissertation focused on cognition and belief systems about prior language learning experience, teacher education and classroom practice. This document examines teacher identity construction in relation to plurilingual competence. We want to study a dynamic identity, which is constructed in the here and now. We use the European Council contents for language teaching. The central purpose is analyzing belief systems in relation to the teaching of languages in plurilingual contexts. We focus our analysis on teacher understandings of their new social challenges and how they respond in and to these situations. The interactional data was gathered from five focus groups of ten teachers from different educational stages. Prior to this, we collected recurrent questions which had emerged in reflective narrative and individual interviews. Data was analysed using a qualitative approach. Activity theory is the conceptual framework to identify which tensions appear when we identify not only the theoretical discourse, but also the everyday practical classroom reality. For this reason, we distinguish between dilemmas, conflicts, critical conflicts and double binds. The impact of this proposal can be summarized in relation to the following results: urgent necessity for teacher training, sharing experiences to help developing professional identity and transferring positive experiences in schools.

Особливості оцінювання якості навчальних досягнень школярів у контексті багатомовної освіти у країнах Європи

The article deals with the features of assessment of European schoolchildren’ plurilingual competence. The author presents the concept of plurilingual competence and outlines the differences in the objects of assessment in foreign language learning and multilingual education. It is determined that the policy of language evaluation is the embodiment of language policy; it can be used as a tool of discrimination and therefore requires special attention. It was found that assessment of multilingual competence in Europe is connected with willingness to mobilize multilingual repertoire of personality for study and life in society. It is concluded that the formative assessment of plurilingual competence in schools of European countries is provided with the tools for its successful operation. The mandatory features of the evaluation procedure of academic achievements of students in the context of plurilingual education are shown, as well as presented characteristics of assessment in the context of immersive and receptive technologies.

Development of Plurilingual Competencies through Vocationally Oriented Language Learning in Sweden

Abstract The article tackles the problem of developing plurilingual competencies through vocationally oriented foreign language in Sweden. The author analyses the pedagogical conditions of realization of plurilingual education at upper-secondary schools, vocational and higher education establishments and the aspects of teacher education for this purpose. The vocational foreign language education in Sweden is determined by the country’s multilingual policy and English is given much priority in many societal domains including educational. English and other foreign languages are used as the medium of instruction while teaching the content of other subjects. At the higher educational level students are encouraged to write research papers in English. Participation of Sweden in numerous multilingual initiatives of the Council of Europe providing the opportunities for both teachers and learners of vocational and higher educational institutions with the opportunities of the cross-border cooperation in this sphere and international mobility. Still, there is a problem of teacher’s training for teaching foreign languages in professional spheres. Using skills as a framework of foreign languages for specific purposes teachers are provided with the necessary knowledge and tools to deal with their own students’ specializations.

Pluralistic approaches to languages in the curriculum: the case of French-speaking Switzerland, Spain and Austria

While the idea of plurilingual competence is widely established theoretically and promoted in European language policies, it is not implemented in educational practice, where separate plurilingualism is still dominant. The idea of languages as autonomous entities is e.g. reflected in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scales. The paper introduces to the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures (FREPA). Pluralistic approaches use teaching and learning activities involving several (i.e. more than one) varieties of language, e.g. the language(s) of schooling, foreign languages, regional, minority and migration languages. FREPA thereby offers tools to put the theoretical insights and language policies into practice. The article illustrates how pluralistic approaches, in recent years, have been used in the process of large-scale national and regional curriculum renewals in Austria, French-speaking Switzerland and Spain. By promoting plurilingual education on the macro-level and including languages that are still neglected in most European curricula, these countries make a key contribution to diminishing discrepancy between theory and practice. The three cases manifest the context specificity of language-planning decisions and support supra-level comparisons by defining the specific aims and contents of plurilingual education. Furthermore, the curricular implementations offer the possibility to discuss the implementation in actual classroom practice.

Plurilinguismo e multilinguismo in Europa per una Educazione plurilingue e interculturale

This article provides a general outline of the language policy followed by European organizations in order to propose a definition of terms such as plurilingualism , multilingualism , bilingualism and consideration of multilingualism peculiarities and benefits either for the single person or communities. The literature has considered multilingualism linked to cognitive, psychological, cultural, educational, social and economic benefits. It is also described in terms of plurilingual and intercultural competence in the Common European Framework, which is the most important European guideline on learning and teaching languages. Plurilingual and intercultural competence as a plural repertoire of language and cultural transversal knowledge, competences and resources, is the aim of plurilingual and intercultural education : focus is on personal development, learners’ needs, linguistic and intercultural abilities in order to develop not a “native speaker” but an “intercultural speaker”.

Translating the CercleS European Language Portfolio into Portuguese for plurilingual development in a Community of Practice

In this paper plurilingual and autonomy building activities are described with reference to the CercleS European Language Portfolio and some parts of the original Council of Europe Language Portfolio. For this extracurricular plurilingual learning project in Portugal, eight secondyear female students studying for a degree in Executive Secretarial Studies voluntarily formed a Community of Practice by taking part in some introductory workshops and regular meetings in order to gain familiarity with the official but userfriendly nature of the European learning tool. Their translation proposals in Portuguese covered two parts, one from each of the official organisations, and specifically: (i) the general introduction to the European Language Portfolio and (ii) the introduction to the language passport (CercleS 2002), accompanied by a written reflection on their individual development. Subsequent workshops focused alternately on ongoing expansion of the participants' language horizons and on specific Portuguese expressions for appropriateness of register, accessibility, syntactic and lexical tuning. The results are reported as an illustration of the importance of this kind of activity as a contribution towards the development of plurilingual competences, growing autonomy and selfconfidence, and using a complete language toolkit within a Community of Practice.

From multilingualism to plurilingualism: university students’ beliefs about language learning in a monolingual context

The study aims to highlight the representations that university students have about plurilingualism, in order to research how they can develop plurilingual competences in an essentially monolingual French academic setting. It is based on a survey of 684 students enrolled in two foreign language programmes across two year levels (first and fourth years) at the University of Nantes (France). The questionnaire we have designed includes 26 items which explicitly refer to, on the one hand, a plurilingual posture and, on the other hand, a monolingual posture. The path analysis shows that advanced students who learn several languages have a more plurilingual posture than beginners or those who learn fewer languages. Differences about the two investigated programmes are discussed.

Promoting the Plurilingual Awareness in Business Environment: Case of Rezekne Special Economic Zone

Nowadays, small and medium-sized companies (SME's) can receive the financial and informative support from different programs or trade promotion agencies for developing the export potential. However, the companies seldom are aware of the fact that the successful export also is closely related with the plurilingual competence of the employees who have to switch from one language to another very rapidly according to the demands of the global market. In order to increase the competitiveness of SME's in a global trading environment, on grounds of Rezekne Special Economic Zone several solutions are suggested: firstly, increasing the support of national, regional and local authorities to the companies’ efforts in developing the plurilingual business communication strategies and secondly, introducing the strategies into SME's.

De madres a hijas, de hijas a madres: el cambio en la transmisión intergeneracional de lenguas

The objective of this article is to investigate the dynamics of language transmission in families from Pakistan and Morocco, especially between mothers and their daughters who have been educated, totally or partially, in Catalonia. Its focus is to analyze the daughters’ ideas about their families and languages, and therefore, how they categorize their mothers and how their mothers categorize themselves. The contents of the conversations carried out at the school as well as outside, between girls and between girls and their mothers, will be analyzed. The results will be related to previous studies about language socialization, categorization and construction of identity. This research concentrates on these children who “say they are the teachers of their parents or brothers and sisters” (Unamuno & Nussbaum, 2006), with the objective of determining how this language transmission is produced and profile the plurilingual competence of these children.

2B or Not 2B Plurilingual? Navigating Languages Literacies, and Plurilingual Competence in Postsecondary Education in Canada

In this article, the researchers employ the framework of plurilingualism and plurilingual competence in a field that has traditionally been dominated by reified conceptualizations of multilingualism that view bi/multilingualism as balanced and complete competence in discrete codes. They present data from a qualitative, longitudinal study of the interplays between the social, cultural, and linguistic in the multiple languages and literacy practices of transnational students at a university in Vancouver, Canada. Their findings question the role of academic English as the sole conduit to success for participants in higher education. They suggest that this relates back to how plurilingualism is defined and integrates the key idea that learning skills, multilingual literacies, (inter)cultural experiences, and different forms of knowledge are transferable and thus constitute assets and tools for better learning (Castellotti & Moore, 2010; Coste, Moore, & Zarate, 1997). Participants revealed a considerable degree of fluidity in their languages and literacy practices as well as shifts in perceptions and practice that change according to context. They proved to be highly plurilingual, reflexively and knowledgeably (Giddens, 1984) moving from contexts in which they mixed different languages and scripts freely to contexts in which they adhered to more normative senses of discrete monolingual practices in English and community languages.

Plurilingualism and Curriculum Design: Toward a Synergic Vision

Contemporary globalized society is characterized by mobility and change, two phenomena that have a direct impact on the broad linguistic landscape. Language proficiency is no longer seen as a monolithic phenomenon that occurs independently of the linguistic repertoires and trajectories of learners and teachers, but rather shaped by uneven and ever‐changing competences, both linguistic and cultural. In the European context, research conducted over the past 20 years in multilingual realities of local communities and societies has brought to the forefront the notion ofplurilingualism, which is opening up new perspectives in language education. In North American academia, the paradigm shift from linguistic homogeneity and purism to heteroglossic and plurilingual competence in applied linguistics has been observed in the emergence of such concepts asdisinventing languages,translanguaging, andcode‐meshing. Starting from a historical perspective, this article examines the shared principles upon which such innovative understandings of linguistic competence are based. In particular, it investigates the specificity of plurilingualism as an individual characteristic clearly distinct from multilingualism in the light of different theoretical lenses. The author discusses the potential of such vision together with its implications. Finally, this article offers pedagogical implications for English language education in the North American context, and suggests ways to investigate the new active role that English language learners and teachers can adopt in shaping their process of learning English.