Role Of Multilingualism Research Articles

‘Global without Borders’: language policy and the concerted cultivation of multilingualism

ABSTRACT Shifts toward an interconnected global economy have raised concerns among middle- and upper-middle-class parents about the role of multilingualism and multiculturalism in child-rearing. Affluent parents have been previously recognized as ‘cultivating’ childhood experiences to promote competitiveness in the professional sphere (Lareau, A. (2003). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. University of California Press. ). The cultivation of multiple languages and a multicultural stance has, as the global economy has broadened, become part of ‘good parenting’ for many. Against this background, this qualitative study uses a language policy theory (Spolsky, B. (2007). Towards a theory of language policy. 22 (1), https://repository.upenn.edu/wpel/vol22/iss1/1) to examine beliefs, practices, and behaviors of parents of children enrolled in an early childhood program at a private international school in Hong Kong. The findings show how the focal parents created and enacted their own language policy based on their beliefs about languages, the practices they carried out, and their management of their children’s multilingualism, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study highlights contemporary tensions between ideologies and practices of language in present-day multilingual and multicultural school settings; in addition, it expands the existing research on language policy and parental engagement by providing a nuanced analysis of how social actors devise ways to manage and support the complex process of language learning, even under dire conditions.

Theorizing checkpoints of desire: multilingualism, sexuality and (in)securitization in Israel/Palestine

ABSTRACT In this article, we explore how people in conflict-affected societies use language to navigate the affective constraints that political conflicts impose. Specifically, we consider the role of multilingualism in enabling sexual and romantic intimacy between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis in Israel/Palestine. Our data are drawn from a close examination of the speech of Fadi Daeem, one of the protagonists in the 2015 documentary Oriented. Building on studies of (in)securitization and everyday bordering, we show how the ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Palestine serves to instantiate a regime of affective checkpoints, a space in which sexual and romantic relations between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians are discursively blocked. We describe how Fadi and his friends use strategic instances of code-switching between Arabic, Hebrew, and English to navigate this ideologically fraught terrain. Our primary goal is to demonstrate how multilingualism can be employed as a resource for managing affect and desire in a conflict-ridden context like Israel/Palestine. In doing so, we further highlight how the intimate domain of romantic desire is inevitably situated within a broader matrix of power and constraint.

From Testing to Teaching: Equity for Multilingual Learners in International Schools

Background/Context: The landscape of English-medium independent schools today is increasingly multilingual, challenging traditional monolingual norms of English testing and teaching. Multilingual learners—students who are able to navigate school in more than one language—are more vulnerable to the negative impacts of standardized tests in English because in many schools, these assessments are used solely to determine students’ proficiency for placement, labeling, or tracking purposes. International schools provide a useful context in which to investigate the intersection of language and equity. As independent institutions situated in complex transnational and postcolonial linguistic ecosystems, international schools determine their own local policies and programs for English language assessment and support. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This article is about the relationship between testing and teaching, and how educators describe this relationship within a particular network of international schools. Examining the relationship between English language assessment and instruction for multilingual learners helps to describe pathways toward more inclusive schools. Inquiring into how schools can build on the assets of multilingual learners requires rethinking the monolingual norm of English as an exclusive path for learning and a marker of privilege. Additionally, studying a global network of schools illustrates how resources that were developed in the United States can be used more globally: at the classroom level, within a whole-school context, and across a transnational educational consortium. Research Design: I use a mixed-methods analysis to investigate how educators describe programs that serve multilingual learners. I analyze school-based narratives written by educators across a global consortium of 500 international schools to inquire into the relationship between testing and teaching. Findings/Results: Within this particular global network, I found that educators describe links between English language assessments and other program components: an asset-based approach, professional learning, and school-wide systems to serve multilingual learners. I explain how a systemic approach to connecting assessments and instruction can contribute to more equitable schools for multilingual learners. Additionally, by comparing schools that recently joined the network and schools that had been members for three or more years, I identified a developmental trajectory, moving from a primary focus on English language assessments to increased collaborative practices for serving a multilingual school community. Conclusions/Recommendations: This initial research has important implications for independent schools and educators of multilingual learners. Understanding how the global and the local integrate illustrates how schools can adapt rather than adopt new assessments and instructional resources: both changing and being changed by new tools. By describing the impact of an English language assessment tool and an associated community of practice on school-wide systems to better serve multilingual learners, this study has the potential to inform future school improvement efforts. Although critical questions remain about the role of multilingualism in independent schools, this study provides a lens through which to understand the movement of ideas and practices across diverse spaces.

Role of multilingualism in the construction of social identity in a high social class family

This article explores the language ideologies and language practices of a multilingual, high socioeconomic status family, resident in the United Kingdom, from a critical sociolinguistic perspective (Heller, Pietikäinen and Pujolar, 2018). Drawn from a larger, longitudinal, multi-sited ethnographic study, it focuses on a predominantly Russian/British family of high socioeconomic status. The study concentrates on their daily rituals. Socialization moments are revealed, and the mechanisms and underpinning ideologies are analysed, drawing upon the approach of Goffman (1956). It explores how their language ideologies and practices may be deemed constitutive of a neoliberal self (Urciuoli, 2008), and how they create and present a cosmopolitan class identity. It makes a methodological contribution by demonstrating how ethnographic participant observation is valuable in FLP research. Such an approach enables an understanding of which ideologies are actually enacted through which practices in the face of acceptance, resistance or conflicting ideologies from other family members, and the other constraints of daily life.

“Rosetta Stone”: One or More? Examples of Multilingualism Texts and the Deciphering of Ancient Scripts

The decipherment of ancient languages and scripts was a challenging mission for linguists and philologists. There are successful and unsuccessful attempts to decipher ancient and famous languages, of which is the Egyptian hieroglyphs. In 1822, Champollion announced in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres his innovative methodology to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs when he could read the three scripts of the Rosetta Stone: Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek. Champollion’s theory is based on finding a multi-script or multi-script text that is used as an aiding tool to read and decipher the required scripts. Thus, this paper sheds fresh light on the role of multilingualism in decoding ancient scripts. It is worth mentioning that the “Rosetta Stone” became an equivalent term of an assistance tool to crack ancient languages and scripts, giving examples of famous texts such as the Behistun Inscription and the manuscript copy of Landa alphabet.

Role of Multilingualism in developing spirit of tolerance and harmony

In the interconnected and globalized world, multilingualism has a great role to play in creating a peaceful global society based on mutual understanding, solidarity, tolerance, affection and compassion. We know that the world has witnessed two World Wars, and continues to witness international conflicts, regional disputes, local unrests and sectarian clashes. Have we contemplated why all these happen, here and there, now and then? If we ponder upon, we will find that most of these conflicts and disputes occur due to linguistic, ethnic, religious, ideological or economic differences. And the reason behind it is that everyone refuses to recognize the other, his language, race, religion, and ideology. On the other hand everyone – individual or community or state - wants to achieve his own goals and objectives at the expense of the other. This is where clashes and disputes emanate from. This is what called "unilateral theory" where one party does not recognize or respect the other leading to the marginalization of the weaker by the stronger, which further leads to sowing the seeds of hatred and hostility, clash and conflict. So, to my belief, the recognition of pluralism - linguistic, cultural, religious, ethnic and ideological - can prove to be the only solution to many conflicts and disputes. Hence, this paper will focus on why we should encourage and promote multilingualism and how it develops the spirit of tolerance and understanding in the multilingual personalities.

Meertalig perspectief voor de Nederlandse taalbeheersing

In this special ‘Perspective’ issue, I would like to elaborate the consequences of my intercultural vision for the disciplines involved with the development of the domain of intercultural communication, especially the discipline of ‘Taalbeheersing’ as a subdiscipline of Dutch Studies and within the communication sciences – and to initiate a discussion about it. On the one hand, I would like to start the discussion on the role of multilingualism in ‘Taalbeheersing’– a discipline that, in my opinion, is still too focused on Dutch alone; and on the other hand, to advocate for the role of ‘Taalbeheersers’ and communication scientists in order to support the university degree programmes in modern foreign languages because of the declining interest of students.

“Accept All Pupils as they are. Diversity!” – Pre-Service Primary Teachers’ Views, Experiences, Knowledge, and Skills of Multilingualism in Education

Summary Schools across Europe are experiencing a growing number of multilingual pupils; however, teachers claim to be generally underprepared for dealing with this ever-increasing linguistic and cultural diversity. Initial teacher education often pays insufficient attention to multilingualism, thus there is a call for research on what pre-service teachers learn about the topic during training. Against this background, this small-scale exploratory study sets out to explore pre-service primary teachers’ (a) views of multilingualism in education in general, (b) experiences of multilingualism in education as trainee teachers, and (c) self-perceived knowledge and skills acquired and developed during training, in the context of the Netherlands. Based on 195 survey responses, descriptive statistical analyses indicate that the sampled pre-service primary teachers have slightly positive views of multilingualism in education, specifically regarding their opinions on the role of multilingualism in education, focusing on school and home languages, and their tolerance of multilingualism in the classroom and at school. A qualitative content analysis reveals that several pre-service primary teachers have had general experiences of teaching pupils with migrant backgrounds, such as in transition classes (Dutch: schakelklassen), and of teaching pupils who communicate with each other only in their home languages. Challenges in teaching multilingual pupils are also reported, such as the implications of being unable to understand pupils’ home languages. Regarding their self-perceived knowledge and skills, the content analysis shows that some pre-service primary teachers in this study are aware of how to encourage collaboration between multilingual pupils to involve their languages in their learning, and have knowledge of language comparison and awareness approaches that can be implemented in multilingual classrooms. A concerning finding, however, is that according to pre-service primary teachers’ self-reported communication skills for multilingual pupils, there is a tendency to use simplified language, which may have a negative impact on pupils’ language development. These findings highlight the need for further research that employs a mixed-methods longitudinal approach to gain insights into the depth of knowledge and skills acquired during training and how views of multilingualism in education influence classroom practices. This study further reveals shortcomings of primary teacher education in the Netherlands regarding the topic of multilingualism, which are followed up by preliminary recommendations for improving training programmes; for instance, training institutions should aim to collaborate with more multilingual schools where pre-service teachers can gain first-hand practical experience.

Language-based approach in achieving Sustainable Development Goals: A qualitative meta-analysis

Language-based approach in achieving Sustainable Development Goals: A qualitative meta-analysis

Teachers negotiating multilingualism in the EFL classroom

AbstractThis article sets out to explore English as foreign language (EFL) teachers’ views of teaching migrant pupils with multilingual backgrounds in a regular classroom. Previous studies on multilingual pupils have mostly concentrated on second language learning contexts or on the role of pupils’ L1. In an increasingly multilingual world and due to growing migration, this study concentrates on EFL. The data were interviews with English teachers (n=7), who reflected on their experiences with migrant pupils in the foreign language classroom. The data were analysed through qualitative content analysis. The participants had not really pondered on the role of multilingualism in the EFL classroom and some underlying preconceptions could be detected. Teachers’ perception of the multilingual pupil was controversial in that they did not want to draw attention to the linguistic background of the pupil but, on the other hand, they had noticed that multilingual learners had greater language awareness than their mainstream peers. Although not fully aware of the potential of multilingualism and the pupils’ linguistic resources in EFL teaching, the teachers had used several ways of supporting their multilingual learners, reflecting the principles of translanguaging.

Multilingualism for Global Solutions and a Better World

This article examines the significance of multilingualism in finding global solutions and creating a better world. Language learning and multilingualism in the individual are discussed. The role of multilingualism in effectively addressing complex global issues is described. The nature of language skills and cultural knowledge in the individual and within international organizations is analyzed in terms of both policy structure and crisis communication, including the COVID-19 global pandemic, along with a brief overview of multilingualism in international business organizations. The US foreign language deficit is briefly discussed. Perspectives on foreign language education for a better world are provided, as are possibilities for increasing multilingualism for a better world.

A Brief Survey on the Sociolinguistic Pattern of Khelma (Sakachep) in Relation to the Mediating Role of Multilingualism among the Native Speakers

Languages play a vital role in the formation of identity of a speech community with its unique features. The degree of usage of a language in various domains and the positive attitudes of the native speakers towards the language help to strengthen up and maintain the status, power and solidarity of the speech community. Very often the native speakers of the smaller known languages remain unaware of the risk of losing their language or about the process of language shifting. Today in the world of science and technology each and every speech community is practising multilingualism either directly or indirectly according to the demands of the basic needs in their daily lives. This paper is a result of an attempt to present a sociolinguistic survey on the language use, attitude and identity of native speakers of Khelma (Sakachep) in the district of Dima Hasao, Assam in North-East India towards their mother tongue as well as towards other languages spoken and used in different domains in the Khelma community according to their needs. The research work is carried out under CFEL, Tezpur University, Assam. Native speakers based on different age groups, gender, educational qualifications, occupational patterns, family types and as rural and urban dwellers were interviewed. The methods used for interview were personal interviews, group discussions, telephonic conversations and silent observations. The participants were asked a series of questions concerning their language, culture, traditions and also their feelings regarding other languages used in and around them.

The Poetics of Nahḍah Multilingualism: Recovering the Lost Russian Poetry of Mikhail Naimy

Abstract Drawing on archival research, this article introduces several Russian poems by the Arabic mahjar poet and writer Mikhail Naimy (Mīkhāʿīl Nu’aymah) (1889-1988) for the first time to scholarship. By examining the influence of Russian literature on Naimy’s literary output, we shed light on the role of multilingualism in generating literary identities and in shaping literary form. Naimy’s Russian poetry, we argue, furthers our understanding of the nahḍah as a multilingual movement that synthesized influences from many different languages. We also show how this multilingual orientation served as a bridge between the nahḍah and mahjar literature, by helping Arab writers craft a poetics of Arabic modernism in the diaspora. Alongside documenting an important archival discovery, this research contributes to our understanding of the temporality of Arabic modernism while illuminating its geographically and linguistically diverse substance.

The practice of assessing Norwegian and English language proficiency in multilingual elementary school classrooms in Norway

ABSTRACT The increasing representation of young language-minority students in school settings around the world and recent insights into multilingualism as apotential reggsource for language learning and development call for acritical study of theoretical and practical implications for the field of language teaching and assessment. Relatively little attention has been devoted to exploring the assessment of very young students’ language proficiency in the context of multilingualism. The current study explores the role of multilingualism in language assessment in the Norwegian school context Table 1. The study is based on teachers’ perceptions and practices as regards the way centrally and locally mandated language assessment is carried out in EFL and Norwegian (language arts) in amultilingual elementary school in Norway. The results of the study identify factors that impact on the enactment of language assessment at the beginner level and the assumptions underlying these practices. The paper contributes to our understanding of issues of validity and social consequences in connection with assessment in amultilingual education environment.

Online Teacher Inquiry as a Professional Learning Model for Multilingual Early Childhood Educators

Online learning presents the possibility to connect and sustain communities of multilingual early childhood educators. This study reports on the effectiveness of an online teacher inquiry model to support early childhood educators’ learning on the role of multilingualism in teaching. The Community of Inquiry framework is used to evaluate the efficacy of a teacher inquiry program that was offered through a synchronous, online platform. Results show that online teacher inquiry models can be used to provide accessible and effective spaces for professional learning and growth, and can center multilingual educators’ ways of knowing and being about language, culture, and learning.

The role of multilingualism in an academic milieu at a selected South African university

This article aims to establish the significance of the role played by multilingualism among students involved in discussing academic work with special reference to a selected South African university, namely the University of Venda. Multilingualism refers to the ability of an individual to speak many languages. The study is qualitative in nature and was conducted in the natural setting of the participants. Purposive sampling was used to select two groups consisting of ten students each. Data was collected through use of both non-participant observation and interview techniques. Three discussion sessions with the two selected groups were audio-taped. The audio-taped data was transcribed word for word to create texts for analysis. Although there is evidence to support the view that English is the dominant language used by students in academic discourse, African languages are also used, and research results show that multilingualism plays a prominent role. The study is important to people interested in multilingualism, especially in the promotion of the previously marginalised African languages.

Multilingualism in the Croatian lands under the sceptre of the Habsburgs in the eighteenth century

The paper examines the role of multilingualism in Croatian lands under the Habsburg rule during the 18th century. The focus of the research is set on Croatian-Slavonian nobility and other local elites (clergy, officers, physicians, engineers, etc.) as part of the society susceptible to the influence of the educational norms and linguistic policies set by the Habsburg authorities. It provides an insight into the language skills of the 18th-century Croatian society, the impact of educational policy on the language learning and the importance of language choices for social or political representation. It is argued that the culture of the educated, mostly politically active part of the Croatian society remained intensely multilingual until deep into the 19th century due to the specificity of language practices, and that the educational policy of the Court in Vienna contributed more to the affirmation of the national language than did the activity of the Croatian elites. The research is based on archival sources kept in Croatian, Hungarian and Austrian state archives and selected contemporary records (correspondence, memoirs, and publications).

European experience of multilingualism and the development of multilingual education in Kazakhstan

This literature review article is dedicated to the issues and notion of multilingualism, particularly in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is a multiethnic country where more than 130 different ethnic groups reside. At present, a fast multilingual advancement is taking place in Kazakhstan. The study explores the origins and definitions of multilingualism, the role of multilingualism in the development of the Kazakhstani education system, and the models of multilingual education in Kazakhstan. Different approaches and definitions in terms of multilingualism and the performance and implementation of multilingual education are presented. The development of multilingual education in the Kazakhstani educational system plays a pivotal role and it is rapidly developing. The implementation of multilingual education in this country aims at integrating and internationalization of Kazakhstan to the world’s educational and scientific societies. Multilingualism is also widespread in some of the European countries. Several approaches related to the multilingualism and multilingual education are indicated in this article. This paper introduces the challenges and suggestions of diverse alternatives of multilingual education in Kazakhstani higher education institutions.

Multilingual Diversity in the Field of Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism: A Brief Review and Discussion of Future Directions

This review addresses multilingual diversity within the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as it relates to treatment for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The United States was founded as a diverse, multicultural "melting pot" and migration patterns continue to increase cultural and linguistic diversity, making it increasingly important to address these issues within the field of ABA. The role of multilingualism in ABA treatment for autism has scarcely been addressed in practice or in research and yet these factors likely impact the ABA treatment process significantly. The purpose of this review is to discuss how multilingualism might be better addressed within the field of ABA. We briefly review the very small amount of existing research on multilingual approaches when using ABA and discuss directions for future research. In addition, we discuss potential future directions for the field, in terms of increasing the number of international students in graduate programs, enhancing diversity curricula within graduate programs and continuing education, and efforts by professional organizations to address diversity.

Zur Rolle der Zweisprachigkeit in ausgewählten Textsorten

The paper deals with the role of multilingualism in selected text types. The reflections on forms of multilingualism and occasions for using multiple languages in a text lead to the creation of a typologythat distinguishes between obligatory and optional use of multiple languages in text types. The obligatory multilingualism is constitutive in dictionaries, textbooks and teaching materials. Optional multilingualism, which was examined using the example of German advertising texts and grave inscriptions from Germany and Denmark, reinforces the main function of the text.