The consolidation of the European Union and the social necessity to meet the mobility demands of globalization, particularly in the labour market and the academic education, has prompted to the promotion of plurilingualism at all levels. The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) published by the Council of Europe (CoE) in 2001 has been a key instrument in this change of paradigm. The CEFR has consolidated the standarization of levels of language proficiency and has had an undeniable impact on the teaching-learning processes of foreing language.
The appreciation of the rich heritage of diverse languages and cultures is an essential objective of the CoE (2001, p.2). Hence, it recommends the use of the CEFR as a tool for the effective implementation of plurilingual education (p. 27). Besides making a distinction between the concepts of multilingualism and plurilingualism, the CEFR encourages people not to keep languages in isolation, but instead treat them as cultural elements that interrelate and interact (CoE, 2001, p. 4) In 2020, the promotion of a quality plurilingual education through the development of the plurilingual and pluricultural competences was restated and reaffirmed (p. 11).
Bearing in mind that teachers are key agents in the promotion of plurilingualism among students in the education centres, this study intends to make a comparative analyse of the perceptions of secondary language teachers related to plurilingualism and their own teaching practice in two close but different scenarios: the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain) where there are two co-official national languages (Galician and Spanish) and in the north of Portugal with only one national language (Portuguese). Despite their geographical proximity, the countries selected also present differences in terms of the general level of proficiency in a foreign language. For instance, the EFL English Proficiency Index (EF Education First, 2020) ranks global countries according to their levels of proficiency in English. Spain has been ranked 34th with an average level of proficiency whereas Portugal is the 7th position with a top level of proficiency.
For the purpose of this study, language teachers at secondary schools in Galicia and Portugal have answered a survey on their views on plurilingualism and their teaching practices related to it. Preliminary results show positive conceptualizations on plurilingualism and the need of fostering it in the classroom. Translanguaging seems to be the most common practice related to plurilingualism in both countries. Nevertheless, claims about the scarcity of plurilingual projects between different departments have been made, together with curricular and time constraints as the main obstacles for the implementation and development of a quality plurilingual education.
References
Concil of Europe (2001), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, available at www.coe.int/lang-cefr.
Council of Europe (2020), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment – Companion volume, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, available at www.coe.int/lang-cefr.
EF Education First (2020). EF EPI. Índice EF General de Nivel de Inglés. Una clasificación de 100 países y regiones en función de su nivel de inglés. https://www.ef.com.es/epi/
