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Towards a Framework for Understanding Multilingualism and Dialogic Interaction in (Teacher) Education
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
Schools throughout the globe are experiencing a growing number of pupils with a linguistic and culturally diverse background, leading to the emergence of new pedagogical challenges. These have highlighted both newly qualified and experienced teachers' lack of knowledge and skills for dealing with this ever-increasing diversity (Robinson-Jones et al., 2022). Given this importance of minority- or migrant-induced multilingualism in schools as well as of dialogic interaction for pupils' language and content learning (Duarte 2018; Rojas-Drummond 2019; Yuzlu and Dikilitas 2021), it becomes imperative to gain deeper insights into the relation between these two dimensions in education an teachers' professional development. Rather than studying them separately, we propose the use of a heuristic model of multilingual classroom interaction in which both dimensions as well as both the teacher's and pupils' perspectives are considered.
The presentation will focus on data from 20 Dutch primary schools participating in an educational design research program aimed at stimulating the use of multiple languages through a holistic approach (Duarte & Günther-van der Meij, 2018) based on translanguaging-based pedagogies (García, 2009; Duarte, 2018) and dialogic interaction. A mixed-methods approach will be used to demonstrate how data on discourse practices in whole class interaction can be analysed and interpreted using a heuristic model. Our data suggest that the nature of classroom interaction (i.e. tending towards more mono- or dialogic interaction) might influence the use and function of other languages in the classroom in translanguaging informed settings. The proposed heuristic model allows us to gain a better understanding of the relationship between multilingual pedagogies practices and dialogic interaction. In the presentation, the implications of these findings for teachers' professional development will be discussed. Keywords: multilingual education; translanguaging; dialogic interaction; mixed-methods; whole class interaction
Sources:
Duarte, J. (2018). Translanguaging in the context of mainstream multilingual education. International Journal of Multilingualism, 17(2), 232–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2018.1512607
Duarte, J., & van der Meij, M. (2018). A holistic model for multilingualism in education. EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages, 5(2), 24-43. https://doi.org/10.21283/2376905X.9.153
García, O. (2009). Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective. Blackwell.
Robinson-Jones, C., Duarte, J., & Günther -van der Meij, M. (2022). "Accept all pupils as they are. Diversity!" – Pre-service primary teachers' views, experiences, knowledge, and skills of multilingualism in education. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Rojas-Drummond, S. (2019). A dialogic approach to understanding and promoting literacy practices in the primary classroom. In N. Mercer, R. Wegerif, & L. Major (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Research on Dialogic Education (1st ed., pp. 306–319). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429441677-26
Yuzlu, M. Y., & Dikilitas, K. (2021). Translanguaging in the development of EFL learners' foreign language skills in Turkish context. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2021.1892698
Presenters Joana Duarte Associate Professor, University Of Groningen
Centering Multilingual Learners and Countering Racism in Teacher Education
[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
This paper is based on the book More than "Just Good Teaching": Centering Multilingual Learners and Countering Racism, currently under review with Multilingual Matters. The project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, was designed in response to a 2015 teacher-education policy in the Canadian province of Ontario requiring all teacher candidates to learn about supporting "English language learners" in their pre-service programs. The study addressed the following research questions: How do teacher candidates make sense of new knowledge about supporting multilingual learners in relation to the racial and linguistic ordering in school that they experienced as students themselves and again now as novice teachers? What are the possibilities and limits of requiring teacher candidates to learn about linguistic diversity and supporting multilingual learners in pre-service programs? What are the possibilities and limits of new research on translanguaging in changing teacher candidates' thinking and practice about this racial and linguistic ordering of school?
Based on critical analysis of the racial and linguistic ordering of Ontario schools, this presentation examines how racism and linguicism collaborate to shape the conditions under which teacher candidates learn how to teach. Our goal here is not to identify which kinds of teacher-candidate learning and practice are "good" and which are "bad." Nor do we intend to portray the ideas and practices of participants in this study as fixed or static. Rather, our analysis traces dynamic shifts in thinking and practice as participants drew on their personal, professional and academic experiences to interpret what it means to work with multilingual learners in the classroom.
Our research is situated in a jurisdiction that since 2015 requires all teacher candidates to learn about linguistic diversity and to support "English language learners," and within a teacher-education program with explicit commitments in policy and in curriculum to challenging racism and other forms of oppression. Moreover, just over half of teacher candidates in the program studied here are themselves multilingual, while just under half identify as racialized. This constellation of policy, curricular, and demographic features helps explain the generally positive disposition the vast majority of teacher candidates in our study held towards multilingualism and supporting their future multilingual learners. However, this positive disposition was often disrupted by candidates' shifting ideas about multilingualism in the classroom and emergent teaching practices that continued to reproduce racialized hierarchies of languages.
We do not read these contradictions as individual teacher candidates having failed to learn the right things, or as individual teacher educators as having failed to teach the right things. Rather, we focus instead on shifts in participants' ideas and practice as they reflected on their own lived experiences with multilingualism and racism; engaged with formal curriculum and policy documents designed to support "English language learners"; interacted with real multilingual learners, whether in practicum placements or through video profiles called Me Maps, which were initiated through this project; and reflected on their practical experiences in Toronto-area schools. By tracing participant interactions with these people and resources, we reveal how candidates' thinking and practice changed with respect to "supporting English language learners." In many instances, these shifts provide compelling evidence of how teacher education can function as a form of white institutional listening (Daniels & Varghese, 2020), and how multilingual and racialized teacher candidates themselves learn how to function as white listening subjects (Flores & Rosa, 2015).
Despite the preponderance of this evidence, however, our primary investment in this research is in understanding how and under what conditions positive change is possible. The presentation concludes by identifying various practices and policies identified in our research as supporting the kind of changes we do need and how to realize them in teacher education.
Presenters Jeff Bale Associate Professor, University Of Toronto Co-authors
Why Place Matters: Equity and Social Justice in Teacher Education
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
Teachers have a profound effect on students, both in terms of learning and social and emotional development. Research on teacher education has shown the importance of teachers on students' lives. This has never been truer than with language minoritized, multilingual students (ML) in schools today. At the same time, both preservice and in-service teacher education suffer from geospatial blindness. That is, teacher education assumes an urban-normativity in its conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation. The results are that teacher education programs fail to account for the lived realities of rural teachers and the students they serve. This paper presents findings from a longitudinal mixed methods study on a place-based rural teacher education program for MLs. Data include archives from educator coursework; classroom teacher observations using an ML-modified validated observation tool, and participant satisfaction surveys. Data on MLs include achievement data in English language proficiency, English language arts for grades 3-12, and mathematics. Data were analyzed for themes using open and axial coding methods by six project team members. Findings illuminate the key components of the project, including educator relational collaboration and the central role of rurality/place in the project, and their impact on rural ML student learning.
Teachers have a profound effect on student learning and their social and emotional development. Research has shown that teachers are the most important in-school factor affecting language minoritized student learning (Calderón et al., 2011). Yet language minoritized students receive instruction from teachers with significantly less experience for those students (Samson & Lesaux, 2015). We argue that one glaring consideration in teacher education for language minoritized students (here, multilingual learners, ML) is the role of place. Teacher education programs assume an urban-normativity in their conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation. This geospatial blindness characterizes educational policies and practices, which fail to consider place and how place shapes education (Roberts & Green, 2013, p. 765). Scholars of rural education (Brenner, 2016) illuminate why place matters and how it shapes teaching and learning. The paper addresses the question, what are the impacts of a place-based rural in-service teacher education program on the education of rural multilingual students?
This paper uses a theoretical framework of spatial injustice (Soja, 2009) and critical pedagogy of place (Gruenewald, 2003). Soja defines spatial injustice as "an intentional and focused emphasis on the spatial or geographical aspects of justice and injustice… this involves the fair and equitable distribution in space of socially valued resources and the opportunities to use them" (p. 2). Discussing the spatial and social dialectic, Soja argues that the spatial shapes the social and vice versa. Thus, as the work of educators of ML students is both social and relational, place becomes an integral and illuminating feature of teachers' work.
Data were collected over a five-year period with 22 rural educators and include qualitative (archival data from coursework; observations and field notes; focus groups; photographs) and quantitative (satisfaction surveys; and ML student achievement) data. Data were coded and axial coded by six team members and shared using NVivo R.1 software. Weekly team meetings were held do interrogate emerging themes, and expand and collapse themes as more salient findings emerged.
Findings show how place shaped participants' experiences and decisions surrounding their ML students' learning. We identify "pivotal points" where educators made equity decisions on behalf of their ML students, including relational collaboration and the central role of place. This paper presents results of student learning among teachers who participated. Based on findings that demonstrate these impacts, this paper suggests a place-based model of rural teacher education for MLs.
References Brenner, D. (2016). Rural educator policy brief: Rural education and the Every Student Succeeds Act. 22-27. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1225319.pdf
Calderón, M., Slavin, R., & Sánchez, M. (2011). Effective instruction for English learners. Future of Children, 21(1), 103–127.
Gruenewald, D. A. (2003). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational Researcher, 32(4), 3-12.
Roberts, P. & Green, B. (2013). Researching rural places: On social justice and rural education. Qualitative Inquiry, 19(10), 765-774.
Samson, J.F., & Lesaux, N.K. (2015). Disadvantaged language minority students and their teachers: A national picture. Teachers College Record, 117, 1–26.
Presenters Maria Coady Goodnight Distinguished Professor In Educational Equity, North Carolina State University
Normalizing Pluralistic Approaches to/for Foreign Language Teaching at the University Level
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
While researchers have long supported the multilingual turn in applied linguistics (May, 2013), practitioners have shown more reticence (Taylor & Snoddon, 2013). Weaving acceptance of multilingual diversity into language education requires individual and collective commitment, especially in foreign language (FL) classrooms in higher education. FL instructors' initial teacher education may not have recognized differences between teaching FLs to linguistically homogeneous as opposed to multilingual groups of learners; it may not have stressed multilinguals' unique ability to learn additional languages, or the implications of those abilities for FL teaching, leaving both teacher educators and novice teachers unaware of multilingual learners' metalinguistic ability, cross-linguistic awareness, or language learning advantages such as enhanced grammar learning strategies (Aronin and Jessner, 2015; Kemp, 2007). Additionally, instruction according to decades old teaching methods often aligned with monolingual ideologies that discouraged drawing on languages other than the FL being taught (e.g., no translation; Cummins, 2007). The latter ideology informed many teacher educators' views of drawing on multilingual learners' linguistic repertoires and abilities, and led to instructors developing positionalities that devalued non-standard varieties of the FL they were teaching – even their own (especially if they were linked to Indigenous languages; Despagne & Jacobo-Suárez, 2022). That is, FL instructors who experienced 'othering' themselves may have conflicting beliefs about the value of multilingualism, may undermine their own plurilingualism, and may pass on these views to the novice instructors that they teach (Heidenfeldt, 2015), which lessens the likelihood of novice instructors espousing pluralistic approaches to teaching FLs in university settings. This talk describes a study designed to introduce novice teachers in university FL departments to self-reflection on the role their beliefs and ideologies play in how they orchestrate classroom instruction; specifically, on their views toward incorporating pluralistic instruction into their teaching. Building on Candelier's (2013) FREPA project and Auger's (2021) plurilingual language education framework, our study addresses two of nine teacher competences that ECML (2020-2022) proposes as essential to pluralistic teaching: (a) novice teachers' understanding of equitable, diverse, inclusive instruction, and (b) planning and implementing pluralistic approaches to FL teaching. The study design is patterned after Farrell's (2022) framework for reflective inquiry in that researchers are paired with novice FL instructors over the course of a term with the researchers guiding the novice instructors to deeply reflect on the broad notion of multilingualism, teaching multilinguals through pluralistic instruction, and the 'change process' (i.e., whether they view the approach as a temporary 'add-on' or the likelihood of them adopting it long-term). The novice instructors worked alongside the researchers in developing activities, trying out their feasibility, remediating problems as they arose, and reflecting on the process and results at the end of the evidence-based reflective inquiry cycle (Farrell, 2022). The first cycle was followed by a second to refine key questions and delve deeper into the reflective inquiry. This mixed methods study includes workshop and materials development, online surveys, focus group interviews, and both peer and ethnographic observation techniques. Data analysis is ongoing.
Educating Teachers for Diversity: What is the Purpose?
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
The aim of the contribution is to explore the holistic approach to multilingualism in teacher education from a critical theoretical and an empirical perspective. In the theoretical discussion biographical approaches to teacher development are connected with concepts relating to "(linguistic) diversity in education". The question is how to educate teachers, for which context and for what purpose. These questions are discussed in the background of a longitudinal action-research on a service-learning course in university teacher education that developed after 2015. Multilingualism was already a normality in education before the 2015 „Crisis of Humanity". Hence, the need for educating teachers for linguistic diversity was not new, it only became even more pressing since then. In October 2015 a course was designed for pre-service teachers of all subjects at the University of Vienna with the aim to prepare teaching for diversity. In this contribution data collected since 2015 will be analysed and discussed in the background of challenges and aims resulting from the theoretical investigation concepts.
The aim of the contribution is to explore the holistic approach to multilingualism in teacher education from a critical theoretical and an empirical perspective. In the theoretical discussion biographical approaches to teacher development are connected with concepts relating to "(linguistic) diversity in education". The question is how to educate teachers, for which context (what does (linguistic) diversity mean?) and for what purpose (what is the aim of educating teachers for diversity?). The investigation will comprise three main topics a. language education policy in the context of human rights and democracy (and particularly the plurilingual approach of the Council of Europe, e.g. CEFR-Companion Volume2020, CM/Rec(2022)), b. epistemic and powerful knowledge and epistemic multilingualism (Hudson 2021) and c. an understanding of multilingualism that is inspired by concepts from the so-called Global South, such as multilinguality (Agnihotri 2014), the horizontal and vertical dimensions of multilingualism (Heugh 2015), translingualism(s) and transknowledging. Within this theoretical frame challenges and perspectives of multilingual education and the role of teacher education are identified. The empirical part is about a longitudinal action-research on a service-learning course in university teacher education that developed after 2015. At that time, many young people had to leave their countries and schools because of war and extreme insecurity and continued their education in new countries and different educational systems. Multilingualism was already a normality in education before the 2015 „Crisis of Humanity". Hence, the need for educating teachers for linguistic diversity was not new, it only became even more pressing since then. In October 2015 a course was designed for pre-service teachers of all subjects at the University of Vienna with the aim to prepare teaching for diversity. The course design is based on three interwoven strands, i.e. 1. presenting and discussing content (knowledge about multilingualism), 2. collaborating with the UniClub, a university project that supports pupils from refugee migration in their work at school and 3. developing teaching material that puts the principles of multilingual teaching into practice (Vetter 2021, Vetter et al. 2018). The course is continually adapted to the needs of the collaborating institution: Whereas at the beginning of this cooperation it was of an utmost importance to address pupils in the refugee centres and help them in their first steps into German, the main concern of the following years was to adequately support the pupils who were now integrated into the schools in their everyday work at school. In this contribution the following data collected since 2015 will be analysed: the students' personal reflection on the cooperation and the teaching materials produced in the course. These data are discussed in the background of challenges and aims resulting from the theoretical investigation concepts.
Presenters Eva Vetter Professor, University Of Vienna
Multilingualism and multilingual methods in teacher education in Germany: Towards a resource-oriented approach
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
Resource-oriented approaches to language learning include all languages of the students into the teaching and learning processes. They have been extensively tested in innovative projects and trainings (Mary & Young 2017; Putjata 2018) and appear particularly promising regarding raising multilingual awareness and increasing educational opportunities for multilingual students. In the implementation process of these new approaches into everyday school life, teacher education is considered as one of the main pillars. Lauridsen (2017) differentiates three dimensions in teacher education within the university: the institution itself, as the context and policy provider; the students, as the receiving party; and the educators who primarily carry out the educational process. Hence, the question arises as to how the resource-oriented approach to multilingualism is represented in these three dimensions. To answer this question for the German context we discuss different sets of data collected at universities that provide teacher training. First, we present different ways of institutional implementation of multilingualism and L2 acquisition at German universities (Putjata et al. 2016), where a growing number of programs and projects have been devoted to a productive way of dealing with linguistic diversity. However, their focus is almost exclusively state language-oriented. Second, we discuss teacher educators' conceptualizations of multilingualism according to Niedrig (2002) as presented through eight semi-structured interviews (Goltsev et al. in press). The findings reveal that the educators' perspectives seem to be reproductions of their own biographies and that the institutional framing tends to reinforce an already present monolingual mindset. At the same time, the results show multiple ways in which the interviewees still find spaces for multilingual practices within their teaching. The third set of data deals with the experiences of 189 future teachers with different multilingual methods (Duarte & Günther-van der Meij 2018) during their university training. The results of non-parametric tests show that teacher students have little first-hand experience with most multilingual methods. However, there is a significant positive correlation between the experiences with some methods and the students' willingness to apply them in their later professional practice. The combined analysis of these three sets of data allows a critical examination of the current state of teacher education regarding the dealing with a linguistically diverse classroom in Germany. It shows that first important steps have been taken towards a change in the monolingually oriented teacher education. However, further efforts are needed in order to implement a resource-oriented approach to multilingualism and language education. Selected references Duarte, J., & Günther-van der Meij, M. (2018). A Holistic Model for Multilingualism in Education. EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages 5(2), 24-43. Niedrig, H. (2002). Strategien des Umgangs mit sprachlicher Vielfalt. Tertium comparationis 8, 1-13. Putjata, G. et al. (2016). Möglichkeiten und Grenzen des Moduls ‚Deutsch für Schülerinnen und Schüler mit Zuwanderungsgeschichte' in Nordrhein-Westfalen. ÖDaF-Mitteilungen 32, 34-44.
Immersed in diversity: Teacher education in transition
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
Enabling pre-service teachers to cater for the needs of multilingual learners has become a central aim in teacher education curricula in various national and local contexts (cf. Wernicke et al. 2021). While relevant components of programmes that provide students with the opportunity to engage with topics such as linguistic diversity in the classroom have, historically, existed as optional classes, in Germany (and beyond) tendencies can be observed to make such modules obligatory for all pre-service teachers. Studies that evaluate professionalisation processes of pre-service teachers in such classes or modules with regard to their affective-motivational competence development oftentimes provide inconsistent results with respect to future teachers' beliefs towards linguistically diverse classrooms (cf. Haukås 2016, Schroedler & Fischer 2020). In the light of current debates in the field of diversity components in teacher education, the question arises whether there is any chance to strengthen and focus the way multilingualism is featured. Furthermore, the emergence of inclusion of learners with special educational needs as an additional cross-sectional dimension of diversity requires the renovation of curricula and reinforces the discussion of ascribed and accepted responsibilities for mediating multilingualism and inclusion in schools (Pfaff & Cantone 2021). The present paper addresses some core challenges concerning the issues outlined above. Following a brief introduction of the history and development of relevant curricular components in the teacher education programme at a German university that lies in a linguistically diverse region, we discuss findings from empirical studies on (future) teachers' beliefs and knowledge about multilingualism (Maak & Ricart Brede 2019) as well as underlying concepts such as habitual orientations that determine practical action and dealing with multilingualism in inclusive school settings. We claim there are two challenges in many current curricula in teacher education: First, only looking at (individual) multilingualism leads to a narrow view of linguistic diversity; and second, a holistic approach might be too broad as it may lead to a lack of focus on the target group's specific needs. We finally critically discuss the contents required in such curricula and suggest a multidisciplinary approach to diversity (cf. Grosche & Fleischauer 2017).
Grosche, M. & Fleischhauer, E. (2017). Implikationen der Theorien der schulischen Inklusion für das Konzept der Förderung von Deutsch als Zweitsprache, in Becker-Mrotzek, M., Rosenberg, P., Schroeder, C., Witte, A. (eds.), Deutsch als Zweitsprache in der Lehrerbildung, Waxmann, Münster, 155–170. Haukås, Å. (2016). Teachers' beliefs about multilingualism and a multilingual pedagogical approach. International Journal of Multilingualism, 13(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2015.1041960 Maak, D. & Ricart Brede, J. (eds.), 2019, Wissen, Können, Wollen – sollen?! (Angehende) LehrerInnen und äußere Mehrsprachigkeit, Waxmann, Münster. Pfaff, N. & Cantone, K.F. (2021) Mehrsprachigkeit und schulische Inklusion in der Professionalisierung von Lehrkräften – interdisziplinäre Zugänge. Kölner Online Journal für Lehrer*innenbildung, 3(1). Schroedler, T. & Fischer, N. (2020). The role of beliefs in teacher professionalisation for multilingual classroom settings. European Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(1), 49–72. Wernicke, M., Hammer, S., Hansen, A. & Schroedler, T. (eds.). (2021). Preparing Teachers to work with multilingual learners. Multilingual Matters, Bristol.
Presenters Katja Cantone Professor, Universität Duisburg-Essen
Integrating Multilingual Didactics into University Teacher Training in Romance Languages in Germany: Design and Empirical Testing of an Intervention According to Principles of Design-Based Research
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
According to current educational policy guidelines, students' multilingualism has to be recognized and promoted by teachers when instructing a foreign language (e.g. Council of Europe 2001: 14, 16; ibid. 2018: 159-164). Despite the positive effects of cross-linguistic approaches that have led to a paradigm shift within foreign language didactics in Germany, empirical studies repeatedly point to a dichotomy between positive teacher attitudes concerning multilingualism and a lack of implementation of multilingual didactics in real teaching practice (e.g. Bredthauer & Engfer 2018: 9-10; Heyder & Schädlich 2014: 193-196). In fact, it can be observed that teachers who are willing to integrate students' linguistic resources into foreign language instruction usually fail to achieve positive effects because they conduct unsystematic language comparisons at the lexical or grammatical level, which, in addition, do not include any family languages at all (e.g. Bermejo Muñoz 2019: 110-111; Bredthauer & Engfer 2018: 10-12; Heyder & Schädlich 2014: 193-196). This situation indicates the need for a more grounded, systematic and reflective teacher education that focuses on the didactics of multilingualism (e.g. Königs 2006: 216-219; Meißner 2001: 114). The outlined desideratum forms the groundwork for an ongoing PhD project that aims to integrate multilingual didactics into existing academic curricula of prospective teachers of Romance languages. In detail, the project intends to improve university students' knowledge, skills as well as their individual perceptions of their own competences when it comes to the implementation of a multilingual didactic approaches in future teaching scenarios. For that purpose, an intervention consisting of multilingual modules has been developed, tested and re-designed several times, taking into account the principles of design-based research. Accordingly, the presentation will provide concrete insights into the teaching modules, the methodological procedure and the first meaningful results of the empirical test cycles which have been conducted at the University of Münster. References: Bermejo Muñoz, S. (2019). Berücksichtigung schulischer und lebensweltlicher Mehrsprachigkeit im Spanischunterricht. Eine empirische Studie. Trier: WVT. Bredthauer, S. & Engfer, H. (2018). Natürlich ist Mehrsprachigkeit toll! Aber was hat das mit meinem Unterricht zu tun? In: Kölner Universitäts Publikations Server ‹https://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/8092› (17.05.2022). Coucil of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR). Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Council of Europe (2018). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Companion Volume with New Descriptors. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Heyder, K. & Schädlich, B. (2014). Mehrsprachigkeit und Mehrkulturalität – eine Umfrage unter Fremdsprachenlehrkräften in Niedersachsen. In: Zeitschrift für Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht – Didaktik und Methodik im Bereich Deutsch als Fremdsprache 19 (1), 183-201. Königs, F. G. (2006). Mehrsprachigkeit und Lehrerbildung: Zum Spannungsfeld zwischen inhaltlicher Notwendigkeit und struktureller Machbarkeit: In Martinez, H. & Reinfried, M. (eds.), Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik gestern, heute und morgen – Festschrift für Franz-Joseph Meißner zum 60. Geburtstag. Tübingen: Narr, 215-225. Meißner, F.-J. (2001). Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik im Studium von Lehrenden fremder Sprachen. In: Königs, F. G. (ed.), Impulse aus der Sprachlehrforschung. Marburger Vorträge zur Ausbildung von Fremdsprachenlehrerinnen und -lehrern, Tübingen: Narr, 111-130.
Presenters Svenja Haberland Research Assistant/PhD-Student , Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
A multilingual approach for higher education: the case of foreign language major students
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
Students majoring in modern foreign languages in the Netherlands can follow up to 90 ECTS of content classes in another language than their major language. Usually, these classes are given in English used as a lingua franca. As a result, the entire linguistic repertoire present in the classroom is not used at all. Besides the lost opportunity that this represents, it also makes it difficult for students to reach a high level in their major language (usually C1 of the European Framework of Reference). In this presentation, we will present the results of an ongoing project which implements a multilingual approach in content classes usually given in English only. We used strategies from the "translanguaging" approach, which is a didactic model that makes multilingual communication a success by applying a combination of theories on language awareness, multilingualism, language comparison, mutual understanding, mediation, Content Language Integrated Learning and immersion.
Students majoring in modern foreign languages (Bachelor degree) in the Netherlands can follow up to 90 ECTS of content classes in another language than their major language. Usually, these classes are given in English used as a lingua franca. As a result, the entire linguistic repertoire of the students present in the classroom is not used at all. Besides the lost opportunity that this represents, it also makes it difficult for students to reach a high level in their major language (usually C1 of the European Framework of Reference). In addition, a critical attitude toward English as the sole means of communication in higher education aligns with growing concerns about the power of English in academia in particular and in internationalization in general (Michel et al., 2021; Finardi, 2014). While English as a lingua franca can be a successful way for people from different language backgrounds to communicate with each other, it is not the only solution. Moreover, it does not do justice to the European ideal of multilingualism and pluriculturalism that are high priorities for Europe. In this presentation, we will present the results of an ongoing project which implements a multilingual approach in content classes usually given in English only. In this project, we used strategies from the "translanguaging" approach (Cenoz, 2017; Duarte, 2019), which is a didactic model that makes multilingual communication a success by applying a combination of theories on language awareness, multilingualism, language comparison, mutual understanding, mediation, Content Language Integrated Learning and immersion. During the presentation, we will show how we engaged students to participate to the project, how we designed the activities and the learning outcomes and how we taught students a new set of strategies and skills to be able to work together multilingually and still work on the development of their major language. We will also show you the results of a survey and a panel discussion on the effects of this multilingual approach as perceived by the students and the teachers involved.
References Cenoz, J. (2017). Translanguaging in school contexts: International perspectives. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 16(4), 193-198. Duarte, J. (2019). Translanguaging in mainstream education: a sociocultural approach. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(2), 150-164. Finardi, K. R. (2014). The slaughter of Kachru's five sacred cows in Brazil: affordances of the use of English as an international language. Studies in English language teaching, 2(4), 401-411. Michel, M., Vidon, C., de Graaff, R., & Lowie, W. (2021). Language Learning beyond English in the Netherlands: A fragile future?. European Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9(1), 159-182.
Pedagogical translanguaging – not always an equitable contribution to diversity
Oral Presentation[SYMP70] Teaching (for) Diversity: Multilingualism in Teacher Education08:30 AM - 04:15 PM (Europe/Amsterdam) 2023/07/20 06:30:00 UTC - 2024/07/20 14:15:00 UTC
Despite the current world fame and popularity of the concept of translanguaging (TRLNG) in the scholarly literature and among teachers "on the ground," it is not without problems, which will be examined basing on an extensive overview of current pedagogical and research literature (k = 110; Paradowski, 2021; under review). Among the many caveats, we shall see how TRLNG may be less transformative and critical than has been suggested. We will also notice that TRLNG practices may unintentionally reproduce disadvantages and reinforce inequalities and the hegemony of majority languages, where language singletons in particular face steeper challenges. Moreover, not all students appreciate the opportunity to use their home language(s), pupils may not find the practice liberating at all, and it may actually cause a decrease in well-being. Finally, foreign language classrooms in particular require the reconciliation of many conflicting goals, necessitating a trade-off between the need to on the one hand 'cover' the curriculum within the allocated time, in a manner comprehensible to the students, and on the other the need to balance the acknowledgment of students' linguistic diversity, freedom of expression, and respect for the equality of languages with making them learn the concepts, register or language that is the target of instruction. Naturally, many aspects and practices of TRLNG are worthwhile and salvageable. The final minutes of the talk will focus on these, concluding with a recommendation of more critically aware and reflective plurilingual pedagogies that always take into account the circumstances and ecologies of the classroom and the subjectivities of the students (see e.g., Byrnes, 2020).
Reference: Byrnes, H. (2020). Navigating pedagogical translanguaging: Commentary on the special issue. System, 92, 102278. DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2020.102278 Paradowski, M.B. (2021). Transitions, translanguaging, trans-semiotising in heteroglossic school environments: Lessons from (not only) South African classrooms. In: C. van der Walt & V. Pfeiffer (Eds.), Multilingual Classroom Contexts: Transitions and Transactions (pp. 213–284). Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS. Paradowski, M.B. (under revision). The limits and challenges to equitable pedagogical translanguaging in plurilingual foreign/second language classrooms: Towards more critically reflective and contextually informed instructional choices.
Joana Duarte
Jeff Bale
Maria Coady
Eva Vetter
Helena Olfert
Katja Cantone
Svenja Haberland
Marije Michel
Michał B. Paradowski