Aims: The authors develop a contrast between grounded and ungrounded language ideologies, defining grounded ideologies as those which are anchored empirically and ungrounded ideologies as those which ...are not. This framework guides a description of the history of translanguaging theory from early translanguaging theory, grounded in empirical research on codeswitching and other scholarship on bilingualism, to late translanguaging theory, which changed under the influence of a postmodernist approach to language policy known as deconstructivism. The authors further discuss charges of “abyssal thinking” attributed to those who do not accept deconstructivism. Approach: The approach is argumentative. Data and Analysis: The authors draw on a wide range of previously published empirical work to support their conclusions. Conclusions: The authors conclude that late translanguaging theory is at odds with empirical research and holds negative consequences for pluralist language ideologies and civil rights advocacy. Originality: The article makes original contributions to language ideology, the history of translanguaging theory, and the relationship between language theory and language ideology. Significance: The article makes a significant critical contribution to the literature on multilingual language theory by drawing attention to significant limitations of translanguaging theory as a resource for language ideology.
«A multiplicity of languages and cultures has entered the Italian school environment»: that is what is written in the introduction of the Indicazioni Nazionali per il curricolo della scuola ...dell’infanzia e del primo ciclo di istruzione (MIUR, 2012, p. 8). The ministerial document, which forms the framework for school curricula, describes the de facto multilingual situation which can be observed in all kinds of educational environments and in communities. In infancy educational services and in schools, the presence of girls and boys who practice another language at home has long been widespread and on the increase. After describing the pluralistic linguistic repertoires featured in schools, the essay presents some evidence collected in two kindergartens in Milan, as part of a training course. Teachers were invited to use a map of intra-family communication during interviews with foreign parents, in order to outline the children’s language biographies, and to know the strategies and choices of the family. In the second part, the focus will be on some autobiographical fragments taken from literary texts in which the authors highlight the stages and steps they have gone through in their history of native bilinguals. Finally, a review of the legislation dealing with the themes of mother tongues, multilingualism and linguistic diversity in childcare and schools is presented.
In our paper we will present an experimental proposal of teaching Italian as a second language and promoting plurilingualism and the preservation of the mother tongue in a course organized for ...children of pre-school services and for their parents. The proposal was financed by a FAMI project, called VOCI, a leaded by the municipality of Venice in partnership with the University Ca’ Foscari. All the project was carried out between 2019 and 2021. The project aimed at experimenting actions to facilitate the learning of Italian as a second language (L2) together with contents of civic education for vulnerable learners. Thanks to recent studies it has emerged the need to promote courses of a second language and at the same time to promote all children’s language repertoires. During the experimental proposal that we will present, we organized such type of courses for minors of pre-school services and for their parents. We focused on vocabulary and syntactical aspects useful to tell stories. We will present the syllabus of the course, the activities and the results of two focus group.
The multilingualism of the Italian school is a fact, both because of the migratory flows of the last 30 years and for historical reasons. Multilingual language education, also following the studies ...in the field, is therefore a necessity. The article aims to clarify the theoretical framework of transversal language education, the development of critical multilingual language awareness and it introduces the notions of school discomfort and perceived (formative) need. A case study will then be presented linked to a two-year training provided on the Brescia area, whose population will also be illustrated in terms of students with a migratory background. After presenting the research methods and the survey tools, we will analyze the degree of awareness of the multilingual question of teachers and of responsibility towards the phenomenon, trying to identify the possible causes at the origin of this perceptual position. To conclude, possible training courses will be hypothesized to increase awareness and transform school discomfort into a stimulating challenge for teacher professionalism, with the support of expert figures.
The participation of multilingual children in minority language immersion programmes is under-researched internationally. The Republic of Ireland (RoI) has become a linguistically and culturally ...diverse society. In the RoI, parents have the opportunity to educate their child in English-medium or Irish-medium (IM) schools. However, the cohort of multilingual children attending IM schools is very small. This study investigated the reasons why parents who spoke a home language other than Irish or English chose to enrol their children in IM primary education. It also investigated parents' perceptions of the benefits of this form of education. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 15 parents from a variety of language backgrounds. It was found that parents were motivated to enrol their child in IM primary schools to provide them with the opportunity to learn a variety of languages at an early age. Benefits associated with learning multiple languages and immersion in Irish culture and heritage were seen as the main advantages of IM education. A minority of parents chose an IM school when there was no space for their child in an English-medium school. Parents reported that they did not experience significant challenges in IM immersion. Recommendations arise to support the participation of multilingual families in immersion education.
As plurilingual/multilingual research advances, factors that contribute to or hinder individual's flexible language use are still underexplored. Questions such as Why do some people identify as ...plurilingual and pluricultural while others do not? and What factors contribute to high levels of plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC)? remain unknown. This article presents results of a mixed methods study with 250 plurilingual participants in the multilingual city of Montreal, Canada. Data was collected through a demographic questionnaire, the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Identity Questionnaire (PPIQ) and the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence (PPC) scale. Results show that a vast majority of participants identified as plurilingual and pluricultural, and seven reasons for shaping this identity were found: rich repertoire, lived experiences, awareness of differences and similarities, transculturalism, adaptation and integration, translanguaging, and openness. Moreover, there was a significant difference in PPC scores between Canadian-born participants and participants born outside of Canada, suggesting that speakers of minority languages in Canada have lower PPC scores compared to speakers of Canada's official languages. These results are significant as they enhance our understanding of language use and identity, suggesting that plurilingualism and pluriculturalism can be the new norm in multilingual contexts but minority languages need further recognition.
Abstract
Plurilingualism goes beyond the mere ability to use multiple languages; it emphasizes the interconnected nature of languages within an individual's linguistic competence. In line with the ...European language policy, university students are becoming users of several languages, and international university students in Czech universities often learn Czech as their fourth language or beyond (L4+). Understanding how their linguistic competencies interact can impact their language acquisition experience. Learners may perceive interactions among the languages within their linguistic repertoire. The concept of Perceived Positive Language Interaction (PPLI, Thompson, 2016) pertains to the perception that languages previously studied are interrelated in a positive way, ultimately enhancing a plurilingual's ability to acquire additional languages. This study explores the relationships between Czech as an additional language and the learners' prior languages. The research aims to answer three main questions: Do learners of Czech as L4+ perceive positive interactions among their learned languages? In what areas do these interactions manifest? How does Czech relate to their other languages? The study was conducted at a Czech university that provides optional introductory Czech courses (A1/A2), primarily to students in the Erasmus+ program. Fifty-four international students filled in an open-ended online questionnaire over two consecutive semesters. The analysis revealed that while students perceived positive interactions among some of the languages they had learned, especially within language families, interactions across typologically different languages occurred, particularly between Czech and German. The participants' mother tongue also emerged as a significant factor. While language instruction often follows a monolingual approach, where the target language is the primary mode of classroom interaction (Woll, 2020), learners may significantly benefit from their previous language learning experiences when learning an additional language. Despite the relatively limited research sample, this study suggests the didactic potential of positive language interaction in language teaching and learning and highlights further research opportunities.
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