Session Information
31 SES 02 A, Language Attitudes and Learning: From primary school to higher education
Symposium
Contribution
In general, attitudes play a central role concerning student achievements and in acquiring central instruction languages. Studies in language education revealed that teacher attitudes towards the benefits of multilingualism in the mainstream classroom varied across samples. In some instances, it was found that teachers were consistent in their monolingual beliefs, considering the maintenance of home languages as being a personal activity (Lee & Oxelson, 2006), that had no place or time in the classroom (Angelis, 2011; Gkaintartzi, 2015; Young, 2014) and would lead to the delay of dominant language learning and confusion in pupils (Angelis, 2011; Gkaintartzi, 2015; Lee & Oxelson, 2006; Pulinx et al., 2015; Young, 2014). Conversely, many studies also suggested educators held positive attitudes towards the philosophies of multilingualism, but in practice showed little enthusiasm due to perceived practical implications (Angelis, 2011; Haukås, 2016) and/or the perception of migrant languages as having a lower status in instruction (Gkaintartzi, 2015; Haukås, 2016; Lee & Oxelson, 2006). Importantly, teachers with have bi- or multilingual teacher training or experience were more likely to show an multilingualism as asset in teaching and learning (Lee & Oxelson, 2006).
Previous research has shown the importance of positive attitudes from different stakeholders towards multilingualism and languages other than the language of schooling: positive attitudes to home languages are important for the successful development of the second or third language in a host country (Cummins 2000); monolingual pupils attain better school results when they develop more positive attitudes towards other languages (Hélot 2012); and the presence of strong monolingual beliefs, can have detrimental effects on linguistically diverse students’ academic achievement (Wheeler 2008). Studies have shown that even minimal instruction on multilingual education during teacher training can change attitudes towards multilingualism (Ellis, 2004; Lee & Oxelson, 2006), and that attention to migrant languages in primary schools leads to more positive teacher attitudes towards those languages, and towards multilingualism (Ruijven & Ytsma, 2008). The objective is therefore to challenge teachers’ and students’ monolingual beliefs and habits in order to implement effective strategies for multilingual education that build on students’ full linguistic repertoire as a resource (Garcia & Wei, 2014).
Against this backdrop, the current symposium approaches recent developments in the field of language attitudes and multilingual practices from teachers’ and students’ perspectives in both primary school and higher education. With this symposium, researchers from the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden convene critically appraise the implications that their research has for (language) teaching in schools and universities.
The first paper will present attitudes towards the use of Dutch-accented English in Dutch university education. Dymphi will present on-going research into the language attitudes and ideologies that play a role in the debate about the use of English in Dutch higher education in the Dutch printed press and amongst teaching staff, and the factors that are involved in the development of these attitudes.
The second paper will discuss the beliefs that practitioners and primary school pupils hold about multilingualism and multilingual education in the Netherlands. Suzanne will show how longitudinal data on implicit and explicit attitudes are gathered to map the development of these attitudes during the implementation of translanguaging practices.
Our third paper will present teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism and multilingual pupils in Sweden. Adrian can report from a Q method study that investigated the teachers’ theoretical understanding of the phenomenon and their suggested pedagogical action in primary schools.
The final paper will discuss the MIKS project from multilingual Hamburg. Anouk will focus specifically on the gap between reported practices and classroom practices and their in-classroom realization by examining the use of language comparisons in translanguaging as a teaching strategy.
References
Angelis, G. D. (2011). Teachers’ beliefs about the role of prior language knowledge in learning and how these influence teaching practices. International Journal of Multilingualism, 8(3), 216–234. Cummins, J. (2001). Bilingual Children’s Mother Tongue: Why Is It Important for Education? Sprogforum, 19, 15–20. Gkaintartzi, A. (2015). “Invisible” Bilingualism--“Invisible” Language Ideologies: Greek Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Immigrant Pupils’ Heritage Languages. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18(1), 60–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2013.877418 Haukås, Å. (2016). Teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism and a multilingual pedagogical approach. International Journal of Multilingualism, 13(1), 1–18. Lee, J. S., & Oxelson, E. (2006). “It’s Not My Job”: K–12 Teacher Attitudes Toward Students’ Heritage Language Maintenance. Bilingual Research Journal, 30(2), 453–477. Pulinx, R., Avermaet, P. V., & Agirdag, O. (2015). Silencing linguistic diversity: the extent, the determinants and consequences of the monolingual beliefs of Flemish teachers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 0(0), 1–15. Young, A. S. (2014). Unpacking teachers’ language ideologies: attitudes, beliefs, and practiced language policies in schools in Alsace, France. Language Awareness, 23(1–2), 157–171.
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