Plurilingual identities
-
Adelheid Hu
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to get a clearer understanding about the developments in the research domain of plurilingual education, and especially to gain insights about which steps towards an integrative and identity-oriented language education have been achieved. In a first part, the focus lies on the concept of identity itself, and the way it relates to language and language/intercultural learning. I will then discuss other influential concepts, such as the concept of plurilingualism itself (in contrast to multilingualism), the idea of language repertoires and of translanguaging. In a second part I will concentrate on some equally influential pedagogical and curricular developments such as the “language portraits” or the project “Wege zur Mehrsprachigkeit” (Ways to Multilingualism) that had been developed already in the 1990s in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. I will finally take a closer look at existing empirical research that focuses on the learners’ whole language repertoires. This research sheds light on the learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of plurilingualism, and investigates in how far the language repertoires are taken into account within the classroom. While this research focus has been rare until the turn of the millennium, there are now clear signs that the awareness for integrative research perspectives on language learning and teaching has been growing.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to get a clearer understanding about the developments in the research domain of plurilingual education, and especially to gain insights about which steps towards an integrative and identity-oriented language education have been achieved. In a first part, the focus lies on the concept of identity itself, and the way it relates to language and language/intercultural learning. I will then discuss other influential concepts, such as the concept of plurilingualism itself (in contrast to multilingualism), the idea of language repertoires and of translanguaging. In a second part I will concentrate on some equally influential pedagogical and curricular developments such as the “language portraits” or the project “Wege zur Mehrsprachigkeit” (Ways to Multilingualism) that had been developed already in the 1990s in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. I will finally take a closer look at existing empirical research that focuses on the learners’ whole language repertoires. This research sheds light on the learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of plurilingualism, and investigates in how far the language repertoires are taken into account within the classroom. While this research focus has been rare until the turn of the millennium, there are now clear signs that the awareness for integrative research perspectives on language learning and teaching has been growing.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Policy perspectives
- Language education in and for a multilingual Europe 33
- Multilingualism and education in sub-Saharan Africa 57
- Language policy, language study, and heritage language education in the U.S. 77
- Globalization, national identity, and multiculturalism and multilingualism 99
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Part II. Theoretical perspectives
- L3, the tertiary language 127
- Plurilingual identities 151
- Models of multilingual competence 173
- The multilingual turn in foreign language education 191
- Linguistic landscaping 213
- Identity and investment in multilingual classrooms 237
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Part III. Empirical perspectives
- The acquisition of English as an L3 from a sociocultural point of view 255
- Affordances of multilingual learning situations – Possibilities and constraints for foreign language classrooms 281
- L1 effects in the early L3 acquisition of vocabulary and grammar 305
- “One day a father and his son going fishing on the Lake.” – A study on the use of the progressive aspect of monolingual and bilingual learners of English 331
- English as a lingua franca at the multilingual university 359
- Learning English demonstrative pronouns on bilingual substrate 381
- Contributors 407
- Subject index 419
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Policy perspectives
- Language education in and for a multilingual Europe 33
- Multilingualism and education in sub-Saharan Africa 57
- Language policy, language study, and heritage language education in the U.S. 77
- Globalization, national identity, and multiculturalism and multilingualism 99
-
Part II. Theoretical perspectives
- L3, the tertiary language 127
- Plurilingual identities 151
- Models of multilingual competence 173
- The multilingual turn in foreign language education 191
- Linguistic landscaping 213
- Identity and investment in multilingual classrooms 237
-
Part III. Empirical perspectives
- The acquisition of English as an L3 from a sociocultural point of view 255
- Affordances of multilingual learning situations – Possibilities and constraints for foreign language classrooms 281
- L1 effects in the early L3 acquisition of vocabulary and grammar 305
- “One day a father and his son going fishing on the Lake.” – A study on the use of the progressive aspect of monolingual and bilingual learners of English 331
- English as a lingua franca at the multilingual university 359
- Learning English demonstrative pronouns on bilingual substrate 381
- Contributors 407
- Subject index 419
