Plurilingualism in language classrooms in higher education
Supervised by Claudia Harsch at the University of Bremen
Language classrooms in higher education are highly plurilingual and multilingual places due to the fact that students usually already know different languages. These linguistic repertoires and the general language diversity in the classroom can be employed to learn a new language. Plurilingual approaches in language classrooms offer diverse benefits (Piccardo et al., 2021). But despite the recognition as a valuable approach, research shows that theory has not been generally implemented in teaching and learning practices yet (Galante, 2018). Moreover, there has been little discussion about plurilingualism in language courses in the academic context (Bredthauer, 2016).
This doctoral thesis in progress consists of two steps. The first step was to get an overview and understanding of the current situation of plurilingual teaching and learning approaches in language courses of higher education institutions in Germany. The findings showed that the majority of teachers and learners has positive attitudes, and that teachers partially implement plurilingual approaches. However, the implementation of plurilingual teaching and learning approaches is not systematic. Therefore, the second phase of the PhD project consists of a practice-oriented case study within the Uni Bremen language center with the aim to transfer theory into practice, and to implement plurilingual approaches more systematically and structured in language classrooms. The basis of this study is the “Framework of reference for pluralistic approaches” (FREPA). However, this framework was designed for the school context and younger learners. Hence, we adapted and developed a version with solely relevant descriptors for the higher education context. Based on selected FREPA descriptors, a plurilingual workshop was created and successfully implemented. The study evaluates the adapted version of FREPA descriptors, and examines teachers’ and workshop participants’ experiences and perceptions regarding plurilingual approaches. The data collection methods consist of a group interview with two teachers, questionnaires for workshop participants, as well as answer cards labeled by participants during the workshop. The data analysis mainly consists of a qualitative content analysis, while quantitative data is embedded.
References
Bredthauer, S. (2016). Gestaltung, Einsatz und Lernerwahrnehmung mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktischer Elemente im Fremdsprachenunterricht – eine exemplarische Untersuchung in einem universitären Niederländischmodul. Zeitschrift Für Angewandte Linguistik, 65(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/zfal-2016-0020
Galante, A. (2018). Plurilingual or monolingual? A Mixed Methods Study investigating plurilingual instruction in an EAP program at a Canadian university. tspace.library.utoronto.ca. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/91806
Piccardo, E., Antony-Newman, M., Le Chen, & Karamifar, B. (2021). Innovative Features of a Plurilingual Approach in Language Teaching: Implications from the LINCDIRE Project. Critical Multilingualism Studies, 9(1), 128–155. https://cms.arizona.edu/index.php/multilingual/article/view/229