Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Language

Multilingualism in the Canadian Educational Context: Identity, Belonging, and Translanguaging Pedagogies

2025-03-28T14:22:22+00:00

In this study, I examine the nature of multilingual education, which provides cultural, social, and economic affordances yet poses considerable emotional and academic challenges for learners. I explore how dominant languages impact multilingual learners’ identity and sense of belonging and identity negotiation, particularly within the Canadian educational context. Through a multiple case study involving four Iranian-Canadian minors and their parents, I use multimodal data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews with children and their parents, children’s writings, and multisemiotic representations, to capture the complexities of learners’ communicative repertoires. Participants’ narratives revealed tensions between their multilingual identities and the monolingual ideologies entrenched in educational systems. However, the study reveals that translanguaging pedagogy, which has emerged as a crucial pedagogical strategy, can enable learners to draw on their unitary communication competence without suppressing part of their linguistic repertoire to enhance understanding and reduce cognitive pressures. This research signals the imperative to operationalise translanguaging as a classroom practice. Dialogic tasks and teacher mediation that affirm multilingual expression can be embedded into everyday instructions. These findings illuminate the imperative for educational reform policies that go beyond classroom practices to address the broader monolingual and neoliberal ideologies, which prioritise the dominant state languages as pathways to prosperity. I argue that such reforms must not be tokenistic and must meaningfully engage with the sociocognitive and cultural challenges multilingual learners face to ensure that their diverse linguistic needs are fully supported.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”: Linguistic and Social Experiences of Immigrant Students in Brazil

2025-04-18T17:09:06+01:00

This study explores the impact of plurilingualism on the academic and social experiences of immigrant students in Curitiba, Brazil, utilizing Critically Engaged Language and Literacy Workshops (CELLWs). This research employed arts-based methodologies within CELLWs to probe into the experiences and identities of sixteen immigrant students enrolled in a Brazilian Portuguese as an Additional Language class. CELLWs are designed to foster not only language development but also cultural integration, using critical literacies to challenge and expand the participants' understanding of their new social environments. Drawing on data from CELLWs activities, initial findings reveal that these workshops fostered opportunities for immigrant students to connect their linguistic repertoires with personal and collective identities, enhancing their sense of belonging and agency. The findings provide insights into how educational settings can better support immigrant students, highlighting the role of critical literacies and arts-based research in enhancing educational inclusivity and effectiveness.

Exchanging goods on the linguistic market of second phase teacher training: Translanguaging as an (il)legitimate practice

2025-04-11T18:52:50+01:00

This paper examines translingual practices in the second phase of teacher training (Vorbereitungsdienst) for French and Spanish in Germany. Applying an ethnographic approach based on Grounded Theory Methodology, this study analyses observation protocols from classroom visits, subject-specific seminar sessions, and post-lesson debriefings to reconstruct translingual practices in teacher education. The study is framed by Bourdieu’s concept of the linguistic market, which illustrates how institutional contexts assign varying degrees of recognition and value to different language practices. By examining the linguistic practices of teacher trainees, this research explores how institutional norms and language ideologies shape foreign language instruction. Findings reveal a paradoxical approach to multilingualism: while teacher trainees (and teacher educators) employ translingual and multimodal strategies, pupils are expected to adhere strictly to the monolingual norm in the target language. This tension reflects broader power structures in education, reinforcing linguistic hierarchies. By critically examining translingual practices in teacher training, this paper contributes to the discussion on language policy, pedagogical norms, and the professionalization of foreign language teachers.

Development of emotional knowledge and its relationship with productive vocabulary in monolingual and multilingual children in pre-primary classes

2025-05-30T16:20:07+01:00

Emotional and language skills are prerequisites for successful participation in educational processes. Multilingual children often have different backgrounds for acquiring German, which can affect their language and emotional development. Studies indicate a reciprocal relationship between language and emotional competencies. However, the relationship between productive vocabulary and emotional knowledge has not yet been sufficiently investigated. In Hesse, Germany, children who have been deferred from school enrolment due to developmental delays can attend pre-primary classes. No research has examined their skills so far. This study explores productive vocabulary and emotional knowledge of monolingual and multilingual pre-primary classes children. Using data from 179 children, the study examines initial differences, developmental trajectories, and potential correlations between productive vocabulary and emotional knowledge, with a particular focus on the role of home language exposure. Productive vocabulary was measured at the beginning of pre-primary class using the picture-naming subtest from SET 5–10. Emotional knowledge was assessed at the beginning and end of pre-primary class using the ATEM 3–9. The analysis was carried out using MANOVA, ANOVAS and Spearman’s rank correlation. The results show significant differences at school entry: Monolingual children perform better than multilingual peers in both domains. Within the multilingual group, home exposure to German is associated with higher scores. Over the school year, all groups show significant increases in emotional knowledge. A moderate to strong correlation can be found between productive vocabulary and emotional knowledge. The study underscores the importance of integrating systematic and additional emotional and language learning programs in primary education.

Preparing teachers for multilingual classrooms: competence development in pre- and in-service teacher education in Austria

2025-09-03T08:34:42+01:00

The increasing number of multilingual students in schools demands teachers with competence in linguistically responsive teaching. Over the past decade, opportunities to learn (OTL) to acquire the competence have been implemented in pre- and in-service teacher education programs in Austria. The aim of this study was to assess how effectively primary school teacher education programs in Austria prepare pre- and in-service teachers to support the language and subject-related learning of their future multilingual students. Using the DaZKom test, the development of competence regarding linguistically responsive teaching (LRT) as well as beliefs regarding multilingualism in school were examined in different groups of pre- and in-service teachers over time. Additionally, the study analyzed the interaction of OTL focused on linguistically responsive teaching, beliefs on multilingualism in school and linguistically responsive teaching competence. The results show that these OTL have a positive effect both on LRT competence as well as beliefs. The effect sizes correspond with the intensity of the OTL, indicating that more comprehensive OTL have a greater impact. The study also demonstrates that OTL, together with students' initial beliefs and LRT competence, are predictors of the observed learning outcomes. Based on these findings, we conclude that the availability of comprehensive OTL as part of teacher education programs is essential to support multilingual students in schools. Furthermore, the results suggest that OTL should be designed in a way that accommodates students with diverse learning prerequisites.

"I was definitely motivated!" – Pupils' perspectives on the use of multilingualism in the classroom

2025-08-12T11:57:22+01:00

Students’ heritage languages often remain untapped as a resource for learning in mainstream classrooms. This mixed-methods study explores how secondary school students in Germany perceive and engage with multilingual practices in science education. Drawing on data from the DFG-funded project “Physics Education in the Context of Linguistic Diversity” (PhyDiv), we combine quantitative survey data (N=436) and qualitative interview data (n=9) to examine students’ attitudes, experiences, and motivations regarding heritage language use in class. Survey data indicate that, in student’s experience, the use of languages other than German is typically not permitted in class, making multilingual practices unfamiliar to most of them. Many supported a monolingual classroom policy. However, students who had been explicitly encouraged to use their heritage languages during group work expressed significantly more positive attitudes than their peers. Interview data from multilingual students who used Turkish in partner- and group work highlights that heritage language use was associated with positive emotions, increased engagement, and perceived learning support. At the same time, students’ willingness to use their heritage language was shaped by their self-perceived language proficiency and the language skills of peers. Overall, the findings emphasize the potential of multilingual pedagogies to enhance classroom inclusion and challenge monolingual norms—provided that teachers actively support students in viewing their linguistic resources as legitimate and valuable. The study concludes with implications for classroom practice and teacher education, advocating multilingual-inclusive teaching as a strategy not only for language development but also for promoting engagement, well-being, and equity.

Recontextualisation of multilingualism in learners’ graffiti in selected Zimbabwean secondary boarding schools

2025-11-10T19:50:46+00:00

Different forms of cross-linguistic interactions in learners’ graffiti in Zimbabwe have not received attention in empirical multilingualism research. Thus, this paper, part of a postgraduate study, explored the acts of codeswitching in the graffiti secondary school boarding learners in Zimbabwe. Seven secondary boarding schools were sampled for the study, providing valuable insights into the linguistic landscape of graffiti writing in these institutions. Employing a qualitative research design, graffiti inscriptions were collected exclusively from classroom walls and desktops. All the data were transcribed, paying particular attention to the source of the inscriptions from a locational linguistic perspective. The inscriptions were thematically categorised based on the specific linguistic features constructed. The study revealed instances of language alternation during different phases of graffiti communication, encompassing interactions between learners and teachers or other authorities, as well as peer interactions. Understanding codeswitching dynamics is crucial for optimising language use strategies and fostering a more effective communicative environment. This research underscored the need for a nuanced approach to subcultural interaction, acknowledging and leveraging the new multilingual era in graffiti writing. By recognising the role of these linguistic practices, educators may begin to understand that multilingualism in graffiti writing is a socially constructed phenomenon where languages are sets of resources rather than fixed linguistic systems. This study sets the stage for further research on the implications of codeswitching in diverse subcultural discourses within educational settings.

Multilingualism at the Interface of Formal and Non-Formal Education: Insights from the German Education System

2025-11-11T19:44:34+00:00

In an increasingly globalised world, linguistic diversity in schools is a much-discussed topic. Research in recent years has shown that the productive inclusion of multilingualism in the classroom is possible and conducive to learning. Nevertheless, it remains an exception in everyday teaching practice. Instead, measures that address language in the educational context of the migration society often focus exclusively on promoting German as a second language. This situation can be explained by, among other things, the historically monolingual orientation of schools. This article raises the question of whether and to what extent non-formal educational actors affect these manifest habits by cooperating with schools. To this end, collaborations between formal schools and non-formal education stakeholders in Frankfurt/Main, Germany that focus on language education are analysed. Four types of cooperation are differentiated according to their formal orientation and categorised into a continuum of three areas of language education: language support for all children regardless of family language, promotion of German as a second language and promotion of multilingualism. While the proportion of programmes promoting multilingualism is very low, these programmes tend to enter into very far-reaching forms of cooperation. It can be deduced from this that non-formal players have the potential to at least soften the monolingual structures of the formal education system.