In-service and Pre-service Perspectives: Cultivating Plurilingual Awareness in Multicultural Classrooms

Abstract

Recent years have seen a growing interest in fostering inclusivity and interaction among individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds in FL or L2 classes, which has led to the proliferation of intercomprehension practices in language teacher education, facilitating teachers' identity development, intercultural sensitivity, and plurilingual awareness. Using plurilingualism as a conceptual framework, the data of this qualitative study is collected from a pre-service teacher education program and an intensive language education program at two state universities. Building on the previous research and challenges reported by in-service teachers in multicultural and multilingual classrooms, some scenarios are formed with prompts to reveal metaphors, followed by semi-structured interviews to elaborate on the participants' perspectives. In light of the findings, some suggestions and implications are provided with pedagogical purposes to soften the bonds among different cultures in language classrooms and foster interaction among members of different societies and awareness of plurilingual competences. Acknowledging the substantial impact of English language teachers' intercultural sensitivity, diversity, and inclusion, and an emerging need for enhanced educational equality and social justice in teacher training, this study contributes to the existing research by providing implications for teacher identity development.

Keywords

• Multicultural Classrooms
• Plurilingual Awareness
• Pre-Service Teachers
• In-ServiceLanguage Instructors

Çok Kültürlü Sınıflarda Çok Dilli Farkındalık Oluşturma hakkında Öğretmen Adayları ve Akademisyenlerin Bakış Açıları

Öz

Son yıllarda, eğitimde farklı dil ve kültürel geçmişlere sahip bireyler arasında kapsayıcılığı ve etkileşimi teşvik etme konusunda artan bir ilgi görülmektedir. Bu durum, İngilizce öğretmeni eğitiminde karşılaşılan zorlukların giderilmesine yardımcı olan dil bilinci geliştirme, çok kültürlü duyarlılık ve çok dilli farkındalığı kolaylaştıran dil öğretimi uygulamalarının artmasına sebep olmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, bu nitel çalışmanın verileri, iki farklı devlet üniversitesinde bulunan, bir İngiliz Dili Eğitimi Programı’nda eğitim gören öğretmen adaylarından ve bir Hazırlık Okulu’nda görev yapan İngilizce öğretmenlerinden toplanmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında, literatürdeki araştırmalara ve çok kültürlü ve çok dilli sınıflarda öğretmenlerin karşılaştıkları zorluklara dayanarak, metaforlar bağlamında bazı senaryolar oluşturulmuştur. Bu adımları takiben, katılımcıların bakış açılarını detaylandırmak amacıyla yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Çalışma detaylı irdelendiğinde, dil sınıflarındaki farklı kültürler arasındaki bağları güçlendirmek ve farklı toplum üyeleri arasında etkileşimi teşvik etmek amacıyla bazı pedagojik öneriler sunulduğu görülmektedir. Bu öneriler doğrultusunda, bu çalışmanın, İngilizce öğretmenlerinin kültürlerarası duyarlılığının yüksek olması gerekliliği varsayımını kabul ederek ve öğretmen eğitiminde eğitim eşitliğinin ve sosyal adaletin vurgulanmasına duyulan ihtiyacı göz önünde bulundurarak, öğretmen kimliği gelişimine dikkat çekerek mevcut araştırmalara katkıda bulunması beklenmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Çok Kültürlü Sınıflar
• Çok Dilli Farkındalık
• Öğretmen Adayları
• İngilizce Öğretmenleri

Kaynakça

1. Atay, D., Kurt, G., Çamlibel, Z., Ersin, P. (2009). The Role of Intercultural Competence in Foreign Language Teaching. İnönü Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.17679/iuefd.26655.
2. Bailey, A., & Gruber, A. (2020). Challenges and other feedback: Integrating intercultural learning in the Digital Age. The EuroCALL Review, 28(1), 3-14.
3. Beacco, J. C., & Byram, M. (2007). From linguistic diversity to plurilingual education: Guide for the development of language education policies in Europe. Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe Publishing.
4. Birello, M., Llompart-Esbert, J., & Moore, E. (2021). Being plurilingual versus becoming a linguistically sensitive teacher: Tensions in the discourse of initial teacher education students. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2021.1900195.
5. Busch, B. (2017). Expanding the notion of the linguistic repertoire: On the concept of Spracherleben-the lived experience. Applied Linguistics, 38(3), 340-358. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amv030.
6. Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
7. Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching. Council of Europe: Strasburg.
8. Cataldo-Schwarzl, L., Haim, O., & Vetter, E. (2023). Investigating the role of plurilingual pre-service language teachers' psychological landscape in their learning-to-teach process. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2023.2197237.

9. Chen, G. M., & Starosta, W. J. (2000). The development and validation of the intercultural sensitivity scale. Human Communication, 3, pp. 1-15.
10. Chen, L., Karas, M., Shalizar, M., & Piccardo, E. (2022). From "promising controversies" to negotiated practices: A research synthesis of plurilingual pedagogy in global contexts. TESL Canada Journal, 38(2), 1-35. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v38i2.1354.
11. Council of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
12. Council of Europe. (2018). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment-Companion volume with new descriptors. https://rm.coe.int/cefrcompanion-volume-with-new-descriptors-2018/1680787989.
13. Coste, D., Moore, D., & Zarate, G. (2009). Plurilingual and pluricultural competence. Language Policy Division, Strasburg.
14. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
15. De Jong, E. (2013). Preparing mainstream teachers for multilingual classrooms. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 7(2). 40-49.
16. Galante, A., Okubo, K., Cole, C., Abd Elkader, N., Carozza, N., Wilkinson, C., ... & Vasic, J. (2019). Plurilingualism in higher education: A collaborative initiative for the implementation of plurilingual pedagogy in an English for academic purposes program at a Canadian university. TESL Canada Journal, 36(1), 121-133. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v36i1.1305
17. Galante, A. (2022). Plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC) scale: the inseparability of language and culture, International Journal of Multilingualism, (19)4, 477-498. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2020.1753747.
18. Galante, A., Zeaiter, L., F., dela Cruz, J.W.N., Massoud, N., Lee, L., Aronson, J., de Oliveira, D. S. A., & Teodoro-Torres, J. A. (2023). Digital plurilingual pedagogies in foreign language classes: empowering language learners to speak in the target language, The Language Learning Journal, DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2023.2179654
19. Haim, O., Orland-Barak, L., & Goldberg, T. (2020). The role of linguistic and cultural background in EFLnovices' induction period. International Journal of Multilingualism, 19(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2020.1715412.
20. Halpern, C., Özfidan, B., & Rasool, S. (2022). Pre-service teachers' perceptions of cultural competence to teach culturally and linguistically diverse students. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2102642.
21. Hopp, H., Thoma, D., Kieseier, T., Jakisch, J., & Sturm, S. (2022). Early plurilingual foreign language teaching in mixed classrooms: Linguistic and metalinguistic predictors of foreign language development among majority-language and minority-language students in EFL classes. System, 108, 102828.
22. Krulatz, A., & Torgersen, E. N. (2016). The role of the EFL classroom in maintaining multilingual identities: Issues and considerations in Sør-Trøndelag public schools. In K. Amanti, J. Álvarez Valencia, & E. Mackinney (Eds.), Critical views on teaching and learning English around the globe (pp. 53–68). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
23. Larsen-Freeman, D., & Todeva, E. (2021). A sociocognitive theory for plurilingualism: Complex dynamic systems theory. In E. Piccardo, A. Germain-Rutherford, & G. Lawrence (Eds.), Routledge handbook of plurilingual language education (pp. 209-224). Routledge.
24. Lauwo, M. S., Accurso, K., & Rajagopal, H. (2022). Plurilingualism, equity, and pre-service teacher identity: Centring [Linguistic] diversity in teacher education. TESL Canada Journal, 38(2), 113-139. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v38i2.1359.
25. Lucas, T., & Grinberg, J. (2008). Responding to the linguistic reality of mainstream classrooms: preparing all teachers to teach English language learners. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser and D. J. McIntyre (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education: Enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd ed., pp. 606-636). Routledge.
26. Maatouk, Z., & Payant, C. (2022). The pertinence and feasibility of implementing a plurilingual approach in Quebec, Canada: the beliefs of pre-service ESL teachers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(10), 3685-3697. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.207268.1
27. Marshall, M., & Moore, D. (2016). Plurilingualism amid the panoply of lingualisms: addressing critiques and misconceptions in education, International Journal of Multilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2016.1253699.
28. Mayfield, V. (2020). Cultural competence now: 56 exercises to help educators understand and challenge bias, racism, and privilege. ASCD.
29. Moloney, R., & Giles, A. (2015). Plurilingual pre-service teachers in a multicultural society: Insightful, invaluable, invisible. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 38(3), 123-138. https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.38.3.03mol.
30. Munro, A., & Pearson, C. (2006). The Munroe multicultural attitude scale questionnaires: A new instrument for multicultural studies. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(5), 819–834. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405285542.
31. Niemi, P. M., & Hahl, K. (2019). Reproducing, disrupting and reforming understanding of cultural diversity: Theorising future subject teachers' pedagogical reflections. Teaching Education, 30(3), 319-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2018.1478809.
32. Nieto, S. (2010). Language, culture, and teaching: Critical perspectives (2nd ed.). Routledge.
33. Otwinowska, A. (2014). Does multilingualism influence plurilingual awareness of Polish teachers of English? International Journal of Multilingualism, 11(1), 97-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2013.820730.
34. Piccardo, E., Antony-Newman, M., Chen, L., & Karamifar, B. (2021). Innovative features of a plurilingual approach in language teaching: Implications from the LINCDIRE project. Critical Multilingualism Studies, 9(1), 128-155.
35. Pinho, A. S. (2019). Plurilingual education and the identity development of pre-service English language teachers: An illustrative example. In P. Kalaja, & S. Melo-Pfeifer (Eds.), Visualising multilingual lives: More than words (pp. 214-231). Multilingual Matters.
36. Potts, D., & Cutrim Schmid, E. (2022). Plurilingual practice in language teacher education: An exploratory study of project design and ideological change. AILA Review, 35(1), 60-88. https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.22007.pot.
37. Ryan, G. W., & Bernard, H. R. (2003). Techniques to Identify Themes. Field Methods, 15(1), 85–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822x02239569.
38. Santos Alves, S. & Mendes, L. (2006). Awareness and practice of plurilingualism and intercomprehension in Europe. Language and Intercultural Communication, 6(3-4), 211-218. https://doi.org/10.2167/laic248.0.
39. Torres, C. A., & Tarozzi, M. (2020). Multiculturalism in the world system: towards a social justice model of inter/multicultural education. Globalisation, societies and education, 18(1), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2019.1690729.
40. Watson, J., Solomon, B., Morote, E-S., & Tatum, S. (2011). The effects of speaking a second language in teachers' multicultural understanding. One Voice International Conference and Forum, Washington, DC.
41. Werner, R., & Todeva, E. (2022). Plurilingualism and multimodality: The metanoia within reach. TESL Canada Journal, 38(2), 214-227. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v38i2.1362.