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Bilinguisme et multilinguisme : compétences transversales, mobilité et bien-être : introduction

Nikolay Slavkov, Nina Woll, Caroline Dault, Pierre-Luc Paquet and Laura Ambrosio

Bilingualism and multilingualism: Transversal competencies, mobility, and well-being: Introduction

Nikolay Slavkov, Nina Woll, Caroline Dault, Pierre-Luc Paquet and Laura Ambrosio

Plenary Speaker. Critical Framing of Transversal Competences: Promoting Intercultural Responsibility through Cross-language and Cross-curricular Teacher Collaborations

Sunny Man Chu Lau
Transversal competences have gained importance in educational programs, particularly with the emphasis on plurilingual approaches in the Common European Framework of Reference. These competences include global citizenship, intercultural communication, and critical thinking. However, many educational statements define these competences narrowly, often reflecting a neoliberal agenda focused on market-oriented education. This paper repositions transversal competences within critical pedagogy and decolonial perspectives, centering language education on students’ critical global perspectives and intercultural reflexivity for civic engagement. Drawing on Guilherme’s concept of intercultural responsibility, I discuss a collaborative action research study with two Quebec elementary teachers (English and French) to show how their cross-language efforts promoted students’ transferable language skills, enhanced students’ cultural awareness, and fostered a reflexive disposition to work across differences and embrace collective responsibility in an increasingly interconnected world.

Pedagogy of care in intercultural approaches to languages education

Kelle L. Marshall and Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng
Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic revealed in new ways the vulnerabilities of students’ sense of self, especially in the contexts of intercultural orientations to language education where critical self-reflection can be disorienting for learners. We propose a pedagogy of care to manage such decentering, aiding the formation of caring communities of practice and development of student flourishing. Our data derives from a teacher education course on intercultural orientations to language education and mediation, taught virtually in 2020. We analysed email exchanges between the professor and students and transcribed Zoom class sessions to examine the instructor’s pedagogy based on Noddings’s ethics of care. We identify six components within the instructor’s pedagogy: relationship; motivational displacement; person in context; flexibility; engrossment; mentality of care. Students’ expressions of reciprocity suggest possibilities for their own adoption of care and flourishing. We propose that a caring and compassionate approach to pedagogy can be instrumental in mediating a space where students might develop not only intercultural competencies but also a positionality of care.

Polyglottes, langues et négociations identitaires

Natalia Dankova
The article presents some results of a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with multicultural polyglots from different countries. Participants regularly use at least four living languages and have close ties with several countries (family, friends, work, studies, etc.).The study addresses issues related to identity negotiations, distortions in the perception of polyglots’ identity by those around them, the degree of importance given to the recognition of identity as defined by polyglots themselves, the elements retained to define themselves or others, the relationship with the languages used and the role that these languages play in the construction and the definition of identity.

De l’insécurité à la sécurité linguistique chez les jeunes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick : une perspective longitudinale

Isabelle Violette
Linguistic insecurity has been documented for 30 years in New Brunswick’s Acadian communities. The Boudreau-Dubois survey, conducted between 1989 and 1994 among francophone high school students, was the first to show devaluing attitudes towards spoken French in Acadia, to varying degrees between minority and majority regions. But are these findings still valid 30 years later? This contribution aims to provide some answers based on the preliminary results of a survey conducted in the spring of 2023. The aim is to analyze the most recent data collected from a longitudinal perspective. Preliminary results show that today’s young francophones are more language-secure than in the past, although regional differences remain significant.

Définir le développement bilingue harmonieux : la relation entre les attitudes langagières des enfants et leur comportement social et affectif

Ekaterina Tiulkova, Vanda Marijanović, Larisa Seredova and Barbara Köpke
Harmonious bilingual development (HBD) characterizes families where well-being isn’t affected by the linguistic situation. Several studies examined the relation between children’s language proficiency and well-being, along with the role of the efforts towards dual language acquisition made by parents and schools for the development of socialemotional and behavioral skills (SEBS). However, HBD requires further exploration due to the unique bilingual experiences. Our study delves into children’s language attitudes and SEBS, using both parent and child data. Thirty-seven Russian-French five-year-old bilinguals in France were interviewed regarding their attitude towards languages and their parents questioned about the children’s social and affective behavior. Data were analysed with correlations and ordinal logistic regression indicating a connection between well-being and positive language sentiments. When children equally favor both languages, they feel more capable in both, show increased positive prosocial skills and reduced behavioral difficulty scores.

Language, dreams, and integration: Stories from Canada’s LINC students

Albert Maganaka
This article investigates the dynamics of language learning and cultural integration within the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program, focusing on the experiences of three former students who completed Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 5 proficiency in Alberta. Through qualitative interviews and questionnaire responses, this article explores how participation in the LINC program influenced their personal and professional growth, the ways in which the program assisted them, and their future goals in Canada. Drawing on Norton’s theoretical framework of identity, investment, and imagined communities, the research highlights the multifaceted nature of language learning and its implications for immigrant adaptation and socio-economic integration. The findings underscore the students’ resilience, commitment, and aspirations in navigating linguistic and cultural transitions, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of language education and immigrant integration in the Canadian context. Recommendations include diversifying participants, integrating student feedback, and exploring blended learning approaches.

Using digital technologies with immigrant plurilingual language learners: A research synthesis

Francis Bangou, Cameron W. Smith, Cindy Savard, Heather Koziol, Stephanie Arnott, Douglas Fleming, Carole Fleuret and Joël Thibeault
With massive migratory flows observed around the world, schools are experiencing an unprecedented increase in the enrolment of children who speak multiple languages. Educators are called upon to facilitate immigrant plurilingual students’ inclusion and development of functional competencies in the target language(s), often using digital technologies (DTs) to promote language learning and plurilingual teaching practices. This research synthesis explores the research trends, methods, and findings from studies focused on the use of DTs with immigrant plurilingual language learners. The results highlight that DTs are used in heterogeneous contexts to support the development of immigrant plurilingual students’ overall language proficiency, (multi)literacies, engagement, as well as identity development. However, teachers and learners may require additional support to use DTs and plurilingual practices to their full potential. These concerns point to the need for ongoing professional learning and contextualised supports for educators at the intersection of these areas.

Quand le napolitain s’invite en cours d’italien

Simone Bacci
This article proposes a didactic solution for introducing learners of Italian to the complex linguistic repertoire of Italy, in order to strengthen their sociolinguistic competence. In particular, we share the results of anonymous surveys submitted to an intermediate-level class’s students, designed to determine their perception of the usefulness of studying regional accents, dialects, and code-switching during a standard language course, as well as their level of motivation and the theoretical benefits of opening up to cultural diversity.

Le soutien au développement d’un réseau de soutien professionnel auprès de futurs enseignants du français langue seconde

Melissa Dockrill Garrett and Josée LeBouthillier
This qualitative case study examines the mobilization of character strengths in a pre-service teacher education program to foster the development of a professional support network for future teachers of French as a second language (FSL). The aim of the study was to examine how three teacher candidates (CAEs) built their professional support networks at university and school when their FSL didactics professor, also their internship mentor, adopted an appreciative advising approach. Reflective journals kept by FSL CAEs during the fall and winter terms, internship reports, e-mails and research notes from conversations were analyzed qualitatively. Results demonstrate the benefits of adopting a strengths-based approach in a teacher education program to foster the development of future FSL teachers’ professional support network, as well as systemic barriers.

L’accès à l’information pour les citoyens sourds québécois dans un contexte de multilinguisme et de diglossie

Anne-Marie Parisot and Amélie Voghel
Focusing on the situation of deaf bilingualism in Canada, where sign languages (SLs) are in a situation of diglossia with respect to the official languages, we examine the role and status of SLs in accessibility policies and in Quebecers deaf citizens’ perceptions of equal access to information. Our analysis of deaf citizens’ perceptions and experience (7 focus groups, 13 interviews) shows that adequate accessibility is defined by i) the respect of political commitments, ii) the establishment of norms of accessibility involving free choice of language, iii) personal control of technical parameters, iv) the recognition of deaf expertise’s, and v) the requirement of training and qualification. This analysis reveals a dichotomy between the absence of language policies regarding canadian SLs and the Accessible Canada Act’s goal of eliminating obstacles to information accessibility.

The use of cross-linguistic mediation tasks in developing learners’ transversal competences

Maria Stathopoulou and Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer
Cross-linguistic mediation, a competence introduced by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in 2001, knows a new momentum after the recent publication of the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR-CV), in 2020, which introduces new cando statements for the teaching and assessment of mediation. Situated within the framework of plurilingual and intercultural education, mediation is intended to directly contribute to the development not only of plurilingual and pluricultural competence but also of transversal competences which have recently come to the forefront in language education. This article discusses the role of cross-linguistic mediation tasks in developing learners’ transversal competences, including digital competences, intercultural understanding, organizational skills, global citizenship, social skills, media and information literacy, teamwork, and collaboration skills. This contribution aims at highlighting the link between mediation and transversal competences through the presentation and discussion of specific task examples, drawing upon the METLA project.

Linguistic risk-taking in inclusive contexts: The case of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)

Kim-Sarah Schick and Andreas Rohde
A Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport is an excellent means to orchestrate Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and different learner needs in inclusive settings. We identified core areas in which learners with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) face linguistic risk-taking. Two semi-structured expert interviews were conducted and qualitative content analysis was carried out to identify specific linguistic risks of learners with DLD in and outside of school.Our results suggest that learners with DLD need systematic support in choosing and facing the next appropriate linguistic risks that lead to healthy risk-taking. We argue that this can contribute to an exploitation of their learning potential and to social-emotional well-being. Numerous linguistic risks are related to an increased sensitivity in the affective domain. The data analysis led to tentative hypotheses for a Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport for learners with DLD.

An example of multilingual language use: Ukrainian and Russian loanwords in the Transcarpathian variety of the Hungarian language in Ukraine

Krisztián Váradi
This article considers the peculiarities of the language use of Transcarpathian Hungarian students, with a focus on the knowledge of the meanings of Ukrainian and Russian loanwords. In this research, a total of 63 students from local colleges, universities and vocational schools solved five different tasks during an online survey. They were asked to describe pictures in Hungarian, to replace Ukrainian and Russian borrowings with Hungarian standard equivalents, to solve multiple choice questions on the meaning of loanwords, to name concepts based on definitions, and to list additional loanwords from their everyday language use. The results show that the majority of the Transcarpathian Hungarian students are familiar with the meanings of Slavic lexical borrowings; however, they prefer the Hungarian language equivalents due to their mother tongue dominance. The only exceptions are culture-specific terms (xenisms), including the names of currencies, institutions, and food.