Abstract
In most education systems in the world, the unequal power relationships across languages mean that it is far easier to learn dominant languages and far more difficult to develop one’s literacy in a minority language. In the face of such inequality in contemporary multilingual primary classrooms, a new conceptualization of language education is required. Following on Hawkins’s proposal to develop a new approach he called language awareness (LA), many researchers in Europe and elsewhere have proposed awareness-raising activities aimed at exploring the functioning of language and languages in everyday life through the acknowledgment of students’ plurilingual repertoires as resources for learning. While not teaching one specific language, LA is meant to promote the emergence of a new linguistic culture in schools that can answer some of the challenges posed by multilingualism and multiculturalism.
Research on LA at primary has pointed to the holistic and inclusive dimension of this model of language education and on the way it can transform the schooling experience of minority speaking students whose linguistic, cultural, and identity capital becomes validated through LA activities. Because LA challenges negative discourses on minority languages and their speakers, it also has an effect on teachers’ perception of bi-/multilingualism and can be used in teacher education to develop a critical awareness of power issues related to languages. However, new research is needed to elaborate a more theoretically coherent conceptualization of LA and to find out whether, beyond the empowerment of immigrant learners and their family, such a model can give enough long-term support to emergent bilinguals and minority language speakers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alby, S. (2010). ‘Innover à l’école en contexte guyanais. Le projet pluralité des langues à l’école’. In R. Ailincai & M. -F. Crouzier (Eds.), Pratiques éducatives dans un contexte multiculturel: l’exemple plurilingue de la Guyane. Cayenne, Guyane: CRDP Guyane.
Balsiger, C., Köhler, D. B., De Pietro, J.-F., & Perregaux, C. (Eds.). (2012). Éveil aux langues et approches plurielles. De la formation des enseignants aux pratiques de classe. Paris: l’ Harmattan.
Beacco, J. C. (2007). Guide for the development of language education policies in Europe. From linguistic diversity to plurilingual education. Strasbourg: Language Policy Division, Council of Europe.
Blackledge, A., & Creese, A. (Eds.). (2014). Heteroglossia as practice and pedagogy. Dordrecht: Springer.
Byram, M. (2000). Linguistic diversity and democratic citizenship. In Linguistic diversity for democratic citizenship in Europe. Proceedings, Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
Candelier, M. (2003). L’éveil aux langues à l’école primaire. EVLANG: bilan d’une innovation. Bruxelles: De Boeck.
Candelier, M. (Ed.). (2012). CARAP – Compétences et ressources./FREPA – Competences and Resources’. Graz :CELV. http://carap.ecml.at/
Castellotti, V., & Moore, D. (2002). Représentations sociales des langues et Enseignements. Strasbourg: Division des Politiques Linguistiques, Conseil de l’Europe.
Cenoz, J. (2009). Towards multilingual education. Basque educational research from an international perspective. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Clerc, S., & Rispail, M. (2012). Quand les étudiant-e-s se risquent à l’Éveil aux langues’. In C. Balsiger, D. Bétrix Köhler, J.-F. de Pietro, & C. Perregaux (Eds.), Éveil aux langues et approches plurielles. De la formation des enseignants aux pratiques de classe (pp. 123–138). Paris: l’ Harmattan.
Combes, E., Armand, F., & Lory, M. P. (2012). Quand les enfants animent des activités d’éveil aux langues. In C. Balsiger, D. Bétrix Köhler, J.-F. de Pietro, & C. Perregaux (Eds.), Éveil aux langues et approches plurielles. De la formation des enseignants aux pratiques de classe (pp. 139–158). Paris: l’ Harmattan.
Cummins, J. (2012). Language awareness and academic achievement among migrant students. In C. Balsiger, D. Bétrix Köhler, J.-F. de Pietro, & C. Perregaux (Eds.), Éveil aux langues et approches plurielles. De la formation des enseignants aux pratiques de classe (pp. 41–56). Paris: l’ Harmattan.
Cummins, J., & Early, M. (Eds.). (2011). Identity Texts. The collaborative creation of power in multilingual schools. Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.
Dabène, L. (1989). Problèmes posés par l’enseignement des langues minorées’. In B. Py & R. Jeanneret (Eds.), Minorisation linguistique et interaction (pp. 179–186). Genève/Neuchâtel: Faculté des Lettres/Droz.
Dagenais, D., Moore, D., Sabatier, C., Lamarre, P., & Armand, F. (2009). Linguistic landscape and language awareness. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic landscape, expanding the scenery (pp. 253–269). London: Routledge.
Frijns, C., Sierens, S., Van Gorp, K., Van Avermaet, P., Sercu, L., & Devlieger, M. (2011).’t Is goe, juf, die spreekt mijn taal! Wetenschappelijk rapport over talensensibilisering in de Vlaamse onderwijscontext [It is okay, miss, he speaks my language! A Scientific Report on Language Awareness in the Flemish Educational Context]. Belgium: University of Leuven & Ghent University, Leuven & Ghent.
Frijns, C. Hélot, C. Van Gorp, K., & Sierens, S. (Eds.). (to appear, 2015). Language awareness in multilingual classrooms: From theory to practice. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Garcia, O. (2008). Multilingual language awareness and teacher education. In J. Cenoz & N. Hornberger (Eds.), Knowledge about language (2nd ed., Vol. 6, pp. 385–400). New York: Springer.
Genelot, S. (2001). Evaluation quantitative du cursus EVLANG. Rapport de recherche du programme Evlang: http://jaling.ecml.at
Haenisch, H., & Thürmann, E. (1994). Begegnung mit Sprachen in der Grundschule. Eine empirische Untersuchung. Zum Entwicklungsstand, zur Akzeptanz und zu den Realisierungsformen von Begegnung mit Sprachen in den Grundschulen Nordrhein Westfalens, Arbeitsberichte zur Curriculumentwicklung, Schul-und Unterrichtsforschung n°30. Soest: Landesinstitut für Schule und Weiterbildung.
Hancock, A. (2012). Capturing the linguistic landscape of Edinburgh: A pedagogical tool to investigate student teachers’ understanding of cultural and linguistic diversity’. In C. Hélot, M. Barni, R. Janssens, & C. Bagna (Eds.), Linguistic landscapes, multilingualism and social change (pp. 249–266). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Hancock, A., Hemmerling, S., Landon, J., & Young, A. (2006). Building on language diversity with young children. Vienna: LIT Verlag.
Hawkins, E. (1984). Awareness of Language, an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hawkins, E. (1999). Language awareness. In B. Spolsky (Ed.), Concise encyclopedia of educational linguistics (pp. 413–419). Oxford: Pergamon.
Hélot, C. (2012). Linguistic diversity and education. In M. Martin-Jones, A. Blackledge, & A. Creese (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of multilingualism (pp. 214–231). Abingdon: Routledge.
Hélot, C., & Young, A. (2006). Imagining multilingual education in France: A language and cultural awareness project at primary school. In O. Garcia, T. Skutnabb-Kangas, & M. E. Torres-Guzman (Eds.), Imagining multilingual schools. Languages in education and glocalization (pp. 69–90). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Hélot, C., Sneddon, R., & Daly, N. (Eds.). (2014). Children’s literature in multilingual classrooms. From multiliteracy to multimodality. London: A Trentham Book/Institute of Education Press.
Hornberger, N. (2003). Continua of biliteracy. An ecological framework for educational policy, research, and practice in multilingual settings. Clevedon: Multiligual Matters.
James, C., & Garrett, P. (Eds.). (1992). Language awareness in the classroom. Harlow: Longman.
Kervran, M. (2006). Les langues du monde au quotidien (2 vols.). Paris: CNDP-CRDP.
Little, D., Leung, C., & Van Avermaet, P. (Eds.). (2014). Managing diversity in education. Languages, policies, pedagogies. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Mary, L., & Young, A. (2010). Preparing teachers for the multilingual classroom: Nurturing reflective, critical awareness. In S. Ehrhart, C. Hélot, & A. Le Nevez (Eds.), Plurilingualism and teacher education, a critical approach (pp. 195–219). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Moore, D. (Ed.). (1995). L’éveil au langage. Notions en questions. Rencontre en didactique des langues, n°1, Crédif. Paris: LIDILEM/Didier Erudition.
Perregaux, C., De Goumoëns, C., Jeannot, D., & De Pietro, J. F. (2003). Education et Ouverture aux langues à l’école: EOLE, Vol 1 & 2, Conférence Intercantonale de l’Instruction Publique de la Suisse Romande et du Tessin, Neuchâtel.
Roulet, E. (1980). Langues maternelles et langues secondes: Vers une pédagogie intégrée. Paris: Hatier.
Svalberg, A. M.-L. (2007). Language awareness and language learning. Language Teaching, 40, 287–308.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Hélot, C. (2016). Awareness Raising and Multilingualism in Primary Education. In: Cenoz, J., Gorter, D., May, S. (eds) Language Awareness and Multilingualism. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_29-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_29-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02325-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02325-0
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Awareness Raising and Multilingualism in Primary Education- Published:
- 27 December 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_29-2
-
Original
Awareness Raising and Multilingualism in Primary Education- Published:
- 30 August 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_29-1