Traditionally, teachers of majority languages receive less training to teach a language as a second language or to develop the plurilingual repertoire of their learners than, for example, foreign language teachers. Yet, in today's societies, learners bring many different languages to school. This means that the teaching of the majority language has to extend beyond teaching it as a first language and adopt elements of second language teaching. This publication aims to encourage teachers to become agents of reform for the promotion of plurilingualism in majority language teaching. The range of proposed actions includes small-scale activities, such as planning a lesson relating to a specific aspect of grammar which incorporates all languages spoken in the classroom. More comprehensive strategic approaches proposed in the materials involve head teachers or parents.

The Routledge Handbook of Plurilingual Language Education is the first comprehensive publication on plurilingualism, offering a multidimensional reflection on the nature, scope, and potential of plurilingualism in language education and society. Authored by a range of internationally recognized experts, the Handbook provides an overview of key perspectives on plurilingualism in a complementary range of fields. After a comprehensive introduction to the concept itself, 24 chapters are organized in six parts, each examining plurilingualism through a different lens. The Handbook spans historical, philosophical, and sociological dimensions, examines cognitive and neuroscientific implications, and the limitations of boundaries before moving to a pragmatic perspective: How is plurilingual language education developing in different contexts around the world? How can it contribute to language revitalization? How can it be expected to develop in education, digital spaces, and society as a whole? Written for an international audience, this handbook is an indispensable reference tool for scholars in education and applied linguistics, educators, graduate and post-graduate students, and policy makers.

This book introduces a new topic to applied linguistics: the significance of the TESOL teacher’s background as a learner and user of additional languages. The development of the global TESOL profession as a largely English-only enterprise has led to the accepted view that, as long as the teacher has English proficiency, then her or his other languages are irrelevant. The book questions this view. Learners are in the process of becoming plurilingual, and this book argues that they are best served by a teacher who has experience of plurilingualism. The book proposes a new way of looking at teacher linguistic identity by examining in detail the rich language biographies of teachers: of growing up with two or more languages; of learning languages through schooling or as an adult, of migrating to another linguaculture, of living in a plurilingual family and many more. The book examines the history of language-in-education policy which has led to the development of the TESOL profession in Australia and elsewhere as a monolingual enterprise. It shows that teachers’ language backgrounds have been ignored in teacher selection, teacher training and ongoing professional development. The author draws on literature in teacher cognition, bilingualism studies, intercultural competence, bilingual lifewriting and linguistic identity to argue that languages play a key part in the development of teachers’ professional beliefs, identity, language awareness and language learning awareness. Drawing on three studies involving 115 teachers from Australia and seven other countries, the author demonstrates conclusively that large numbers of teachers do have plurilingual experiences; that these experiences are ignored in the profession, but that they have powerful effects on the formation of beliefs about language learning and teaching which underpin good practice. Those teachers who identify as monolingual almost invariably have some language learning experience, but it was low-level, short-lived and unsuccessful. How does the experience of successful or unsuccessful language learning and language use affect one’s identity, beliefs and practice as an English language teacher? What kinds of experience are most beneficial? These concepts and findings have implications for teacher language education, teacher professional development and the current calls for increased plurilingual practices in the TESOL classroom.

European society in the 21st century is characterised by increasing linguistic and cultural diversity and this offers valuable resources both on the economic and ideational level. At the same time, this growing diversity raises challenges to societies in terms of ensuring greater equity and social cohesion. In this book, the authors discuss the role of languages and multilingualism in the education system and at the interface of formal education and the home environment in this time of transition. They offer perspectives of four European countries, namely Germany, Greece, Ireland and Poland. By this, the authors aim to provide teacher educators, interested teachers and also other stakeholders in the education system with essential contextual information and related pedagogical considerations in the areas of language acquisition, multilingualism, multilingual upbringing, whole-school development and language-sensitive teaching.

The book proposes a round the world exploration of the way our traditionally monolingual school systems are being challenged by students from diverse language backgrounds, forcing educationalists to question entrenched ideologies of language and challenging teachers in their everyday classrooms to rethink their relationships to language learning and the issue of diversity.

This volume comprises 16 chapters – both research papers and theoretical contributions – grouped in three thematic sections. The chapters in the first part, entitled "Discourse Communities: Languages in Contact," adopt a social and/or historical perspective on bi-/multilingualism. The contributions in the second part, entitled "Languages in the Mind: Language Development and Language Use," view issues related to bi- and multilingualism from psycholinguistic and psychological perspectives. The chapters comprising the third part, "Language Education: Supporting Multilingual Development," adopt a broadly understood didactic perspective on bi-/multilingualism.

This book addresses contemporary issues in the assessment of plurilingual competence and plurilingual learners. Offering theoretical and practical lenses, it contributes towards an integrated and holistic assessment of plurilingual competence and plurilingual learners. The book provides both theoretical considerations and empirical approaches around how the specificities of plurilingual learners can be considered when assessing their various competences. It covers topics relating to learners in a variety of plurilingual settings: from the education of adult immigrants, assessment of young refugees and assessment of students in school and university, to the assessment of plurilingual competence in foreign language education. Showcasing a wide range of international authors, the book provides cutting-edge research in the domain of multilingual foreign, second and heritage language assessment, and assessment of content knowledge of plurilingual students. It bridges the gap between the fields of language policies and practices, research on plurilingual competence, and assessment in language education. Providing new insights into a crucial and contentious issue, this volume will be an essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of educational language policies, applied linguistics and multilingualism, in particular those involved in the assessment of plurilingual competence.