In this colloquium, we present a transnational comparative study on the attitudes and beliefs on multilingualism of primary-school teachers. Interview data were collected in eight countries (France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK) spanning a wide range of societal and ideological circumstances. Using the same data collection instruments, based on one joint interview protocol, we created comparable data sets.

Since teachers form the essential link between top-down policies and bottom-up practices, their attitudes on multilingualism in general and on parental involvement in particular are critical to achieving positive education outcomes for multilingual students. Yet, there is an extensive gap in studies that generate comparable cross-country data that may facilitate our understanding of the potential impact of societal perceptions.

This open symposium will discuss key educational perspectives and practices in relation to linguistic diversity across countries and communities. We are interested in how societal groups perceive, react to, and manage linguistic diversity, and how this is reflected in formal and informal educational programs and initiatives. The focus of this symposium lies on trans- and intranational comparisons, in an attempt to extend beyond the traditionally nationally oriented research on multilingualism in education, while acknowledging the different linguistic ecologies within nations as well.

This symposium, organized by the AILA Research Network on Social and Affective Factors in Home Language Maintenance and Development (HOLM ReN), will focus on language policy. While language policies are established and applied at all levels of society, we will pay particular attention to the home as a site where language policies are negotiated and contested, as families are the principal language managers and ultimately responsible for intergenerational language transmission or shift.

The 53rd annual conference of the Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) will run in an online format on 13th-15th December 2020. The theme this year is Building Bridges, and in the spirit of building bridges, we are organising a multidisciplinary workshop at the conference, on the topic of bi/multilingualism and disability.

A conference organised by Uniwersytet Szczeciński (Poland).

Call for papers

We invite papers on topics related to social, socio-cognitive, psychological, neurolinguistic and educational aspects of bilingualism and multilingualism:

Description:

This one-day symposium aimed at sharing research that had been carried out by members of the ReN, as part of the ReN activities, or on the ReN topic of social and affective factors in home language maintenance and development.