6 Supporting Multilingual Learning in Educational Contexts: Lessons from Poland, Finland and California

Abstract

The chapter addresses how multilingual learning can be supported in educational contexts. We argue that all children need support for their languages and opportunities to become familiar with linguistic diversity. We briefl y defi ne multilingualism and highlight selected linguistic and cognitive features of multilingual children. Then we zoom in on educational solutions in three very diff erent contexts, two in the EU (Poland and Finland) and one in the USA (California). With the provided contextual background we discuss some of the challenges that learners might experience at school, depending on how support for multilingual learning is implemented in a given context. Finally, we argue that supporting multilingual learning can be enhanced in everyday practices and discuss solutions for supporting multilingual learning from the perspective of teachers and teacher training.

A study on how the Merdeka curriculum promotes multilingualism in Indonesian ELT classrooms

“…As a result, students were more creative, critical, and collaborative and had communication abilities because of individual competencies and linguistic situations that occurred in different civilizations in Indonesia. Thus, supporting multilingual learning is increasingly important in various educational contexts since it is essential for promoting students' academic achievement and overall well-being (Bernstein et al, 2023;Otwinowska et al, 2023)…”