Teaching and learning in a multilingual Europe: findings from a cross-European study

Abstract

School classrooms within the EU are multilingual learning environments. The diversity of pupils in classrooms raises significant challenges for teachers, but to date, there are no data from large-scale surveys that compare views within and across European countries. A bespoke questionnaire was designed to examine views of current classroom learning environments with respect to the multilingualism. The questionnaire was piloted and subsequently completed by 2792 teachers across different European countries. Eleven countries provided sufficient data for analyses. Results from structural equation modelling showed that teachers’ attitudes could be reliably measured across Europe with the use of carefully devised questionnaire, whose loading and factor structure remained invariant across countries. Teachers’ views about multilingualism were most challenged by the numbers of children in their classes, not the percentage of multilingual pupils in the class. Countries differed in how they perceived multilingualism, with their differences leading to distinctive country clusters. Gender and education level (elementary vs. secondary) differences were also observed irrespective of country. These findings enhance our understanding of the role that the characteristics of teachers and their classrooms play in a multilingual setting across diverse European settings. The practical relevance of the results and new opportunities for teacher training are discussed.

Policy and Practice for Multilingual Educational Settings

“…Pajares (1992) noted that teachers' beliefs might contradict one another. As recent research on teachers' beliefs about multilingualism shows, there is a gap between general positive beliefs about multilingualism and negative beliefs in teaching in practice (Basturkmen, 2012;Dockrell et al, 2022). As Bredthauer and Engfer indicate (2019: 112) 'The blatant discrepancy between the theoretical approval of multilingual didactics and lack of actual translations into teaching can be explained with regard to the teachers' insecurity and lack of knowledge how to integrate the concepts into their lessons'.…”

Methodological Issues in Literacy Research Across Languages: Evidence From Alphabetic Orthographies

“…Several factors challenge cross-linguistic studies focusing on word-level reading. Literacy, for example, as expressed primarily by the home literacy environment (e.g., Manolitsis, Georgiou, Stephenson, & Parrila, 2009) and teaching, have a different status among countries because of historical or cultural reasons (Dockrell et al, 2021). Additionally, the educational systems have marked differences regarding school entry age or the role of early education.…”

Teaching and Learning Statistics in Multilingual Classrooms: A Collaborative Study

“…The issues of mathematics teaching and learning in multilingual and multicultural contexts are strongly located in the dynamics of a highly globalized society of the 21st century. Classrooms deemed to be multicultural are places where learners have different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, where they may speak one language at home and another language at school, where teachers and students may not share a common language or cultural background, and where some or all of the students are learning the language of instruction as a second language (Dockrell et al 2022;Lesser & Winsor, 2009).…”