http://www.multilingual-education.com The latest research articles published by Multilingual Education 2013-05-15T00:00:00Z With labor needs increasing in many developed countries, the mobility among unskilled laborers from less developed countries continues to grow. In understanding this mobility, it is essential to examine the local environment in which it occurs to fully understand its effect on individuals and their language use. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the parameters that come into play on the local and global level that affect the language experiences and attitudes of individual workers. In accomplishing this goal, I examine the experience of twelve migrant workers to Singapore, a county with an insatiable need for labor, consumed with becoming a key player in the global market, and having a local variety of English that is viewed negatively by many. All of these factors are highly relevant to the experience of foreign workers in SingaporeIn this paper I analyze data gathered from interviews with foreign workers employed in Singapore on their use of English, as well as their attitudes toward Singlish, a local variety of English. Whereas all of them come to Singapore out of a desire to better their economic condition, as well as that of their families, their individual experience in Singapore is greatly affected by gender, by working conditions, and by their own view of themselves as English users. This analysis exemplifies how users of English, sharing similar goals and local conditions, can interpret these experiences in unique ways, demonstrating the need to never neglect individual interpretation in the interplay of globalization and localization. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/3/1/3 Sandra McKay Multilingual Education 2013, null:3 2013-05-15T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-3-3 /content/figures/2191-5059-3-3-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 3 2013-05-15T00:00:00Z PDF n.a. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/3/1/2 Michel Lafon Multilingual Education 2013, null:2 2013-02-25T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-3-2 /content/figures/2191-5059-3-2-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 2 2013-02-25T00:00:00Z XML Europe is at the forefront of the development of policies that promote multilingualism in its member states, both on the social and the institutional level, as well as plurilingualism on the individual level. As Europe faces the challenge of multilingual education and diversity on various and exceedingly heterogeneous levels with regard to plurilinguals’ realities, stakeholders and key decision-makers have developed visions of the situation of language teacher education and its structures. This paper presents these visions and provides insights from a recent critical evaluation of the policy instrument “European profile for language teacher education” (first published in 2004). Based on the study results obtained from a hundred decision-makers and language teacher trainers who participated in a European study on language teacher education, we discuss their perspectives relative to the current training infrastructure available in Europe. This study highlights key problematic issues, especially in light of the increasingly diverse student bodies, and highlights potential solutions for the European language context. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/3/1/1 Gudrun Ziegler Multilingual Education 2013, null:1 2013-02-22T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-3-1 /content/figures/2191-5059-3-1-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 1 2013-02-22T00:00:00Z XML Through interviews with Paraguayan parents, teachers, intellectuals, and policy makers, this paper examines why the implementation of Guaraní-Spanish bilingual education has been a struggle in Paraguay. The findings of the research include: 1) ideological and attitudinal gaps toward Guaraní and Spanish between the political level (i.e., policy makers and intellectuals) and the operational level (i.e., parents and teachers); 2) insufficient and/or inadequate Guaraní-Spanish bilingual teacher training; and 3) the different interpretations and uses of the terms pure Guaraní (also called academic Guaraní) and Jopará (i.e., colloquial Guaraní with mixed elements of Spanish) between policy makers and intellectuals, and the subsequent issue of standardizing Guaraní that arises from these mixed interpretations. Suggestions are made to carve out a space wherein we might imagine an adequate implementation of bilingual education. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/2/1/6 Hiroshi Ito Multilingual Education 2012, null:6 2012-10-03T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-2-6 /content/figures/2191-5059-2-6-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 6 2012-10-03T00:00:00Z XML A set of young Korean EFL learners (n = 208) participated in a multi-instrument study of the relationship between English proficiency and several learner variables. Participants were given 1) a questionnaire exploring their attitudes towards an English-only teaching approach in EFL classrooms and perceptions of teachers’ English use, 2) measures of proficiency in their mother tongue and English, and 3) a test of vocabulary knowledge. The results of the regression analysis show that Korean proficiency, vocabulary knowledge, and the amount of English instruction one can understand were strongly predictive of their English proficiency, but their attitudes towards an English-only approach were found to have little relation to English proficiency. The results of the questionnaire analysis further suggest that the young EFL learners involved in the study were not in favor of an English-only teaching approach, which matches previous findings but runs counter to the common assumption that young English learners are less opposed to being exposed to such an approach. The findings here suggest that an English-only approach delivered via one particular English variety is neither a learner-favored one nor a cutting-edge teaching method. Instead, they support the recent movement towards bilingualism. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/2/1/5 Jang Ho Lee Multilingual Education 2012, null:5 2012-06-15T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-2-5 /content/figures/2191-5059-2-5-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 5 2012-06-15T00:00:00Z XML This is a study of the development of mathematical discourse among biliterate pre-service teachers. Mathematical discourse is a multimodal discourse, in which mathematical meaning is constructed through multiple semiotic systems. Furthermore, in the continua of biliteracy framework, being able to construct meaning while drawing on multiple points of the continua promotes biliterate development. However, the ways in which biliterate pre-service teachers draw on both multimodality and biliteracy to develop mathematical discourse is a rarely researched topic. In this case study, data were gathered from participant-observation of a college mathematics class for pre-service teachers, participant interviews and small group study sessions at a public university on the U.S./Mexico border. A major component of the class was communicating mathematics meaningfully. Participant structures in which writing mediated communication were identified. In the classroom, students communicated with a variety of audiences in English, and through their participation students became socialized into mathematical discourse. However, it was in study sessions outside the classroom where students were able to draw on their biliteracy and multimodal resources more fully. In study sessions, participants used multimodality and biliteracy to engage with one another while at the same time forging an incipient identity as bilingual/biliterate teachers. Implications for teaching bilingual/biliterate college students are offered. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/2/1/4 Alberto Esquinca Multilingual Education 2012, null:4 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-2-4 /content/figures/2191-5059-2-4-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 4 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z XML The large influx of Chinese language learners into the People's Republic of China from different countries shapes the Chinese as a foreign language classroom as a multilingual and multinational domain. However, how Chinese language teachers perceive their choice of codes for teaching and communicating with international Chinese language learners remains an under-researched area. To investigate Chinese language teachers' language beliefs toward code choice in teaching Chinese as a foreign language, 24 Chinese language teachers from four universities in Beijing were invited to participate in this study. Findings indicated that although Chinese language teachers endeavored to abide by a Chinese-only principle, English was regularly and strategically employed as an international lingua franca (English as a lingua franca, ELF) for explanatory, managerial and interactive functions. The study concluded by proposing an "ELF pedagogy" for Chinese language teachers to consider in increasingly multilingual classrooms. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/2/1/3 Danping Wang Andy Kirkpatrick Multilingual Education 2012, null:3 2012-01-24T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-2-3 /content/figures/2191-5059-2-3-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 3 2012-01-24T00:00:00Z XML After the handover of Hong Kong to China, a first-ever policy of "bi-literacy and tri-lingualism" was put forward by the Special Administrative Region Government. Under the trilingual policy, Cantonese, the most dominant local language, equally shares the official status with Putonghua and English only in name but not in spirit, as neither the promotion nor the funding approaches on Cantonese match its legal status. This paper reviews the status of Cantonese in Hong Kong under this policy with respect to the levels of government, education and curriculum, considers the consequences of neglecting Cantonese in the school curriculum, and discusses the importance of large-scale surveys for language policymaking. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/2/1/2 Kwai Sang Lee Wai Mun Leung Multilingual Education 2012, null:2 2012-01-09T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-2-2 /content/figures/2191-5059-2-2-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 2 2012-01-09T00:00:00Z XML This paper reports the results of a study which explored systematic use of L1 for the benefit of L2 development. Students of a comparative linguistic course in a teacher education program were asked to design a series of tasks for Chinese learners of English in local schools. Three different ways of using L1 were discerned from their design and rationale: 1) taking advantage of similarities between Chinese and English language systems; 2) taking advantage of differences between the two language systems proactively or reactively; and 3) taking advantage of learners' conceptual understanding in L1 for L2 learning. Such attempts to use L1 systematically and judiciously in L2 classrooms are in line with the recent calls for a paradigm shift in bilingual/FL education (e.g., Butzkamm and Caldwell, 2009 ) and a guilt-free life in using MT in TL classrooms ( Swain, Kirkpatrick and Cummins, 2011 ). Viewing L1 as potentially valuable teaching/learning resources instead of a mere source of interference opens up greater pedagogical space and hence may bear constructive implications for L2 instruction, especially in homogenous contexts where both teachers and learners share the same MT and TL. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/2/1/1 An He Multilingual Education 2012, null:1 2012-01-06T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-2-1 /content/figures/2191-5059-2-1-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 1 2012-01-06T00:00:00Z XML Rapid growth of English language learner populations has challenged teachers, particularly because English language learners' academic success and second-language literacy are closely linked. Using qualitative research methods and verbal protocols, this study pursued two goals, namely examining English language learners' meaning-making processes as they engage in reading activities and how they construct meaning within particular contexts. Results document that dialogic responsive reading offers English language learners the zone of meaning construction for apprehending and mastering within and about domains.These English language learners adopted dialogic-responsive reading, relying on five domains: cultural, aesthetic, efferent, dialogic, and critical. These domains offer English language learners an evolving responsive reading strategy to develop second-language literacy. These five domains are interwoven with the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse learners to render the learning process more meaningful and effective. English language learners position themselves centrally, retaining their cultures' values, experiences, and perspectives while embracing new content and knowledge in the reading process. http://www.multilingual-education.com/content/1/1/2 Deoksoon Kim Multilingual Education 2011, null:2 2011-12-16T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/2191-5059-1-2 /content/figures/2191-5059-1-2-toc.gif Multilingual Education 2191-5059 ${item.volume} 2 2011-12-16T00:00:00Z XML