This research topic stems from the "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Multilingualism" conference, which was hosted by the Language Research Centre at the University of Calgary. It was the first conference of its kind, which brought together the work of researchers, educators, and policy makers in the areas of first and second language acquisition from psycholinguistic and pedagogical perspectives. The goal was to provide an opportunity for participants to engage with the implications of multilingualism from a range of perspectives, including the effects of being bilingual from infancy to adulthood, the process and benefits of learning multiple languages, and the impact of multilingualism on society.
This book stems from the joint effort of 25 research teams across Europe, representing a dozen disciplines from the social sciences and humanities, resulting in a radically novel perspective to the challenges of multilingualism in Europe. The various concepts and tools brought to bear on multilingualism are analytically combined in an integrative framework starting from a core insight: in its approach to multilingualism, Europe is pursuing two equally worthy, but non-converging goals, namely, the mobility of citizens across national boundaries (and hence across languages and cultures) and the preservation of Europe’s diversity, which presupposes that each locale nurtures its linguistic and cultural uniqueness, and has the means to include newcomers in its specific linguistic and cultural environment. In this book, scholars from applied linguistics, economics, the education sciences, finance, geography, history, law, political science, philosophy, psychology, sociology and translation studies apply their specific approaches to this common challenge. Without compromising the state-of-the-art analysis proposed in each chapter, particular attention is devoted to ensuring the cross-disciplinary accessibility of concepts and methods, making this book the most deeply interdisciplinary volume on language policy and planning published to date.
Recently intensified global mobility has reinforced the interest for ethnolinguistic diversity and multilingualism in education and society. Interdisciplinary Research Approaches to Multilingual Education brings together current interdisciplinary perspectives in multilingual and second language education to examine research and language teaching in specific countries, as well as different aspects of multilingual education that include language policies and ICT applications. Containing context-specific practical interventions and relevant theoretical approaches, it considers the contemporary challenges of language policies and practices to inform teacher and curriculum development based on international empirical research. The chapters of this book are centered around the following themes: Educational programs and policies Teaching and learning Linguistic diversity ICT and language learning This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in language education, bilingual education, second/foreign language learning, CALL, and applied linguistics. It will also appeal to educational administrators and those involved with language education policies.
Current applied linguistic research generally supports the adoption of interdisciplinary approaches in education with the objective of enhancing learners’ progress and teachers’ practices. In this spirit, this edited volume explores the issue of cross-curricular learning and teaching from a wider perspective. The twenty-three papers collected here are categorised in four thematic units, all of which, however, share a common feature: they focus on interdisciplinary learning and promote the integration of knowledge and skills from various subject areas. As such, all the papers brought together in this volume, thus, emphasise the interconnectedness of knowledge and ideas in primary, secondary and tertiary education. The theme of Cross-Curricular Teaching and Learning is related in this volume to Intercultural Education, to Content and Language Integrated Learning, and to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The book will be of interest to scholars who are interested in relevant research-based data and results, and to educators who wish to update their knowledge about cross-curricular teaching and improve their language teaching practices.
Through several unique perspectives and contexts, this volume contributes to current understanding of agency in second language learning. It includes chapters discussing theoretical, analytical and pedagogical approaches, and will serve as a key reference for researchers of language learning and teaching.
The analysis of language attitudes is important not only because attitudes can affect language maintenance and language change but also because such reflections and discussions can bring light to social, cultural, political and educational matters that require an interdisciplinary approach. This volume fills a crucial void in the field of Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics by introducing the latest production in the discipline of attitudes toward Spanish, Spanish sign language, Portuguese, Guarani and Papiamentu around the world, from South America and the Caribbean to the United States, Spain and Japan. The studies presented in this collection – a variety of sociolinguistic scenarios and methodological approaches – will make an important contribution to theoretical discussions on linguistic attitudes, specifically in the domains of language integration through education, language policy, and language maintenance. This book is intended for sociolinguists, social scientists and scholars in the humanities as well as graduate students enrolled in sociolinguistics courses.
How are words organized in the bilingual mind? How are they linked to concepts? How do bi- and multilinguals process words in their multiple languages? Contributions to this volume offer up-to-date answers to these questions and provide a detailed introduction to interdisciplinary approaches used to investigate the bilingual lexicon.
Multilingualism remains a thorny issue in many contexts, be it cultural, political, or educational. Debates and discourses on this issue in contexts of diversity (particularly in multicultural societies, but also in immigration situations) are often conducted with present-day communicational and educational needs in mind, or with political and identity agendas. This is nothing new. There are a vast number of witnesses from the ancient West-Asian and Mediterranean world attesting to the same debates in long past societies. Could an investigation into the linguistic landscapes of ancient societies shed any light on our present-day debates and discourses? This volume suggests that this is indeed the case. In fourteen chapters, written and visual sources of the ancient world are investigated and explored by scholars, specialising in those fields of study, to engage in an interdisciplinary discourse with modern-day debates about multilingualism. A final chapter – by an expert in language in education – responds critically to the contributions in the book to open avenues for further interdisciplinary engagement – together with contemporary linguists and educationists – on the matter of multilingualism.
This volume provides a state-of-the-art treatment of research on language attrition, the non-pathological loss of a language through lack of exposure. It combines a review of past and present research with in-depth treatments of specific theoretical and methodological issues and reports on individual studies. Special prominence is given to the identification of problematic areas in attrition research, with a view to pointing out possible solutions. The book specifically addresses itself to those who wish to acquaint themselves with the research area of language attrition, providing them with both a thorough overview of the field and a basis on which to build their own research. The combination of experience and an innovative outlook present in this collection, however, make it a valuable source for those familiar with attrition as well. Especially useful to both beginners and veterans is the extensive annotated bibliography.
Regardless of the discipline or country, creating quality education is multifaceted. At the center of any schooling practice are the educators, their schools, and the teacher education programs that license them. As the schools and faculties of education strive to provide the best practices to pre-service or in-service teachers, it becomes more critical to increase the quality of teacher education via various means to keep up with the demands of schooling in the 21st century. Interdisciplinary Approaches Toward Enhancing Teacher Education provides an overview of how innovation and research experience can enhance teacher education programs with a focus on competencies, skills, and strategies future teachers will need to cope with while teaching students’ learning with diversity and facing linguistic, social, and environmental challenges. The book particularly investigates the potentiality of educational technology, innovative techniques, and digital storytelling to enhance education and bilingualism in intercultural contexts and multilingual settings. Covering topics that include performance assessment, teacher training, and professional development, and including many practical and diverse examples, this book is intended for TESOL, second or foreign language learning, and CUL programs and teacher-training institutions, as well as teachers, researchers, academicians, and students in interdisciplinary areas that include science, history, geography, language learning, bilingualism, intercultural competencies, classroom interaction, gamification, and educational technology.
