Investigating the role of teacher agency on adopting plurilingual methodologies in language teaching
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/2564-2855.46Keywords:
plurilingualism, language teaching, teacher agency, teacher identityAbstract
This research paper explores the critical role of teacher agency in the implementation and effectiveness of plurilingual strategies in educational contexts. It investigates how teachers’ beliefs, identities, and capabilities influence their adoption of plurilingual methods and assesses the impact of these factors on curriculum design. The discussion focuses on the dualistic nature of teacher agency, which can both enable and limit teachers as they deal with the complexities of plurilingual education. The paper reviews literature that illuminates the challenges and possibilities created by teacher agency, providing insights into how it shapes educational strategies and outcomes. It offers recommendations on how teacher education programs can leverage this agency to enhance plurilingual education effectively. This paper not only clarifies essential concepts but also critically examines the role of agency in advancing plurilingual educational practices, deepening the understanding of its application across educational settings.
References
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. W. (2008). Control mechanisms in bilingual language production: Neural evidence from language switching studies. Language and Cognitive Processes, 23, 557–582. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690960801920602
Abutalebi, J., & Green, D. W. (2016). Neuroimaging of language control in bilinguals: A neurocognitive model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(4), 689-698. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000225
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(4), 240-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001
Bourdieu, P., & Thompson, J. B. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Harvard University Press.
Chen, L., Karas, M., Shalizar, M., & Piccardo, E. (2022). From “Promising Controversies” to Negotiated Practices: A Research Synthesis of Plurilingual Pedagogy in Global Contexts. TESL Canada Journal, 38(2), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.18806/tesl.v38i2.1354
Coffey, S., & Leung, C. (2020). Understanding agency and constraints in the conception of creativity in the language classroom. Applied Linguistics Review, 11(4), 607–623. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2018-0115
Coste D. (2014). Plurilingualism and the challenges of education. In P. Grommes & H. Wu (Eds), Plurilingual education: Policies – Practices – Language development, John Benjamins (pp. 15–32).
Council of Europe (2020). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Companion volume, Council of Europe Publishing.
Ellis, E. (2013). The ESL teacher as plurilingual: An Australian perspective. TESOL Quarterly, 47, 446–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.120
Esteve, O. (2020). Teacher agency in plurilingual learning contexts. In S. Laviosa & M. González-Davies (Eds.). The Routledge handbook of translation and education. Routledge. (pp. 417-433). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367854850-26
Galante, A. (2020). The moment I realized I am plurilingual: Plurilingual tasks for creative representations in EAP at a Canadian university. Applied Linguistics Review, 11(4), 551-580. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2018-0116
Galante, A., & dela Cruz, J. W. N. (2021). Plurilingual and pluricultural as the new normal: an examination of language use and identity in the multilingual city of Montreal. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1931244
Galante, A., Okubo, K., Cole, C., Abd Elkader, N., Wilkinson, C., Carozza, N., Wotton, C., & Vasic, J. (2020). English-only is not the way to go: Teachers’ perceptions of plurilingual instruction in an English program at a Canadian university. TESOL Quarterly, 54(4), 980–1009. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.584
Garcia, O. (2019). Decolonizing foreign, second, heritage, and first languages: Implications for education. In D. Macedo (Ed) Decolonizing foreign language education (pp. 152–168). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429453113-6
Hiver, P., & Whitehead, G. E. K. (2018). Sites of struggle: Classroom practice and the complex dynamic entanglement of language teacher agency and identity. System (Linköping), 79, 70–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.04.015
Kubota, R. (2016). The multi/plural turn, postcolonial theory, and neoliberal multiculturalism: Complicities and implications for applied linguistics. Applied linguistics, 37(4), 474-494. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amu045
Lortie, D. C. (1977). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. University of Chicago Press.
Maclellan, E. (2017). Shaping Agency through theorizing and practising teaching in teacher education. In D. J. Clandinin & J. Husu, (Eds) The SAGE handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 253–268).
Pauwels, A. (2014). The teaching of languages at university in the context of super-diversity. International Journal of Multilingualism, 11(3), 307-319. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2014.921177
Piccardo, E. (2013). Plurilingualism and curriculum design: Toward a synergic vision. TESOL Quarterly, 47, 600–614. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.110
Piccardo, E. (2018). Plurilingualism: Vision, conceptualization, and practices. In: P. Trifonas & T. Aravossitas (Eds) Handbook of research and practice in heritage language education. Springer.
Priestley, M., Edwards, R., Priestley, A., & Miller, K. (2012). Teacher agency in curriculum making: Agents of change and spaces for manoeuvre. Curriculum inquiry, 42(2), 191-214. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2012.00588.x
Priestley, M., Biesta, G. J. J., Philippou, S., & Robinson, S. (2015). The teacher and the curriculum: Exploring teacher agency. The SAGE handbook of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, 187-201.
Tao, J., & Gao, X. (2017). Teacher agency and identity commitment in curricular reform. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 346–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.01.010
Valencia, M., Herath, S. & Gagne, A. (2020). Unpacking professional identity: The use of multimodal identity texts and duoethnographies in language teacher education. In B. Yazan & K. Lindahl (Eds.), Language teacher identity in TESOL: Teacher education and practice as identity work (pp.101-122). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429342875-9
Van De Craen, P., & Mondt, K. (2003). Multilingual education, learning and the brain: The end of language education as a pre-scientific field. In L. Mondada & S. Pekared-Doehler (Eds) Plurilingualism-Mehrsprachigkeit. Tübingen (pp. 209-220).
Wernicke, M. (2018). Plurilingualism as an agentive resource in L2 teacher identity. System (Linköping), 79, 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2018.07.005
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Farya Mokhtari Mirabadi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
-
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
