Challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in Australian schools
This study critically interrogates dominant discourses and practices in school settings, which reveal the legitimisation and perpetuation of a monolingual mindset. Through the lens of ‘Critical Multilingual Language Awareness’ (CMLA), this research unpacked the experiences and practices of language...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2024
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95061 |
| _version_ | 1848765963220025344 |
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| author | Vellz, Leonardo Chen, Julian |
| author_facet | Vellz, Leonardo Chen, Julian |
| author_sort | Vellz, Leonardo |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This study critically interrogates dominant discourses and practices in school settings, which reveal the legitimisation and perpetuation of a monolingual mindset. Through the lens of ‘Critical Multilingual Language Awareness’ (CMLA), this research unpacked the experiences and practices of language teachers who implement the New South Wales (NSW) mandated language curriculum and, where possible, create opportunities for adjustments to language syllabi for greater awareness of diversity and plurilingualism. Data was gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews with four high-school language teachers at independent schools in NSW, Australia. The interview addressed teachers’ proficiency and knowledge of subject matter, their views of the (im)possibilities of the NSW language curriculum for developing plurilingual learners, and perceived challenges that appear to prevent multi/plurilingualism from being at the forefront of Australian language education. Findings revealed that despite teachers’ strong commitment to languages education, they feel discouraged about the limited focus at national and State government levels on consistent and systematic multilingual education. This not only diminishes every effort made by teachers to transform pedagogies for pedagogies for multilingualism but also legitimises a dominant underlying rhetoric of monolingualism that does not adhere to the principles of educating for democratic citizenship. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:43:36Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-95061 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:43:36Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-950612024-06-10T00:20:26Z Challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in Australian schools Vellz, Leonardo Chen, Julian This study critically interrogates dominant discourses and practices in school settings, which reveal the legitimisation and perpetuation of a monolingual mindset. Through the lens of ‘Critical Multilingual Language Awareness’ (CMLA), this research unpacked the experiences and practices of language teachers who implement the New South Wales (NSW) mandated language curriculum and, where possible, create opportunities for adjustments to language syllabi for greater awareness of diversity and plurilingualism. Data was gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews with four high-school language teachers at independent schools in NSW, Australia. The interview addressed teachers’ proficiency and knowledge of subject matter, their views of the (im)possibilities of the NSW language curriculum for developing plurilingual learners, and perceived challenges that appear to prevent multi/plurilingualism from being at the forefront of Australian language education. Findings revealed that despite teachers’ strong commitment to languages education, they feel discouraged about the limited focus at national and State government levels on consistent and systematic multilingual education. This not only diminishes every effort made by teachers to transform pedagogies for pedagogies for multilingualism but also legitimises a dominant underlying rhetoric of monolingualism that does not adhere to the principles of educating for democratic citizenship. 2024 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95061 10.1080/01434632.2024.2352161 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Taylor & Francis fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Vellz, Leonardo Chen, Julian Challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in Australian schools |
| title | Challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in Australian schools |
| title_full | Challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in Australian schools |
| title_fullStr | Challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in Australian schools |
| title_full_unstemmed | Challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in Australian schools |
| title_short | Challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in Australian schools |
| title_sort | challenging the monolingual mindset: language teachers’ pushback and enactment of critical multilingual language awareness in australian schools |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95061 |