The pertinence and feasibility of implementing a plurilingual approach in Quebec, Canada: the beliefs of pre-service ESL teachers

ABSTRACT

The field of language pedagogy has increasingly advocated for the implementation of plurilingual approaches which promote learners’ ability to mobilize all linguistic resources at their disposal in order to communicate in different situations with various interlocutors [Cabré Rocafort 2019. “The Development of Plurilingual Education Through Multimodal Narrative Reflection in Teacher Education: A Case Study of a Pre-Service Teacher’s Beliefs About Language Education.” Canadian Modern Language Review 75 (1): 40–64; Coste, Moore, and Zarate 2009. Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence.]. The implementation of such approaches, however, relies greatly on teachers’ openness and ability to help their learners explore their linguistic and cultural repertoires. To date, the beliefs of pre-service teachers (PSTs) in Quebec regarding the implementation of plurilingual approaches remain under-researched. This exploratory study aimed at examining the beliefs of future teachers regarding the pertinence and feasibility of implementing a plurilingual approach, as well as the impact of teacher education and previous language learning experiences on these beliefs. An online questionnaire was shared with undergraduate ESL teacher education programs across the province of Quebec and answers from 52 PSTs were collected and analyzed. Results suggest that future teachers were reluctant to implement a plurilingual approach, despite holding positive beliefs towards certain underlying principles of plurilingualism. Findings also indicate that PSTs are heavily encouraged, during teacher education, to maintain a monolingual class policy. Pedagogical implications are discussed in light of research on plurilingualism and PSTs’ beliefs.

KEYWORDS:

• Plurilingualism
• plurilingual approaches
• English as a second language
• beliefs
• pre-service teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zeina Maatouk

Zeina Maatouk holds an M.A. in Language Education from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She is also an ESL teacher and a researcher whose interests include plurilingual approaches, plurilingual learners' beliefs and teacher cognition. She is currently working on material development in support of French for Academic Purposes learners.

Caroline Payant

Caroline Payant is an associate professor in the Department of Language Education at the Université du Québec à Montréal. She specializes in additional language teaching from a plurilingual perspective. Her work with additional language learners, pre-service teachers, and novice writers can be found in journals such as Foreign Language Annals, Language Teaching Research, Canadian Modern Language Review, Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, and TESL Canada Journal.