Scoping review on primary school teachers’ beliefs on multilingualism in classroom teaching

Figures & data

Table 1. Inclusion and exclusion criteria covered in the study.

Inclusion	Exclusion
English publication	Non-English publication
Peer-reviewed articles	Grey literature
Published between 2012 and 2022	Studies written before 2012
Full text available	Only abstract available
In-service primary school teachers	Pre-service primary school teachers

Figure 1. Review process and results.

Graph 1. Distribution of studies by country.

Graph 2. Distribution of studies published by year of publication.

Graph 3. Distribution of studies according to methodological approach.

Table 2. The concept of multilingualism belief according to language context.

Language context	References
Major languages	Arocena Egaña et al., 2015; Farrell & Guz, 2019; Gartziarena & Villabona, 2022; Gorter & Arocena, 2020; Lundberg, 2019a; Lundberg, 2019b; Toledo et al., 2022; Wallen & Kelly-Holmes, 2017.
Minor languages	Arocena Egaña et al., 2015; Alisaari et al., 2019; Barrenechea, 2018; Björklund, 2013; Cunningham, 2019; Dlugaj & Fürstenau, 2019; Hammer et al., 2018; Higgins & Ponte, 2017; Mitits, 2018; Knudsen et al., 2021; Krulatz et al., 2024; Pohlmann-Rother et al., 2023; Putjata & Koster, 2023; Rodríguez-Izquierdo et al., 2020; et al., 2017a; et al., 2017b.
Local languages	Fredricks & Warriner, 2016; Harden et al., 2022; Maseko, 2022; Norro, 2021; Oduor, 2015; Omidire & Ayob, 2022; Terra, 2021.

Figure 2. Shaping of the beliefs of primary school teachers on multilingualism in teaching.

Arocena Egaña, E., Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2015). Teachers’ beliefs in multilingual education in the Basque country and in Friesland. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 3(2), 169–193. https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.3.2.01aro

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Farrell, T. S. C., & Guz, M. (2019). "If I wanted to survive I had to use it": The power of teacher beliefs on classroom practices. TESL-EJ, 22(4), https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1204614.

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Gartziarena, M., & Villabona, N. (2022). Teachers’ beliefs on multilingualism in the Basque Country: Basque at the core of multilingual education. System, 105, 102749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2022.102749

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Gorter, D., & Arocena, E. (2020). Teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism in a course on translanguaging. System, 92, 102272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102272

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Lundberg, A. (2019). Teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism: Findings from Q method research. Current Issues in Language Planning, 20(3), 266–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2018.1495373

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Lundberg, A. (2019). Teachers’ viewpoints about an educational reform concerning multilingualism in German-speaking Switzerland. Learning and Instruction, 64), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101244

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Toledo, G., Lizasoain, A., & Cerda, K. (2022). Preservice and inservice teachers’ language ideologies about non-Spanish-speaking students and multilingualism in Chilean classrooms. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 11(1), 83–104. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jtee/issue/69772/1054963

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Wallen, M., & Kelly-Holmes, H. (2017). Developing language awareness for teachers of emergent bilingual learners using dialogic inquiry. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 20(3), 314–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2015.1051506

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Alisaari, J., Heikkola, L. M., Commins, N., & Acquah, E. O. (2019). Monolingual ideologies confronting multilingual realities. Finnish teachers’ beliefs about linguistic diversity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 48–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.01.003

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Barrenechea, I. (2018). What about elementary level teachers: A closer look at the intersection between standardization and multilingualism. Global Education Review, 5(2), 203–222. https://ger.mercy.edu/index.php/ger/article/view/380.

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Björklund, M. (2013). Multilingualism and multiculturalism in the Swedish-medium primary school classroom in Finland—Some teacher views. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 6(1), 117–136. https://www.iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/36.

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Cunningham, C. (2019). ‘The inappropriateness of language’: Discourses of power and control over languages beyond English in primary schools. Language and Education, 33(4), 285–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2018.1545787

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Dlugaj, J., & Fürstenau, S. (2019). Does the use of migrant languages in German primary schools transform language orders? Findings from ethnographic classroom investigations. Ethnography and Education, 14(3), 328–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2019.1582348

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Hammer, S., Viesca, K., Ehmke, T., & Heinz, B. (2018). Teachers’ beliefs concerning teaching multilingual learners: A cross-cultural comparison between the US and Germany. Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education.

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Higgins, C., & Ponte, E. (2017). Legitimating multilingual teacher identities in the mainstream classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 101(S1), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12372

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Mitits, L. (2018). Multilingual students in Greek schools: Teachers’ views and teaching practices. Journal of Education and e-Learning Research, 5(1), 28–36. https://doi.org/10.20448/journal.509.2018.51.28.36

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Knudsen, H. B. S., Donau, P. S., Mifsud, L., Papadopoulos, C., Dockrell, T. C., & E, J. (2021). Multilingual classrooms—Danish teachers’ practices, beliefs and attitudes. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 65(5), 767–782. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2020.1754903

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Krulatz, A., Christison, M., Lorenz, E., & Sevinç, Y. (2024). The impact of teacher professional development on teacher cognition and multilingual teaching practices. International Journal of Multilingualism, 711–727. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2022.2107648

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Pohlmann-Rother, S., Lange, S. D., Zapfe, L., & Then, D. (2023). Supportive primary teacher beliefs towards multilingualism through teacher training and professional practice. Language and Education, 212–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2021.2001494

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Putjata, G., & Koster, D. (2023). ‘It is okay if you speak another language, but … ’: Language hierarchies in mono- and bilingual school teachers’ beliefs. International Journal of Multilingualism, 891–911. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2021.1953503

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Rodríguez-Izquierdo, R. M., Falcón, I. G., & Permisán, C. G. (2020). Teacher beliefs and approaches to linguistic diversity. Spanish as a second language in the inclusion of immigrant students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 90, 103035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103035

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Van Der Wildt, A., Van Avermaet, P., & Van Houtte, M. (2017). Multilingual school population: Ensuring school belonging by tolerating multilingualism. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 20(7), 868–882. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2015.1125846

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Van Der Wildt, A., Van Avermaet, P., & Van Houtte, M. (2017). Opening up towards children’s languages: Enhancing teachers’ tolerant practices towards multilingualism. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 28(1), 136–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2016.1252406

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Fredricks, D. E., & Warriner, S. D. (2016). “We speak English in here and English only!”: Teacher and ELL youth perspectives on restrictive language education. Bilingual Research Journal, 39(3-4), 309–323. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2016.1230565

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Harden, K., Punjabi, M., & Fernandez, M. (2022). Influences on teachers’ use of the prescribed language of instruction: Evidence from four language groups in the Philippines. Education Quarterly Reviews, 5(1), https://doi.org/10.31014/aior.1993.05.01.460

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Maseko, B. (2022). Translanguaging and minoritised language revitalisation in multilingual classrooms: Examining teachers’ agency. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 40(2), 162–176. https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2022.2040370

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Norro, S. (2021). Namibian teachers’ beliefs about medium of instruction and language education policy implementation. Language Matters, 52(3), 45–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2021.1951334

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Oduor, J. A. (2015). Towards a practical proposal for multilingualism in education in Kenya. Multilingual Education, 5(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13616-014-0015-0

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Omidire, M. F., & Ayob, S. (2022). The utilisation of translanguaging for learning and teaching in multilingual primary classrooms. Multilingua, 41(1), 105–129. https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2020-0072

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Terra, S. E. L. (2021). Bilingual education in Mozambique: A case-study on educational policy, teacher beliefs, and implemented practices. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 24(1), 16–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2018.1441803

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