Unpacking teachers’ language ideologies: attitudes, beliefs, and practiced language policies in schools in Alsace, France

Abstract

In France, most teachers still receive scant training in how to support plurilingual children in their learning of and through the language of instruction. In the absence of relevant, in-depth knowledge about language, we believe that many teachers are practising language policies based on beliefs rooted in ideologies unsupported by research findings.

In this paper, we will present and analyse data from interviews with head teachers (n = 46) from a variety of schools in the Strasbourg area, north-east France. Critical, interpretive analysis of the reported discourse reveals evidence of linguistic hierarchies, separate spaces for different languages, a profusion of bilingual myths and a persistent monolingual habitus at school. Our findings underline the importance of uncovering and analysing teachers’ language ideologies in a bid to better understand the influences and obstacles preventing them from practising informed language policies with respect to plurilingual language development.

Keywords:

• language awareness
• attitudes
• ideologies
• school
• teachers
• plurilingualism

Acknowledgements

My thanks go to students of the University of Strasbourg without whose help I could not have conducted this research, as well as to the two anonymous reviewers for their extensive feedback.

Note

Notes

1. All questions, interview, and publication extracts have been translated by the author from French to English.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrea S. Young

Andrea Young gained her PhD degree from Aston University in 1994 for research into motivation and attitudes towards foreign language learning. She is currently a lecturer in language education at the ESPE (Ecole Supérieure du Professorat et de l’Education), Université de Strasbourg in France. Her research and teaching interests include teacher education for the support of plurilingual pupils, developing educational partnerships between home, school and the community, bi/plurilingualism/literacy, language awareness, and intercultural education.