Although languages other than English, along with various forms of translation, are intrinsic to multilingual researchers’ scholarly activities, they generally remain less visible in English-medium publications. In this discussion paper, I explore this topic from a broader sociopolitical perspective by looking at the use and function of translation in various stages of research and writing for publication. Drawing on recent studies on multilingualism in academia and my own experience as a teacher of research communication, I argue that in the academic context, translation cannot be seen as a mere linguistic act or a communication tool as it is inextricably tied to complex and multilayered contexts, identities, and ideologies. Thus, translation decisions should not be based solely on practical considerations but also on a critical evaluation of the intricate social, cultural, ethical, and ideological dimensions of scholarly communication and interaction. Developing a greater awareness of the multiple functions and far-reaching effects of translation is beneficial for all actors directly or indirectly involved in scholarly research and publishing. I believe that a deeper reflection on these issues not only contributes to more diversity and equity in academia but enables novice multilingual writers to embrace their agency and make decisions that are better aligned with their personal values, interests, and goals.
{"title":"Translation and dealing with “the other” in scholarly research and publishing:","authors":"Adrienn Károly","doi":"10.47862/apples.114741","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.114741","url":null,"abstract":"Although languages other than English, along with various forms of translation, are intrinsic to multilingual researchers’ scholarly activities, they generally remain less visible in English-medium publications. In this discussion paper, I explore this topic from a broader sociopolitical perspective by looking at the use and function of translation in various stages of research and writing for publication. Drawing on recent studies on multilingualism in academia and my own experience as a teacher of research communication, I argue that in the academic context, translation cannot be seen as a mere linguistic act or a communication tool as it is inextricably tied to complex and multilayered contexts, identities, and ideologies. Thus, translation decisions should not be based solely on practical considerations but also on a critical evaluation of the intricate social, cultural, ethical, and ideological dimensions of scholarly communication and interaction. Developing a greater awareness of the multiple functions and far-reaching effects of translation is beneficial for all actors directly or indirectly involved in scholarly research and publishing. I believe that a deeper reflection on these issues not only contributes to more diversity and equity in academia but enables novice multilingual writers to embrace their agency and make decisions that are better aligned with their personal values, interests, and goals.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124512249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This brief conceptual essay addresses the fundamental antinomy between, on the one hand, promoting a multilingual approach to reading and, on the other, deconstructing linguistic boundaries and identifications as such. While the concept of multilingualism pragmatically challenges monolingual habits of thinking, it fails to take account of the porousness of linguistic boundaries. Multilingualism, in this respect, is still beholden to the monolingual paradigm. Conversely, however, the deconstruction of the unity of a language risks playing fast and loose with sedimented institutional and textual histories that not only give “a” language tremendous authority but also add continuously to its qualities as a conceptual and aesthetic resource. Drawing on two examples from Kiran Desai’s novel The Inheritance of Loss (2006), the article discusses author-, text- and reader-oriented approaches to literary multilingualism, in order to arrive at a more contextualising and socially oriented notion that draws on current world literature scholarship. With “English” as its central case, a key claim here is that a regimes-approach makes it possible to speak of the multilingualism of “one” language.
{"title":"Regimes of comprehensibility","authors":"Stefan Helgesson","doi":"10.47862/apples.115265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.115265","url":null,"abstract":"This brief conceptual essay addresses the fundamental antinomy between, on the one hand, promoting a multilingual approach to reading and, on the other, deconstructing linguistic boundaries and identifications as such. While the concept of multilingualism pragmatically challenges monolingual habits of thinking, it fails to take account of the porousness of linguistic boundaries. Multilingualism, in this respect, is still beholden to the monolingual paradigm. Conversely, however, the deconstruction of the unity of a language risks playing fast and loose with sedimented institutional and textual histories that not only give “a” language tremendous authority but also add continuously to its qualities as a conceptual and aesthetic resource. Drawing on two examples from Kiran Desai’s novel The Inheritance of Loss (2006), the article discusses author-, text- and reader-oriented approaches to literary multilingualism, in order to arrive at a more contextualising and socially oriented notion that draws on current world literature scholarship. With “English” as its central case, a key claim here is that a regimes-approach makes it possible to speak of the multilingualism of “one” language.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130861019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper aims to analyze students’ discourses on language policies and practices in a Swedish-medium study program at the largest bilingual university in Finland. In educational discourse and practice in Finland, the position of Swedish as a de facto minority language has traditionally been understood as secured through institutional language separation. While the declared language policies at the University of Helsinki have witnessed a shift towards the simultaneous use of multiple languages, the structure of the study programs still reflect a policy of parallel monolingualisms (Heller, 2007). By analyzing student interviews using a spatially informed framework, we look at how the students in a Swedish-medium study program negotiate the meaning of the program as a linguistic space and how bilingual policies and practices appear to them in this construct. Our findings show that the familiar discourses of language separation in minority language educational contexts also circulated in higher education: monolingual Swedish-medium programs were seen as “svenska rum” (Swedish rooms or spaces), material and social markers of the status of Swedish at the university and guaranteeing the access to education in the other national language. However, bilingual policies and teaching practices were seen as necessary to deconstruct linguistic and social borders between students in different programs in order to prevent alienation and to improve language skills. Nevertheless, the existing bilingual courses were oftentimes experienced as marginalizing the users of Swedish and careful planning was pointed out as crucial in implementing successful bilingual and multilingual practices in higher education.
{"title":"Students’ conceptualizations of monolingual Swedish-language spaces and bilingual practices at a bilingual university in Finland","authors":"Tuuli From, H. Zilliacus, Gunilla Holm","doi":"10.47862/apples.115418","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.115418","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to analyze students’ discourses on language policies and practices in a Swedish-medium study program at the largest bilingual university in Finland. In educational discourse and practice in Finland, the position of Swedish as a de facto minority language has traditionally been understood as secured through institutional language separation. While the declared language policies at the University of Helsinki have witnessed a shift towards the simultaneous use of multiple languages, the structure of the study programs still reflect a policy of parallel monolingualisms (Heller, 2007). By analyzing student interviews using a spatially informed framework, we look at how the students in a Swedish-medium study program negotiate the meaning of the program as a linguistic space and how bilingual policies and practices appear to them in this construct. Our findings show that the familiar discourses of language separation in minority language educational contexts also circulated in higher education: monolingual Swedish-medium programs were seen as “svenska rum” (Swedish rooms or spaces), material and social markers of the status of Swedish at the university and guaranteeing the access to education in the other national language. However, bilingual policies and teaching practices were seen as necessary to deconstruct linguistic and social borders between students in different programs in order to prevent alienation and to improve language skills. Nevertheless, the existing bilingual courses were oftentimes experienced as marginalizing the users of Swedish and careful planning was pointed out as crucial in implementing successful bilingual and multilingual practices in higher education. ","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129207500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna-Leena Riitaoja, A. Virtanen, Nina Reiman, Tuija Lehtonen, Maija Yli-Jokipii, T. Udd, Leena Peniche-Ferreira
The Finnish Government recently launched policies to meet labor shortage challenges, recruit highly skilled international workers. However, they overlook a skilled population already living in Finland, namely highly educated migrants. The problem is that migrants tend to be treated similarly, whether they are well-educated or not. This means that migrants are typically directed into low paying jobs. How is it possible to better develop this group with more effective career guidance? We believe an important answer lies in improved university education for migrants. This investigation is based on responses from surveys, interviews, and project evaluations. An analysis is made of three successful university-based short-term integration programs. The emerging questions include, to what extent are obstacles for migrants appropriately deliberated in universities? What can we learn from the three model programs? Should language learning be incorporated into advanced academic programs? The analysis includes how current practices constrain migrants’ access to university education. Even with positive intentions, the prevailing understanding of equality involves equal treatment for all, despite educational or other differences. In addition, simplistic understanding of language skills and learning appears to predominate how migrants are treated. Highly educated migrants face serious challenges when there is a disconnect between language training and one’s disciplinary studies. We surmise there are critical differences between general population language training programs and those situated within disciplinary departments. Analysis of the model programs reveals that a systematic and holistic approach for overcoming current challenges is possible but with an emphasis on sustainability.
{"title":"Migrants at the university doorstep","authors":"Anna-Leena Riitaoja, A. Virtanen, Nina Reiman, Tuija Lehtonen, Maija Yli-Jokipii, T. Udd, Leena Peniche-Ferreira","doi":"10.47862/apples.112578","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.112578","url":null,"abstract":"The Finnish Government recently launched policies to meet labor shortage challenges, recruit highly skilled international workers. However, they overlook a skilled population already living in Finland, namely highly educated migrants. The problem is that migrants tend to be treated similarly, whether they are well-educated or not. This means that migrants are typically directed into low paying jobs. How is it possible to better develop this group with more effective career guidance? We believe an important answer lies in improved university education for migrants. This investigation is based on responses from surveys, interviews, and project evaluations. An analysis is made of three successful university-based short-term integration programs. The emerging questions include, to what extent are obstacles for migrants appropriately deliberated in universities? What can we learn from the three model programs? Should language learning be incorporated into advanced academic programs? The analysis includes how current practices constrain migrants’ access to university education. Even with positive intentions, the prevailing understanding of equality involves equal treatment for all, despite educational or other differences. In addition, simplistic understanding of language skills and learning appears to predominate how migrants are treated. Highly educated migrants face serious challenges when there is a disconnect between language training and one’s disciplinary studies. We surmise there are critical differences between general population language training programs and those situated within disciplinary departments. Analysis of the model programs reveals that a systematic and holistic approach for overcoming current challenges is possible but with an emphasis on sustainability.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122540058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article is based on data from an empirical research project on the multilingual situation of deaf migrants in Sweden. Deaf migrants attending folk high schools are a heterogeneous group with various language and educational backgrounds. Some of them have grown up with limited or no access to a spoken or signed language while others have grown up learning multiple languages. In those schools, the migrants learn Swedish Sign Language (STS) and Swedish as well as about Swedish society. The study uses an ethnographic approach, and data has been created through participant observations and interviews with teachers and migrants in three folk high schools in different municipalities in Sweden. The analysis reveals that language ideologies are present in these schools, such as what constitutes a language and what status different languages and other repertoires have. In addition, STS appears to be the only acceptable language for communication within the schools. Another finding is that the Eurocentric perspective on ‘language’ among researchers and teachers often collides with the migrants who have different experiences of language use. Furthermore, the study reveals that some migrants, after some time in school, begin to view their previous repertoires used for communication as inferior to STS. It also emerges that the teachers lack the knowledge necessary to understand what it means to learn a language formally for the first time as an adult. In order to develop teachers’ knowledge to ensure social justice, research on adult deaf migrants’ language acquisition within school contexts is essential.
{"title":"\"They have no language\"","authors":"Nora Duggan, Ingela Holmström","doi":"10.47862/apples.111809","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.111809","url":null,"abstract":"This article is based on data from an empirical research project on the multilingual situation of deaf migrants in Sweden. Deaf migrants attending folk high schools are a heterogeneous group with various language and educational backgrounds. Some of them have grown up with limited or no access to a spoken or signed language while others have grown up learning multiple languages. In those schools, the migrants learn Swedish Sign Language (STS) and Swedish as well as about Swedish society. The study uses an ethnographic approach, and data has been created through participant observations and interviews with teachers and migrants in three folk high schools in different municipalities in Sweden. The analysis reveals that language ideologies are present in these schools, such as what constitutes a language and what status different languages and other repertoires have. In addition, STS appears to be the only acceptable language for communication within the schools. Another finding is that the Eurocentric perspective on ‘language’ among researchers and teachers often collides with the migrants who have different experiences of language use. Furthermore, the study reveals that some migrants, after some time in school, begin to view their previous repertoires used for communication as inferior to STS. It also emerges that the teachers lack the knowledge necessary to understand what it means to learn a language formally for the first time as an adult. In order to develop teachers’ knowledge to ensure social justice, research on adult deaf migrants’ language acquisition within school contexts is essential.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"2015 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128075601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maiju Kinossalo, Henna Jousmäki, M. Intke-Hernandez
Identity as a life story is constructed in social interaction with the surrounding world in a narrative continuum through language. When given pedagogic recognition for active meaning-making and construction of personal identity, the student is encountered in a just and holistic manner. In school, skills related to identity construction are taught especially in language education. In Finland, the central aim established in the Core Curriculum for learning mother tongue and literature is to teach students linguistic skills with which to word, interpret, understand, make meaning and construct oneself and the world in interaction with others. Although the identity-mission is shared by all curricular activities, the importance of mother tongue and literature gives reason to call it the ‘identity subject’ proper. Yet, in multilingual educational contexts, not everyone’s mother tongue is equal, as analysed in multi-professional interview data in this paper. For migrant-language speakers, there is a major expectation to learn one of the national languages for participation and active citizenship. This leads to undermining two things. First, the process can also take place vice versa: participation enhances feelings of belonging, which enhances language learning. Second, the first language plays a central role in constructing life-story identity. Although identity construction is cherished in the Core Curriculum, it is not automatically valued, offered, or endorsed in the context of migrant students learning their own first languages. Linguistic and cultural recognition helps to support the significance of life-story identity, and acknowledging it in structural support and in pedagogic practices will further promote all students’ equity and participation as active involvement.
{"title":"Life-story pedagogy for identity","authors":"Maiju Kinossalo, Henna Jousmäki, M. Intke-Hernandez","doi":"10.47862/apples.111953","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.111953","url":null,"abstract":"Identity as a life story is constructed in social interaction with the surrounding world in a narrative continuum through language. When given pedagogic recognition for active meaning-making and construction of personal identity, the student is encountered in a just and holistic manner. In school, skills related to identity construction are taught especially in language education. In Finland, the central aim established in the Core Curriculum for learning mother tongue and literature is to teach students linguistic skills with which to word, interpret, understand, make meaning and construct oneself and the world in interaction with others. Although the identity-mission is shared by all curricular activities, the importance of mother tongue and literature gives reason to call it the ‘identity subject’ proper. Yet, in multilingual educational contexts, not everyone’s mother tongue is equal, as analysed in multi-professional interview data in this paper. For migrant-language speakers, there is a major expectation to learn one of the national languages for participation and active citizenship. This leads to undermining two things. First, the process can also take place vice versa: participation enhances feelings of belonging, which enhances language learning. Second, the first language plays a central role in constructing life-story identity. Although identity construction is cherished in the Core Curriculum, it is not automatically valued, offered, or endorsed in the context of migrant students learning their own first languages. Linguistic and cultural recognition helps to support the significance of life-story identity, and acknowledging it in structural support and in pedagogic practices will further promote all students’ equity and participation as active involvement.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130409319","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Multilingual pedagogies are a growing, yet often conceptually and politically contested area in mainstream educational settings. The article draws on data from a broader ethnographic study that focused on teacher agency in multilingual pedagogies in five superdiverse primary school classrooms in London and the East of England, where the children in each class spoke approximately ten languages besides English. The study used fieldnotes, teacher interviews, participatory activities with children and photographs of schoolscapes to analyse dominant features of the classroom: a monolingual norm, educators’ tendency to restrict children’s multilingualism to EAL-learning aspects and an only symbolic acknowledgement of their linguistic repertoires. Here, I argue that three intertwined dimensions of social justice emerge from this status quo as requirements for and as elements of multilingual pedagogies in superdiverse mainstream schools: the participation and recognition of plurilingual speakers, a normalization of multilingualism in the institution school and a deconstruction of languages as national languages. It is suggested that these dimensions are relevant for critical reflections and developments at the classroom level. However, it is only possible to leverage their analytical as well as practical potential, if they are conceptualized within wider examinations of hierarchies, discourses and institutional practices within contemporary societies that are characterized by phenomena of transnational migration and racism. The article concludes by drawing on the frameworks of migration pedagogy and the raciolinguistic perspective for such contextualisation.
{"title":"Towards multilingual pedagogies for social justice in the primary school","authors":"Thomas Quehl","doi":"10.47862/apples.112007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.112007","url":null,"abstract":"Multilingual pedagogies are a growing, yet often conceptually and politically contested area in mainstream educational settings. The article draws on data from a broader ethnographic study that focused on teacher agency in multilingual pedagogies in five superdiverse primary school classrooms in London and the East of England, where the children in each class spoke approximately ten languages besides English. The study used fieldnotes, teacher interviews, participatory activities with children and photographs of schoolscapes to analyse dominant features of the classroom: a monolingual norm, educators’ tendency to restrict children’s multilingualism to EAL-learning aspects and an only symbolic acknowledgement of their linguistic repertoires. Here, I argue that three intertwined dimensions of social justice emerge from this status quo as requirements for and as elements of multilingual pedagogies in superdiverse mainstream schools: the participation and recognition of plurilingual speakers, a normalization of multilingualism in the institution school and a deconstruction of languages as national languages. It is suggested that these dimensions are relevant for critical reflections and developments at the classroom level. However, it is only possible to leverage their analytical as well as practical potential, if they are conceptualized within wider examinations of hierarchies, discourses and institutional practices within contemporary societies that are characterized by phenomena of transnational migration and racism. The article concludes by drawing on the frameworks of migration pedagogy and the raciolinguistic perspective for such contextualisation.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129862770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In Mexico, due to the pandemic caused by COVID 2019, most students have received remote education through public television channels and video calls via payment internet services. Although these practices can provide helpful strategies for students to continue with their school training process, the distance education modality began to demonstrate the social inequalities most students find themselves in. This situation has increased students' social and educational disparities in the South of Mexico. In that case, many indigenous communities are good examples of language education injustices before the pandemic, which has become a more critical situation during and after the pandemic. For instance, classes are only in Spanish; some indigenous teachers do not speak the language or community language variety. There has also been a lack of teachers for more than a year in different schools. Based on endangered indigenous languages experiences, in this paper, we aim to reflect on the notion of the school as a space for the democratisation of knowledge. However, in indigenous contexts, one can see critical social injustice conditions for students instead of democratisation of knowledge, as we said before. For that reason, we argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is only an issue and a minuscule particle to show the historical and structural language education injustices for indigenous people. Hitherto, it is necessary to recognise this situation all the time.
{"title":"Language education injustices in Mexican indigenous communities during COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"Lorena Córdova-Hernández, Jorge Valtierra Zamudio","doi":"10.47862/apples.111986","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.111986","url":null,"abstract":"In Mexico, due to the pandemic caused by COVID 2019, most students have received remote education through public television channels and video calls via payment internet services. Although these practices can provide helpful strategies for students to continue with their school training process, the distance education modality began to demonstrate the social inequalities most students find themselves in. This situation has increased students' social and educational disparities in the South of Mexico. In that case, many indigenous communities are good examples of language education injustices before the pandemic, which has become a more critical situation during and after the pandemic. For instance, classes are only in Spanish; some indigenous teachers do not speak the language or community language variety. There has also been a lack of teachers for more than a year in different schools. Based on endangered indigenous languages experiences, in this paper, we aim to reflect on the notion of the school as a space for the democratisation of knowledge. However, in indigenous contexts, one can see critical social injustice conditions for students instead of democratisation of knowledge, as we said before. For that reason, we argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is only an issue and a minuscule particle to show the historical and structural language education injustices for indigenous people. Hitherto, it is necessary to recognise this situation all the time.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130220893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Critical literacy has been defined as the use of analog and digital materials towards questioning and deconstructing problematic and oppressive societal norms and further reconstructing more socially just narratives. Even though critical literacy is a well-known concept in many English-speaking countries, its application and significance in Europe have not been sufficiently investigated. As a result, this dissimilar study of the concept can be reflected in teachers’ understandings of it in theory and in practice. This contribution focuses on exploring and reconstructing teachers’ perspectives of critical literacies comparatively. More specifically, the article highlights similarities and differences in the way teachers from Canada and Finland think of the definition and implementation of critical literacies in their own situated, socio-cultural and socio-educational contexts. The study is based on theory-generating expert interviews and a comparative case study design, and the analysis of the data follows a grounded theory framework. The main results show a considerable convergence in perspectives; while Canadian teachers explored connections of critical literacies with social justice education, Finnish teachers rather highlighted ideas of information management and multiliteracies. Nevertheless, there were noticeable connections among these perceptions which are relevant for the development of the field and are further explored in the discussion part of this article.
{"title":"Investigating understandings of critical literacies among Finnish and Canadian teachers","authors":"Eleni Louloudi","doi":"10.47862/apples.112308","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.112308","url":null,"abstract":"Critical literacy has been defined as the use of analog and digital materials towards questioning and deconstructing problematic and oppressive societal norms and further reconstructing more socially just narratives. Even though critical literacy is a well-known concept in many English-speaking countries, its application and significance in Europe have not been sufficiently investigated. As a result, this dissimilar study of the concept can be reflected in teachers’ understandings of it in theory and in practice. This contribution focuses on exploring and reconstructing teachers’ perspectives of critical literacies comparatively. More specifically, the article highlights similarities and differences in the way teachers from Canada and Finland think of the definition and implementation of critical literacies in their own situated, socio-cultural and socio-educational contexts. The study is based on theory-generating expert interviews and a comparative case study design, and the analysis of the data follows a grounded theory framework. The main results show a considerable convergence in perspectives; while Canadian teachers explored connections of critical literacies with social justice education, Finnish teachers rather highlighted ideas of information management and multiliteracies. Nevertheless, there were noticeable connections among these perceptions which are relevant for the development of the field and are further explored in the discussion part of this article.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133412474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this study, we use PISA 2018 data to analyze (1) how language learning and teaching of intercultural issues are associated with global competences (GC) both in terms of knowledge and skills aspects as well as attitudes towards diversity, (2a) how the teaching of languages and intercultural issues in the school are related to sense of belonging among young people with migration backgrounds, and (2b) how peers’ global knowledge and skills as well as attitudes are related to migrant origin students’ sense of belonging at school. Aspects of global competences related to attitudes and cognitive skills are investigated separately. The teaching of intercultural competences was found to be positively associated with the four attitudinal aspects of global competences but negatively associated with the knowledge and cognitive skills associated with GC. Students studying two (or more) world languages tended to display more negative attitudes than those studying just one, in particular for respect for people from other cultures. Furthermore, learning two (or more) world languages versus one also tended to be associated with lower knowledge and cognitive skills related to GC. At the school-level the teaching of intercultural competences or languages were not associated with the sense of belonging of children of immigrants. Peers’ attitudes, in particular their awareness of intercultural communication, were more strongly associated with children of immigrants’ sense of belonging than their peers’ cognitive competences. Thus, we argue that the measurement of global knowledge and skills may be in need of critical reconsideration. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to define more explicitly, which aspects are related to effective intercultural training.
{"title":"Learning of intercultural competences and languages at school and their influence on global competences and immigrant-origin peers’ sense of belonging","authors":"Jenni Alisaari, Elina Kilpi-Jakonen","doi":"10.47862/apples.111939","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.111939","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we use PISA 2018 data to analyze (1) how language learning and teaching of intercultural issues are associated with global competences (GC) both in terms of knowledge and skills aspects as well as attitudes towards diversity, (2a) how the teaching of languages and intercultural issues in the school are related to sense of belonging among young people with migration backgrounds, and (2b) how peers’ global knowledge and skills as well as attitudes are related to migrant origin students’ sense of belonging at school. Aspects of global competences related to attitudes and cognitive skills are investigated separately. The teaching of intercultural competences was found to be positively associated with the four attitudinal aspects of global competences but negatively associated with the knowledge and cognitive skills associated with GC. Students studying two (or more) world languages tended to display more negative attitudes than those studying just one, in particular for respect for people from other cultures. Furthermore, learning two (or more) world languages versus one also tended to be associated with lower knowledge and cognitive skills related to GC. At the school-level the teaching of intercultural competences or languages were not associated with the sense of belonging of children of immigrants. Peers’ attitudes, in particular their awareness of intercultural communication, were more strongly associated with children of immigrants’ sense of belonging than their peers’ cognitive competences. Thus, we argue that the measurement of global knowledge and skills may be in need of critical reconsideration. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to define more explicitly, which aspects are related to effective intercultural training.","PeriodicalId":409563,"journal":{"name":"Apples - Journal of Applied Language Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126781490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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