Pardon my French, Turkish and Arabic! How Flemish headteachers and teachers respond to multilingualism in the classroom

Abstract

A growing amount of ethnically diverse students is bringing a multitude of different languages into the classroom. In Flanders, most schools respond to this reality by adopting a monolingual approach, where proficiency in Dutch is encouraged and the home language of students perceived as a barrier for learning, within this monolingual system. However recent studies have found that teachers will vary in their level of tolerance for linguistic diversity and alternate between monolingual and multilingual approaches. In this study, we aim to gain a better understanding of when teachers prefer to adopt one linguistic approach over the other via semi-structured interviews. We also examine the role of the headteacher in this process. We found that the linguistic approaches of headteachers were clearly reflected in the approaches of teachers, which highlights their role as transformative agents. Most teachers preferred a monolingual approach, dependent on: (1) the school context, (2) teachers’ basic needs for teaching and (3) teachers’ beliefs and experiences. On the other hand, teachers would occasionally adopt a multilingual approach, dependent on (1) who was speaking their home language, (2) when it was spoken, (3) where it was spoken and (4) why it was spoken.