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ERIC Number: EJ1411613
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0026-7902
EISSN: EISSN-1540-4781
Primary School Children's Conflicted Emotions about Using Their Heritage Languages in Multilingual Classroom Tasks
Koen Van Gorp; Steven Verheyen
Modern Language Journal, v108 nS1 p101-126 2024
For many children in Flanders, Belgium, the language of instruction is not their first language. Allowing children to use their heritage languages in the classroom has been argued to have functional and socioemotional benefits. In two exploratory studies, we introduced a multilingual task in four classrooms across three linguistically and socially diverse primary schools, where Dutch was the language of instruction, to determine how students experience the opportunity to use their linguistic repertoire in class. The multilingual task was preceded by an assessment of students' emotional reactions to the languages they speak through the Self-Assessment Manikin gauging students' emotional responses (pleasure, arousal, and dominance), and followed by a semistructured interview on students' language choices. Both studies yielded similar results. Students generally indicated that they felt happy, calm, and in control when speaking their heritage language. Despite these positive assessments, many students refrained from using their heritage language in the multilingual tasks. A qualitative analysis revealed a variety of language-related reasons leading to linguistic insecurity, language anxiety, and not using the heritage language: perceived language proficiency, language norms, language status, and appropriate contexts for language use. Conversely, we also identified several students who felt proud to showcase their heritage language. While multilingual tasks have the potential to induce positive emotions in students, teachers need to be aware of potential backlash and prepared to navigate the negative emotions surrounding contested language choices.
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Belgium
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A