ERIC Number: EJ1129515
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0924-3453
EISSN: N/A
Opening up towards Children's Languages: Enhancing Teachers' Tolerant Practices towards Multilingualism
Van Der Wildt, Anouk; Van Avermaet, Piet; Van Houtte, Mieke
School Effectiveness and School Improvement, v28 n1 p136-152 2017
Mainstream teachers struggle with linguistic diversity, often leading to restricting multilingualism. Scientific research, however, recommends including pupils' home languages in school. Various qualitative studies have evaluated implementations in schools and indicated possibilities for improving teachers' attitudes towards multilingualism. This paper evaluates an experimental implementation targeting an increase in tolerance towards multilingualism. The implementation was facilitated by external school coaches and consisted of 3 experimental tools affecting the school. Data originated from 62 Flemish primary schools (of which half were experimental schools) that participated in 3 survey waves (2012 and 2014; 763 teachers completed both waves). We used multilevel regression. We concluded that the implementation leads to higher rates of tolerance. The fulfilment of the basic conditions needed for a successful change was important, and the linguistic diversity of the pupil population and the investment by external school coaches did not affect the tolerant practices of teachers towards multilingualism.
Descriptors: Multilingualism, Regression (Statistics), Foreign Countries, Coaching (Performance), Elementary School Teachers, Native Language, Language Usage, Second Language Learning, Mainstreaming, Teacher Attitudes, Educational Practices, Educational Change, Elementary School Students, Educational Improvement, Educational Policy, Statistical Analysis, Teaching Methods, Questionnaires, Multiple Regression Analysis, Pretests Posttests, Sociolinguistics
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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