Les enseignants face à la diversité linguistique

Abstract

Despite popular and long-held beliefs, the first language does not stand in the way of second language acquisition (Castelotti 2001). In fact, the use of the L1 in the language classroom may give rise to a new dynamics of teaching and learning. In this article, we will examine how teachers and teacher trainees faced with linguistic and cultural diversity are forced to develop new ideas about language teaching. Classrooms composed of students from diverse linguistic backgrounds create require a new agenda for language teachers: placing the students at the center of the learning process; recognizing their plurilingualism; enabling them to become an active participants in building up new language knowledge, by comparing their different languages (Candelier 2003); and helping them combine the languages in their repertoires, rather than partitioning them (Castellotti 2001: 80).

Keywords

• alterlinguistics
• teaching in a context of linguistic diversity