The Role of Plurilingual Pedagogy in Affirming Immigrants’ Identities in Canada

Abstract

This perspective article supports the need of an alternative plurilingual model to teaching languages to assert immigrants’ identities in Canada. It examines the interplay between language and identity in immigration contexts, and investigates current language teaching models, including limitations, adopted in Canada. Although the article discusses the case of Quebec where the official language is French, it is not limited or restricted to a specific context. The case of Quebec is only given as an example to illustrate potential challenges immigrants might face in Canada. This article sheds light on advantageous future research orientations pertaining to immigrants’ identities in the language learning process. It can also inform language policies and pedagogies in Canada and other immigration contexts.

Keywords

• identities
• immigrants
• pluricultural competence
• plurilingual competence
• plurilingual pedagogy