Thinking Language Awareness at a Science Centre

Situated in the highly multilingual context of Vancouver, this article discusses aspects of a collaborative research project, intertwining the development of language awareness and scientific, technological, and multilingual literacies in a science centre environment. Participants were multilingual, kindergarten-aged children who attended an interactive, activity-based science educational program in a local science centre and participated in writing activities in a nearby community centre. The article will discuss the science centre as a transformative learning environment to harness cultural and linguistic diversity, a vital resource to simultaneously develop language awareness, and science knowledge. Multimodal data sources include visual documentation of the linguistic landscape at the science centre, as well as photographs, video recordings and field notes of children working individually or in small groups, and a selection of the products children created.

Creating an Inclusive Classroom Culture

The chapter discusses creating an inclusive classroom through a language socialization perspective. The authors suggest that to create an inclusive culture in a multicultural and multilingual classroom, language educators should engage in explicit language socialization practices that promote development of critical cultural consciousness and language awareness. They propose that in the process of creating an inclusive classroom, educators need to attend to affective, individual, and interpersonal domains. Specific practices for use in a language (including ESOL) classroom and a teacher preparation program are provided.

Critical Praxis and Teacher Language Awareness

Within the field of TESOL, opinions often differ about the role of learners' first language (L1) in second language learning. When teachers are aware of their students' L1, this awareness can increase their understanding of second language acquisition processes and issues. It can also provide teachers with insights into learners' backgrounds and cultures that may influence their approach to studying English and attitudes towards multilingualism. Specifically, the chapter proposes that the notion of teacher language awareness (TLA) should be expanded to include awareness of students' language backgrounds. TLA is regarded as an important component of the knowledge base of a language teacher. Two questionnaires are provided to assist teachers with the elicitation of information about students' L1: (1) a language-focused set of questions to allow comparison between a learner's L1 and English and (2) a sociolinguistic-oriented questionnaire that explores issues related to status and use.

The Status of English in Morocco: Lessons from Spontaneous Debates in Social Media

Morocco, a multilingual country with historical and geo-political legacies, has opened a hot debate on languages recently. Within this debate, this article investigates spontaneous comments in social media on languages in Morocco, especially adopting English as a first foreign language. It aims to bring this topic to the surface and thus discuss it in the light of research on language attitudes and language awareness. To do so, it analyses the reactions to texts about the declarations by the Minister of Higher Education shared in social networks and sites. The data consisting of 2,018 comments is classified according to 12 frequent patterns whose frequencies are calculated. The findings show that most of Moroccans have positive attitudes towards English while some show opposing reactions towards French. These participants hold ambivalent opinions about the rest of languages used in Morocco; however, they tend to insist on Morocco having a clear language policy which, seemingly, prioritises the mother tongues, Arabic and Amazigh. The discussions show that some investigated reactions are mitigated as they may be illusionary.

Exploring ecological identity from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics

Ecological identity, acting as the baton to guide the public’s behavior in nature, is closely correlated with environmental crises that threaten human survival. Previous studies of ecological identity are mostly conducted in the domain of sociopsychology with an emphasis on human’s attitude and behavior. Less attention, however, has been paid to the discursive construction of one’s ecological identity. The current study aims to build a framework to explore the mechanism of discursive strategies in constructing one’s ecological identity. To this end, this article classifies different ecological identities according to their impact on nature and the ecosophy of holism. It then puts forward a framework based on systemic functional linguistics to explore how lexicogrammatical resources can be employed strategically in the construction of ecological identity. The framework is significant for ecolinguistic investigations of identity and the cultivation of human’s critical language awareness related to the protection of ecosystems.

A Review: Language Awareness from the Perspective of Vocabulary Variation and Change

Language awareness refers to the consciousness of what language is and how language works. The process of establishing or developing language awareness should be a discovery of language use by learners themselves, maybe under the guidance of teachers. In this way, language awareness is considered not only as a linguistic term, but also a pedagogical approach. Just like society, change is also constant in the world of language. This paper aims to provide a reflection on language awareness from the angle of vocabulary variations and changes.

Przełamywanie barier komunikacyjnych (na przykładzie wieloetnicznej i wielojęzycznej sytuacji społecznej Zaolzia)

Breaking Communication Barriers (on the Example of the Multiethnic and Multilingual Situation of the Society in the Zaolzie Region)The present paper describes the language situation in several parts of Cieszyn Silesia (the Zaolzie region) in the Czech Republic. The research is based on authentic language material from two music (art) schools in Český Těšín and Třinec. The Třinec school has the official status of a bilingual Czech-Polish educational institution. These two establishments share several common features: both students and teachers come from either majority Czech or minority ethnic Polish communities; Polish children study in both institutions, although a larger group of these "foreign" students attends the school in Český Těšín. The authors analyze not only the spoken language itself but also the competence and language awareness of the respondents. They have come to the conclusion that interactions between the users of two (different) languages can be successful regardless of the fact whether each participant uses their own native tongue or that of their interlocutor, although they speak this language only at a basic level. Przełamywanie barier komunikacyjnych (na przykładzie wieloetnicznej i wielojęzycznej sytuacji społecznej Zaolzia)W artykule została opisana sytuacja językowa w czeskiej części Śląska Cieszyńskiego w Republice Czeskiej na podstawie autentycznego materiału językowego pochodzącego z dwóch szkół muzycznych (artystycznych) – jednej z Czeskiego Cieszyna, drugiej – z Trzyńca. Szkoła trzyniecka ma oficjalny status czesko-polskiej szkoły dwujęzycznej. Obie placówki łączy kilka cech wspólnych: zarówno uczniowie, jak i nauczyciele wywodzą się bądź z większościowego środowiska czeskiego, bądź należą do polskiej etnicznej wspólnoty mniejszościowej. W obu placówkach uczą się także dzieci z Polski, choć o wiele więcej takich „zagranicznych” uczniów uczęszcza do szkoły w Czeskim Cieszynie. Autorzy zajmują się nie tylko analizą samego języka mówionego, ale również kompetencją i świadomością językową badanych osób, dochodząc do wniosku, że interakcja między użytkownikami dwu (różnych) języków może przebiegać pomyślnie nawet wtedy, gdy każdy z nich używa własnego języka ojczystego (względnie gwary ojczystej) lub języka partnera komunikacji, chociaż język ten opanował tylko na poziomie podstawowym.