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Language Awareness and Multilingualism pp 1–14Cite as

Language Awareness and Multilingualism: A Historical Overview

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Language and Education ((ELE))

Abstract

In this encyclopedia entry, language awareness and multilingualism will be reviewed from a historical perspective, and current research trends will be highlighted. There is not a direct relationship between both movements from the beginning; rather there have been parallel (independent) developments. With the world becoming increasingly interconnected, multilingualism and diversity have turned into an everyday experience in various domains of life. While the field of language awareness initially concentrated on English L1 teaching, its scope and principles nowadays are much broader, including a wide variety of languages and contexts, such as L2 and L3 learning; bi-, tri-, and multilingual education; content- and language-integrated learning; and computer-/mobile-assisted learning. An examination of the articles published in the Language Awareness journal and the International Journal of Multilingualism between 2010 and the beginning of 2015 revealed that both language awareness and multilingualism encompass a wide range of topics and languages. On the whole, however, the primary focus still seems to be on English and language education, with communication in other languages and in the workplace remaining relatively unexplored. Although there are a number of well-designed small-scale studies, larger comparative studies that include and compare different settings and languages are needed. Altogether, it appears that the fields of language awareness and multilingualism can be fruitfully combined, with language awareness playing an important role in the development of multilingualism. In that regard, critical awareness of the role of politics is crucial since political decisions influence language use and the official status of languages as well as a person’s (multilingual) identity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    KAL is sometimes used as a synonym for language awareness.

  2. 2.

    This perspective has come to be called critical language awareness.

  3. 3.

    These domains are still referred to today. See, for example, Fehling (2008).

  4. 4.

    The ability to talk about one’s knowledge about language (e.g., pronunciation, grammar, lexicon, discourse) is referred to as metalinguistic awareness.

  5. 5.

    The difference between a language and a dialect is often difficult to define.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge Christine Busque, Montreal, Canada as well as to Ina Sauer and Anna Petzold, Kassel Germany for their support in data base research. We also thank Jennifer Richard Aplin for information on the very start of the language awareness movemnent and to Jennifer Schluer, Kassel, Germany for her help in final proof reading and editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Humanities, Department of English, University of Kassel, Kurt-Wolters-Straße 5, 34125, Kassel, Germany

    Claudia Finkbeiner

  2. Department of Education, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., H3G 1M8, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Joanna White

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  1. Claudia Finkbeiner
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Correspondence to Claudia Finkbeiner or Joanna White .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept Res Methods Education, University of the Basque Country Dept Res Methods Education, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain

    Jasone Cenoz

  2. UPV/EHU - IKERBASCQUE, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU - IKERBASCQUE, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain

    Durk Gorter

  3. Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, School of Critic, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephen May

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Finkbeiner, C., White, J. (2015). Language Awareness and Multilingualism: A Historical Overview. In: Cenoz, J., Gorter, D., May, S. (eds) Language Awareness and Multilingualism. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_1-1

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    Language Awareness and Multilingualism: A Historical Overview
    Published:
    21 April 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_1-2

  2. Original

    Language Awareness and Multilingualism: A Historical Overview
    Published:
    19 July 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02325-0_1-1

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