Intercultural and Plurilingual Aspects in Language Teacher Education

Abstract

In this chapter, we draw on the Douglas Fir Group Framework to discuss the complexity of language teaching in a multilingual world. Language teachers need to be prepared to teach language learners of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds so that these language learners can fully participate in intercultural exchanges. Language teachers do not just teach language; they also foster critical skills among language learners, such as those required for intercultural communication, and help them acquire desirable qualities they need to be the types of people they want to become. Such an expanded understanding of what language teachers should strive to achieve in teaching reflects the complexity of language teaching in a globally interconnected, dynamic, and multilingual world. To prepare language teachers for these intercultural and plurilingual aspects of language teaching, we develop a roadmap for language teachers to address critical issues in their professional practice, including (a) reflecting on deficit discourses about language learners of multilingual backgrounds, (b) integrating a broadened theorization of cognition in teaching, and (c) focusing on learner agency in teaching. The roadmap also encourages language teacher educators to work with language teachers to reflect on why they teach languages, what languages they teach, and how they teach languages. By doing so, language teacher educators enable language teachers to support language learners’ efforts in developing semiotic resources to assert themselves through intercultural encounters. They also help teachers pursue social justice and equity when teaching plurilingual students in multilingual contexts. To conclude our discussion, we discuss topics on which language teachers’ professional development programs may need to focus to address the intercultural and plurilingual aspects of language teacher education.

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