Beyond the Binary: Combining Immersion and Plurilingual Pedagogies in Japan and Canada

• In Event: Plurilingual, translanguaging, and asset-based pedagogies across contexts

Proposal

The debate between monolingual and multilingual pedagogical approaches to language education has come to the forefront in recent years. On one side of the divide, immersion theory and practice (Lambert & Tucker, 1972; Ballinger et al., 2017) argue that in language learning environments, exclusive exposure to the target language (TL), as in Krashen's (1985) input hypothesis, and exclusive use of the TL, as in Swain's (1995) output hypothesis, are needed for improved learning outcomes, and recourse to other languages results in interference. Unfortunately, these theories have been mobilized by proponents of hegemonic English-only policies, which result in in a devaluing of learners’ first/other languages, thus failing to tap into the linguistic resources that they bring to the classroom (Cummins, 2007). On the other side, plurilingualism (Beacco & Byram, 2007; Piccardo, Germain-Rutherford & Lawrence, 2021) and translanguaging (Garcia, 2009; Lewis, Jones & Baker, 2012) argue for pedagogies that take advantage of the complex connections between languages and language learning experiences, strategies, and competencies. This debate can be intense at times but also often exists at the margins, with each camp operating within its own tradition and conversing with the like-minded. This presentation reports on a mixed-methods research project that aims to close this gap and explore the diverse perspectives of post-secondary English-language instructors on both sides of the debate and in-between. Data collection included a mixed-methods survey disseminated to participants in Japan and Canada (n=125), with follow-up interviews and classroom observations (n=9), focusing on teachers’ beliefs, policies, practices, and experiences around classroom language use. Results reveal how teachers resist institutional English-only policies as well as the benefits and challenges experienced in their own language policies/practices. Going beyond the notion of 'best practices', or a methodological holy grail, the findings also uncover a greater range of pedagogical options, combining plurilingual and immersion pedagogies, that can be applied at different stages of a lesson in diverse contexts. Rather than an either/or proposition then, this combination deconstructs (Derrida, 1967) both the hegemony of English-only policies as well as a constructed mono vs. multi binary, leading to and/and, or measured, contextually sensitive, dynamic pedagogies.

Author

• Michael Nathan Koslowski, O.I.S.E. University of Toronto