Use your languages! : From monolingual to multilingual interaction in a language class

Abstract

This reflective paper presents a new course concept for multilingual interaction, which was piloted at the University of Jyväskylä Language Centre in the spring of 2014. The course, implemented as part of the centre’s action research, is the result of a development process aimed at enhancing students’ multilingual and multicultural academic communication competences along with promoting use of their entire linguistic repertoire. The course concept was inspired by the EU project Modularising Multilingual and Multicultural Academic Communication Competence (MAGICC), whose main intent is “to integrate multilingual and multicultural academic communication competences as graduate learning outcomes at [the] BA and MA level” (http://www.unil.ch/magicc/home/menuinst/objectifs.html). The main focus of the pilot course was on teachers’ approach to multilingual teaching, teachers’ interaction with each other and with students as well as students’ approach to communication in a simulated multilingual and multicultural environment. Students’ employment of their entire linguistic repertoire resulted in an evident increase of their intercultural awareness, enhancement of their intercultural communication competences and of their skills in mediating information in multilingual and multicultural contexts.