Bringing the outside in: multilingual realities and education
Bringing the Outside In & BAAL Language in Africa SIG Conference
15th-16th July 2022, University of Essex
Keynote speakers
Introduction of local languages in the school curriculum in Botswana: Policy & Literacy material development challenges
Professor Budzani Gabanamotse-Mogara (University of Botswana)
Levelling the playing field through multilingual education: From the centre to the periphery and back
Professor Elizabeth Erling (University of Vienna)
An exhausted paradigm? The rhetorical problem of multilingualism and possible ways forward
Dr Lavinia Hirsu (University of Glasgow)
The ways in which we have come to understand multilingualism have changed significantly over the last 50 years. However, we are yet to reach a consensus about how to best harness multilingualism as a resource for individuals, communities and society more broadly. There is increasing evidence of the benefits of mother tongue and multilingual education (Cummins 2000, Ball 2011, UN 2015, UNESCO 2015a, UNESCO 2015b). However, the use of English as a medium of instruction in education continues to grow globally (Dearden 2014). Some 40% of the global population does not have access to education in a language they speak or understand (UNESCO 2016:1). This has important implications, since monolingual policies which do not accurately reflect the linguistic reality of people’s lived experiences can inhibit access to health, education, political and economic systems (Bamgbose 2000, Djite 2008, Williams 2011, Negash 2011).
We are interested in particular in the links between language policy and multilingual practices – both in formal education and outside of these spaces. There is a monolingualising (Heller 1995, 2007) of education systems in many contexts across the globe. This raises a range of questions: do the practices used inside classrooms mirror or reflect those outside the classroom; is multilingualism itself encouraged or permitted in global classrooms; and, moving beyond the idea that one language is more ‘fit for purpose’ than another language, can policy in fact support multilingual language practices?
In this conference, we seek to explore these issues and invite discussions around key questions such as:
1) How do individuals experience multilingualism inside and outside of the classroom?
2) In what ways does language policy enable or inhibit multilingual education?
3) How are boundaries enforced or disrupted between the home and the classroom?
4) How do political issues affect multilingual education?
5) How do we effectively research multilingualism?
6) What evidence of best practice already exists and how can we learn from this across different contexts?
This conference is hosted by the British Academy, Global Challenge Research Fund project Bringing the outside in in partnership with the British Association for Applied Linguistics Language in Africa Special Interest Group.
Conference fees are £15. You can register for the conference here. Registration closes on the 7th July.
Accommodation and Travel information
Conference programme
Day 1 – 15th July 2022
| Time | Room 1 EBS.2.65 | Room 2 EBS.2.66 |
| 0930-1000 | Registration & Coffee | |
| 1000-1010 | Welcome – Nancy Kula & Seraphin Kamdem | |
| 1010-1100 | An exhausted paradigm? The rhetorical problem of multilingualism and possible ways forward Lavinia Hirsu | |
| 1100-1130 | Multilingual minds & monolingual systems – experiences and results gleaned from the LILIEMA educational program in Senegal Miriam Weidl | Rethinking a more sustainable language policy model: the case of Tunisia Giacomo Iazzetta |
| 1130-1200 | Multilingualism in the family and in complementary schools Carmen Silvestri | Multilingualism in the Japanese EFL classroom: Narrative Insights from 3 Practitioners Patrick NG, Gregory Paul Glasgow, Tiina Matikainen |
| 1200-1230 | Language Policy and Multilingualism: why Africa is different Bert van Pinxteren | Minimum Academic Standards and the English Language Curriculum in Nigerian Universities: Benchmarking, Implementation and Evaluation Michael Thomas, Oris Tom-Lawyer, Henry Hunjo |
| 1230-1330 | Lunch | |
| 1330-1400 | Endogenous systems leadership: Re-orienting education systems towards additive language of learning and teaching transitions Rachel Bowden & Leon Tikly | The Conundrum of Implementing National Languages on the Primary School Curriculum in Cameroon: No Inside Out and No Outside In. Achu Charles Tante |
| 1400-1430 | Legitimising fluid multilingual practice: the challenge for formal education Ibrahima Abdoul Hayou Cissé & Friederike Lüpke | Matching linguistic realities with multilingualism: four countries, four experiences Karen Ferreira-Meyers and Mandana Arfa-Kaboodvand |
| 1430-1500 | Liberalising the Linguistic Space in Public Primary Schools in Nigeria Clement O.O Kolawole & Bolape O. Olaosebikan | How do we accommodate our dialects? Experience from bilingual education books writing in Mozambique Crisófia Langa da Câmara |
| 1500-1530 | Coffee break | |
| 1530-1600 | Introduction of local languages in the school curriculum in Botswana: Policy & Literacy material development challenges Budzani Gabanamotse-Mogara | |
| 1600-1630 | Language of learning and teaching transitions: Perspectives, pedagogies and an agenda for research Rachel Bowden & Angeline Barrett | Multilingualism in Secondary Education: The case of Morocco Moummou Aziz & Fathi Said |
| 1630-1700 | Apprenticeships in Meaning: Transforming Opportunities for Oral and Written Language Learning in the Early Years Carole Bloch | English Language Acquisition in Contact Situations of Igbo Bilinguals in Multilingual Nigeria Michael Chukwualuka Uyanne & Oziomachukwu Akunna Ajemba |
| 1700-1730 | The double-burden of language and gender: girls’ narratives of learning in English Medium monolingual Rwandan basic education Lizzi Milligan, Aline Dorimana, Aloysie Uwizeyemariya, Alphonse Uworwabayeho |
1900 – Conference dinner in Colchester
Day 2 – 16th July 2022
| Time | Room 1 EBS.2.65 | Room 2 EBS.2.66 |
| 0900-0930 | Coffee | |
| 0930-1020 | Levelling the playing field through multilingual education: From the centre to the periphery and back Elizabeth Erling | |
| 1020-1050 | Multilingualism, language policy and learning to read in East and Southern Africa Jo Westbrook, Margaret Baleeta, Caroline Dyer, Rosemary Wildsmith-Cromarty | Learning through a second Bantu language: comparing the performance of native and non-native speakers of the language of instruction in Northern Zambia Joseph Mwansa & Nancy Kula |
| 1050-1120 | The agents and challenges of translanguaging in multilingual classrooms in Botswana Mompoloki Bagwasi | Enhancing Literacy through the Use of National Languages in Gambian Primary Schools Clyde Ancarno |
| 1120-1130 | Coffee break | |
| 1130-1330 | Datafest This will be an interactive, collaborative data analysis session! Participants are invited to send in any and all types of data which will be circulated to everyone before the conference. We’ll then use this time to break off into smaller groups to look through and analyse data together. We’ll share experiences, challenges, and solutions for conducting research on multilingualism and education. | |
| 1330-1430 | Lunch | |
| 1430-1600 | Developing materials and training for teachers This session will look at how we can have impact in teaching practice. We will look at examples of materials, policy and training that has been developed for teachers. We will ask: how can we best develop resources? Who should be involved? How can we ensure effective implementation? Participants will be invited to share their own materials for discussion. | |
| 1600-1610 | Conference roundup |
Bringing the outside in 