Several researchers have drawn attention (e.g.
, Busse, 2017a; Krumm, 2012;
Liddicoat & Curnow, 2014) to the striking imbalance between the value that schools and
language education place on languages that are associated with a high social prestige
and the value placed on migrant or minority languages. Bourdieu (1977) showed that
(valued) linguistic capital plays a crucial role for power and dominance structures in
society and all educational institutions. At school, migrant students and speakers of
minority languages frequently experience that learning mainstream foreign languages,
in particular English as a foreign language (EFL), is encouraged, but developing skills in
their family languages is viewed as having little worth; family language use may even be
prohibited. As language is part of identity (e.g., Norton, 2000), such practices devalue
not only the languages but also the learners themselves.
Research on multilingual education has suggested that an approach that
normalizes the existence of linguistic (and cultural) diversity in the classroom and
includes it in teaching can empower students (Cummins, 2000). Creating an opportunity
for students to make use of their linguistic resources in the classroom is also beneficial
to their learning and for their developing multilingual competencies (Cenoz &
Gorter, 2014; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017; García & Wei, 2014). However,
in many contexts, foreign language education continues to ignore diversity in the
classroom and fails to incorporate students’ linguistic resources (Bailey &
Marsden, 2017; Hall & Cook, 2012; for the situation in German EFL classes, see Göbel
& Helmke, 2010; Göbel & Vieluf, 2017), ultimately perpetuating monolingual practices.
Failing to make use of these resources is not only detrimental to students with a migrant
background but also to students of the majority population who cannot benefit from the
linguistic resources of their peers.
Moreover, the attitudinal dimensions of learning such as raising students’
curiosity, openness, and linguistic awareness as well as teaching them to value diversity
as stipulated by the Council of Europe (2008) may not be adequately addressed by
education systems. A study with adolescents in four European countries illustrated well
that students perceive languages in a highly hierarchical manner, often failing to see the
value of plurilingualism or languages other than English (Busse, 2017b). For example,
studies have shown that in Germany, migrant languages (e.g., Turkish and Arabic), but
also foreign languages like French or Dutch, are seen quite negatively and frequently
judged as disagreeable (Eichinger et al., 2009; Plewnia & Rothe, 2011). In other words,
it cannot reasonably be assumed that exposure to EFL teaching alone generates
positive acceptance of diversity or linguistic tolerance. Foreign language education, it
thus seems, is far from reaching its plurilingual aims (Council of Europe, 2007).
Although educational systems worldwide differ significantly in classification and
inclusion rates, inclusive education has become a topic of intense discussion, empirical
investigation, and a pedagogical reform initiative in recent years (Krischler et al.,
Citation2019). Implementing inclusive education (IE) may be challenging, especially in
higher education institutions (Moriña, Citation2017), but it is an approach that allows all
students, regardless of their abilities, disabilities, or socio-economic background, to be
educated together in a mainstream classroom with appropriate support and
accommodations provided (Krischler et al., Citation2019; Lindner & Schwab,
Citation2020; Saloviita, Citation2020). Additionally, IE offers an environment where
learners can gain knowledge and actively engage in challenging activities that promote
equality and success (AlMahdi et al., Citation2019; Loreman, Citation2017), providing
opportunities for all students to learn together.
In English language education, IE is commonly discussed with regard to
language classes with linguistically diverse learners. Martin-Beltrán et al. (Citation2017)
asserted that a linguistically diverse classroom is different from mainstream classrooms
in terms of language use. In other words, a linguistically diverse classrooms typically
consist of various types of students, such as those whose primary language is not
English and learners learning a second or foreign language (Commins & Miramontes,
Citation2006), coming “from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds”
(Gonzalez et al., Citation2011, p. viii).
In the Philippines, the implementation of the Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual
Education (MTB- MLE) requires teachers from kindergarten to Grade 3 to use the
mother tongue mandated by the Department of Education (DepEd) as a medium of
instruction and to teach it as a subject (DepEd Order No 16, s, Citation2012). However,
one of the challenges in implementing MTB-MLE is teaching classes in which a range of
mother tongues is spoken (Metila et al., Citation2016). Considering the Philippines has
183 living languages (Westphal, Citation2020), there will always be linguistically diverse
classrooms. As a result, educators need to consider how they can create a supportive
and inclusive learning environment that meets the needs of all students in linguistically
diverse classrooms. In the context of the study, linguistically diverse classrooms refer to
classrooms in which pupils in one class have different mother tongues or first languages
(L1).
While previous studies have explored inclusive education in various contexts,
these studies mostly focused on teachers’ and parents’ attitudes toward IE (see
AlMahdi et al., Citation2019; Paseka & Schwab, Citation2020; Saloviita, Citation2020),
teacher agency (Miller et al., Citation2022), IE in higher education
(Moriña, Citation2017), and IE’s issues and challenges (Engelbrecht, Citation2020;
Love & Horn, Citation2021). In other words, there need to be more studies that
concentrate on inclusive teaching practices in language education, especially in the
Philippine context.
Thus, the current study examined the inclusive strategies in language teaching
that teachers employed to cater to the different linguistic backgrounds of the primary
learners in the Philippines. It also explored the effects of these inclusive strategies on
the pupils’ learning. Additionally, this study represents an essential contribution to the
field of language education, as it addresses a significant gap in the existing literature by
exploring strategies for inclusive language teaching for classrooms with pupils with
diverse linguistic backgrounds.
According to a study that was conducted in one of the basic education schools in
the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Philippines. CAR is home to numerous
indigenous tribes, making it the most diversified ethnolinguistic region in the country and
having linguistically diverse school settings (Gonzales & Ngohayon, Citation2015). This
makes study an apt example of a society with linguistically diverse classroom settings in
need of inclusive strategies. Diverse as it may be, the Department of Education
identified only one language in the North, Iloko, that can be used as a medium of
instruction and as a subject (DepEd Order No 16, s, Citation2012).
The key informants for the cross-sectional exploratory case study were five
teachers (all females) with a teaching experience between seven and 20 years and
aged between 35 and 50. These teachers, with a bachelor of elementary education
degrees, held classes with diverse linguistic backgrounds from kindergarten to Grade 3.
They were assigned codes as T1, T2…to withhold their identity. Also, 16 pupils from
different linguistic backgrounds studying from Kinder to Grade 3 participated in the
study. These pupil participants used varied languages such as Ibaloy, Kankana-
ey, Ilocano, Tagalog, and Kalanguya as their first languages, signifying their fluency and
competence in these languages. These pupil participants, who were given codes P1,
P2, etc… were selected by their teachers to participate in the study. (Congent
Education, 2023)
References:
Busse, V., Cenoz, J., Dalmann, N., & Rogge, F. (2019). Addressing Linguistic Diversity in the
Language Classroom in a Resource‐Oriented Way: An Intervention Study With Primary
School Children . Language Learning, 70(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12382
Wakat, G. S., Paulino, F. B., Cagaoan, S. T., & Ulla, M. B. (2023). Of tongues and ties:
Surfacing inclusive strategies in linguistically diverse classrooms. Cogent Education, 10(2).
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2023.2268462
