Strengthening European Identity by promoting multilingualism in education
Actual understanding of multilingualism refers to the ability of individuals to consistently use two or more languages in communication. Knowing several languages facilitates international mobility and cooperation, fosters educational and professional integration, strengthens people's belong...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
West University of Timisoara
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Revista de Știinţe Educaţiei |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://rse.uvt.ro/pdf/2019/Numarul_2/5.pdf |
| Summary: | Actual understanding of multilingualism refers to the ability of individuals to consistently
use two or more languages in communication. Knowing several languages facilitates
international mobility and cooperation, fosters educational and professional integration,
strengthens people's belonging to the European community as European citizens. Many
European citizens are motivated to study another foreign language because of multiple
reasons, especially the personal and professional advantages of language skills. However, it
is also important to understand why many others are not currently studying foreign
languages or are limited to the knowledge of English as second language. Some may
consider foreign languages not to be essential for their lives, others may consider teaching
methods too academic, rigid, less attractive, too boring, other may be traumatized by their
school experiences. Whatever the reasons, solutions must be found to overcome these
hesitations and learning fears. The purpose of these study is to investigate students'
representations (future teachers) on European multilingualism and their attitudes towards
the acquisition, knowledge and practicing of foreign languages in Europe. In order to
establish the theoretical framework of our research, we have reviewed official studies
elaborated by the European Commission, specialized articles and papers addressing the
issue of multilingualism in European context. Using a questionnaire based research we
aimed to identify students' (future teachers) reasons for choosing the study of a foreign
language; the extent to which students know and exploit the benefits of European
multilingualism and how they think it could be promoted by them, as future teachers. In line
with the results of our research, we intend to we intend to highlight ways of promoting
multilingualism in education. |
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| ISSN: | 1454-7678 2457-8673 |