Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer
Biographic Data
| ID | 474616 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sílvia |
| FAMILY NAME | Melo-Pfeifer |
| SIGNATURE | MELO-PFEIFER S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universität Hamburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7371-3293 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 51 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 50 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
“ Nosotros participamos de todos los trabajos de la iglesia ”: Venezuelan young migrants’ linguistic investment and language socialisation within a religious community in Brazil
In this paper, we investigate the role of religious participation in language acquisition by analyzing the experiences of two young Venezuelan refugees in Brazil. Utilizing an ethnographic approach, we examine how their involvement in a religious community facilitates linguistic socialization beyond the school environment. The corpus of data includes field notes, classroom interactions, worksheets, and multimedia shared over WhatsApp. Following a…
Navigating the complexities of a virtual exchange with young language learners: Insights into language teacher agency through the lens of ecological systems theory
Although virtual exchange, or telecollaboration, is recognised as an effective language learning approach, little is known about in-service teachers’ perspectives on its implementation in primary and lower secondary school settings. Supporting language teachers in conducting virtual exchanges with young students requires an understanding of both immediate classroom dynamics and broader educational contexts. This one-year qualitative case study ex…
Linguistic Landscapes as a Pedagogical Tool to Promote Global Citizenship Skills
In response to the dynamic challenges of our world, the field of Applied Linguistics is experiencing significant shifts towards research that prioritizes praxis-oriented scholarly engagement, focusing on reflexive action to bring about transformative change. In line with these shifts, this chapter advocates for integrating Linguistic Landscapes (LLs) into education to develop competencies aligned with global citizenship, namely critical thinking …
Assessing the plurilingual competence and plurilingual individuals’ skills and knowledge: Similarities and divergences
Introduction This paper defines plurilingual assessment and shows the semantic ambiguities present in the concept. Specifically, it addresses two understandings of the concept: one related to the valuation of the plurilingual individual and the other to the evaluation of the plurilingual competence. Methods The above-mentioned distinction is treated theoretically only, through the revision of available and emergent literature, which serve as a sp…
Ideologías lingüísticas en el paisaje lingüístico: Actividades pedagógicas para introducir el activismo lingüístico en el aula de idiomas
LINGUISTIC IDEOLOGIES IN THE LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE: PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITIES TO INTRODUCE LINGUISTIC ACTIVISM IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOMThis article explores linguistic ideologies in linguistic landscapes in Hamburg and their potential as a pedagogical tool to introduce language activism in the classroom. Linguistic landscapes, defined as the visibility and presence of languages in public spaces, reflect and reproduce societal ideologies on multiling…
Young students learning German as a Foreign Language in primary school: A scoping review
Aims and objectives: This scoping review aims to provide an overview of empirical research on young students learning German as a Foreign Language (GFL) in primary school settings. Methodology: A systematic search was conducted across six databases in November 2023, following established scoping review methodology. The search included peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 1990 and 2023 in English or German, focusing on children aged 5…
Voices, visuals, and virtual connections: Young language learners forming and constructing multilingual identity in a virtual exchange project
Service Learning for Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Higher Education: Proposals for Pre-Service (Language) Teacher Education
Service learning, an educational methodology that intertwines community service with academic instruction, is garnering growing recognition within higher education due to its potential to enrich both research and outreach efforts. By integrating service learning into the curriculum, higher education institutions (HEIs) can bridge the gap between research and praxis, effectively bringing research findings to local communities and influencing on-th…
Between multilingual ethos and English pathos: How do multilingual scholars navigate international academia
This paper reports on a research project which asked scholars to speak about their multilingual and collaborative academic practices. This case study sheds light on the complex and multilayered linguistic choices made by multilingual scholars to comply with the diverse requirements of a multilingual academic life, namely the adoption of EMI (English Medium Instruction). This contribution starts by reconstructing and discussing from a multilingual…
“This topic was inconsiderate of our culture”: Jordanian students’ perceptions of intercultural clashes in IELTS writing tests
In this contribution, we analyse how students perceive and comment on potential instances of intercultural clashes in the writing component of the International English Language Testing System. Following student accounts, we argue that intercultural bias is indeed perceived, preventing test takers from fully positioning themselves regarding cultural practices in general, and religious beliefs more particularly, as well as from expressing their so…
Crossing linguistic and disciplinary boundaries? Linguistic practices in STEM/S.T.E.M. classrooms, or how a multilingual habit does not make a multilingual monk
In this contribution, I reflect on how multilingual pedagogies can be added to STEM and S.T.E.M. practices, in what could be called a ‘double-crossing’: on the one hand, crossing linguistic boundaries and, on the other, crossing specific subject knowledge. Based on a content analysis of teachers’ interviews referring to their pedagogical experiences with a multilingual platform providing subject content in several languages, I reflect on the exte…
Do societal and individual multilingualism lead to positive perceptions of multilingualism and language learning? A comparative study with Australian and German pre-service teachers
Many metropolitan cities have undergone rapid demographic changes in recent years, and such changes hasten and widen linguistic diversities. Similar changes are happening in Sydney, Australia and Hamburg, Germany. These changes are most acutely felt and observed in the classrooms where multiple languages are spoken, despite a prevalent monolingual mindset in education in both these contexts. What do pre-service teachers think of language learning…
Constructing bilingual input safe spaces at home: Rethinking exposure to language from a multilingual and multisite perspective on literacy practices
Introduction This article analyses parents' and children's attitudes toward the different literacy practices across three different contexts (at home, in a community project, and, indirectly, at school) and how they perceive the interaction between these practices and the development of competences in the Heritage Language (HL). We investigate the relevance of family and community, and how mainstream school influences the co-construction of liter…
Béatrice Turpin, Gabriela Patiño-Lakatos et Laurence Aubry (dir.), Les discours meurtriers aujourd’hui: Peter Lang, coll. « Comparatisme & Société », no 44, 2022, 372 p
Cet ouvrage est le résultat du colloque homonyme de Cerisy-la-Salle (en juillet 2018), qui a eu pour but d’analyser, à l’aide de l’analyse critique du discours et d’une perspective multi et interdisciplinaire, les discours de haine et de l’extrémisme faisant appel à la violence et à l’anéantissement de l’Autre. Les auteurs sont affiliés à la philosophie, à l’histoire — notamment des religions —, au droit, à la psychanalyse, aux sciences du langag…
An inconvenient truth: When ideologies of multilingualism lead to auto‐inflicted epistemic exclusion by multilingual students in higher education
In this article, we juxtapose two international contexts of higher education to critically examine both the situated complexity of (restrictive) ideologies of multilingualism and the ways such ideologies inform multilingual students’ choices of language use that contribute to their own epistemic exclusion in Canada and Germany. A content analysis of data from interviews and written reflections on language choice illustrates that the ideologies of…
Researching multilingually to rethink EMI policy and practices
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Building a virtual transnational space for initial teacher education with Australian and German students
Despite the global trend of growing diversity in student enrolment, most teacher education programmes remain inward-looking, oriented to national core standards and resist academic calls for internationalisation. While we agree that internationalisation at home is possible under certain circumstances, we put forward the argument that dialogic contact between student teachers in different national contexts has the potential to foster teacher educa…
Discussion of the special issue. Beliefs about multilingualism: Is a methodological and epistemological change necessary
In this commentary to the special issue, we will present our personal understanding of how its five papers contribute to advance the research field of beliefs about multilingualism and a critical stance on how multilingualism has been approached in the literature. We will point some ways forward on the research on beliefs about multilingualism claiming that this research area needs to shift from a rather Eurocentric perspective, to embrace less l…
Refugee “calouros” during the Covid-19 pandemic: Effects on Portuguese learning in higher education in Brazil
This paper reflects on the problems faced by refugee students during the COVID-19 pandemic (summer semester 2020) as calouros, i.e. freshmen during their first year, in a public university in Brazil. Through a content analysis of their personal accounts, collected electronically by their teacher of Portuguese for academic purposes (the first author), we describe how five students (a Syrian, two Haitians, a Venezuelan and a Togolese refugees) (re)…
A whole university approach to humanitarian migrant and refugee students’ integration: Reflections on the practical implementation of education policies and programmes at Universidade Federal do Paran…
Nous analysons comment l’arrivée de migrants avec des visas humanitaires et de réfugiés au Brésil a poussé une université à développer des pratiques de base d’accueil des étudiants et de leurs communautés. Après une première reconnaissance des besoins linguistiques de ce public nouvellement arrivé, l’université, à l’initiative du département de droit, a développé ce que l’on pourrait appeler une approche universitaire holistique d’intégration, ba…
De la rue aux pupitres: L’éducation au plurilinguisme à travers les paysages linguistiques vue par les enseignants de langues
Dans ce texte, nous nous intéressons aux paysages linguistiques (PL) en tant qu’éléments multisémiotiques médiateurs entre les environnements formels et informels d’apprentissage de langues et de travail avec les langues. Après une discussion sur les différentes méthodes de travail avec les PL en cours, nous soutenons que la transposition multimodale des PL, depuis les environnements authentiques de leur production et consommation jusqu’aux salle…
Transforming Disinformation on Minorities Into a Pedagogical Resource: Towards a Critical Intercultural News Literacy
Intercultural competence and diversity awareness are relevant to handling “fake news” related to minorities and migrants, thus preventing “othering” and stereotyping of vulnerable populations. Teachers and schools can play a central role in preventing the spread of far-right ideologies and the dissemination of false information and hate discourse. For that, bringing together intercultural competence and news literacy, conceptualised as “critical …
How is the bilingual development of Portuguese heritage children perceived by their parents? Results from an ethnographic case study of a non-formal learning setting in Germany
In the context of German linguistic policies, Heritage Language (HL) education ranges from formal and informal to non-formal offers. Families with migratory backgrounds seeking acquisition and maintenance of the HL frequently resort to educational or maintenance opportunities that are not institutionalized. In the region of Bavaria (Germany), the geographical context of this study, the teaching of Portuguese as an HL (PHL) mainly occurs in non-fo…
The Changing Face of the “Native Speaker”: Perspectives from Multilingualism and Globalization
No abstract available.
Entrevista com Prof. Dr. Ana Barcelos
Ana Barcelos, Professora Titular de Lingua Inglesa e Linguística Aplicada, do Departamento de Letras da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, tem implementado, com regularidade e sistematicidade, métodos visuais, não só na sua investigação, como também na formação de professores e de jovens investigadores em contexto brasileiro. As editoras do dossiê temático conversaram com a investigadora acerca das suas práticas e da influência dos métodos visuais n…
Art matters in languages and intercultural citizenship education
This introductory paper briefly discusses the pressing need for intercultural citizenship education in a human world made small, currently shut down due to a pandemic. We further argue for a renewed relationship between the arts and intercultural citizenship education that explores sustained imagined worlds; stimulates empathy; promotes the critical development of languages towards dialogue; inspires social, cultural, and political action; and de…
Is there a place for heritage languages in the promotion of an intercultural and multilingual education in the Portuguese schools
This paper is part of a case study aimed at researching the multilingual repertoires of young people from a linguistic and cultural minority. Further, it analyzes the role of and the place given to heritage languages (HL) in the development of a multilingual and intercultural competence in schools. In the scope of the study mentioned above, a survey was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed to students from a migrant background. The…
Multimodal linguistic biographies of prospective foreign language teachers in Germany: Reconstructing beliefs about languages and multilingual language learning in initial teacher education
Linguistic biographies have been increasingly used in language and teacher education, even if mainly in a written form. In this study we analyse 33 visual linguistic biographies, using drawings to examine the (re)constructions of the multilingual self. The visual linguistic biographies were produced by prospective Spanish language teachers at the University of Hamburg (Winter Semester 2017). We looked at the visual composition of the linguistic b…
Intercomprehension between Romance Languages and the role of English: A study of multilingual chat rooms
In this article, we focus on the role English plays in multilingual chat rooms in Romance Languages. We intend to demonstrate how English, even as forbidden language in this particular setting, is a mediation and a remediation tool. Our conclusions point out that: (1) English is an constructive resource in multilingual communication; (2) it has a positive impact on multilingual education; and (3) it participates in individuals' management of inte…
Exploiting foreign language student-teachers’ visual language biographies to challenge the monolingual mind-set in foreign language education
This article takes the plurilingual repertoires of foreign language teachers – and thus the teachers’ linguistic diversity – as a starting point for exploratory research into the potential of visual methods in teacher education for changing mind-sets. Describing and reflecting on the ubiquitous manifestation of a monolingual habitus in foreign language (teacher) education, we consider ways to offer linguistically responsive foreign language teach…
An inconvenient truth: When ideologies of multilingualism lead to auto‐inflicted epistemic exclusion by multilingual students in higher education
In this article, we juxtapose two international contexts of higher education to critically examine both the situated complexity of (restrictive) ideologies of multilingualism and the ways such ideologies inform multilingual students’ choices of language use that contribute to their own epistemic exclusion in Canada and Germany. A content analysis of data from interviews and written reflections on language choice illustrates that the ideologies of…
Translanguaging. Language, bilingualism and education
Sílvia Melo-PfeiferResearch Centre Didactics and Technology in Education of Trainers, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, [email protected]© 2014 Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer
O que diriam sobre os portugueses????? ’ [What would you say about Portuguese people?]: Intercultural curiosity in multilingual chat-rooms
In this study, we intend to discuss questioning as a sign of Intercultural Communicative Competence in plurilingual environments, stressing the relationship between questioning and the process of developing discovery skills in Romance chat-rooms. Focusing specifically on episodes beginning with intercultural questioning, we will analyse: (1) typical situations leading to these kinds of questions and; (2) recurrent discursive topics of the corpus.…
Researching multilingually to rethink EMI policy and practices
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Public understanding of language planning and linguistic rights: The debate on the current Portuguese orthographic reform
This study focuses on the tensions around Portugal's language policies and citizens' perceptions of their linguistic rights in the context of the current orthographic reform. Unlike other linguistic rights studies, this enquiry does not focus on endangered languages or linguistic minorities. Instead, there are three major ingredients that embody linguistic-rights claims by European Portuguese speakers: the right to be heard on orthographic reform…
Chercheurs en interaction. Comment émergent les savoirs. Lorenza Mondada (2005)
Chercheurs en interaction. Comment émergent les savoirs. Lorenza Mondada (2005) Lausanne: Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes, 142pp ISBN 2–88074–584–5
O que diriam sobre os portugueses????? ’ [What would you say about Portuguese people?]: Intercultural curiosity in multilingual chat-rooms
In this study, we intend to discuss questioning as a sign of Intercultural Communicative Competence in plurilingual environments, stressing the relationship between questioning and the process of developing discovery skills in Romance chat-rooms. Focusing specifically on episodes beginning with intercultural questioning, we will analyse: (1) typical situations leading to these kinds of questions and; (2) recurrent discursive topics of the corpus.…
Language negotiation in multilingual learning environments
The present study focuses on the negotiation of the languages of communication in language-learning activities involving multilingual learners. Its overall purpose is to throw light on the conditions that surround the creation and the maintenance of multilingual communicative spaces, as well as on the tensions and forces (both communicative and acquisitional) that influence language management in those spaces. Two different corpora, multilingual …
Intercomprehension between Romance Languages and the role of English: A study of multilingual chat rooms
In this article, we focus on the role English plays in multilingual chat rooms in Romance Languages. We intend to demonstrate how English, even as forbidden language in this particular setting, is a mediation and a remediation tool. Our conclusions point out that: (1) English is an constructive resource in multilingual communication; (2) it has a positive impact on multilingual education; and (3) it participates in individuals' management of inte…
Bilingual community education and multilingualism – beyond heritage languages in a global city
Sílvia Melo-PfeiferCIDTFF – Research Centre Didactics and Technology in Education of Trainers, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, [email protected]© 2014 Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer
Translanguaging. Language, bilingualism and education
Sílvia Melo-PfeiferResearch Centre Didactics and Technology in Education of Trainers, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, [email protected]© 2014 Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer
The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, Tesol and bilingual education
The Multilingual Turn is a ‘plaidoyer’ for an epistemological change in applied linguistics, within three main areas: second language acquisition (SLA), teaching English for speakers of other langu
The role of the family in heritage language use and learning: Impact on heritage language policies
We analyze the way children and youngsters perceive the role of family in the use and acquisition of the heritage language (HL), through two complementary means: drawings produced by children and students participating in a discussion forum. Our study reveals: (1) the convergence of perceptions that children and adolescents have about family involvement and its roles in the maintenance of the HL, in terms of affective, cognitive, and interactiona…
Multilingual awareness and heritage language education: Children's multimodal representations of their multilingualism
In this article, we analyse visual narratives of multilingual children, in order to acknowledge their self-perception as multilingual selves. Through the analysis of drawings produced by children enrolled in Portuguese as heritage language (PHL) classes in Germany, we analyse how bi-/multilingual children perceive their multilingual repertoires and depict the relationship between the various multilingual and semiotic resources. The analysis descr…
Le rôle des langues d’origine dans la compétence plurilingue des jeunes issus de l’immigration: Une étude de cas dans les écoles au Portugal
Le présent article vise à décrire le rôle des langues d’origine (LO) dans la constitution d'une compétence plurilingue et à clarifier leur multifonctionnalité, en contexte scolaire portugais. Notre étude montre, plus spécifiquement, comment les jeunes issus de l’immigration se représentent en tant que sujets plurilingues. Les données analysées ont été recueillies pendant l'année scolaire 2013-2014 à l'aide d’entretiens biographiques auprès de 20 …
Mathieu Avanzi, Virginie Conti, Gilles Corminboeuf, Frédéric Gachet, Laure Anne Johnsen et Pascal Montchaud (dir.), Enseignement du français: Les apports de la recherche en linguistique. Réflexions en…
Ce livre est un voyage dans le passé et, en même temps, un regard vers l’avenir, car nous sommes confrontés au besoin de (re)construire le dialogue interdisciplinaire entre la didactique des langues (DL) et la linguistique, dialogue si cher à M.-J. Béguelin, à qui cet ouvrage est dédié. Les études de Béguelin, recensées et reprises par les auteurs, rappellent la productivité qui peut émerger du dialogue entre ces deux champs disciplinaires et des…
Is there a place for heritage languages in the promotion of an intercultural and multilingual education in the Portuguese schools
This paper is part of a case study aimed at researching the multilingual repertoires of young people from a linguistic and cultural minority. Further, it analyzes the role of and the place given to heritage languages (HL) in the development of a multilingual and intercultural competence in schools. In the scope of the study mentioned above, a survey was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed to students from a migrant background. The…
Public understanding of language planning and linguistic rights: The debate on the current Portuguese orthographic reform
This study focuses on the tensions around Portugal's language policies and citizens' perceptions of their linguistic rights in the context of the current orthographic reform. Unlike other linguistic rights studies, this enquiry does not focus on endangered languages or linguistic minorities. Instead, there are three major ingredients that embody linguistic-rights claims by European Portuguese speakers: the right to be heard on orthographic reform…
Early years second language education. International perspectives on theory and practice
Sandie Mourao and Monica Lourenco have edited a ground-breaking volume on language education of children from 3 to 6 years old. As the editors recognize, ‘no publication has concentrated solely on
Serge Borg, Maria Cheggour, Nadine Desrochers, Laurent Gajo, Vincent Larivière et Monica Vlad (dir.), L’Université en contexte plurilingue dans la dynamique numérique: Éditions des archives contempora…
Cette publication est le produit du colloque annuel de l’Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF), sous le même titre, tenu à Marrakech en 2015, et organisé autour de trois axes : 1) l’enseignement du français en milieu plurilingue ; 2) le français, langue d’enseignement ; 3) langues et diffusion des savoirs : la communication scientifique. L’ouvrage est structuré autour de ces trois axes, chaque section étant introduite par une réflexion po…
Multilingual interaction in chat rooms: Translanguaging to learn and learning to translanguage
In this chapter, we analyse the co-construction of meaning by university students in romance language (RL) chat rooms, in an online platform focused on multilingual language practice and learning. This communicative situation can best be described through the concept of ‘intercomprehension’, i.e. a multilingual and multisemiotic communicative practice between speakers of different languages (in this case, typologically related languages), and wil…
Introduction: Multilingual interaction – dynamics and achievements
Professional development of future foreign language teachers during short-term exchanges
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the self-perceived influence of short-term exchanges in schools abroad on future foreign language teacher’s professionalization, regarding professional values and pedagogy and practice. It grasps students’ changes in the perception of values attached to short-term exchanges in a professional setting. Design/methodology/approach In the scope of the European project SPIRAL, four prospective foreign la…
Paisagens Linguísticas: Ideologias, Discursos E Práticas Multilingues Nos Espaços Sociais
Apresentação do número temático Paisagens Linguísticas
What does language awareness look like? Visual methodologies in language learning and teaching research (2000–2018)
The acquisition of a language is a complex process. Applied Linguistics research tends to view this process as classroom-based. It is only more recently that learners, in particular young learners, are being placed in the centre of investigation in research exploring language learning from their subjective perspectives.To understand these learner-centred perspectives, there is a growing body of work using visual methodologies, despite the fact th…
Multimodal linguistic biographies of prospective foreign language teachers in Germany: Reconstructing beliefs about languages and multilingual language learning in initial teacher education
Linguistic biographies have been increasingly used in language and teacher education, even if mainly in a written form. In this study we analyse 33 visual linguistic biographies, using drawings to examine the (re)constructions of the multilingual self. The visual linguistic biographies were produced by prospective Spanish language teachers at the University of Hamburg (Winter Semester 2017). We looked at the visual composition of the linguistic b…
Art matters in languages and intercultural citizenship education
This introductory paper briefly discusses the pressing need for intercultural citizenship education in a human world made small, currently shut down due to a pandemic. We further argue for a renewed relationship between the arts and intercultural citizenship education that explores sustained imagined worlds; stimulates empathy; promotes the critical development of languages towards dialogue; inspires social, cultural, and political action; and de…
The Changing Face of the “Native Speaker”: Perspectives from Multilingualism and Globalization
No abstract available.
Entrevista com Prof. Dr. Ana Barcelos
Ana Barcelos, Professora Titular de Lingua Inglesa e Linguística Aplicada, do Departamento de Letras da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, tem implementado, com regularidade e sistematicidade, métodos visuais, não só na sua investigação, como também na formação de professores e de jovens investigadores em contexto brasileiro. As editoras do dossiê temático conversaram com a investigadora acerca das suas práticas e da influência dos métodos visuais n…
Interview with Prof. Dr. Paula Kalaja
Paula Kalaja, Professor Emerita (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), is one of the pioneers in the use of visual methods in Applied Language Studies, having inspired a range of graduates, post-graduates, and researchers around the world. Her research interests crisscross the use of visual methods, beliefs about languages, language teaching and language learning, and identity, with astonishing creativity and a visionary sense of research. The edito…
Sociology (34 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (29 works) · Psychology (28 works) · Linguistics (27 works) · Pedagogy (27 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (24 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (24 works) · Multilingualism (17 works) · Philosophy (16 works) · Political science (15 works)