Multilingual language learning interventions to foster language proficiency and cross-linguistic awareness in language classrooms – a systematic literature review
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11635638 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Irma Westheim (0009-0006-2794-074X, University of Amsterdam, corresponding author), Catherine Van Beuningen (0000-0002-0229-2647, University of Amsterdam), Joana Duarte (0000-0002-4842-6719, University of Groningen), Carla Van Boxtel (0000-0002-5119-121X, University of Amsterdam) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0143-4632 • E-ISSN: 1747-7557 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01434632.2025.2596928 |
| OpenAlex | W4417340484 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 53 |
Multilingualism is common in educational settings across Europe and beyond, yet many language teachers report feeling unprepared to valorise the different languages students bring to their classrooms. Multilingual language learning interventions – activities that intentionally draw on students’ multilingual repertoires – offer one way to enhance language learning. Research suggests that such interventions can support students’ language proficiency and crosslinguistic awareness, particularly in upper primary, secondary and university contexts. Nevertheless, no systematic literature review has yet synthesised interventions fostering language proficiency and crosslinguistic awareness in educational settings for language learners aged ten or older. Consequently, this systematic review of 17 studies seeks insights into (1) types of multilingual language learning interventions fostering language proficiency and cross-linguistic awareness for this group of language learners, and (2) the outcomes of these intervention types. Our narrative analyses identified three types of multilingual language-learning interventions with outcomes related to language proficiency and/or cross-linguistic awareness: (1) Creating multilingual space in language learning, (2) Raising cross-linguistic awareness with structured tasks and (3) Exploiting multilingual repertoires to support language skills. Our review offers practical insights and directions for further research on using students’ multilingual repertoires in upper primary, secondary and university language learning settings
Comprehension approach · Feeling · First language · Language acquisition · Language assessment · Language education · Language proficiency · Multilingualism · Psychological intervention · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Second Language Learning and Teaching
Defining Multilingualism
Sampling Bias and the Problem of Generalizability in Applied Linguistics
Multilingual Language Development
TheMultilingual Turn in Languages Education
Translanguaging
The Language of Schooling
The PRISMA 2020 statement
The Language Demands of Analytical Reading and Writing at School
Supporting the development of the bilingual lexicon through translanguaging
How dominant language influences rubric reading and task performance
Effects of Plurilingual Teaching on Grammatical Development in Early Foreign‐Language Learning
Strategy development and cross-linguistic transfer in foreign and first language writing
Silencing linguistic diversity
Pedagogical translanguaging and teachers’ perceptions of anxiety
Developing morphological awareness across languages
Monolingual ways of seeing multilingualism
Critical Multilingual Language Awareness Among Migrant Students
Challenging Minority Language Isolation
Complex transfer processes in multilingual language (L3/L n ) acquisition of Spanish past tenses
Measuring the impact of translanguaging in Tesol
Strategic Processing in Grammar Learning
Teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism and a multilingual pedagogical approach
Translanguaging multimodal pedagogy in French pronunciation instruction
Native-speakerism and non-native second language teachers
Challenging the monolingual mindset
Language as a vehicle or as a resource? Exploring the nature of metalinguistic reflection in plurilingual consciousness-raising tasks
A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition
Addressing Linguistic Diversity in the Language Classroom in a Resource-Oriented Way
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |