Participative Multilingual Identity Construction in Higher Education

Challenging Monolingual Ideologies and Practices

Bibliographic Data

ID22047693
AuthorsAngela Gayton (0000-0002-9814-359X, University of Glasgow, corresponding author), Michael Robert Evans (0009-0002-2819-2350, University of Cambridge), Michael Evans (0000-0002-6909-6579, University of Cambridge), Linda Fisher (0000-0001-7916-9199, University of Cambridge), Karen Forbes (0000-0001-8981-8236, University of Cambridge), Dieuwerke Rutgers (0000-0003-0506-847X, Sheffield Hallam University)
Year2025
Volume15
Issue4
Pages463
Publication date2025-04-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducation Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2227-7102 • E-ISSN: 2227-7102
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/educsci15040463
OpenAlexW4409296200
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited40

This theoretical paper builds on the authors’ existing scholarship exploring the value of incorporating multilingual identity-focused pedagogical practice into language learning at the secondary school level, by establishing the rationale for extending such practices to the tertiary level, both in language learning specifically and in tertiary education more generally. We previously reconceptualised multilingualism as an all-encompassing concept that one can lay claim to, regardless of proficiency levels in multiple languages, dialects, and other communicative modes, and outlined a pedagogical framework for “participative construction of multilingual identity in the language classroom”. In establishing a rationale for applying this framework and its underpinning conceptualisation of multilingual identity to the (increasingly linguistically diverse) tertiary education sector, this current paper critically examines the literature on attitudes towards multilingualism in higher education; and on evidence for the value of identity-focused pedagogies. We outline approaches to embedding awareness-raising of multilingual identities, and related identity-focused pedagogical approaches. At a time when the English language remains powerful at the tertiary level, these proposals are deemed important for challenging the ongoing dominance of monolingual ideals in higher education, especially in Anglophone contexts, where increasing numbers of international students with varied multilingual identities and repertoires are perceived as deficient when judged against monolingual, native-speaker norms. Finally, the next steps in the research agenda are recommended

Aesthetics · Higher education · Ideology · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Second Language Learning and Teaching

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Open DOIOpen Access