Heritage speakers in Switzerland

Plurilingualism and social justice in a multilingual country

Bibliographic Data

ID7146008
AuthorsAndrea Wehrli (0009-0002-8553-4548, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume38
Issue2
Pages237-261
Publication date2025-12-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAILA Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-0213 • E-ISSN: 1570-5595
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/aila.24068.weh
OpenAlexW7114779008
LanguageEN
References cited51

Switzerland is often praised for its multilingualism; however, this reputation conceals a complex paradox characterized by both pride in and apprehension towards multilingualism. This ambivalence arises from various unresolved contradictions, such as institutional and/or national language policies versus individual multilingualism (plurilingualism) and the distinction between local and foreign languages. This paper draws on the experience of plurilingual speakers in Switzerland reflecting on the ideologies affecting heritage speakers. The discussion emphasizes the importance of decolonizing scholarly knowledge through the explicit articulation of the locus of enunciation and the creation of spaces that empower marginalized voices and languages. The paper draws upon my research and locus of enunciation as a teacher in Swiss higher education, with a plurilingual, multi- and transcultural background, from a family with diverse migration experiences. Also, it draws upon selected reflections of my students and my memories as a former trained elementary school teacher and speaker of a non-prestigious heritage language crossing the linguistic borders in Switzerland. The discussion highlights the significant impact of early educational experiences on academic trajectories. The plurilingual speakers whose experience I draw upon have a migration background, grew up in Switzerland in homes where a language other than the local (majority and official) language is spoken. They attended monolingual schools and regularly confronted monolingual perspectives shaped by native speaker views, language hierarchies, and the entrenched concepts of monolingual habitus ( Gogolin, 1994 ) and monolingual mindset ( Clyne, 2008 ) within educational institutions. The analysis concludes that the Swiss educational system does not adequately address the specific needs nor fully appreciates the potential and linguistic repertoires of heritage speakers arguing that linguistic injustice stemming from monolingual perspectives in Switzerland can be addressed through the framework of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIAB

First language · Foregrounding · Foreign language · Habitus · Heritage language · Language planning · Multilingualism · Native-language instruction · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Linguistic Education and Pedagogy · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy

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