Page 57 - Compétences plurilingues : perspectives et actions / Plurilingual competencies: perspectives and actions

Plurilingual Students in Tandem Language Exchange:
Motivation, Perceived Positive Language Interaction, and
Plurilingual Approach

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Silvie Prevratilova ́

Abstract
Languages in the speakers’ repertoire in luence additional language acquisition and the learners may perceive in-
teraction among them. This chapter presents a study on plurilingualism¹ in a language exchange course (language
tandem), exploring the ideal multilingual selves, perceived positive language interaction (PPLI) of languages that
the learners have studied, and plurilingual strategies employed in the tandem course. Data were collected using
re lections, learner diaries, interviews, and a recorded lesson. The qualitative study presents pro iles of a pair
where a Czech student learns French as L4 and a Canadian student learns Czech as L4. The results underscore
the role of the teacher in perceiving interaction among languages learned and language learning motivation, and
challenge the monolingual bias in tandem language learning.

Introduction

While the of icial and primary language of instruction at Czech universities is Czech, uni-
versity programs promote multilingualism. Besides courses in Czech, students can study
in other languages, and some universities offer programs (usually paid) in languages other
than Czech (for more information on language management at Czech universities, see Sher-
man, 2020). In line with the language policy of mother tongue + two additional languages,
European university students are users of at least two foreign languages when they enter
university. Their language learning experiences offer a wide range of plurilingual personal
histories and various motivational pro iles relating both to global world languages and lan-
guages with limited ethnolinguistic vitality (Ehala, 2015), such as Czech. Although the ac-
quisition process of L2 differs from L3+ (Henry, 2011, 2017), and there may be different
sources of motivation to learn an additional language, most empirical studies have exam-
ined individual languages (Henry, 2020). The motivation to learn an additional language
may also be in luenced by how the plurilingual learner perceives interaction among the
languages learned (Thompson & Aslan, 2014; Thompson & Erdil-Moody, 2016; Thompson,
2020). While languages other than English (LOTEs) have received research attention re-
cently, minor Slavic languages still need to be investigated (Mendoza & Phung, 2019). As
plurilingualism continues to lourish within the European higher education landscape, it is
1. Note on terminology: The distinction between multilingualism and plurilingualism has yet to be fully es-
tablished in applied linguistics. While plurilingualism often refers to an individual level and multilingualism is
associated with societies and nations (Council of Europe, 2007), some theoretical approaches refer to multilin-
gualism on an individual level, for example, the concept of multilingual self. This chapter adheres to the principle
of plurilingualism on individual level. However, concepts established in literature as multilingual (ideal multilin-
gual self or multilingual motivational self system) are referred to as such. Another terminological problem arises
from the foreign/second language dichotomy. Although second language usually refers to learning a language in
the country where it is spoken and foreign to language learning where the of icial language is different, which has
some implications on learning and teaching, the boundary is sometimes blurred, and for the sake of this chapter
not essential.

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