Undersykstema: Multilingualism and Language Learning
Rintiid: 
Koördinaasje: 
Mercatormeiwurkers: Suzanne Dekker
Finansiering: 
Mear ynformaasje: 

This project examines how multilingualism, historical awareness, and the use of the minoritized language Frisian shape identity formation among pre-service primary teachers in the bilingual province of Fryslân, the Netherlands. Research on Frisian identity has a long tradition (e.g. Betten, 2023; Halink & Spiekhout, 2023; Van Doorn, 2021), yet the role of the Frisian language itself in processes of individual identity formation remains relatively underexplored, particularly among young adults. The question of how language links to identity formation is especially pressing in minoritized language contexts, where language practices are shaped by asymmetrical power relations, language shift, and educational policies that often privilege majority languages (Austin & Sallabank, 2013; Gorter et al., 2013; Wright, 2004). For primary teacher education, this is highly relevant, as future teachers are expected to address linguistic diversity, heritage, and identity in their classrooms while simultaneously positioning themselves within these dynamics.

Teaching history through local (indigenous/mother) languages is essential for cultural heritage preservation, inclusive education, and student engagement (Sharma, 2015). Within Ien & Mien, we examine the relationship between multilingualism, history, and identity formation among pre-service primary teachers in the bilingual province of Fryslân, the Netherlands. Our central aim is to examine how minoritized languages and cultural heritage contribute to both individual and collective identities, and how such insights can inform pedagogical practice in multilingual and minoritized settings. Our project focuses on how multilingualism, including the use of a minoritized language, can contribute to young adults’ identity formation; and how multilingualism and identity formation can be productively integrated into classroom practices, particularly in history education, in ways that support minoritized language awareness and valorisation.

Using a combination of object-based learning (Chatterjee et al., 2015) and micro-historical approaches (Magnússon & Szijárto, 2013), we task pre-service teachers to investigate their own family and community language histories by analysing objects and documents from their homes that showcase their family’s multilingual histories. These ego-documents (sources where the subject speaks about themselves) can be considered not just as records of events, but as performative acts of self-creation (Baggerman et al., 2016). Studying ego-documents such as diaries, annotated recipe cards, online travel accounts, and historical objects such as birth spoons can therefore allow researchers to reconstruct the perspectives and experiences of their ancestors (Leitner, 2016) and show how people navigated conflicting roles, expectations, and relationships in their specific historical contexts (Fulbrook & Rublack, 2010). Micro-historic research can thus foreground small-scale narratives as a lens through which broader processes such as language transmission, stigmatisation, revitalisation, and institutionalisation can be explored.

Within Ien & Mien, pre-service teachers are asked to examine their own family’s history via an ego-document of choice, work in groups to analyse differences and similarities in different families’ language practices and relate these experiences to wider social and historical developments affecting Frisian as a minoritized language. They furthermore reflect on how researching their own linguistic heritage influenced their understanding of minoritized language identity, experiences of language (de)valorisation, and their professional self-concept as future teachers. Finally, they discuss how object-based learning and microhistory approaches can be adapted for use with primary school pupils to design lesson materials that align with curriculum goals for Frisian and history education.

References

Austin, P. K., & Sallabank, J. (2013). Endangered languages: An introduction. Journal of Multilingual and MulticulturalDevelopment, 34(4), 313–316. doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2013.794806

Baggermann, Arianne; Dekker, Rudolf; Mascuch, Michael (Spring 2016): Egodocuments and History: A Short Account of the Longue Durée, in: The Historian, Volume 78, Issue 1, pp. 11-56, www.jstor.org/stable/26744387.

Betten, E. (2013). De Fries. Op syk nei de Fryske identiteit. Ljouwert: Uitgeverij Wijdemeer.

Chatterjee, H. J., Hannan, L., & Thomson, L. (2015). An introduction to object-based learning and multisensory engagement. Engaging the senses: Object-based learning in higher education, 1-18.

Fulbrook, Mary; Rublack, Ulinka (September 2010): The Social Self and Ego-Documents, in: German History, Volume 28, Issue 3, pp. 263-272, doi.org/10.1093/gerhis/ghq065.

Gorter, D., Zenotz, V., & Cenoz, J. (2013). Introduction: Minority language education facing major local and global challenges. In Minority languages and multilingual education: Bridging the local and the global (pp. 1-9). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Halink, S., & Spiekhout, D. (2023). Van armzalige modderterpen tot ‘leave Fryske grûn’: Inleiding tot het thema tweeduizend jaar Friezen en hun landschap. De Vrije Fries, 103, 8-19.

Leitner, Ulrich (2016): Ego-Dokumente als Quellen historischer Bildungsforschung: zur Rekonstruktion von Bildungsbiographien ehemaliger weiblicher Heimkinder der Fürsorgeregion Tirol und Vorarlberg, in: BIOS - Zeitschrift fur Biographieforschung, Oral History und Lebensverlaufsanalysen, 29(2), pp. 253-265, doi.org/10.3224/bios.v29i2.08.

Magnússon, S. G., & Szijártó, I. M. (2013). What is microhistory?: Theory and practice. Routledge.

Sharma, Deepak (2015): Teaching History through Local Languages: A Pedagogical Approach, in: International Journal of Research in all Subjects in Multi Languages, Volume 3, Issue 11, pp. 26-34.

Van Doorn, F. (2021). De Friezen. Een geschiedenis. Amsterdam: Thomas Rap

Wright, S. (2004). Language policy and language planning: nationalism and globalisation. Palgrave Macmillan.