Frequently Asked Questions
“How can I use my pupils’ languages in classroom when I don’t speak them myself?”
“How can the local minority language be supported and promoted when there are other languages in the classroom?”
“How can teachers help parents to feel more comfortable about their children using their home language at school? “
These are actual questions from teachers who want to create a multilingual classroom where pupils are allowed and stimulated to use their home language(s). Most teachers are very motivated to incorporate their pupils’ languages but don’t know how. Therefore the VirtuLApp team has collected these questions and presented them to experts in the field of multilingualism. In short videos and texts, they give their perspective and concrete ideas about the creation of multilingual classrooms. The VirtuLApp team hopes that with these videos teachers get inspired and will be able to create their own multilingual approach and encourage their colleagues to do the same.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Below are the frequently asked questions from teachers, grouped per theme.
These themes are:- Multilingualism at school
- Multilingualism in the classroom
- Diversity in the classroom
- Contact with multilingual parents
- Use of digital tools
- Some questions are answered by multiple experts.
- You can click on the picture of the expert for their answer (video or text).
- All answers are available in 7 languages. For the video’s, you can press CC to select your preferred language for the subtitles.
These languages are:- English,
- Español,
- Euskara,
- Français,
- Frysk,
- Gaeilge,
- Nederlands
- Additional information to references can be found in Other Resources.
Multilingualism at school
- frequently asked questions -
How can I encourage my colleagues to incorporate a multilingual approach in the classroom?
I would like to incorporate different languagesin the classroom, but I am not sure where to start.
What kind of concrete activities take students’ input as a basis?
Would it help if there were bilingual teachers available to support children in learning their first language for a few hours each week?
How can teachers help parents to feel more comfortable about their children using their home language at school?
How can students’ languages be displayed in the linguistic landscape of the school?
What good reasons are there in favour of the regular use of home languages in schools?
How can I share with other teachers that students’ home languages need to have a place in school?
Multilingualism in the classroom
- frequently asked questions -
What can I do to encourage students to use their language if they are not able to fully speak/write it?
What can help teachers to create an excellent multilingual classroom environment?
How can I encourage students to use their language(s) without bringing up sensitive issues (e.g. with refugee children)?
My students speak many languages. In terms of time, it seems impossible to pay an equal amount of attention to each and every language.
How can I include all languages, without having this ‘take over’ my lesson?
How can a teacher provide emotional support for multilingual children in order to enhance their learning motivation, especially when communication is too challenging?
How can we overcome the language barrier when the teacher and the student do not share a common language?
How can teachers give appropriate instruction in this case?
Sometimes languages spoken by students have a different status (for example, in some situations speaking French has a different status to speaking Guechua). How can this be balanced in school?
Some students feel ashamed of their home language. How can teachers help them to overcome that shame and to develop more positive feelings about their home language?
How can I learn more about the work that other teachers do in promoting multilingualism?
How can Irish be supported and promoted along with the other languages in the classroom?
How can Frisian be supported and promoted along with the other languages in the classroom?
Hoe kin it Frysk stipe wurde tagelyk mei de oare talen yn ‘e klasse?
How can Basque be supported and promoted along with the other languages in the classroom?
How can teachers facilitate children’s well-being in the multilingual classroom?
How can students’ language experiences (for instance, their linguistic biography) be incorporated into the classroom?
What is the best way to manage your time as a teacher so that multilingual students feel more included in the classroom?
Diversity in the classroom
- Frequently Asked Questions -
How can you avoid stereotypes when working on diversity?
Sometimes, students seem unwilling to learn the host language, especially if they know that their new home may not be permanent.
How can a teacher deal with this situation?
How can I involve students who are reluctant to talk about their language or culture?
How can a teacher handle potentially sensitive topics, such as the culture and the religion of different students?
How can teachers draw out these cultural aspects appropriately?
Contact with Multilingual Parents
- Frequently Asked Questions -
How can teachers help parents to feel more comfortable about their children using their home language at school?
Is it a good idea to ask children to translate when we experience difficulties communicating with their parents?
How can we promote the use of home languages through the medium of the local minority language, rather than through the majority language?
Use of Digital Tools
- Frequently Asked Questions -
The choice of technologies available is enormous and I do not have time to check out each application in order to see if it is appropriate for my lesson.
How do I make a selection from all the digital tools that exist?