Teaching English as a foreign language in multilingual milieus in Catalonia: perspectives and practices of educators in three state schools

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore how the teaching of English as a foreign language is planned in three plurilingual state schools in Catalonia. We carried out classroom observations (first and second grade of primary education) and interviewed the English teachers who teach these lessons and the headmasters of the three schools. The use of these qualitative methods to generate data allowed us to see what teachers say they do in the classroom, and what they really do. The results showed that although the three schools analysed work to make learners aware of their linguistic repertoires and foster their plurilingual competence, the English classroom is still seen as a monolingual space where students’ languages and the use of plurilingual strategies are not present. Similarly, we can state that the participating teachers do not prioritise plurilingual and intercultural education in the English classroom, as this is promoted in other school spaces. The findings have strong implications; namely, there is the need for foreign language teachers to encourage the use of students’ first languages in the classroom if we want to advance towards a plurilingual and intercultural education.