Multilingual Education

6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4020086ENR for all students in the 1st semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

English

Faculty

Faculty of Languages & Humanities

Department

Linguistics and Literary Studies

Educational team

Katrien Mondt (course titular)
Esli Struys

Activities and contact hours

13 contact hours Lecture
13 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
75 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course focuses on the linguistic and cognitive development of the multilingual child, in interaction with multilingual policies in various domains, such as the family, daycare centre, school, and wider society. The first part zooms in on the linguistic and cognitive development in the preschool period and the role that family and institutional language policies play at this early age. The second part concerns formal education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels with special attention for various types of (second and foreign) language education, multilingual education, and their effectiveness in terms of language and cognitive outcomes. In the third and last part, which is a case study of multilingual education in Belgium, this course will discuss multilingual policies in the Regions and Communities of Belgium (with a special focus on Brussels), and their relationship to the development of the multilingual child.

The first two parts of this course will use the principles of blended learning, with group assignments to be prepared at home, and in-depth discussions in class, once in every two weeks.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Reader, provided by the teacher

Additional info

Esli.Struys@vub.be

Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

Students know the main conceptual and theoretical frameworks on the linguistic and cognitive development of the multilingual child in interaction with societal multilingualism in various domains.

Students have insight into various multilingual education practices around the globe, and they can relate their own language educational background to multilingual policies in Belgium or other cases discussed in class.

Students can critically reflect on the scientific literature on multilingual education and they can communicate their reflections in a written report and an oral presentation.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
Other Exam determines 50% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Individual paper with a relative weight of 10 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Note: Individual paper with a critical reflection on a chosen scientific article in the domain of multilingual education

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Individual presentation with a relative weight of 10 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Note: Individual presentation based on the feedback on the paper

Additional info regarding evaluation

All information regarding evaluation will be announced timely on the online learning platform. The student is responsible for ensuring that he/she is registered on the online learning platform. If the student encounters problems with registration on the online learning platform, he/she is expected to notify the teacher as soon as possible by email.

The student will be graded for each evaluation component. If the student has not participated to one or more of the evaluation components, he/she will be given an ‘absent’ score. The paper will be evaluated with the assistance of software for detecting plagiarism.

The evaluation components are the same for the first and the second session. The results of individual components may, upon written request of the student via email, be transferred to the next exam session.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context