Plurilingualism and School Inclusion: Contexts, Challenges, and Training

The international conference Plurilingualism and School Inclusion: Contexts, Challenges, and Training follows a first edition held in December 2022 at the Faculty of Education Sciences, Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. This edition aims to reexamine plurilingualism as a driver of school inclusion, deliberately setting aside any political or ideological considerations. A platform for discussion will be provided on the role of plurilingualism in support mechanisms for non-native speakers, the approaches adopted, and the roles assigned to languages and their uses.

Conference Location

May 13 and 14, 2025, in Besançon, France
Co-organized by the ELLIADD research laboratory (UR 4661, University of Marie and Louis Pasteur, Besançon, France), the University of South Australia (Adelaide, Australia), and the Faculty of Education Sciences, Mohammed V (Rabat, Morocco).

Rationale

Over the past three decades, international migration has significantly increased, changing both in form and destination. According to the 2022 report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the global number of international migrants was estimated at 281 million in 2020, accounting for 3.6% of the global population. This figure was 128 million higher than in 1990 and three times greater than in 1970. Asia and Europe hosted the largest numbers of international migrants, with 87 million and 86 million, respectively. In Africa, the number of international migrants reached 25 million between 1990 and 2020, with South Africa, Nigeria, and Côte d'Ivoire receiving the most migrants. However, most migration occurs within national borders, with the IOM estimating 740 million internal migrants worldwide in 2009. Contrary to popular belief, 80% of African migrants remain on the continent.

The rise in migration flows and the emergence of new migration corridors challenge the capacity of educational systems in many countries to integrate newcomers effectively. While the primary goal of educational systems is to provide schooling and quality education to all children and adolescents, the arrival of international migrants places school inclusion at the centre of educational and pedagogical concerns.

Successful school inclusion of migrant children is a societal issue before being an educational and pedagogical one. Since the 1950s, France's educational policy has been amended and adjusted multiple times to accommodate and integrate migrants. The objective was not only to integrate non-native French-speaking children into the school system but also to instill Republican values through the French language. Numerous acronyms have emerged to refer to these non-native students and the programs designed to support them: CLIN, CLAD, CLA, DAI, EANA, and UPE2A. This diversity of terminology reflects the institution’s commitment to adapting educational provisions and addressing the specific challenges of including migrant children (Cuq, 2020). A reconfiguration of teaching practices is necessary, particularly in language classes (Billiez, 2022).

The presence of non-native French-speaking students in regular classrooms has, in effect, transformed educational systems into complex plurilingual and pluricultural contexts. Wrongly perceived as a hindrance to linguistic development and learners' personal growth (Blanchet, 2021; Champalle & Galligani, 2015), plurilingualism is increasingly being leveraged to better address the challenges of school inclusion (Mendonça, Azaoui, & Chnane-Davin, 2020).

Following the introduction of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001) and the widespread adoption of the communicative approach and action-oriented perspective, European linguistic and educational policies have emphasized innovative teaching practices that develop learners' linguistic repertoires. Recent studies (Châteaureynaud & Piot, 2022; Mendonça, Azaoui, & Chnane-Davin, 2020) that focus on the development of plurilingual and pluricultural competencies underscore the importance of innovative approaches for better school and social inclusion. Translanguaging and pluralistic approaches that integrate the European Plurilingual Framework (Cadre de Référence pour les Approches Plurielles des Langues et des Cultures: Compétences et ressources [CARAP], 2013) are key examples of this shift, as highlighted by Candelier (2008) and Candelier & Castellotti (2013).

In the early 2000s and similar to several other European countries, France implemented a policy that emphasized the mastery of the host country's language as a key marker of integration (Adami, 2012). Within the educational system, this integration aims to include all students and enable non-native French speakers to fully or partially follow a regular academic curriculum (Cuq, 2003). The goal of linguistic integration (Adami & André, 2013) has prompted researchers in didactics to question the status of the language to be taught, whether French as a First Language (Français Langue Maternelle [FLM]), French as a Foreign Language (Français Langue Étrangère [FLE]), or French as a Second Language (Français Langue Secondaire [FLS]) (Verdelhan, 2002). In response, the institution established Academic Centres for the Schooling of Newly Arrived Non-Native Students and Children from Traveling Families (Centre académique pour la scolarisation des enfants allophones nouvellement arrivés [EANA] et des enfants issus de familles itinérantes et de voyageurs [EFIV] [CASNAV]) in 2002. These centres manage the reception and integration of students in specialized classes across each educational region. The most recent initiative, the Pedagogical Units for Newly Arrived Non-Native Students (Unité Pédagogique pour Élèves Allophones nouvellement Arrivés [UPE2A]), was created in 2012.

The issue of school inclusion for migrant children in France led to a major survey commissioned by the state organization Defender of Rights (Défenseur des droits, 2015) and was conducted by a group of researchers, whose report is available online (Armagnague et al., 2018).The survey revealed a wide diversity in the migration and educational profiles of migrant children and adolescents, with varied origins, journeys, and migration experiences. It showed a steady increase in newly arrived non-native students, rising from 54,500 in 2014-15 to 60,700 in 2016-17 (Armagnague et al., 2021). Despite observed regional disparities, the integration of these students within the UPE2A classes generally meets institutional objectives. However, teacher training remains an important area for improvement (Rigoni, 2020).

The issue of school inclusion for migrant children is relatively new in many countries, particularly those that have recently become destinations for migration. In these nations, specific programs for schooling migrant children are almost non-existent, especially in the Global South (Haidar, 2022). The limited support available is often provided by civil society and non-governmental organizations, which struggle to meet the high demand.

The Plurilingualism and School Inclusion: Contexts, Challenges, and Training international conference builds on the first edition held in December 2022 at the Faculty of Education Sciences, Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. The discussions highlighted the important role that plurilingualism could play in the complex and multidimensional process of integrating non-native students, as well as the challenges faced by educators in designing reception systems that disregard the multilingual component.

This edition seeks to reexamine plurilingualism as a vehicle for school inclusion, setting aside all political or ideological considerations (Adami & André, 2015). A platform for discussion will be provided to explore the role of plurilingualism in support mechanisms for non-native speakers, the approaches adopted, and the place assigned to languages and their uses. The conference invites participants to examine the development, design, and implementation of didactic sequences centred on plurilingualism and to question the didactization of knowledge through plurilingual approaches tailored to learners' needs in various language teaching contexts. Key questions include: Are plurilingual approaches universal? Can learners' linguistic repertoires be exploited in all contexts, including heterogeneous ones? How can knowledge and plurilingualism be linked? What adjustments are needed in plurilingual linguistic and educational policies to facilitate school inclusion? What initial and ongoing training should be implemented to teach through plurilingualism, both in language and other school subjects?

These questions form the backbone of this conference, which aims to outline directions for considering plurilingualism as an impetus for school inclusion.

Strand 1:
Epistemological Reconfiguration of Bi- and Plurilingual Didactics for New Contexts

Initially conceived to promote European mobility (Beacco and Byram, 2007), plurilingual didactics have gradually risen to prominence among educational approaches. They have managed to establish a solid and coherent conceptual framework aimed at fostering the development of plurilingual competence, which can also support the school and social inclusion of migrant populations. This methodological approach, which promotes otherness and combats all forms of discrimination (Coste, 2013), has proven effective in European contexts.

European language policies promoting linguistic diversity have significantly contributed to encouraging these methodological approaches. The linguistic relatedness among Romance, Germanic, and Slavic languages has likewise facilitated the adoption of these methods on an epistemological and didactic level (pluralistic approaches; intercomprehension between related languages, Candelier 2003, Coste 2013, Castellotti 2006). However, there is a growing need to rethink the epistemological framework of plurilingual didactics due to their application in non-European contexts, which differ linguistically, socio-culturally, and politically. Implementing these approaches in such contexts—particularly in new immigration destinations for instance in Africa—requires re-evaluating not only the knowledge to be taught through and by means of plurilingualism but also the entire set of conceptual tools it references.

These reflections also prompt a re-examination of the relationship with the knowledge being taught and innovative methodological approaches. Thus, concepts such as "imbalance," "linguistic biography," and "capital" should be (re)conceptualized by considering a new contextual configuration, distinct from European plurilingualism. This will consequently lead to new epistemological positioning for the didactics of languages and cultures in relation to sociolinguistic realities and practices. The diversity of contexts and the adaptability of methodologies through the transposition of knowledge within renewed plurilingual approaches inevitably lead to questioning the consideration of learners' first socialization languages and homogenizing linguistic and educational policies.

Strand 2:
Plurilingualism, School Inclusion, and Linguistic and Educational Policies

The school inclusion of migrant children is a major social and cultural issue for both Northern and Southern countries. The arrival of new migrants ignites strong reactions in some nations, prompting them to revise migration policies in efforts to maintain social peace. In other, more stable contexts, public action primarily focuses on adapting linguistic and educational policies. Consequently, the schooling of migrant children redefines didactic challenges and reconfigures the teaching and learning contexts for both language and non-linguistic subjects (Gajo 2007). A migrant child has limited chances of successfully integrating into an educational system without proficiency in the language(s) of instruction. The knowledge taught often carries significant national or even regional cultural markers, leaving the child with few familiar reference points. Difficulties can emerge and intensify, culminating in school dropout.

In a globalized world characterized by the blending of languages and cultures, linguistic and educational policies must be rethought to better integrate migrant children (Blanchet 2015; Châteaureynaud and Piot 2022). The conference Plurilingualism and School Inclusion: Contexts, Challenges, and Training emphasizes the need to account for rapidly evolving teaching and learning contexts, which demand adjustments in linguistic and educational policies. Rethinking pedagogical design, language instruction, and the teaching of languages as mediums of instruction may be necessary in some newly immigrant-receiving countries to address the needs of both local populations and allophone migrants, thereby ensuring social cohesion. This prompts questions about the current linguistic landscape and the possibilities for linguistic integration of migrants. Additional questions arise regarding the vehicular or vernacular status of different linguistic varieties, their positions in national or regional sociolinguistic landscapes, and their roles in professional, educational, and private spheres. Plurilingualism could thus be envisioned as a solution that promotes both openness towards others and diversity, enabling individuals to learn the language(s) of the other while also learning their own. The orientation of linguistic policies toward plurilingualism will undoubtedly impact educational policies.

Strand 3:
Non-Linguistic Subjects and Practioner Training in Plurilingual Didactics

The issue of teaching so-called non-linguistic subjects has always been intertwined with the teaching language(s) and language teaching itself (Fonseca & Steffen, 2014). It becomes even more significant in classes for allophone students. The key interest in these contexts is to explore the role of bilingualism/plurilingualism as both a goal and a means, as learners will need to use the languages they already know to first learn others and, secondly, to "verbalize" the subject knowledge in the target discipline. This academic knowledge, partly conveyed through technical jargon (Messaoudi, 2010, 2013, 2021), is sometimes communicated in a second or even foreign language. The situation becomes more critical for allophone students who often face great challenges due to the diversity of languages and their varying statuses—i.e., official languages versus languages of instruction versus vehicular languages.

The conference encourages participants to explore the role of plurilingualism beyond the language classroom, particularly in specialized subjects. The goal is to understand the role plurilingualism could play in designing specific activities and didactic sequences for non-linguistic subjects to better accelerate the school inclusion of allophones.

Bilingualism and plurilingualism provide a favourable environment in the realm of non-linguistic subjects (in French, Discipline Non Linguistique [DNL]) (Gajo, 2007) due to the various opportunities they may offer. The mixing of codes and the cognitive, sociolinguistic, discursive, and communicative benefits assist in developing a range of skills in learners, such as the easier acquisition and practical use of other language varieties. However, these advantages cannot be fully utilized without considering plurilingualism and the training of teachers (Udave, 2014). The teacher is central to every didactic approach and method. Therefore, promoting plurilingualism for school inclusion primarily involves raising awareness among teachers of non-linguistic subjects and languages about linguistic diversity and equipping them with the necessary conceptual and methodological tools, which can have a positive impact on their classroom practices.