Experts’ views on the contribution of language awareness and translanguaging for minority language education

Abstract

Increasing migration-induced language diversity is putting pressure on the teaching of regional and minority languages in official bi- or multilingual regions. This study presents an in-depth analysis of teachers’ and teacher trainers’ beliefs and views towards language awareness and translanguaging approaches as possible ways to enhance pupils’ language attitudes and motivation to learn a minority language, such as Frisian in the Netherlands. The study applies a qualitative design, based on the analysis of interviews with eight teachers and three teacher trainers, representing experts in their field. Through a thematic analysis, we provided an overview of the most salient themes within the data. Interviews revealed that teachers held positive beliefs about the value of language awareness and translanguaging approaches for minority language teaching. However, when it came to actual teaching practices, they favoured immersion-based approaches in order to enhance exposure to the minority language. This study offers a contribution to the field of language teaching in minority areas by arguing for teacher professionalisation to empower teachers in applying language awareness and translanguaging approaches without feeling anxious about causing language attrition of minority languages.