At a time when anti-migrant legislation and public opinion are on the rise in the rich Western world, Young Migrants and Plurilingualism in Schools: A Comparative Study of Language Diversity within Education Systems in France and Aotearoa New Zealand opens eyes and hearts to the school experiences of young migrant learners who enter French or New Zealand schools. Comparing these two forms of experience, from such different societies, allows us to understand a more complex narrative about these young plurilingual learners. Moreover, the interaction between the languages, English and French, which was necessary to design and carry out the surveys, contributes to the different perspectives that are not only embodied in the French and New Zealand educational systems, but are also provided through a systematic questioning of the words used.
Instead of crude and sharply polarised positions, the research stance takes into account the real struggle of these young learners to adapt to a new environment and the way in which they mobilise all the resources available to them to create meaning for themselves and for various others. The language education policies of the two countries are very different. France is more concerned with policies for the integration of young learners known as “élèves allophones nouveaux arrivants” (newcomers to France) in order to get them into mainstream classes as quickly as possible, organised as part of a national curriculum that is “indifferent to difference” as a republican principle. New Zealand is concerned with the implementation of Māori as an official language through education, and international learners are either “migrant and refugee students” or “fee-paying international students,” with a different focus on the specific needs of Māori students in a situation of asymmetric bilingualism.
While these general contexts are important, the focus is on the experiences of young plurilingual learners, referred to as “allophones” in France and “migrant and refugee students” in New Zealand. The naming of the two categories in the two different languages is emblematic of deeply rooted cultural perspectives. On the one hand, “allophones” refers to people who do not speak French, thus revealing the strong connotations of the “us/them” category. On the other hand, “migrant and refugee students” refers to people from different backgrounds who have migrated to New Zealand, and there is no implicit “other” category as in French, which is defined until they speak French like the French. In contrast, the New Zealand category emphasises a process, a transition, and
However, the experiences of young learners are similar in terms of the acquisition of a new language and literacy within the school. It is this plurilingual experience that is presented throughout the book, confirming the findings of research on language acquisition and learning as well as on plurilingualism and translanguaging. The term “plurilingualism” is also particularly useful in linking European and Anglophone research. Indeed, the learner described as plurilingual (European) highlights the characteristics of learners with different languages and the ways in which they are uniquely combined within the self, and translanguaging (Anglophone) highlights the process in which this singular combination operates.
Teacher education institutions have a crucial role to play in developing language teaching skills for all teachers (of languages or other subjects) to better meet the specific needs of plurilingual students, whether migrant or refugee, throughout their course of study. In this way, plurilingual learners will be better included in schools, promoting equity and social justice, while enabling monolingual learners to better understand language use.
This book advocates for plurilingual and intercultural approaches, which should be fully understood as the development of democratic principles, allowing all languages to be legitimate in learning, recognising the linguistic rights of all to receive an education adapted to diverse learners and teachers.
This comparative, systematic and rigorous study between France and Aotearoa New Zealand offers an insight into how education and language policies could be improved, because both systems are flawed: somehow France uses symbolic violence against people who do not speak French as their mother tongue, and New Zealand uses economic violence against people, immigrants or not, who cannot access prestigious universities with high tuition fees. France should take inspiration from New Zealand’s softer, more pragmatic approach to welcoming plurilingual learners into schools and offering varied transition periods. Conversely, New Zealand’s policy of welcoming fee-paying international students should enable low-income students to access higher education. France should also take inspiration from Māori education policy by developing bilingual/plurilingual schools in regional languages and creating an inclusive curriculum. New Zealand could also learn from France in developing a more cohesive education system between English, Māori and Pasifika speakers, or from Europe in providing multilingual and intercultural guidelines and resources.
Martine Derivry-Plard
Université de Bordeaux