Developing crosslinguistic awareness through plurilingual consciousness-raising tasks

Abstract

If maximal exposure were the key to success in language learning, then adult learners at the university level would be doomed to fail. Not only are they presumably too old to learn additional languages effectively, but target language (TL) input appears to be insufficient, especially when other languages are allowed in class. Nevertheless, learners were shown to build on knowledge of previously acquired languages, to rely on language learning experience and to develop metalinguistic awareness. This study explores the perceived usefulness of a plurilingual consciousness-raising task that aims at helping learners make and strengthen connections between the TL and other previously acquired languages. Two university-level language courses were targeted: Spanish in Quebec and French in Mexico. Two customized tasks were implemented and recorded in each course throughout the semester. Each task included an input-based (discovery) phase, a reflective (metalinguistic) phase during which participants were asked to make assumptions on underlying patterns and correspondences across languages, and a validation phase where they presented their assumptions until reaching a consensus as a group. While tasks were generally perceived as useful, analyses of post-task questionnaires also revealed mixed feelings regarding its inductive stance. However, the verbal data collected demonstrated that the collaborative and metalinguistic reflective nature of the task permitted learners to find correspondences between languages and to engage in knowledge construction. Moreover, the various reflections collected indicate that learners benefitted from the task as groups engaged in metalinguistic reflections, activated their plurilingual repertoire and were able to create accurate assumptions regarding the targeted structure.