Cover not available
Part of
Advances in Interdisciplinary Language Policy
Edited by François Grin, László Marácz and Nike K. Pokorn
[Studies in World Language Problems 9] 2022
► pp. 173–194

Chapter 9
Metalinguistic awareness in education as a tool for enhancing social inclusion

 | University of Milano-Bicocca
 | Università degli Studi di Milano
 | University of Warsaw
The gap between individual linguistic repertoires and generally acknowledged societal ones is one of the principal factors that hamper social and linguistic inclusion. The development of a clear metalinguistic awareness – in school as well as in society as a whole – is a sound tool for achieving inclusion, in particular of mobile people into host societies. Building on the data collected for the MIME project, the chapter analyses the correlation between various profiles of mobility and sociolinguistic conditions in the host society to identify points of linguistic friction. The notion of ‘linguistic unease’ (a technical term to depict discomfort in sociolinguistic relations) is pivotal to understanding and tackling the complex linguistic diversity in school as well as in society. Teacher training focused on recognition and careful reduction of this discomfort, through clear understanding of the social and linguistic dynamics in school, can then be a strategy to alleviate friction and therefore foster inclusion of people whose linguistic repertoire is different from that of the majority, in particular mobile people. At the same time, this strategy is beneficial to all parties involved, as it also implies active endorsement by the host society of new kinds of multilingualism brought in by mobile people, enhancing the community’s growth potential.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Language variation, school and mobility
  • 3.Linguistic repertoires and patterns in mobility
  • 4.Individual and societal repertoires: Gaps, inconsistencies, awareness
  • 5.Discussion: From unease to education
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 January 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.9.09ian
References (37)
References
Ammon, Ulrich, Dittmar, Norbert, Mattheier, Klaus & Trudgill, Peter (Eds.) (2004). Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik: An international handbook of the science of language and society/Ein internationales Handbuch zur Wissenschaft von Sprache und Gesellschaft. Berlin & New York: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arnaut, Karel, Blommaert, Jan, Rampton, Ben & Spotti, Massimiliano (Eds.) (2015). Language and Superdiversity. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beacco, Jean-Claude & Byram, Michael Beacco. (2007). From linguistic diversity to plurilingual education: Guide for the development of language education policies in Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, Language Policy Division.Google Scholar
Beacco, Jean-Claude, Byram, Michael, Cavalli, Marisa, Coste, Daniel, Egli Cuenat, Mirjam, Goullier, Francis & Panthier, Johanna. (2016). Guide for the development and implementation of curricula for plurilingual and intercultural education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, Language Policy Division.Google Scholar
Bernstein, Basil. (1971). Class, codes and control: theoretical studies towards a sociology of language, London: Routledge & Kegan.Google Scholar
Berruto, Gaetano. (1987). ‘Lingua, dialetto, diglossia, dilalìa’, in G. Holtus & J. Kramer (Eds.), Romania et Slavia adriatica. Festschrift für Zarko Muljačić (pp. 57–81). Hamburg: Buske.Google Scholar
. (1995). Fondamenti di sociolinguistica. Bari: Laterza.Google Scholar
Bretegnier, Aude & Ledegen, Gudrun (Eds.) (2002). Terrains et approches diversifiés, propositions théoriques et méthodologiques en hommage à Nicole Gueunier. Paris: L’Harmattan/A.U.F.Google Scholar
Candelier, Michel et al. (2013). FREPA: A Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures: Competences and resources. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.Google Scholar
Dal Negro, Silvia & Iannàccaro, Gabriele. (2003). “Qui parliamo tutti uguale, ma diverso”. Repertori complessi e interventi sulle lingue’, in A. Valentini, P. Molinelli, P. Cuzzolin & G. Bernini (Eds.), Ecologia linguistica (pp. 431–450). Roma: Bulzoni.Google Scholar
Darquennes, Jeroen, Salmons, Joseph C. and Vandenbussche, Wim (Eds.) (2019). Language Contact. An International Handbook. Vol. 1. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar
Dell’Aquila, Vittorio & Iannàccaro, Gabriele. (2004). La pianificazione linguistica. Lingue, società, istituzioni. Roma: Carocci.Google Scholar
. (2011). ‘Numeri soggettivi. Spunti sulla vitalità linguistica da inchieste e trattamenti quantitativi’, in B. Moretti, M. E. Pandolfi & M. Casoni (Eds.), Vitalità di una lingua minoritaria. Aspetti e proposte metodologiche / Vitality of a minority language. Aspects and methodological issues (pp. 152–192). Bellinzona: Osservatorio Linguistico della Svizzera Italiana.Google Scholar
European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (EADSNE) (2011). Teacher Education for Inclusion across Europe – Challenges and Opportunities. Odense: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education.Google Scholar
(2012a). Teacher Education for Inclusion: Profile of Inclusive Teachers. Odense: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education.Google Scholar
(2012b). Teacher Education for Inclusion: Project Recommendations linked to Sources of Evidence. Odense: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education.Google Scholar
European Commission. (2001). Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality. Brussels. Retrieved from: [URL]
Gardner, Robert C. & Lambert, Wallace E. (1972). Attitudes and Motivations in Second-Language Learning. Roxley: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Goebl, Hans, Nelde, Peter H., Starý, Zdeněk & Wölck, Wolfgang (Eds.). (1996/1997). Kontaktlinguistik/Contact Linguistics/Linguistique de Contact. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Grin, François, Conceição, Manuel Célio, Kraus, Peter A., Marácz, László, Ozoliņa, Žaneta, Pokorn, Nike K. and Pym, Anthony (Eds.) (2018). The Mime Vademecum. Mobility and Inclusion in Multilingual Europe. Geneva: The MIME Consortium.Google Scholar
Guerini, Federica. (2006). Language alternation strategies in multilingual settings. A case study: Ghanaian immigrants in Northern Italy. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Huddleston, Thomas et al. (2015). Migrant Integration Policy Index 2015. Retrieved from [URL]
Iannàccaro, Gabriele. (2010). Lingue di minoranza e scuola. A dieci anni dalla legge 482/99. Il plurilinguismo scolastico nelle comunità di minoranza della Repubblica Italiana. Quaderni della Direzione Generale per gli Ordinamenti Scolastici e per l’Autonomia Scolastica 1. Rome: Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca.Google Scholar
. (2018). Verso un’individuazione del disagio linguistico. Atti del Sodalizio Glottologico Milanese, XIII n.s., 77–101.Google Scholar
Iannàccaro, Gabriele & Dell’Aquila, Vittorio. (2016). On linguistic abilities, multilingualism, and linguistic justice. Acta Univ. Sapientiae, European and Regional Studies 9, 49–54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iannàccaro, Gabriele, Gobbo, Federico & Dell’Aquila, Vittorio. (2018). ‘The assessment of sociolinguistic justice: parameters and models of analysis’, in M. Gazzola, M., B. A. Wickström, & T. Templin (Eds.), Language policy and linguistic justice: economic, philosophical and sociolinguistic approaches (pp. 363–391). Berlin & New York: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, Ian & Lewis, Ingrid. (2013). Promoting inclusive teacher education: advocacy guides. UNESCO. Retrieved from: [URL]
Kraus, Peter A. (2011). The multilingual city: the cases of Helsinki and Barcelona. Nordic Journal of Migration Research 1, 25–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2012). The politics of complex diversity: a European perspective. Ethnicities 12, 3–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Labov, William. (1972). Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Lupica, Marta. (2015). Biografie linguistiche e ristrutturazione dei repertori tra Alto Adige e Balcani. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. Università di Pavia.
Mazzoli, Maria. (2017). Ideologies lingüístiques a Andorra: percepcions de la comunitat portuguesa. Kataluna esperantisto. Llengua internacional i drets lingüístics 367, 11–27.Google Scholar
OECD. (2015). Immigrant Students at School: Easing the Journey towards Integration. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from: DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2017). Education Database: Enrolment of international students by origin. OECD Education Statistics (database). Retrieved from: DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rehbein, Jochen, Ten Thije, Jan D. & Verschik, Anna. (2011). Lingua receptiva (LaRa). Remarks on the quintessence of receptive multilingualism. International Journal of Bilingualism 16(3), 248–264. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ten Thije, Jan D. & Zeevaert, Ludger (Eds.) (2007). Receptive multilingualism. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vertovec, Steven. (2007). Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and Racial Studies 30(6), 1024–1054. DOI logoGoogle Scholar