Page 209 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 209
https://w w w.doi.org/10.32320/978-961-270-341-7.209-238
Mobilising the potential held by one’s entire
linguistic repertoire for positive youth
development
Janja Žmavc
Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
In the article, we discuss the role played by language and multilingualism as
relevant contexts for promoting a positive youth development perspective
(i.e., PYD). Today, multilingualism is generally seen as individuals' master-
ing of a complex linguistic repertoire associated with cognitive, social, per-
sonal, academic and (expected) professional benefits (Herzog-Punzenberger
et al., 2017). Europe's education policies identify multilingualism as one
of the main pillars of global and multicultural education. EU institutions
therefore encourage the member states to develop new “multilingual and
whole-school approaches that equally include the language of schooling,
foreign languages and home languages of students across all school sub-
jects, curriculum, as well as involving parents and the wider school com-
munity in their learning process” (Staring & Broughton, 2020, p. 17). In the
article, we present contemporary notions of multilingualism that underpin
relevant EU recommendations to integrate multilingual approaches in ed-
ucation. We also search for points of intersection that could establish pos-
sibilities for conceptualising the language context of PYD with theories of
multilingualism and its various dimensions in the school environment (es-
pecially those of the language of schooling, first language, foreign languag-
es) with emphasis on students with an immigrant background.1
1 The Slovenian Research Agency supported this article as part of the project Positive
Youth Development in Slovenia: Developmental Pathways in the Context of Migration
(PYD-SI Model) [J5-1781] that was led by Ana Kozina.
209
Mobilising the potential held by one’s entire
linguistic repertoire for positive youth
development
Janja Žmavc
Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
In the article, we discuss the role played by language and multilingualism as
relevant contexts for promoting a positive youth development perspective
(i.e., PYD). Today, multilingualism is generally seen as individuals' master-
ing of a complex linguistic repertoire associated with cognitive, social, per-
sonal, academic and (expected) professional benefits (Herzog-Punzenberger
et al., 2017). Europe's education policies identify multilingualism as one
of the main pillars of global and multicultural education. EU institutions
therefore encourage the member states to develop new “multilingual and
whole-school approaches that equally include the language of schooling,
foreign languages and home languages of students across all school sub-
jects, curriculum, as well as involving parents and the wider school com-
munity in their learning process” (Staring & Broughton, 2020, p. 17). In the
article, we present contemporary notions of multilingualism that underpin
relevant EU recommendations to integrate multilingual approaches in ed-
ucation. We also search for points of intersection that could establish pos-
sibilities for conceptualising the language context of PYD with theories of
multilingualism and its various dimensions in the school environment (es-
pecially those of the language of schooling, first language, foreign languag-
es) with emphasis on students with an immigrant background.1
1 The Slovenian Research Agency supported this article as part of the project Positive
Youth Development in Slovenia: Developmental Pathways in the Context of Migration
(PYD-SI Model) [J5-1781] that was led by Ana Kozina.
209
