Teachers’ ‘Other’ Language Preferences: A Study of the Monolingual Mindset in the Classroom

Abstract

In a bid to understand how ‘other languages’ in the classroom are perceived by teachers, 276 language and non-language teachers were asked to respond to a survey questionnaire on their other language use and preferences. Following the survey, 40 of these teachers participated in an open-ended interview that probed the reasoning behind their use of other languages and their preferences. Based on a thematic analysis the study presents the teachers’ implicit language ideologies that mediate their language use/preferences in the classroom.

Keywords: multilingualism, monolingual mindset, teacher implicit biases, language ideologies