John Wayne Dela Cruz, Mcgill University, Canada

Title: “I subtitle myself”: The case of ESL student tutors and tutees’ plurilingual pedagogical strategies in a francophone college.

Keywords: plurilingualism; peer-to-peer learning; ESL

Abstract:

In recent years, Canada has been increasingly diversifying beyond its official English-French bilingualism. In 2016, 7 out 10 of multilingual Canadians reported to speak a language other than English or French at home (Statistics Canada, 2016). However, most mainstream second language (L2) programs and curricula remain to be monolingually predisposed: L2 learners’ plurilingual practices in the classroom--such as code-switching and translanguaging--are often seen as a problem rather than an asset, and are hence discouraged (Piccardo, 2017). This paper will discuss results from a mixed methods study investigating the self-perceived plurilingual competence and practices of ESL tutors and tutees (N=16) from a francophone CÉGEP. Results stemmed from questionnaires, a scale, field observations, and semi-structured interviews show how tutors and tutees perceive their own plurilingual competence, as well as how they engage in plurilingual practices during their tutoring sessions. The results also show the reasons for the way that these tutors and tutees perceive and practice their plurilingualism in the way that they do. The paper will then discuss the implications of the study’ results, paying particular attention to how the ecological validity of L2 pedagogies in typical teacher-student environments can be informed and enhanced by the ways by which peers learn from each during their plurilingual pedagogical interactions.