Current Perspectives in the Multilingual EFL Classroom: A Portuguese Case Study

Abstract

Following the trend that has emerged in most European educational contexts, Portugal is no exception and has witnessed an increasing number of multilingual/multicultural classrooms. According to the Ministry of Education, students from over 180 nationalities were enrolled in Portuguese schools in 2017. Consequently, English language teachers have had to adapt to this by acknowledging a gradual shift from the notion of correctness to appropriateness and intelligibility, reassessing the traditional learning target that focuses on native speaker norms. Thus, the scope of this chapter stems from Kirkpatrick (2007, p. 194), which advocates that “in aiming to teach and learn English in ways that would allow for effective communication across linguistic and cultural boundaries the focus of the classroom moves from the acquisition of the norms associated with a standard model to a focus on learning linguistic features, cultural information, and communication strategies that will facilitate communication.” This study reports the findings of two questionnaires distributed to Basic and Secondary teachers (N = 133) and students (N = 100), as well as interviews with Basic Education students (N = 15), to ascertain their awareness of and attitudes towards English language teaching, learning and use in multilingual classrooms. Findings indicate the need for promoting teacher and learner competences that are crucial for responding to and building upon the diversity found in today’s multilingual English language classrooms.