Abstract This study examines Continuing Education (ContEd) administrators’ understanding of the notion of plurilingualism (PL) and its application in the context of Grade 9 to 12 International Languages (IL) classrooms in Ontario. Through cross-case analysis and a phenomenological lens, the perspectives of 17 administrators from across Ontario were analyzed in reference to PL as it is elaborated in the CEFR and the 2016 IL curriculum. Participants expressed a need for administrators to learn about PL-inspired classroom practices in order to guide and train IL teachers, to foster innovation in the immersion context of IL classrooms, and to advocate for IL and PL in the broader school system. The implications are far-reaching and touch on professional development for IL administrators and teachers, student motivation, and discursive practices in IL and the broader school system. The study contributes to theory on PL, SLE research about PL in the IL context, and administrators in the ContEd context.

Heritage Language Education is considered the cornerstone of Canada’s multiculturalism policy. In Ontario, the mission to preserve the cultural capital of the various ethnic communities is carried out primarily by non-profit organizations and groups with limited official support. My thesis is the autobiographical inquiry of an internationally educated teacher who is involved in a Greek language credit program in Toronto. My commitment to understanding the needs of the new generation of learners guided me through a series of professional development initiatives and the creation of an educational blog which is currently used by students, parents and teachers of the Aristoteles Credit School. By presenting my experiences as I navigated the multidimensionality of HLE in Ontario, I hope to offer a case of a bottom-up reform attempt which is based on transformative pedagogy and brings heritage language education to the epicentre of community activity and educational change in the 21st century.

Heritage Language Education is considered the cornerstone of Canada’s multiculturalism policy. In Ontario, the mission to preserve the cultural capital of the various ethnic communities is carried out primarily by non-profit organizations and groups with limited official support. My thesis is the autobiographical inquiry of an internationally educated teacher who is involved in a Greek language credit program in Toronto. My commitment to understanding the needs of the new generation of learners guided me through a series of professional development initiatives and the creation of an educational blog which is currently used by students, parents and teachers of the Aristoteles Credit School. By presenting my experiences as I navigated the multidimensionality of HLE in Ontario, I hope to offer a case of a bottom-up reform attempt which is based on transformative pedagogy and brings heritage language education to the epicentre of community activity and educational change in the 21st century.

Using data on all Hispanic high school students in Central and Southern Florida, this study examines Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence concept by studying how the availability and English Language Learners (ELL) student participation in Spanish for Native Speakers (SNS) programs in Florida high schools is associated with Hispanic academic achievement. The availability of SNS programs was studied using data provided by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) on all high schools in Florida for 2009-2010. The study used individual level data on all Hispanic ELL students in Central and Southeast counties who attended 12th grade during each year from 2006/2007 through 2009/2010, and then tracked the students’ entire high school experience from 9th to 12th grade. Student Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores were used as the dependent variable. Testing for differences in means and linear and logistic regression analysis were used to examine these questions. The results showed that SNS tend to be offered in large high schools, with a large Hispanic student and teacher population, which have lower average FCAT scores, and are located in counties that tend to vote Democratic. The results found indicate that student participation in SNS program does not affect students’ overall FCAT scores. However, students who participate in SNS courses tend to perform better in Math FCAT, but not in Reading FCAT, when compared to their peers of similar Hispanic background that did not participate in SNS courses. The results supported Cummins’ Linguistic Interdependence concept, as First Language (L1) maintenance may promote academic achievement, depending on the academic subject. The most important attribute of these results was the association found between L1 maintenance and academic skills in Math. The study argues for the possibility of cognitive development occurring at deeper levels due to L1 maintenance, and expressed through abstract and logical thought such as Mathematical iv proficiency. Future studies may benefit by approaching this subject in a longitudinal manner and examine how student participation in SNS is associated with educational attainment, including high school graduation, college enrollment and graduation, job prospects and social mobility. The results also suggest that there is a higher probability that SNS curriculum is offered in high schools located in counties that tend to vote Democratic, indicating that location is intrinsically dependent on stakeholders’ political views on the education of minority students. Therefore, future studies may examine stakeholders’ involvement in the decision making process of curriculum at the county, school, and classroom level, in order to find out what are the driving forces making possible or not the availability of SNS curriculum in the state of Florida.

This study investigates intergenerational language transmission amongst Hungarian immigrants, using in-depth interviews and participant observation as the main methods. The analysis examines the experiences of parents and their school-aged children in 61 families living in Sweden´s two main cities, Stockholm and Göteborg. The sample families were separated into four groups, based on two pre-contact factors, namely (1) the parents´ linguistic environment and (2) their social identity prior to migration. Three of the four groups turned out to be comparable in size and serve as the focus groups of the study. Group 1 comprises families in which one or both parents are former majority members from monolingual parts of Hungary. Group 2 comprises families in which one or both parents are former majority members from Hungary, but in contrast, these parents grew up in bilingual areas, being exposed to other languages in their childhood settings. Group 3 comprises families in which often both parents grew up as members of a vital ethnic minority in bilingual or multilingual settings in Transylvania (Romania). It was hypothesised that the parents´ childhood experiences would have an effect on their ways of raising children in a migrant situation, which, in turn, will affect children´s bilingualism as well as the group´s maintenance chances. The results of the statistical analysis confirm the hypothesis and show significant differences between the focus groups in a number of factors, e.g. marriage pattern, religious engagement, cultural orientation, children’s opportunities to meet other group members, and language awareness. Most importantly, the investigation revealed broad variation in language use norms among the sample families, especially for family and group internal communication. This, together with the poor demographic conditions of the group, seriously threatens group cohesion. The prospects for Hungarian language maintenance in Sweden are therefore seen as limited.