Demystifying multilingualism at work, at home and at school

What is multilingualism? How has our understanding of multilingualism, language learning and developing several languages in children at home and at school changed over the last century? Building on the work of several leading scholars such as García, Creese and Blackledge, Li Wei, and Baker as well as on my own research, this interactive presentation will deconstruct traditional understandings of multilingualism and show that translanguaging, the use of one’s entire semiotic repertoire for communication, meaning-making and learning, is a normal practice. In addition, we will examine approaches such as “one-person-one-language” and “one-person-two-languages” and discuss some video excerpts illustrating how children use their multilingual repertoire in a crèche at and school.