More than one language!

The loss of essential sociocultural capital in France

French society in the latter half of the 20th century was marked by the loss of an essential socio-cultural asset: the diversity of France's languages, which were spoken fluently in rural areas until the 1950s. As Dr. Kress points out (see Note 1), no one has taken responsibility for this loss. In the process of the breakdown of a language's transmission within the family, the language can indeed disappear without anyone losing it on an individual level: when a father does not pass on one of his languages, the son does not learn it. The father retains this language in his repertoire; the son has not acquired it. Neither of them has therefore lost it!
This strange and widespread sociolinguistic phenomenon in France has had numerous consequences, the full extent of which is still difficult to gauge today. Of course, there is the almost inevitable disappearance of the languages themselves, due to the gradual decline in interactions. But there are also more subtle effects that are still at work.
In France, we have thus gradually and collectively lost the cognitive skills associated with early bilingualism: an entire generation has been raised speaking only one of their family's languages, in a limiting monolingual environment. The psycholinguistic skills linked to early bilingualism have consequently been diminished: social adaptability, openness to diversity, cultural curiosity, cognitive flexibility, the ability to learn other languages… not to mention the oral heritage that is often very difficult to draw upon in another language (sayings, proverbs, songs, nursery rhymes…). Society has also lost a part of the voices of our elders, the voices of those who have been marginalized because they cannot express themselves publicly in the French language.

Consequences

One of the least noticeable consequences of this process of collective linguistic impoverishment is the lack of experience and skills among education professionals who work with migrant populations directly affected by multilingualism.
Indeed, language development in a multilingual context is not part of the curriculum for initial training (and rarely for continuing education) in many professions: childcare workers, teachers, pediatricians, speech-language pathologists, cultural program coordinators, psychologists (including school psychologists), and others… This lack of knowledge, sometimes compounded (depending on the sociology of the profession) by a lack of personal experience with early multilingualism, leads to awkward conversations, misunderstandings, and even tensions with parents regarding issues of educational success. This lack of knowledge also underlies professional practices that fail to meet—or poorly meet—the needs of children growing up with multiple languages.
At the same time, society is filled with messages that rightly promote French as the common language necessary and essential for optimal social and professional integration in France. These messages are incomplete: they address communication and access to information, but they do not address the educational needs of children who are growing up speaking more than one language… Parents therefore find themselves, more often than not, alone, facing a dilemma: which is thYou can find information about Professor Dr. Sophie Kern here:e best language to raise my child in here, in France? The language the parents speak best, or the language of the host country and the school?
Compounding the issue—and another consequence of the massive decline in multilingualism in France—is the lack of spaces for mediation and intermediation that could allow parents to reflect, discuss, and develop, together with the education professionals they encounter, a balanced and harmonious multilingual plan for their child(ren).

Science communication and training

In our work in priority neighborhoods, this nearly invisible societal issue gradually came to light, most often in situations where the question of the legitimacy of a particular language arose abruptly. To better understand these situations, conducting interviews and then organizing "thematic parent cafés" focused on the issue of bilingual education in migration contexts (priority neighborhoods in France) led us to collect parents' testimonials and professionals' questions, and to identify contradictions between the most common recommendations and children's language needs. More generally, it is the lack of clarity and the paradoxical demands conveyed by the various discourses circulating in society that seemed to us to be the most detrimental.
All of this convinced us of the collective need for scientific mediation and training.
Based on these findings, we began working with Sophie Kern (see Note 2) to develop a training and science outreach tool that professionals could use to support and work with parents dealing with multilingualism within their own families. The goal was to share and disseminate the scientific consensus on language development in multilingual settings and to raise awareness of the sociolinguistic realities of migrant families.

The "More Than One Language!" kit

The result of our efforts is the "More Than One Language!" kit, consisting of 16 cards that illustrate 16 scenes of "everyday multilingualism," accompanied by simple messages, to help spread basic knowledge about multilingualism within the family.
Intended for professional training (initial and continuing education), self-study (an explanatory booklet with a glossary provides access to numerous scientific articles), and direct use with parents (in a picture-language format), the kit has also been used with students (ages 9 to 14) to address this issue, which touches on the areas of identity and psychological development.
Published by "Migrilude" and supported by the HaBilNet network, the kit is available in French and Turkish, and the texts on the cards and in the booklet are available in English on a website dedicated to the project. We're curious to hear about your experience with this kit and would love to receive your comments and feedback!