Presentation by Dr. Jacomine Nortier (Utrecht University) at the Rutu Roundtable on Multilingual Education for Migrant Children in Europe. The Roundtable was hosted by Utrecht University in Utrecht, the Netherlands and was held on 6 November 2015. More info: http://www.rutufoundation.org/rutu-roundtable-utrecht/

1. How can we profit from multilingualism? Good
practices in Europe
Jacomine Nortier, Utrecht University,
The Netherlands
RUTU ROUNDTABLE
MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN IN EUROPE
6 NOVEMBER/ UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS
14:15-14:30 /
#RutuRT

2. RUTU round table, November 6, 2015
Jacomine Nortier

3. Athens
Dublin
Hamburg
Limassol (Cyprus)
London
Madrid
Osijek (Croatia)
Oslo
Rome
Sofia
Strasbourg
Utrecht
Varna (Bulgaria)
Toronto
Vancouver
Montreal
Ottawa
Melbourne

4. In all cities primary and secondary data were
collected
Primary data:
City respondents were questioned about the reality
of multilingualism in their city, about language
policy/practice, visibility, affordances and challenges
Secondary data:
Data on/about multilingualism.
Manifestations/examples of multilingualism.These
visual examples can be found in printed images,TV,
media, architecture, and urban design

5.  Public services
 Economy
 Education
 Health care
 Urban space
We interviewed both police-makers/influencers
and policy-implementers/users

6. 18 city reports:
http://www.urbanlanguages.eu/cityreports
6 ‘toolkits multilingualism’:
http://www.urbanlanguages.eu/toolkits

7. http://www.urbanlanguages.eu/images/stories/
docs/toolkits/toolkit-economy.pdf
Some examples:

8. Ideas for the multilingual jobseeker
Have you considered a qualification in the language of an
emerging economy or in a less widely spoken language?
Have you considered taking language courses that address the needs of
companies in your city?
Remember, you don’t need to have native-like fluency in a
language in order to recognise it as a skill – businesses need
people who are culturally sensitive and who can get along with a
wide range of people!
Here is a list of professional areas and their required languages within Germany. In
other regions, other languages might be needed!
• Logistics, foreign trade: English, any language depending on which country
company is trading with
• Hotel, catering industry: English
• Healthcare, caring for the elderly:Turkish, Russian, Polish,Arabic, Dari, Farsi; Crafts:
Turkish, Russian, Polish;
• Support services: Wide range of languages;
• Child care: English, Spanish,Turkish, Russian, Polish,Chinese;
• City administration (public services, police, fire brigades, penal system): English,
Turkish, Russian, Polish.

9. Ideas for employees
Have you thought about how you can make your employer aware of your
language skills?
Ideas for employers
Are you aware of the language skills that your employees possess?
Language may be a criterion for selection, but do you track current
employees who speak another language?
Consider carrying out an audit of the language skills in your company. Keep in
mind that any additional language is a key skill, so encourage employees to
think about their home languages, as well as languages learned in education or
while abroad. Is your human resources department aware of the skills in the
company and how they might be used? How might trainers in your company
work with multilingual employees?
This questionnaire is based on the Common European Framework of
reference for Languages (CEFR) can be used to assess language competences
of employees. Employees report a) their spoken languages and b) the level of
those spoken languages: http://www.kombi-hamburg.de/kombi.html?seite=17&lang=en

10. http://www.urbanlanguages.eu/images/stories/
docs/toolkits/toolkit-plurilingual.pdf
Some examples:

11. Questions teachers might ask:
• How can I facilitate their bilingual experiences as a resource for the
bilingual children themselves?
• How can their bilingual experiences become a resource for all children?
• What can I do to create a linguistically rich school and classroom
environment that reflects the community of learners I teach and
encourages bilingual development?
• How do I promote the idea that all languages are of equal value and that
each pupil’s home language is important and interesting?
• How do I promote the idea that linguistic diversity is not only normal, but
also enriching and pleasurable?
Some answers/suggestions:

12. Start by making a record of the home languages spoken by children, parents
and teachers/school staff. Consider making this visible in some attractive way,
such as “Our languages” displays in common areas and classrooms.
Make use of language portraits – let the children explain their linguistic
experience, knowledge and feelings in suitable ways.
In the “languages of the month project” each month a language spoken by a
child in school is introduced and promoted throughout the school. Pupils from
other countries present their language, simple words and phrases by video:
http://www.newburypark.redbridge.sch.uk/langofmonth/
A good instrument to start raising awareness of the languages pupils speak
and how they feel about them is the European Language Portfolio.The
website of the Council of Europe contains valuable information on its
development, as well as on how to use it.The portfolios can be displayed in
the classroom as a record of achievement. (http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/elp/)
Encourage children to do their class work (especially group work) and homework in their
strongest language – let them decide if they want to use their home language(s) during
partner or group work which aims at understanding a task or problem. Encourage them
to make comparisons between expressions in their home language and the host
language – even if you as a teacher don’t speak the home languages.Trust the children
and encourage them to experience themselves as successful learners.

13. Ideas for school leaders
In Strasbourg, a pilot was launched to assess the level of heritage language learners
at the end of the school year.The levels were linked to the Common European
Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages: Learning,Teaching and
Assessment.This language assessment scheme complements the usual assessment
schemes of schools. Heritage language learners and their parents see their
competences recognised and valued.
Ideas for parents
Ideas for teacher trainers
What can children and young people do?
Bilingual children and young people can be asked to take
on the role of a ‘buddy’ to a child who is new to school and
often new to the host language.
In Hamburg the Family Literacy
Project supports parents to read
and write with their children at
home. http://li.hamburg.de/family-literacy/
Introduce student teachers to ways of
identifying pupils’ abilities and experience in
their home language.

14.  We didn’t ‘invent’ anything!
 Cooperation on a large scale can lead to
useful results.
 Ample evidence that multilingual is an asset,
not a burden!