Catalan schoolchildren's language use and attitudes towards trilingualism

Abstract

The term multilingualism is being increasingly used at present. Yet, not all people refer to this term the same way. For a great deal of people multilingualism refers to the use of multiple languages within a same context, for which reason they often only relate this concept to those schools where there is a high percentage of immigrant students. This is a stereotypical view on multilingualism, which could actually be synonym of multiculturalism. For others, nonetheless, multilingualism is not necessary and only connected with schools where there are an important proportion of immigrant students; instead it is related to individuals that speak two or more languages, regardless of their place of origin. In this respect, through this second view, linguistic repertoires are not treated linear and independently, instated they are holistically considered. The view conceived in this project is the second one.