Language, Culture and Diversity

Abstract

Despite its importance, linguistic and cultural diversity—which is engrained in many civilizations across the world—is sometimes disregarded in educational situations. The concept that language learners should gain language proficiency based on the native speaker model has historically been reinforced by the historical dominance of the monolingual theoretical framework and has been mistakenly used as a reference for language development in the area of language education. The limitations of this paradigm have frequently resulted in underutilization and devaluation of students' knowledge of languages and cultures. A different paradigm, known as plurilingualism, may be used to teach languages while recognizing and valuing their variety. It can also be used to solve issues with diversity in language education, particularly in legacy language programs. The objective is to establish a link between plurilingualism theory and practice. This paper also discusses fundamental issues that need further research, such the domination of mono-lingual and neoliberal ideologies, in order to deepen our understanding of plurilingual education in diverse geographic areas and educational contexts.