Current research on language learning and education for plurilingualism has shown that it is important for pupils who are learning a new language to make use of the languages they already know. Pupils are better able to do this when they have a high degree of what is called 'metalinguistic awareness' (MLA), which means that they are able to use what they know about language in general as a means of making sense of what they are trying to learn. Though researchers agree that MLA is important, it has not been widely researched and is not well understood. This is especially true of MLA in instructed language learning (learning a language in a school setting), in Norway and internationally.
This research project (called MetaLearn) will develop a test to assess MLA in the Norwegian context and will use this test to track how MLA develops in young children learning a foreign language at school. MetaLearn will also look at various factors (contextual, individual, and linguistic) that might interact with the development of MLA. At the same time, the project will investigate whether, and if so how, specific classroom activities might develop pupils’ MLA.
MetaLearn will make a valuable contribution to our understanding of MLA and language learning in both national and international contexts. For Norway, MetaLearn also provides an urgently needed background for promoting plurilingualism in all pupils—whether children with Norwegian as their home language or children with a minority language background—which can help schools and teachers to empower all pupils to exploit the full potential of their language competence and to provide a firm basis for them to develop as plurilingual citizens.
