Page 22 - Diversity in Action

Martina Irsara

(voneinander und miteinander Sprachen lernen und erleben, or ‘learning and
experiencing languages from and with each other’), where practitioners and
academics work together to address educational challenges in an interdisci-
plinary way. VoXmi’s educational programmes aim to develop good practice
in the development of linguistic diversity and plurilingualism from different
perspectives. Theories of individual language learning are considered as well
as socio-political aspects and the relationship to GCED. Finally, the authors
question the effectiveness of current language diagnostic procedures and
stress the need for increased awareness and sensitivity to testing systems in
multilingual contexts.
In conclusion, this volume emphasises the multifaceted nature of early
plurilingualacquisition,highlightingtheimportanceofcross-linguistictrans-
fer as children develop, fostering their linguistic and cultural awareness, and
promoting GCED in schools. It explores the use of picturebooks to teach
English and global citizenship in multilingual settings, process drama to
promote plurilingualism and multiculturalism, and transformative language
learning strategies in diverse contexts. These approaches represent efforts
to address the complex challenge of fostering multilingualism and intercul-
tural competence in student teachers, as well as in young and very young
learners.

References and Further Reading
Baker, W. (2022). From intercultural to transcultural communication. Language
and Intercultural Communication, 22(3), 280–293.
Byram, M. (2009). Afterword: Education, training and becoming critical. In A.
Feng, M.Byram,&M. Fleming(Eds.), Becoming interculturally competent
through education and training (pp. 211–213). Multilingual Matters.
Byram, M. (2021). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative compe-
tence: Revisited (2nd ed.). Multilingual Matters.
Chen, S. (2022). Facilitating the development of intercultural competence via
virtual internationalization. Frontiers in Communication, 7, 894728.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of reference for lan-
guages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge University Press.
Delanoy, W. (2020). What is culture? In G. Rings & S. Rasinger (Eds.), The Cam-
bridge handbook of intercultural communication (pp. 17–34). Cambridge
University Press.
Eagleton, T. (2016). Culture. Yale University Press.
European Education and Culture Executive Agency. (2023). The structure of the
European education systems 2023/2024: Schematic diagrams; Eurydice facts

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