JALT2025 - Tokyo

Measuring language use in plurilingual language classrooms

Oct 31, 2025, 2:50 PM

30m

National Olympics Memorial Youth Center / 国立オリンピック記念青少年総合センター

Research-oriented Presentation (30-minutes) Teacher and Professional Development Room 302

Speaker

Amanda Brown (Syracuse University)

Description

This study compared the operationalization and feasibility of three methods of measuring plurilingual language practices by a teacher and learners in an Arabic language classroom: word counts, time analysis, and impressionistic judgments from live observations. Application of the methods to the same dataset revealed comparable frequencies of L2 use, different frequencies of L1 use, and large differences in application feasibility, with implications for teacher reflections and researcher investigations of plurilingual classroom language practices.

Summary

This study compared the operationalization and feasibility of three methods of measuring plurilingual language practices by a teacher and learners in an Arabic language classroom: word counts, time analysis, and impressionistic judgments from live observations. Application of the methods to the same dataset revealed comparable frequencies of L2 use, different frequencies of L1 use, and large differences in application feasibility, with implications for teacher reflections and researcher investigations of plurilingual classroom language practices.