Educating to linguistic and cultural diversity at school: proposals for an “Italian way” to plurilingual education

Abstract

Many European language policy documents have long confirmed the importance of adopting a plurilingual and intercultural perspective in teaching, which could foster inclusion and promote an understanding of linguistic and cultural diversity. After comparing the European notion of plurilingual and intercultural education with the Italian one of democratic linguistic education, the paper discusses the most suitable teaching approaches for the enhancement of plurilingual repertoires in the Italian school, highlighting their points of contact and specificities. The goal is to show how plurilingualism can become an educational and cognitive resource for the benefit of the whole class, as well as an object for enhancing the individual and his/her language biography. The paper thus seeks to propose a possible Italian way of approaching to plurilingual education, capable of benefiting from the historical and sociolinguistic heritage of our country but in continuity with the educational language policies of the European Union. Being conceived in the broadest sense, plurilingualism thus becomes a ground for comparison and mutual (re)cognition in which all languages ​​and varieties of languages in the classroom acquire dignity and value.