The multilingual classroom is becoming an ever important focus in educational research with an emphasis on holistic conceptions of multilingualism (Cenoz & Gorter, 2011), consideration of multilingual pedagogies across different spaces (Garcia & Flores, 2012), the importance of students' first language knowledge and translingual practices (Cummins & Early, 2011; García et al., 2016), and the possibilities and challenges of bi-/plurilingual approaches in language learning and teaching (Choi & Ollerhead, 2018). While recognizing the need for critical language awareness (Chacón, 2009) among teachers as well as an emphasis on plurilingual approaches in teacher education (Castellotti, 2001; Gajo, 2006), current language policies continue to reinforce language standardization and monoglossic conceptions of language, posing significant challenges in preparing teachers to respond to the needs of plurilingual learners.
In this paper I reflect on the tensions around multilingual approaches in teacher education among French second language teachers in the Canadian context. Drawing on findings from a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2013) of qualitative data generated with in- and pre-service French teachers, I consider the different ways FSL teacher take up notions of bilingualism and translingual practices in initial and continuing teacher education and how their conceptions of bi-/multilingual identity intersect with their understandings of multilingual pedagogies and their own linguistic and professional identities.
A focus on teachers' conceptual understandings and narrated experiences points to how we might consider guiding teachers in confronting and negotiating alternative theories of learning and teaching language, notably by attending to how current socio-political forces and persisting language ideologies shape teachers' approaches in linguistically and culturally diverse educational settings.
