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This article reports a study which examined the effects of an "Awakening to Languages" (AtL) programme on preschool children's language abilities. This programme aimed at exposing children to language and cultural diversity as well as promoting positive attitudes towards different languages and cultures amongst children. However, considering that the AtL approach also intends to encourage language learning, it has been said to contribute to the development of a plurilingual competence that is characterised as being richer than a communicative competence, more complex and, at the same time, more flexible. The study was carried out with 16 Portuguese preschool children, divided into two groups (control and experimental). An AtL intervention programme was then applied in the experimental group with which the researcher worked on a variety of multilingual activities and games for three months. A language test and a language report were used before and after the implementation of the programme to determine how the children progressed in their communicative skills, with a focus on syntax. The results indicate that the approach used had a positive impact on the children's syntactic abilities, namely in oral comprehension, and also facilitated the development of positive attitudes towards language and cultural diversity.

This paper shares the voices of six teachers regarding two language awareness projects carried out in one pre-primary and one primary school in Portugal. These projects present innovative practices in teaching young and very young learners to reflect upon language and linguistic diversity and to become aware of world issues (e.g. poverty, discrimination and climate changes). Based upon interviews conducted with the teachers after the staging of the two projects, we analyse teachers' discourses regarding the learning outcomes of the activities, their beliefs and knowledge about language awareness and the possibilities for including this approach in the curriculum. Results suggest that teachers acknowledge the relevance of language awareness in the education of more engaged and respectful citizens; however, they feel insecure and unprepared to include it in their teaching practice and in their professional knowledge. Implications of these findings for pre-service and in-service teacher education are discussed.

Following a narrative and biographic approach, in this study, we present the case of an in-service language teacher and her professional learning trajectory in the context of the project "Languages and education: constructing and sharing training". This project aimed at the construction of a collaborative teacher education context for learning and transformation of experiences, views and practices in language education, and involved teachers, teacher educators and researchers. Based on a single case study, the analysis tries to disclose the teacher's discursive displacements as hints of professional transformation while she reinterprets the learning taking place in the collaborative education process. The signs of change are visible in the way she constructs meanings regarding her professional identity, re-identifies her mission as a language teacher and reconsiders her professional identity. Finally, we reflect upon how collaborative teacher education scenarios may foster teachers' personal professional learning and renewed self-images.

This article aims at evaluating and understanding the effects of an awakening to languages (AtL) programme, carried out with a group of 21 Portuguese children aged three to six, in the development of phonological awareness (PA). Using mixed-methods research, data was gathered from video recordings of seven AtL sessions and PA tests for an experimental and a control group. Post-test results reveal that the experimental group increased their PA significantly, whereas the phonological abilities of the control group remained unaltered. Content analysis of the sessions supported these results, indicating that the experimental group was keen to observe, manipulate, and reflect upon languages and sounds. Findings suggest that exploring and working with linguistic diversity early on may develop metalinguistic skills conducive to literacy and language learning.

The study reported in this article is part of a research project which intended to attain a more comprehensive understanding of the growth and transformations of the professional identity and knowledge of a group of four future language teachers, as they expanded their awareness about plurilingualism and intercomprehension. Based on a central question: Are the student teachers able to develop a different self-image as language teachers based on a plurilingual conception of language teaching? Phase 1 of the research project focused on the language student teachers' professional discourse. The developing representations about plurilingualism, intercomprehension and themselves as language teachers were analysed. The conclusions helped to conceptualise Phase 2 of the project and reflect upon the Language Didactics curriculum. (Contains 5 notes.)

The Linguistic European Policy stresses the importance of linguistic diversity and encourages students to learn several languages, believing that the more languages we know, the better we can understand each other and preserve our languages. To preserve diversity and to value all the languages (either included in the curriculum or not) is a first step to develop a plurilingual and intercultural competence in the classroom as a means of overcoming frontiers between languages and between people. A second step is to work with teachers and to value what they know by helping them to find new and innovative answers to meet these professional challenges. Thus, this paper describes the work within a project for professional development of a group of in-service language teachers. The teacher education programme suggests a "portfolio-oriented language learning and teaching approach" that promotes plurilingualism. We will analyse the teachers' starting point and their willingness to work within an innovative and challenging approach. The analysed data include a questionnaire prior to the starting of the programme and three written reflections at the end of the programme concerning professional development, new concepts, teaching approach and working habits. The conclusions indicate that the teachers were not familiar with either the concept of plurilingualism or the "portfolio-oriented language learning and teaching approach". Nevertheless, they clearly show their willingness to try a new approach in their teaching practice. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)