The Emergence of Critical Multilingual Language Awareness in Teacher Education: The Role of Experience and Coursework

To better prepare future teachers for an increasingly linguistically diverse student population, teacher education programs have integrated critical language awareness frameworks into their coursework. However, re­search on the influence of such coursework on teachers' critical multilingual awareness is scarce. Given the importance of developing teachers' critical multilingual language awareness (CMLA), this case study explores the impact of experience and course work on a novice language teacher educator and a pre-service teacher's emerging CMLA at a large Mid­western U.S. university. It gauges teachers' evolving awareness of the five CMLA domains (cognitive, social, affective, performance and power), with a particular focus on the power domain. Based on an iterative and recursive qualitative analysis of interview and course artifact data, this study shows that teachers are able to develop CMLA through coursework, especially if they are able to link it to personal experiences. Furthermore, a deep understanding of the power domain of language builds on: (1) an awareness of the other domains of CMLA--in particular the affective and social domains--and (2) the ways these domains impact English learners' equitable access to educational opportunities.