Bringing One Language to Another: Multilingualism as a Resource

in the Language Classroom Multilingualism, which is defined as speaking two or more languages, is a growing worldwide phenomenon. Due to increased mobility and closely linked economies, many countries currently have significant multilingual populations in their workforces and educational systems. The demands of international commerce alone have engendered a large amount of interest and attention to multilingual educa-tion and training programs. In this time of unprecedented contact among different language groups and cul-tures, speaking two or more languages can make a difference in where one lives and may determine educational and career choices. English, as a major language of international business, is spoken as a second or third language in many countries around the world. In fact, English “can be seen as a fac-tor in the creation of multilingualism today ” (Jessner 2006, 2), and educa-tional programs in English are in high demand. Students who study English as a Foreign Language (EFL) often already speak two or more languages. Know-ing more than one language is a necessity for many people worldwide, whether it is because their parents come from different language back-grounds, because their home, regional, national, or school languages are dif-ferent, or for a variety of other reasons. Knowledge of more than one lan-guage is a valuable asset when one wants to learn subsequent languages; unfortunately, multilingual students often take the value of their own lan-guage knowledge for granted and do not take full advantage of what they already know how to do. Neverthe-less, EFL teachers can tap into their students ’ familiarity with multiple languages to advance learning and accomplish what one EFL student referred to as “bringing one language to another. ” Engaging in and reflect-ing on activities that draw on multi-lingual experience is beneficial to stu-dents, their teachers, and to anyon