Impacting Prospective Teachers’ Cognition on Language Acquisition in a Plurilingual and Intercultural Education Perspective: The Effects of Targeted Instruction in a Primary Education Degree

Training experiences can influence teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and overall “cognition,” particularly if they also provide practical experiences or the opportunity to experiment with new approaches concretely. In the Italian context, various experiences with teachers demonstrate that careful training and guided implementation positively influence teachers' cognition regarding multilingual and intercultural education. This study aims to compare and verify the beliefs and attitudes of future teachers enrolled in a Primary Education degree program regarding plurilingualism and multilingual education. A questionnaire addressing intercultural sensitivity (Chen & Starosta, 2000) and managing linguistic diversity in schools (Schroedler & Fischer, 2020) was administered to students at different points in their educational path: during the first academic year (G1, N = 73) and during the fifth academic year (G2, N = 79). Specifically, G2 students have been tested twice: before and after attending a specific curricular course on multilingual teaching (36 hours), followed by a practical workshop (9 hours) on pluralistic approaches and translanguaging pedagogy. The comparison between G1 and G2 (first administration) showed that, despite generally demonstrating a fairly positive attitude toward linguistic diversity, there are no statistically significant differences in attitudes toward multilingualism in the classroom among students. However, some variables significantly influence the beliefs of future teachers about the potential of plurilingual education, particularly intercultural sensitivity. Conversely, G2 students demonstrate a significantly higher attitude toward plurilingualism after attending the curricular course on multilingual teaching. Given that exposure to plurilingual education impacts both metalinguistic competence and language acquisition, and considering that beliefs and cognition are fully encompassed within the dimensions of teacher competence, the results of this survey will be discussed in light of the formative possibilities regarding language education—and hence, acquisition—within the Primary Education degree courses.