Linguistic autobiographies of high school students: A view of language learning in the Valencian educational system

Abstract

Secondary education students’ beliefs about languages, multilingual society, and linguistic education, as well as the attitudes generated from these experiences, are analysed on the basis of the study of linguistic autobiographies which are presented in this paper. Students’ points of view could provide essential information for studying the learning and teaching of languages in depth. Currently, the changes which have arisen in the multilingual teaching programmes pose questions about their effectiveness, questions which students’ viewpoints could help to clarify. Our research analyses and compares the data collected in two projects: one carried out in 2008 and another in 2018, the latter a replica of the former. There is a set of coincidences and the importance of the psychological aspects linked to motivation, and new possibilities for learning a language. In conclusion, the environment in which languages are learnt is significant, especially in the case of minority languages. It is important that students should become aware of this environment because their beliefs can determine their learning process.

Keywords: students’ beliefs, language education, multilingualism, linguistic prejudices.