International schools serve a predominantly multilingual student body that typically uses English as a lingua franca rather than their mother tongues and does not often bring their linguistic knowledge into foreign language classrooms. This paper argues for a pedagogical shift within the "language acquisition" framework of the International Baccalaureate (IB). It proposes leveraging students’ multilingual backgrounds when learning French and Spanish in order to develop cognitive competence along with cultural connections. Following an action research process, this paper evaluates the efficacy of strategies such as translanguaging and crosslinguistic comparisons as methods for students to leverage their prior linguistic knowledge to synthesize new grammatical and phonetic patterns and create meaning. Additionally, it tests the viability of incorporating prior multilingual experiences in learning a foreign language. The research demonstrates that integrating home languages significantly lowers the "affective filter," thereby reducing anxiety - especially in speaking and oral comprehension tasks. It also increases student agency during classroom activities. Arguably, by building on students' personal knowledge, regardless of their level of proficiency in the languages they speak, this approach validates the linguistic identities of all students and promotes a culture of global-mindedness—a core IB value that fosters family involvement, as parents view their mother tongues as assets rather than barriers to new learning. Ultimately, this research invites a deeper appreciation of the intricacies of communication.

Authors:
Seva Fumoux, Stonehill International School, India

About the Presenter(s)
Séverine is an Applied Linguistics MSc candidate at Oxford University, UK. She has taught in Kenya, Singapore, and India. Her classroom serves as an action-research lab using translanguaging to innovate pedagogy, assessment and multilingual toolkits.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/severine-fumoux-3b9964266

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