'I speak five languages': fostering plurilingual competence through language awareness

摘要

When considering the extent to which plurilingualism nowadays shapes 'every facet of human life' (Aronin & Singleton, 2008, p. 8), especially within European member states, one understands the reason why individual plurilingualism has become a benchmark in education, raising concerns in improving the quality of communication among people from different contexts, in fostering mobility, and in conserving linguistic and cultural heterogeneity. Focusing on the discourses (life narratives) of two Ukrainian students attending the third cycle of the Portuguese education system in the light of their learning process of the shelter language, in this paper we aim at (1) reflecting upon the importance of all individuals becoming aware of the asset that their lifelong plurilingual identities represent, i.e. being aware of plurilingualism; (2) discussing the role of language awareness in fostering plurilingual identity, namely by promoting the development of an effective plurilingual competence. This is done by (1) describing students' perception of their plurilingual identities and competences; (2) reconstructing the processes which intervene in the development of subjects' plurilingual identities and competences; (3) analysing how students perceive the contribution of their plurilingual repertoires in the process of learning the Portuguese language; and (4) presenting evidence of life narratives as a privileged space for raising language awareness.