Using a holistic approach to explore language attitudes in two multilingual contexts : the Basque Country and Malta

Abstract

The study of language attitudes in multilingual contexts is a rather new field of research. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of investigations have focused on minority and/or on majority languages, but very few have also analysed the role of an international language, or of any other additional language(s), within specific contexts. Moreover, previous studies have been based on an approach in which each of the languages is examined as an isolated unit; in other words, in these studies the participants are asked about their attitudes towards each of the languages in contact independently, by using what we will label in this chapter as monolingualbiased questionnaires. The analysis of attitudes towards trilingualism and multilingualism is a very recent trend and there are currently very few studies focused on this field of research. Since multilingualism is becoming the norm rather than the exception in many European education contexts and the world over, this is an area of study which definitively deserves further attention. In fact, this study is an attempt to help to fill this gap. Since the objective of this chapter revolves around the analysis of language attitudes towards trilingualism by means of a holistic questionnaire in two multilingual contexts (the Basque Country and Malta), we will first illustrate the differences between monolingualbiased and holistic approaches to multilingualism.