Exploring the role of teacher training faculties in the Basque country as LTAs promoting minority language-centered multilingualism

Language Teaching Associations are understood as professional networkssupporting members with exchanges and development (Pentón Herrera2022, “Advocacy for Language Teacher Associations.” English TeachingForum 60 (4): 21–29). In the specific multilingual education setting of theBasque Country, Teacher Training Faculties are understood as the coreLTAs for the transmission and development of Basque-centeredmultilingual education (Cenoz and Gorter 2023. The Minority Language as aSecond Language: Challenges and Achievements, 1st ed. Routledge;Gartziarena, Villabona, and Olave 2024. “In-Service Teachers’ MultilingualLanguage Teaching and Learning Approaches: Insights from the BasqueCountry.” Language and Education 38 (2): 203–2017). These LTAs not onlyhave a pivotal role in conducting research about multilingualism orintroducing vanguard perspectives to multilingual teaching approaches,these are also key agents in supporting, transmitting, and updating pre-service teachers’ understanding of multilingualism and innovativemultilingual teaching approaches adapted to the specific and variedsociolinguistic contexts of the Basque Country (Bier and Lasagabaster 2022.“What has Changed Over 18 years? Future Teachers’ Language Use andAttitudes Towards Multilingualism in the Basque AutonomousCommunity.” Language and Education 37 (6): 675–697; Orcasitas-Vicandiand Perales-Fernández-de-Gamboa 2022. “Promoting PedagogicalTranslanguaging in Pre-Service Teachers’ Training: Material Design for aMultilingual Context with a Regional Minority Language.” InternationalJournal of Multilingualism, 1–21). This study investigates how an LTA in theBasque Country supports pre-service teachers’ perspectives on keyelements embodying multilingualism and how these interact in theconstruction of their multilingual mindset, being crucial components forsuccessful Multilingual Education Advocacy in the future. The studyemploys a mixed methods approach, combining a specifically designedonline questionnaire (N = 331) with five focus group discussions (N = 30).The paper explores pre-service teachers’ view of multilingualism,perspectives on language revitalization efforts, the utility of languages representing multilingualism, language usage, self-proficiency levels, and self-identification with languages. It presents significant insights from futuregenerations of teachers and provides a comprehensive description ofmultilingualism in societal and educational contexts in the region, withTeacher Training Faculties represented as the LTAs in the Basque Country,serving as decisive and vital agents in advocating for multilingualism.