Fostering EFL pre-service teachers’ language activism in Türkiye

• Script writing and role-play in PST education prepares them for language activism. • Role-play can foster EFL teachers’ Critical Multilingual Language Awareness. • Role-play can foster PST empathy and advocacy strategies for linguistic diversity. • Role-play cultivates PST readiness for multilingual education and student activism. This study examines how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers in Türkiye develop Critical Multilingual Language Awareness (CMLA) as a foundation for future language activism through scenario-based role-play and critical reflection activities. We explore how engaging in these experiential pedagogical tasks fosters awareness of linguistic hierarchies, power relations, and advocacy orientations. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we analyzed role-play videos, reflective reports, and focus group interviews from fifteen pre-service teachers enrolled in a Language and Society course. Findings center around three key themes. First, pre-service teachers developed awareness of linguistic hierarchies and power structures embedded in Turkish society and schools, questioning standard language ideologies and dominant accents. Second, they navigated tensions and ambiguities surrounding multilingualism, working to reconcile their emerging awareness with societal and institutional pressures and expectations. Third, role-play functioned as a rehearsal space for critical engagement, supporting participants’ perspective-taking with marginalized linguistic identities and beginning to develop orientations toward advocacy. Findings suggest that incorporating such tasks into preservice teacher education can support teachers’ development as critically aware, socially engaged educators who can navigate complex sociolinguistic landscapes and develop readiness for advocating for linguistic diversity in their future teaching practice.