Empowering Plurilingual Learners

Despite increased attention to plurilingual approaches in language education, monolingual norms continue to dominate many classrooms, restricting students’ ability to draw on their full linguistic repertoires. This article argues for the integration of plurilingual pedagogies with critical language awareness (CLA) to create more inclusive, equitable, and empowering learning environments. While existing scholarship has offered strong theoretical justifications for plurilingualism, fewer studies have provided concrete strategies to support its implementation, particularly in higher education settings. Addressing this gap, the article proposes four interrelated pedagogical strategies: challenging assumptions about language learning, encouraging discussions about language prejudice, promoting identity exploration, and implementing plurilingual practices. These strategies, grounded in recent research and designed to be adaptable across educational contexts, aim to foster students’ linguistic confidence, critical reflection, and agency. By centering learners’ diverse linguistic and cultural experiences, the article underscores the need to reimagine both instruction and assessment practices through a plurilingual and critical awareness lens.