Editor: Peter Garrett (University of Cardiff)
Review editor: Terry Shortall (University of Birmingham)
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Volume: 12 Number: 3 Page: 204–219
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Multilingual Students' Awareness of their Language Teacher's Other Languages
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Larissa Aronin and Muiris ó Laoire
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This paper analyses the opinions, awareness and perceptions of trilingual or multilingual students, regarding their language teacher. Findings of a comparative study carried out in two different cultural
contexts, Ireland and Israel, are discussed, where participants (435 in total) included Russian-speaking students in Israel studying English or Hebrew as their third or fourth language and English-speaking
students in Ireland studying French, German, or Spanish as L3. In spite of the variety of preferences expressed by our trilingual students, tendencies nonetheless exist that could be regarded as being typical
of trilingual students. Firm beliefs emerged about the role of the L3/L4 teacher and about his or her functions in the learning process. The students' mastery of the L3/L4 appears to influence the role
that learners allocate to the teacher in the learning process, with this role strictly defined and even limited by students' expectations and perceptions.
Keywords: LEARNERS' LANGUAGE AWARENESS, LEARNERS' AWARENESS OF TEACHERS' AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, ROLE OF TEACHER
© Multilingual Matters 2003
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