'Decolonising Babel': Multilingual and Inclusive Language Pedagogies at Warwick and Beyond

Dr Leticia Villameda Gonzalez, Dr Valentina Abbatelli 2023, Kade Thomas, Sophie Hurst, Max Morland, Riya Jamthe and Ava Rzymowska

Summary

Several initiatives have been taken by individual institutions in the UK in the past few years in the light of the decolonising the curriculum approach, focusing on curriculum and assessment review. Similarly, innovative projects such as ‘Decolonising Social Sciences’ and ‘Anti-Racism and Anti-Racist Pedagogies in the Faculty of Arts’ have been developed at Warwick. However, decolonising the curriculum ironically coincides with the reinforcement of English as a lingua franca, which undermines the principles of this approach. This is why it is necessary to shift our focus from English, with the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (SMLC) being the perfect place to continue expanding the work that has been done.

Working in SMLC at Warwick, we have seen a rise of initiatives relative to single modules which are crucial to foster a more inclusive, diverse and equal environment. However, we think that both a more holistic overview on what decolonising the curriculum means and advice on how can be embedded in everyday teaching could foster a more comprehensive approach to this theme. This can only be achieved through staff and students working together as equals.

In addition to this, Warwick university also has a very international and multilingual campus where students speak and study different languages as part of their degree. SMLC is the home for many students studying one or more languages, but also for many students studying a language in our Language Centre as part of their degree. Therefore, this project sought to expand the current work done at Warwick and to contribute to its Education Strategy by looking at decolonising the curriculum through the lens of other languages and by embedding a multilingual EDI across the university and beyond.

We read a selected multilingual bibliography on decolonising the curriculum with the students involved in the project: Kade Thomas, Sophie Hurst, Max Morland, Carys Walters, Riya Jamthe and Ava Rzymowska. Working with them, we created two practical toolkits, one for staff and one for students. The toolkit for staff was designed to be used by colleagues to make them aware of how many areas the decolonising the curriculum encompasses and help them to rethink their teaching. It includes practical advice, special attention to inclusive pedagogical practices and suggestions on how to support neurodiverse, disabled, LGBTQ+, BAME students and students coming from a widening participation background. The toolkit for students is made of a series of reflecting questions on what students can do to support the same categories of students.

For the second aim of the project, we took as a starting point the WIHEA project on LGBTQUIA+ Inclusive language developed in the Trans and Queer Pedagogy Learning Circle which focuses on English. With the help of our students and using a decolonial approach, we created multilingual inclusive language guides. These guides want to shed the light on how inclusive language works in other languages, particularly in those which traditionally mark gender in binary terms and what pronouns are used.

Both the toolkits and the guides have been shared not only at Warwick, but also with MFL teachers in schools as part of outreach initiatives. This is crucial for staff and students both at Warwick and beyond in building a multilingual inclusive community.

The outcomes of the project are the following:

a. creation of two practical toolkits to help teachers, educators and students to contribute to decolonise and make more inclusive their modern languages and cultures curriculum

b. creation of guides on the use of inclusive language in different languages (Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, Russian and Polish)

c. dissemination of the project at the Inclusive Education in the Arts Conference 2024 – asynchronous video of our presentation

d. two CPD workshops during which we shared our inclusive language guides and toolkits with GCSE students at Warwick (15 April 2024) and MFL teachers (7 June 2024 – part of the Y12 Languages Taster Day).

Assets

Multilingual Inclusive Language Guides

Dr Leticia Villamediana González

Dr Leticia Villamediana González is an Associate Professor in Hispanic Studies and SMLC Director of Teaching and Learning. Her teaching and research interests lie in the Spanish Enlightenment, Anglo[1]Spanish Cultural History since 1700, and innovative and inclusive language pedagogies.

Dr Valentina Abbatelli

Dr Valentina Abbatelli is an Assistant Professor in Italian Studies and SMLC Deputy Director of Teaching and Learning. Among her teaching and research interests there are History of Publishing, Translation Studies, and language and culture pedagogies centred on a transnational and inclusive approach.