You know the feeling when you go to a conference or CPD event and try to bring all your thoughts together and recap the event but you attended various papers and had so many discussions which left even more impressions and unanswered questions that you don’t know where to begin? Same. Especially because this conference weekend already started a day before the annual conference of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics (IRAAL) 2023, on 17 November 2023 for me.  

On Friday, 17 November, I was invited by the Centre for Irish Language, Research and Testing (Lárionad na Gaeilge - Taighde, Teagasc agus Tástáil) to convene a 2-hour workshop on performative approaches to teaching languages in higher education. Language teachers of Irish, French, Spanish, Catalan, Japanese (and more?!) attended the workshop and to say we had a lot of fun would be an understatement. It amazes me time and time again how passionate and ready to participate and try out new things language teachers are. There was never a moment of scepticism or even resistance, quite the contrary! I feel very lucky to be in a position to do these kind of workshops again and again and to work and explore first-hand how creative language teachers are in their approaches.  

With lots of great feelings after the workshop and reflective discussions of various activities, I was ready to take on the IRAAL conference on Saturday, 18 November 2023, and see what the conference theme “plurilingual mindsets in an increasingly bi-/multilingual world” had up its sleeve. There is a lot to say for a full-day conference which seemed to fly looking back to it but if I had to summarise the weekend, it would probably be a three-word sentence: 

Embracing plurilingual minds. TJ Ó Ceallaigh repeated and used this phrase again and again in his opening keynote and attending various other papers, this statement seemed to carry across them very well and to be the common ground: We need to embrace the plurilingual mindsets in an increasingly bi-/multilingual world. 

Nobody seemed to disagree. But if it is seemingly as clear as day to us that we need to embrace the plurilingualism around us, and if there is seemingly such a strong agreement amongst experts, why do we need, it seems, to be reminded of it again and again? Why do we need to choose this theme for a conference in 2023, if everyone is on the same page anyway? 

The reasons for this need of repetition is not a statement that we don’t believe in it, that we need to remind ourselves again or that we don’t know it; it lies somewhere deeper: Yes, experts in the field seem to agree (predominantly) around the importance of embracing and fostering a culture where all languages have a secure space in our everyday lives, whether that is in the educational or professional context. However, the problem can be found once we leave our secure bubble of plurilingual minds. 

Outside this context and in a more everyday life context, this message has not arrived yet – or at least it not fully. We may still find ourselves in situations where we are advised, for example, to better only use one language at home because otherwise our children might be confused. Or hear how it might not benefit students to include their home languages in schools. Or again that a plurilingual approach or pedagogical translanguaging might in fact lead to students not learning any language ‘properly’.  

Now, while these suggestions are perhaps from a position of good intentions, this kind of advice needs to be considered in terms of their expertise. Do the people making these suggestions know anything about language acquisition? So, to say the least, taking these suggestions with a pinch of salt is advisable. However, this shows precisely the issue: While experts in the field agree, this does not necessarily translate to everyone in society. And this is a problem, as was demonstrated by many personal examples and anecdotes at the conference. However, we have to keep in mind that we as experts are in quite a powerful position, namely we can dispute these suggestions and claims, but what about people who don't know this and don't have anyone of expertise in their social groups, and therefore trust these well-intended but yet wrong suggestions? This is exactly why it is so important for us to raise awareness amongst everyone, not just amongst experts in the area of applied linguistics. And this can be achieved, for example, at conferences, open days and other events where these topics are made available to and disseminated in the wider community. This is how we can keep the conversation going, telling others about the importance of plurilingualism, and get on the one hand those in this area together for the sharing of knowledge, but also others outside this are involved in the mission of spreading this important message. 

And this is where we go back to the start of this conference recap: We all have to play our part in this common mission. So, go on, tell your non-applied-linguist friends, tell your neighbours, your local person working in a shop or a randomer on the bus. Why not use and learn a word in another language that you get in touch with while in town, whether it's saying tesekkürler or danke, grazie, dziękuję or whichever other word to express thanks. Let’s appreciate the linguistic repertoire of our community and embrace the plurilingual minds we are.​