Learners’ beliefs about multilingualism: comparing rural and urban contexts

Giulia Sulis

Primo

2025-01-01

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Abstract

Learners’ beliefs about languages and language learning have been acknowledged as a key aspect shaping the language learning process. While research to date has largely focused on foreign/second language learning, only a handful of empirical studies have examined learners’ beliefs about multilingualism more broadly; all of them quantitative in nature. Taking a qualitative approach and drawing on semi-structured interviews, this study examines learners’ beliefs about multilingualism in two distinct linguistic and sociocultural settings: urban and rural middle schools in Austria. The findings highlight the key role of exposure to linguistic diversity in shaping how learners perceive and experience multilingualism in the two settings.