The model of Mother Tongue Tuition (MTT) which has developed in Sweden since the 1970’s offers speakers of languages other than Swedish the opportunity to request tuition in their mother tongue, from kindergarten through to year 12. It is unique among the major immigrant-receiving countries of the world yet little is known about MTT and its syllabus outside of its Nordic context. This article examines the syllabus for MTT from two perspectives; firstly using the framework of Constructive Alignment, secondly from the perspective of what is hidden. The intended syllabus is revealed as well-aligned, but the hidden curriculum impedes successful enactment in many contexts. Examples from case studies in a larger on-going research project offer an alternate approach to syllabus implementation when the negative effects of the hidden curriculum are challenged. While highly context-specific, this model may represent a step in the right direction for implementation of the syllabus.

Helping recently arrived pupils learn the language of education in the countries they move to is a significant responsibility for schools in Sweden and other immigrant-receiving countries. Also important but often overlooked is the continuing development of the language(s) these pupils already speak and their value in learning majority languages and subjects. This article asks what the functions of multilingual practices during Multilingual Study Guidance are and how they help recently arrived pupils in the Swedish school reach the learning goals of subjects in the Swedish curriculum. A functional analysis of linguistic ethnographic data shows how using languages pupils understand to reformulate, explain, discuss and raise task, metalinguistic and sociocultural awareness, creates a temporary space for translanguaging, which facilitates subject knowledge development in Swedish and other languages. It is argued that recognition and expansion of this space has the potential to improve opportunities for recently arrived pupils’ on-going multilingual development.

This article reports on language narratives in the ecology of a Vietnamese community language school (VCLS) in Australia. The study takes a dialogical perspective, where the stories about language that informants in the research setting tell are understood to shape and be shaped by the contexts in which they are told. Systematic analysis of deictics, reported speech and evaluative indexicals in stories told during 19 interviews with 34 students, teachers and administrators (20 hours 53 mins) was conducted to investigate how informants talk about language and language use and how this impacts on the language learning environment in that context. The results show how narratives both echo and contest ideas about language and language planning in the wider context. The narrative of separate multilingualism echoes monolingual views of language, advocating separate spaces for the use and development of different languages. In contrast, the narrative of flexible multilingualism frames multilingual practices as a natural part of daily life and at the VCLS, but constrained in other spaces. The study illustrates the gap between multilingual practices and monolingual ideologies and approaches to language education. It contributes to the literature calling for revised approaches to language education planning and multilingualism in Australia.

This article analyses connections between linguistic diversity in mother tongue instruction (MTI) in Sweden and the learning aims of the subject. Linguistic ethnographic data collected over 12 months in 13 schools were thematically analyzed into three heteroglossic categories which were then interpreted through the continua of biliteracy to investigate what relationships could be traced between linguistic diversity in MTI, heteroglossia and the development of multilingual literacies in the setting. Results show that MTI policies and planning respond to linguistic heterogeneity in the context. Heteroglossic discursive practices and diverse linguistic repertoires are reported on and observed in the MT classrooms. While heteroglossia is viewed as a resource for learning in some situations, in others it is regarded as an obstacle.  These results contribute to discussions on organizational and pedagogical approaches that work with rather than against heteroglossia, to enhance learning in MTI and potentially other forms of multilingual education.