Implicit attitudes towards learner diversity in inclusive foreign language education
Fokusprojekt der Universität Bremen
Joanna Pfingsthorn & Ana Fernandes Rovai
The project explores the question to what extent (pre-service) foreign language teachers show a positive implicit attitude towards different forms of learner diversity that are relevant in the process of foreign language learning. An implicit attitude is a psychological construct, defined as a broad favorable or unfavorable evaluation of an object that is introspectively unidentified or inaccurately identified. Such evaluations are generally conducted without conscious awareness (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995, p. 5), but they can influence behavioral predispositions towards the object (e.g. Gawronski & Payne, 2010). Given that certain neurocognitive, affective, linguistic and personality traits have been identified as detrimental to successful foreign language learning (e.g. Ganschow & Sparks, 1995; Nunan, 1995; Ushioda, 2008), it is conceivable that foreign language teachers evaluate those traits as more positive than other attributes that are correlated with less success, at least unconsciously and/or to some extent. If this is the case, they rely on varying positive and negative (implicit) attitudes towards different learner characteristics or forms of learner diversity, which in turn can lead to group stigmatization. This is not congruent with the fundamental assumptions of inclusive education, which call for educational systems that accommodate all learners (Clough & Corbett, 2000; Frederickson & Cline, 2009) and make participation and engagement in education accessible to all (Smith, 2008). This implies that teachers need to align not only their subject skills and knowledge to match those principles, but also their fundamental attitudes. This is problematic for two reasons: (a) implicit attitudes can guide attention, attribution and behavior without teachers being aware thereof and (b) institutionalized education generally tends to be stable and robust in terms of its organization and structure (Tyack & Tobin, 1994), with classroom choices and teacher beliefs being inherited within the local context of community of teaching practice (Bloemert, Jansen, & van de Grift, 2016).