From language awareness to critical multilingual language awareness: Chilean pre-service EFL teachers’ knowledge for diverse contexts

It has become imperative for English language teacher education (ELTE) programmes to prepare pre-service teachers (PSTs) for the pedagogical and sociopolitical complexities of multilingual classrooms in linguistically and culturally diverse contexts such as Chile. This study explores critical multilingual language awareness (CMLA) as a framework for addressing language ideologies, power dynamics, and the sociopolitical dimensions of English language teaching. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews, data were collected from eight PSTs at different Chilean universities. The study examined their perceptions of the role and status of English in Chile, the knowledge they consider necessary for teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts, and the changes to ELTE curricula they envisage. Analysis revealed that while all eight participants valued language awareness and knowledge about language, some also questioned the strong ‘linguistics’ orientation of their preparation and called for greater attention to Anglocentric ideologies of power and to cultural and linguistic diversity, views partly consistent with principles of CMLA. These findings suggest considerations for ELTE and directions for further research on how programmes might support PSTs’ CMLA.