Pre-service teachers’ cognitions of multilingualism in education in Europe, Australia and New Zealand: a scoping review

This scoping review examines pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) cognitions of multilingualism in Europe and Australia/New Zealand – two regions characterised by high linguistic diversity but rarely compared. Following PRISMA guidelines, 1277 records were screened and 55 studies were included. Findings indicate that while PSTs generally express moderately positive orientations towards multilingualism and often identify as multilingual themselves, their cognitions are constrained by persistent structural and ideological barriers, including limited training, dominant monolingual norms and insufficient pedagogical resources. English emerges as the dominant linguistic frame across contexts, often overshadowing minority and heritage languages. The review highlights a critical gap between positive dispositions and pedagogical enactment, pointing to the need for systematic, practice-oriented training in teacher education. We argue for more cross-regional comparative research and for embedding multilingual pedagogies more explicitly in teacher education programmes.