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From http://www.eltresearchbites.com

It's not uncommon for students in a foreign language classroom to speak a first language different from the regular language of instruction where they live. Clare Maas summarizes this situation for English learners in other countries: "Students learning English in a country where neither their L1 nor English is the dominant language are ‘multilingual’ as they have a certain degree of proficiency in at least two languages. However, they are often faced with the challenge of learning English through the medium of the country’s dominant language." She goes on to summarize V. Illman and P. Pietilä's 2018 article, "Multilingualism as a resource in the foreign language classroom." 

After summarizing the article and the study it describes, Maas concludes, "Most of the English teaching is happening in countries where the dominant community language is something other than English. Given that many countries, especially in Europe, have experienced significant increases in the numbers of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees over the last decade or so, multilingualism is a topic that should interest huge numbers of these English teachers. From my own context (in Germany), though, I’m aware that this topic is often not at the top of the agenda for teacher training programs, and maybe not even on some over-worked teachers’ radars. I agree with Veera Illman and Paivi Pietila in believing it should be given more prominence on both pre- and in-sessional training courses, and more consideration in teachers’ lesson planning and materials."

Read the full research summary at http://www.eltresearchbites.com/201809-multilingualism-as-a-resource-in-the-foreign-language-classroom/