Paper short abstract:

Drawing on notions of Situated Learning and Metrolingualism, this paper explores how language barriers were 'melted' at a multilingual international conference by removing the partitions between rooms. It argues how physical and spatial arrangements can enhance linguistic and knowledge integrations.

Paper long abstract:

In light of an increasing globalized world where policies concerning multiculturalism are being pushed forward in various countries, little attention has been paid to the linguistic integration between speakers of diverse backgrounds. In this presentation, by exploring how language barriers were 'melted' at a multilingual international conference by means of removing the partitions between rooms, we argue how physical and spatial arrangements can enhance linguistic and knowledge integrations.

In a parallel session at an international conference related to plurilingual and pluricultural education in which Japanese, Portuguese and English were the languages of presentations, an attempt was made to remove a partition wall. Sessions in different languages were placed at both ends of the venue and a breakout space was set in the center as a buffer zone to allow free movement. By applying the concepts of Situated Learning (Lave and Wenger, 1991) and Metrolingualism (Otsuji and Pennycook, 2010, Pennycook and Otsuji, 2015), the results from the analysis of a video recording, questionnaires and interview surveys of participants, are as follows.

(1) From the perspective of Situated Learning, two types of feedback were observed: On one hand, the removal of the partition enabled participants to gain some knowledge through 'peripheral participation' of the presentation held at the opposite end of the room while staying in their own session. On the other hand, there were negative opinions such as, "I was annoyed by the voices of other sessions". Some people preferred the same language to be used in the same room.

(2) From the viewpoint of Metrolingualism, the disruption of the one-language one-room/group ideology has been observed: The analysis shows that the removal of the wall 'melted' the conventional statist spatial divisions created by discrete languages and brought about positive 'chemical reactions' and impacts on both sessions. The removal of any physical barriers suggests that removing a psychological barrier builds a sense of community around the shared interests and occupations.

This presentation concludes how the removal of physical barriers can contribute to the integrationist approach to language practice, promote peripheral participation and even motivates 'language' learning.