Resumen de ‘It is sometimes difficult for me to switch between languages’: intersecting L3 learning experience and plurilingual learning trajectories

Lisa Marie Brinkmann

• This contribution examines the relationship between the learning experience of a third or additional language (L3) and the plurilingual learning trajectory, defined as the evolving interplay of languages and language attitudes in a learner’s repertoire. L3 learning experience captures the learner’s perception of the L3 learning context, while plurilingual learning trajectories reflect the cumulative complexity of plurilingual development. This complexity is summarised using factor models of multilingualism, identifying shared features in additional language learning. A mixed-methods case study was conducted with a 7th grade cohort of 21 students learning French alongside English in Germany, based on questionnaires with open and closed questions on their L3 learning experience and plurilingual learning trajectory. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric analysis and content analysis methods were used to investigate the relationship between L3 learning experience, the number of languages learned, and attitudes towards multilingualism. The tendencies found within the limited sample size suggest a link between these factors: quadrilinguals tended to exhibit high L3 learning experience and positive attitudes towards multilingualism, whereas quintilinguals tended to demonstrate lower L3 learning experience alongside highly positive attitudes towards multilingualism. These results emphasise the complexity of L3 learning experiences, which cannot be attributed solely to the number of languages involved.