The Multilingualism and Inclusion of Migrant Families Projects bring together several initiatives developed by Le Monde des Possibles to promote multilingualism as a lever for social inclusion and strengthen ties between migrant families and the education system. These projects focus on supporting families in their integration by highlighting their linguistic and cultural skills, while facilitating their involvement in their children’s schooling.
Supported by: The International Organization of La Francophonie (September-December 2020), the Kali’Folies project, for example, is based on an interactive glossary intended primarily for Arabic speakers, which explores colloquial expressions and their equivalents in French. This glossary also highlights Arabic loanwords that have been integrated into the everyday language of young French speakers in Belgium, thus providing a concrete tool for promoting mother tongues and raising awareness of their richness. Developed on the basis of exchanges and conclusions de ce colloque, pursues the objectives established at this event.
As part of this project, an interactive glossary has been developed. It includes:
- Colloquial expressions in Arabic and their equivalents in French, as well as the associated translation difficulties;
- Arabic loanwords integrated into the everyday language of young French-speaking Belgians.
The Écol’âge and Schoolas’TIC projects, supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation in 2022-2023, target elementary schools in Liège and non-French-speaking parents. These initiatives offer specific training courses, such as FLE (French as a foreign language) focused on schooling and digital technology, as well as storytelling and language awareness workshops for parents and children. These actions help to strengthen families’ language skills while facilitating their understanding of the expectations and functioning of schools in French-speaking Belgium. In collaboration with schools and families, multilingual educational tools, such as educational games and activity booklets, are created to encourage active parental involvement in school life.
The projet Appren’Tissage, supported by the National Lottery in 2022-2024, is aimed at children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their families, offering cultural and educational activities that combine collective participation, intercultural exchange, and co-construction. This project has resulted in the creation of educational resources, including a collective story entitled Mina sur le Chemin de l’École (Mina on the Way to School) and culinary and language activity sheets, which strengthen the bonds between parents, children, and educational institutions.
Finally, the projet Evidioma, supported by the King Baudouin Foundation (ongoing project), pursues the same objectives with a focus on access to culture and artistic expression. Through writing workshops for parents and creative activities for children, this project promotes a better understanding of family languages and cultures. The final productions, such as multilingual stories and animated films, reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity of the participants, while facilitating their inclusion.
These initiatives demonstrate that multilingualism is not only a learning tool, but also a means of building bridges between cultures, valuing the skills of migrant families, and promoting a more inclusive and intercultural society.
The Multilingualism and Inclusion of Migrant Families Projects are structured around several complementary initiatives:
- Project Kali’Folies :
- Develop an interactive glossary to highlight the Arabic variants spoken by participants.
- Highlighting Arabic loanwords in the everyday language of young French-speaking Belgians.
- Projects Écol’âge / Schoolas’TIC :
- Offer training modules for non-French-speaking parents, focused on FLE (French as a Foreign Language) geared toward schooling and digital technology.
- Create multilingual educational tools, such as stories and educational games, to bring parents and schools closer together.
- Project Appren’Tissage :
- Supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their families through cultural, educational, and intergenerational activities.
- Develop stories and educational tools to strengthen participants linguistic and cultural skills.
- Project Evidioma :
- Combat social isolation by offering artistic expression and creation workshops for children and parents.
- Design a multilingual collective story and an animated film highlighting the languages and cultures of migrant families.
By relying on participatory and inclusive approaches, these projects help promote the sustainable integration of migrant families, while highlighting their cultural and linguistic richness.
