Enhancing multilingual education: a cognitive-inclusive path to language awareness and educational equity

This study addresses the need for enhanced multilingual education in increasingly linguistically diverse classrooms. It presents a case study of an Italian elective class in Croatian Istria, where a cognitively informed didactic model was tested with 12 pupils aged 12–13. The model combines cross-language awareness, linguistic relativity and cooperative learning to strengthen linguistic sensitivity and inclusive multilingualism. Qualitative data analysed using grounded theory revealed improved reflective teaching practices and a deeper awareness of otherness. The findings confirm the model’s potential and the value of grounded theory for refining multilingual teaching strategies and curriculum design.