Language Diversity and Inclusion: A Systematic Review of Linguistic Discrimination and Intervention Evidence in Primary Schools

Abstract

Research on language-based discrimination in primary education remains dispersed across countries, theoretical traditions, and intervention types, limiting cumulative understanding of how linguistic differences translate into exclusion and what responses are effective. This systematic review synthesizes empirical and theoretical evidence to map the forms of language-based discrimination in primary schools, the mechanisms and actors that sustain it, its consequences for children's identity and participation, and the interventions that have been evaluated in response. Following PRISMA 2020, searches combined Scopus, ERIC, and Google Scholar (via Publish or Perish), with publication periods differentiated by article type (empirical: 2021–2025; theoretical: 2013–2025). Screening proceeded through title, abstract, and full-text stages; methodological quality was appraised using CASP, MMAT, and JBI tools appropriate to each design. The final corpus comprised 33 studies (20 empirical, 13 theoretical/conceptual). Empirical findings, concentrated in qualitative designs from Western European contexts, show that accent- and dialect-based mockery, teacher-enforced monolingual norms, and pull-out support programs contribute to linguistic self-erasure and reduced participation. Theoretical literature situates these patterns within monolingual habitus, raciolinguistics, and translanguaging frameworks. Evidence on interventions, including translanguaging pedagogy and collaborative multilingual tasks, indicates promising but methodologically limited support for inclusive practice. Given the predominance of qualitative, Europe-concentrated evidence, conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness should be treated as indicative rather than generalizable.