EFL teacher agency in mediating the socialisation of multilingual learners

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers are seemingly ideally placed to mediate the successful socialisation of multilingual learners into new school environment for two major reasons. Firstly, they have effective command both L1 and L2 often experience living abroad, tend exhibit higher levels openness situations, empathy understanding difficulties faced by learners. Secondly, class can itself be platform mutual where able develop communication skills intercultural competence (cf. Hopp, Jakisch, Sturm, Becker & Thoma 2020; Krulatz, Neokleous Dahl 2022). As is language instruction, it also has potential maintain among those who already speak their heritage (Banasiak Olpińska-Szkiełko 2021), e.g. migrant children returning from UK/Ireland. Drawing on data larger project (Rokita-Jaśkow, Wolanin, Król-Gierat Nosidlak 2022), which consisted interviewing 23 primary EFL in various contexts, this paper analyses possible factors that impact teacher agency multilinguals. It been found respect appears stem teachers’ plurilingual prior teaching experience. Surprisingly, personal experiences encounters (e.g. time spent abroad) or verbalised empathy, had little agency. This finding implies even find difficult put themselves position learner need specialist training order work with learners, may convey an important message educational decision-makers reference formulation future education guidelines curricula.