Local Governance and Classroom Approaches to Multilingualism and Intercultural Competence in Algerian Universities

Abstract

The article analyzes the crossing of classroom multilingualism and local education governance in Algerian universities. Based on a descriptive-analytical synthesis of published literature, the article positions multilingualism and intercultural competency in the architecture of governance, policy direction, and institutional dynamics. This literature review combines Norton's investment model and Byram's intercultural communicative competence model to identify the ways in which local-level policy scaffolds and delimits classroom practice. The study was directed toward following tensions between bottom-up multilingual praxis and top-down policymaking and discloses how they make their presence felt in intercultural learning, pedagogical practice, and identity negotiation in higher education. It indicates that making classroom praxis fit into local governance mechanisms is crucial to creating inclusive, responsive, and globally positioned higher education. The article ends by emphasizing policy and education implications, requesting measures of governance–pedagogy complementarity in developing intercultural competences and multilingual competence in Algerian universities.