How can Mother Tongue-based MLE be carried out in classrooms where three or more local languages are represented as mother tongues?
One challenge identified by education planners and policymakers is how first language–based multilingual education (L1-based MLE) would work in multi-language contexts where learners with different home languages come together in a single classroom or school. In this paper we explore why the question arises, summarize the MLE theories that would apply, suggest some strategies for dealing with the situation, and offer some directions for future research.