CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Special Issue "Teaching English language learners across the curriculum"

In response to the ever- increasing diversity of students within Australian classrooms, and the need for drawing and building upon learners’ full cultural and linguistic repertoires as an essential avenue for learning and educational development (Cummins & Early, 2011; García & Wei, 2014; Lin & He, 2017), the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2014) has emphasised the need for all subject teachers to adopt pedagogical approaches and strategies that respond to the learning needs of students for whom English is not a first language. It is known that English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) students often have different learning needs from their mainstream counterparts (Taplin, 2017). In addition to the wealth of cultural and linguistic resources that EAL/D students bring to school, and while they learn English, through English and about English, they must develop proficiency in Standard Australian English (SAE) to access curriculum content and succeed in school life. Irrespective of whether teachers across the curriculum have had formal language teacher education or not, it is essential that teachers build and demonstrate knowledge, dispositions, skills and expertise that enable them to be ‘linguistically responsive’ (Lucas & Villegas, 2013) to the needs of EAL/D learners, which should serve as a catalyst for creating and maintaining more inclusive learning environments for all students.

We welcome contributions that celebrate innovative pedagogical practices, interventions and strategies that support EAL/D students in mainstream settings, and we also encourage proposals that look more broadly at the significance and benefits of, for instance, collaboration between EAL/D teachers and subject teachers, professional development, and the role of school leadership in establishing, promoting, and sustaining programs for professional learning for EAL/D practice. Submission should focus on the primary and secondary school contexts in which EAL/D students are engaged in learning ‘other’ curriculum content (i.e., not directly focussed on English language learning). With reference to key Australian national or state (and relevant international) curriculum documents, manuscripts may focus on (action) research, theory and/or practice that highlight how subject teachers, in collaboration with EAL/D educators in schools or universities, endeavour to support the learning of EAL/D students.

Authors may wish to consider any of the following aspects in their papers:
• illustrations of pedagogical practice that support EAL/D students in mainstream classrooms
• the pedagogical implications for how the needs of EAL/D learners can be catered for across the
curriculum by and with teachers of diverse content areas
• the opportunities, benefits and/or challenges of collaboration between mainstream teachers
and EAL/D specialist teachers
• the role of school leadership in creating opportunities and sustainable programs for effective
professional learning that better informs teaching practice for the needs of EAL/D students
across the curriculum
• the implications for initial teacher education (ITE) programs in preparing all subject teachers for
diverse classrooms
• relevance of any broader structural and systemic issues at play that either facilitate or hinder
the work of all subject teachers in relation to supporting EAL/D students

Important dates:
To be considered, please submit a title and a max. 300 word abstract to the TESOL in Context Journal Coordinator at tic@tesol.org.au by 31st March 2023. In addition, please include the author(s)’ short biography (max. 100 words) and contact information (name, affiliation, address, and email). Submitting authors will be notified of abstract acceptance by 30 April 2023. The deadline for submissions is 1 July 2023 for online publication in the third quarter of 2023.

For further information or to be sent the Notes for Contributors, please contact the TESOL in Context Journal Coordinator by emailing tic@tesol.org.au

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). 2014.
http://www.acara.edu.au/_resources/EALD_Overview_and_Advice_revised_February_2014.pdf

Cummins, J., & Early, M. (2011). Identity texts: The collaborative creation of power in multilingual
schools. Trentham Books.

García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave
Macmillan.

Lin, A., & He, P. (2017). Translanguaging as dynamic activity flows in CLIL classrooms. Journal of
Language, Identity and Education, 16(4), 228–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2017.1328283

Lucas, T., & Villegas, M. (2013). Preparing linguistically responsive teachers: Laying the foundation in preservice teacher education. Theory into Practice, 52(2), 98-109. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2013.770327

Taplin, A. (2017). Accounting for the needs of EAL/D students in the mainstream classroom. English Teachers Association of NSW: mETAphor (1), 48-50.