Editorial: Adopting a multilingual stance: Benefits and challenges for learners and teachers

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/tesol2019vol28no1art909

Abstract

This issue of TESOL in Context picks up on themes running through a number of the presentations as well as the keynotes from the Australian Council of TESOL Associations (ACTA) Conference that took place in Adelaide on 3-5 October, 2018.

One of these themes was the readiness of teachers, both pre- and in-service, to adopt a positive view of learners of English as an Additional Language (EAL) and make productive use of the understandings, knowledges and skills that they bring to the classroom, specifically those related to the learners’ language(s). All EAL learners, even those entering formal education at a very young age, come with proficiencies in (a) language(s) and/or dialect(s) other than Standard Australian English. In contrast to the expectation, as observed by Cummins et al. (2005), that learners leave their language(s) at the school door along with their social and cultural expertise, much current discussion and research around schools and other learning centres is actively considering ways to leverage these learner attributes for successful learning (e.g. Duarte, 2019).

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References

Choi, J., & Ollerhead, S. (Eds.). (2018). Plurilingualism in teaching and learning: complexities across contexts. New York: Routledge.

Cummins, J., Bismilla, V., Chow, P., Giampapa, F., Cohen, S., Leoni, L., et al. (2005). Affirming identity in multicultural classrooms. Educational Leadership, 63(1), 38-43. Available from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational- leadership.aspx

Dooly, M., & Vallejo, C. (2020). Bringing plurilingualism into teaching practice: a quixotic quest? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(1), 81-97. doi:10.1080/13670050.2019.1598933

Duarte, J. (2019). Translanguaging in mainstream education: a sociocultural approach. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(2), 150-164. doi:10.1080/13670050.2016.1231774

French, M. (2018). ‘Translanguaging in the classroom’. Melbourne: Department of Education and Training FUSE. Available at: https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/

García, O., & Kleyn, T. (2016) (Eds), Translanguaging with multilingual students. Learning from classroom moments. New York, NY: Routledge.

García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Llompart, J., Masats, D., Moore, E., & Nussbaum, L. (2020). ‘Mézclalo un poquito’: plurilingual practices in multilingual educational milieus. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 23(1), 98-112. doi:10.1080/1367 0050.2019.1598934

Turner, M. (2019). Multilingualism as a resource and a goal: using and learning languages in mainstream schools. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Published

2019-12-19

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Section

Editorial

How to Cite

Editorial: Adopting a multilingual stance: Benefits and challenges for learners and teachers. (2019). TESOL in Context, 28(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.21153/tesol2019vol28no1art909
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