Critical Conversation Analysis: Beyond Buzz Words

This month we are publishing Critical Conversation Analysis edited by Hansun Zhang Waring and Nadja Tadic. In this post the editors explain why and how they used Conversation Analysis to achieve a deeper understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Spurred by social justice movements of the late 2010s, American businesses and universities instituted a range of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies aimed at promoting employment and educational opportunities for historically marginalized groups. Now, in the spring of 2024, DEI is increasingly criticized and eliminated as perfunctory, ineffective, and even unequitable. Our volume is in part curated to counter this dangerous narrative by demonstrating that diversity, equity and inclusion are not mere “buzz words” touted in abstract and controversial policies. They are, instead, deeply relevant human concerns that permeate mundane moments of everyday life.

We were particularly interested in how the framework of Conversation Analysis (CA), notoriously seen as over-invested in the minutiae of interaction at the expense of large social concerns, might help us achieve a deeper understanding of issues of diversity, equity and inclusion beyond the surface, given CA’s power of uncovering the “seen but unnoticed” and generating insights that often escape human awareness.

As such, the chapters in the volume use CA to closely examine how exclusion, injustice and inequity are both reproduced and resisted in various contexts, ranging from the family dinner table to the political town hall. We see, for instance, how racially diverse everyday speakers construct English as a white American language through negative evaluations of non-white speakers. But we also see how anti-racist work is achieved through ordinary people’s pursuit of shared understandings and humor. These are just some of the many examples of how we attend to diversity, equity and inclusion in our everyday lives, which the featured chapters carefully unpack.

Our hope is that this volume will be informative and inspiring for readers of various backgrounds: for members of diverse communities, businesses and universities seeking to promote diversity, equity and inclusion; for educators invested in fostering critical awareness and social justice; for researchers interested in evidence-based approaches to examining power (in)equality; and for analysts who might have been skeptical of CA’s ability to address critical research questions.

Nadja Tadic and Hansun Zhang Waring

For more information about this book please see our website.

If you found this interesting, you might also like Reimagining Dialogue on Identity, Language and Power edited by Ching-Ching Lin and Clara Vaz Bauler.

How is EFL Writing Teacher Education Shaped by Teachers’ Unique Local Contexts?

This month we published EFL Writing Teacher Education and Professional Development edited by Estela Ene, Betsy Gilliland, Sarah Henderson Lee, Tanita Saenkhum and Lisya Seloni. In this post the editors explain the importance of studying local contexts and how they shape the pedagogical landscape of EFL writing teachers.

What do geopolitics and socioeconomics have to do with the English classroom and the skill of teaching English language writing? In our recently published book with Multilingual Matters, EFL Writing Teacher Education and Professional Development, we go beyond the traditional boundaries of English writing education to investigate how diverse regions that are mostly underrepresented in the research literature shape the pedagogical landscape of EFL writing teachers. 

Well over a billion individuals speak English as a foreign language around the world today. There are millions of English language teachers globally, working in schools, language institutes, universities, online platforms, and private tutoring settings. It is important, therefore, to document EFL experiences of learning and teacher education and allow them to inform theories and practices of second language writing that are still US-centric. It is to these less represented narratives, research, and stories that we need to listen to gain a deeper understanding of local practices and eventually work to develop a sustainable and ecologically responsible writing curriculum. 

This timely collection sheds light on often-overlooked areas of the globe, exposing how local settings from Rwanda to Japan, Kazakhstan, and Argentina present distinct challenges and opportunities for EFL teaching and the training of EFL writing teachers. We hope to foster a deeper, more inclusive narrative of EFL writing education by weaving together the stories of practitioners and researchers from all backgrounds – one that respects and represents the diversity of voices contributing to this subject. 

Our book offers teacher reflections, action research, and models of resources that can be adapted to other contexts. Chapters illustrate how educators modify their approaches to fit within the educational, cultural, and political contexts in which they work. In doing this, they also challenge the status quo and overcome the challenge of having to be the main drivers of their own professional development. For example, teachers of minority students in China show how they move away from exam-focused instruction, negotiating the advantages and disadvantages of this shift. Teachers in Japan, Chile, and Algeria reflect on their personal journeys toward student-centered, real-world writing pedagogies. A teacher educator in Turkiye describes activities that engage learners in exploring written genres through creativity. Iranian English teachers reveal that given the political and educational environments in two eras of Iranian history, primary and secondary school students have limited opportunities to learn how to write for communicative purposes. These and many other chapters illustrate the breadth of innovation and investment teachers and teacher educators have made in EFL writing across the globe.

Our book invites academics, policymakers, and educators to take a more comprehensive look at the global scene of EFL writing instruction. It is an appeal to acknowledge and honor the various ways that educators worldwide are advancing the subject of EFL writing, frequently under challenging situations and with limited resources. 

For individuals fascinated by the complicated dance of teaching writing in various global contexts, our book provides a glimpse into EFL educators’ innovative and resilient practices worldwide. We invite you to go through these pages, as each chapter demonstrates the ingenuity and passion of teachers who shape the next generation of English authors. 

If this topic speaks to you, or if you have your tales about the problems and triumphs of teaching EFL writing, we would love to hear from you. Let us continue to learn from one another, forming a worldwide community of educators united in our dedication to developing proficient, confident writers across boundaries. 

For more information about this book please see our website.

If you found this interesting, you might also like Second Language Writing Instruction in Global Contexts edited by Lisya Seloni and Sarah Henderson Lee.

What is The Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies and How Can It Be Used?

We recently published The Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies by Magaly Lavadenz and Elvira G. Armas. In this post the authors explain what the Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies (OPAL) is and why it’s important.

What were the origins of the book?

Originally, we knew that we wanted to develop a tool to support culturally and linguistically diverse students’ learning – specifically English Learners – through understanding their teachers’ professional practices to inform education systems. We spent many hours in over 300 Pre-K-12th grade classrooms across 22 sites and captured anecdotal notes to create vignettes and highlights of classroom practice, including video footage from select classrooms. Once we had developed and tested the tool, we created a three-day institute to share the key principles of the science and practice of observation and the research background and context for The Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies (OPAL). We used video and written vignettes that we collected and created processes to practice scoring and capturing anecdotal notes with the OPAL. After about 10 years of Institutes, we decided to work towards converting these lived experiences into a book format.

What is OPAL and how can it be used?

The OPAL is a classroom observation tool comprised of four research-based domains and 18 indicators. The OPAL is intricately woven into each chapter of our book, with four chapters dedicated to learning about how to “look for” evidence in each domain with clear vignettes and snapshots from real Pre-K-12 classrooms. We share the research literature to foreground the empirical literature that informed the OPAL and the skill of objective observation. We end the book with many examples of how, along with other OPAL users across the educational continuum, we have used the OPAL to support teachers, identify priorities in professional learning, and inform research.

Why is the book so needed?

There is so much “unpacking” to do when it comes to EL teachers’ practices and we don’t believe in formulas. Our book helps to unpack pedagogical gems gleaned from the research and reflected in the OPAL instrument to help sharpen our focus on ELs across any type of instructional setting. The OPAL offers a compass to gain a deeper understanding of effective teaching and learning for ELs to tailor teaching methods responsive to students’ linguistic, academic, and social-emotional needs. By embracing the OPAL protocol, educators, researchers, and institutions can collectively contribute to the cultivation of a robust community of practice that is elevated through personal and collective professional reflection.

What do you hope readers take away from the book?

We wanted to transform our in-person OPAL Institutes into a resource that can be more broadly used, from preservice to inservice teachers, professional development and for administrators who can make policy decisions for how teachers can support each other through peer observations, learning and resource allocation. This includes time for critical reflection on the education of English Learners to promote deep learning and development of academic literacies among students.

What is your next academic project after this one?

One of the next projects that our team is working on and which we’re so excited about is focused on Adolescent Superdiversity. We want to break apart the notion of a monolithic definition of English Learners and subtypologies by uplifting the voices of superdiverse adolescent youth across the state. We have been meeting with these youth and they have many important and compelling ideas and insights to share, from which we can all learn!

What books – either for work or for pleasure – are you reading at the moment?

Magaly is reading The Power of Language: Multilingualism, Self and Society (2023) by Viorica Marian. Elvira is reading Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning (2023) by Gholdy Muhammad.

Magaly Lavadenz and Elvira G. Armas

For more information about this book please see our website.

If you found this interesting, you might also like Professional Development through Teacher Research edited by Darío Luis Banegas, Emily Edwards and Luis S. Villacañas de Castro. 

“Spanish So White” Now Accessible as an Audiobook!

We recently brought out our very first audiobook of our 2023 title Spanish So White by Adam Schwartz. In this post Adam explains why it was so important for him that the book be available in audio format.

Upon the first anniversary of the publication of Spanish So White: Conversations on the Inconvenient Racism of a ‘Foreign’ Language Education, I’m so pleased to announce that my book is now available in audio format. I narrate my own text, which was recorded, mixed and edited at Don Ross Productions, in Eugene, Oregon. I send special thanks to Multilingual Matters and the Center for Humanities at Oregon State University, both of whom provided essential funding for this effort.

From the outset of its writing, I attempted to draft and design Spanish So White as a highly accessible text. I’ve thought a lot about its accessibility this past year, and how this has or has not been realized for its readers. Leading up to and following the book’s publication, I was tasked with helping Multilingual Matters to publicize Spanish So White widely. Implicit in this effort is a request to ensure that the book’s content is engaging, relatable, accessible.

Even before pitching a proposal to Multilingual Matters and other publishers, I imagined that an accessible book about language education, race and Whiteness could and should take many forms. For instance, I was thrilled that my work would not only be available in print, but through the flexible modality of an ebook. Additionally, of primary priority was a need to depart from academic discourse whenever possible. This was most challenging. As researchers, we have been trained to communicate in ways that (1) assume an audience of fellow scholars whose work falls within a shared academic community of practice; and (2) reproduce standardized language in order to communicate “rigor”. Throughout my writing process, I thought about wisdom of my students, my family, or an unknown individual encountering this book online, or perhaps at the recommendation of another. Would my words invite those wisdoms into the “conversations” this book urges are necessary? Would a reliance on academic language reproduce the very Whiteness I intended to challenge?

Questions of accessibility also extended to the length, organization, and layout of my book. This is not a long volume. I wanted the book’s physical size to communicate a lightness, to counter the necessary heft of topics taken up within. I was fortunate to have creative input in the design of the cover: Suggested in its artistry is a kaleidoscopic view of what a Spanish “So White” might entail. In addition, I knew that a shorter book would cost less for the buying public. I think often about how my students regularly go into debt when purchasing course textbooks in a given semester; I therefore hoped that a book addressing issues of social inequity would be affordable as possible. Multilingual Matters assured me that my book could be sold under $20 in paperback, and indeed, such is the case.

Finally, many of us have very little time to read, and this includes those for whom regular reading is essential: Students and teachers. This book is written expressly for this audience, of which I am a part. I personally enjoy flexible access to audiobooks for this very reason, and I know many others do as well. I commute to my campus by car, but I also walk, run and take care of life around the house – my daily soundtrack necessarily alternates music and spoken narration of all sorts. If a book is particularly engaging, I’ll be inclined to locate a hard copy as well, so I may pivot between versions, and not lose access to visuals or the personality of a book’s packaging.

As a text that invites conversation, Spanish So White is waiting to be “heard” in this new format. I’m excited about the possibilities of its impact, just as other texts in their audio format, in fact, impacted my own writing of Spanish So White (Amanda Montell’s Wordslut, Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between The World and Me, Claudia Rankine’s Citizen, among many others). I’ve also assigned portions of a few texts, also read by their authors, for my own students. To engage with one’s written language is a gift, but listening to one’s voice suggests a particularly personal, dialogic connection.

Listening indeed invites us to engage differently. In my book, I write about listening as method, one where we must be present and awake in multiple senses. As such, this recording is meant to be shared. Listen with your friends, your family, and your students – whomever joins you in the work of dismantling racism and White supremacy. Take a break and debrief not only at the pause points, but whenever something resonates and invites you to more deeply think, feel and act. This book is yours, as ever.

One limitation to an audiobook, as alluded to above, is that its affordances do not include illustrations and other referents that appear in the print edition. While an audiobook may activate our imaginations, it might be helpful to see images, read captions and interact with pause points that require a more visual scaffolding. Please visit the Multilingual Matters website for the full complement of resources to accompany you on your listening journey. Along the way, you’ll be prompted when a visit to this site is necessary for your participation.

Publishing this book in triplicate – physical copy, ebook and audio – was a significant ask for Multilingual Matters. This is the first audiobook for my publisher, and while I’m so grateful they took a risk on me, I hope it’s not their last. My hope is that the audiobook engages with an expanded audience of reader-listeners, and that it inspires future researchers and educators to write with the accessibility of this format in mind.

Please let me know what Spanish So White sounds like to you. Let’s converse! My email is adam.schwartz@oregonstate.edu.

Adam Schwartz

This audiobook is available on Audible UK here, Audible US here and from other audiobook retailers. You can learn more about the book from the author himself in a recent online author event here.

What Happens When We Undo and Reimagine Gender and Language Together?

This month we published Redoing Linguistic Worlds edited by Kris Aric Knisely and Eric Louis Russell. In this post the editors explain why the book is so necessary.

Has anyone ever told you that the way you language is “wrong”? That it “doesn’t exist”? That “you can’t” do or say or sign something in the way that you have? And, yet, here you are, speaking, writing, signing – doing language in those ways. As a languager – someone doing any form of linguistic activity – you are existing, shaping your world, and sharing that world with others (even if some of those people attempt to use claims to linguistic authority and power to suggest that you are not).

The kind of language pedantry that would suggest that anyone’s language is impossible or wrong is not new. Language is always a site of contestation, controversy, expansion, and tension. Language seems to always stir up these kinds of attitudes about what can and cannot (or what should and should not) be. We live with language attitudes and, often, we accept them as more palatable covers for racism, classism, sexism, cissexism, binarism, and other oppressive systems.

Why? What are these attitudes doing in our worlds and what’s behind them? Frequently, language attitudes are used as a tool to constrain and conserve, as a part of futile attempts to circumvent a core truth: Language is always changing, in large part because the linguistic doings, redoings, and undoings of languagers are very real ways of expressing how they understand their worlds. And like the individuals and collectives that inhabit them, these worlds are always shifting.

With Redoing Linguistic Worlds we – and our contributors – ask: What happens when we undo and reimagine gender and language together? What happens when we move beyond cislingualism (i.e. the intersection between normative ideas about language and about gender modality that center and value cisgender positionalities and ways of doing language)? In what ways is this about a movement past gender binarism (i.e. the idea that gender is a man/woman binary)? How does this open up possibilities for moving past other binarities (e.g. gender modality as a trans/cis dichotomy)? Where and in what ways is this about an expansion of gender? When is it about fluidizing – a blurring of the very concept that people can, might, or should be gendered in any way? How might it be about expanding, fluidizing, burning down, and reimagining all at once?

For those of us whose genders exist beyond normative frames, these questions are evidently bound up in the ways that we experience our worlds and the languaging through which they are constantly remade; these questions are the intellectual exploration of our lives and linguacultures. For others of us – those who sit more comfortably within dominant frames for doing language and gender – these questions may appear less salient, less obligatory; they are not about our own self-understandings, but a means of respecting and honoring those of others. Yet, it is a fallacy to think that we are not all involved in this change-in-progress: When someone engages singular they or xe or any form that expands their linguistic world, they ask others –directly or indirectly – to also expand their own.

If you’re reading this blog post, these are perhaps lackluster examples – you undoubtedly are familiar with such expansions in Anglophone settings – but what of other linguacultural spaces? What does this “redoing the world through redoing languaging habits” look like for others, especially in communities in which gender markings are done more extensively than in English, such as those deploying canonically-labelled masculine and feminine forms? How are languagers remaking the linguistic world through German, Spanish, French, or Italian?

We began this project with the observation that there is relatively little attention given to these linguacultural contexts and their inhabitants – and that what has been given is often rendered through an appropriating, approximating lens. Rather than simply calque understandings of Anglophone patterns onto those of other languaging ecosystems, or map cislingual frames onto communities that reject these, we wanted to understand these from within. And hence Redoing Linguistic Worlds was born.

This volume, the first of its kind to our knowledge, brings into conversation scholars working on how people do language and gender together in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Each of the chapters takes a different perspective – some focusing on classroom pedagogy and teaching practices, others on empirical data from various languagers, still more taking ethnographic approaches to the question of how redoing is accomplished, how it affects the lives of languagers and what any redoing means, individually and collectively. We’re thrilled to see these works be made available to the public – and to participate in the conversations that they engender, wrestle with the questions they ask, and attend to the perspectives they manifest.

We join with many of our colleagues (both those who are a part of this volume and those working beyond its purview) to assert – as the late John Henner so directly and perfectly stated: “How you language is beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you your language is wrong. Your languaging is the story of your life.” With Redoing Linguistic Worlds we begin to sketch the contours of these beautiful linguistic worlds that are undone, reimagined, and remade when the infiniteness of language meets that of gender.

(Spoiler alert: These infinite galaxies cannot be contained in one volume – We are already formulating the next volume, in which we hope to continue to expand the conversation past well-trodden spaces. We invite any, but especially those working in “less commonly studied” linguacultures and among their languagers, to contact us for more information.)

For more information about this book please see our website.

If you found this interesting, you might also like Reimagining Dialogue on Identity, Language and Power edited by Ching-Ching Lin and Clara Vaz Bauler.

How can Transcultural Pedagogies Support Learning in Superdiverse Classrooms?

This month we published Transcultural Pedagogies for Multilingual Classrooms edited by Rahat Zaidi, Umit Boz and Eve Moreau. In this post Eve discusses how critical multilingual and transcultural pedagogies are used to address the superdiversity in classrooms today.

Teaching in superdiverse classrooms might be trumpeted as one of the great educational challenges of our times. How students straddle distinct cultural and linguistic worlds to make meaning of curricular content has never been more intricate and complex. With technological innovations and the rapid emergence of accessible media content, teachers and learners can, in a sheer instant, connect with people and places who are far beyond the local providing them with a scope of the world that is unlike anything that has existed in education before. And yet, in our current social climate, the divisions that are constructed along stiff identity markers are reinforcing beliefs about separateness among people and fueling discriminatory and violent behaviors in schools and beyond. New ways to address interconnectedness amongst students’ complex networks of difference has become imperative.

Transcultural Pedagogies for Multilingual Classrooms: Responding to Changing Realities in Theory and Practice is a timely, cutting-edge collection of research studies from across the globe from some of the top scholars in multilingual and transcultural education. It explores the ways in which transcultural pedagogies can support learning and literacies in critical, creative and socially just ways. By exploring the value of affirming cultural and linguistic fluidity in classroom teaching, the researchers describe hopeful practices that harness the diversities of students as a rich resource for learning and interrelating.

Each chapter provides a different and innovative perspective with respect to reimagining language and literacy pedagogies in conjunction with students’ diverse literacies and resources. Presenting a collection of classroom and community-based research, the book addresses the intersections of plurilingualism, identity and transcultural awareness in various contexts, including schools, universities, as well as local and Indigenous communities. These settings have been deliberately chosen to profile the range of research in the field, showcasing transcultural, plurilingual, translanguaging and community-engaged pedagogies, among others.

Eve Moreau

For more information about this book please see our website.

If you found this interesting, you might also like Languaging Myths and Realities by Qianqian Zhang-Wu.

Innovation in Intensive English Programs

This month we published Innovation in University-Based Intensive English Programs edited by Jason Litzenberg. In this post Jason introduces the book.

Intensive English Programs (IEPs) are special types of English Language Programs that serve international students who want to take part in US higher education, although many IEPs also frequently offer short-term English language programming as “study abroad” opportunities. IEPs are a common feature of US higher education, used by institutions for bridging students into English-only classrooms. IEPs exert wide-ranging impact on the wider field of English Language Teaching: Researchers and academics in applied linguistics from around the world attest to having begun their careers in IEPs. Moreover, IEPs are sites of language acquisition research, provide practicum experience to pre-service teachers, and link theory and practice through curricular innovation and experimentation.

Innovation in University-based Intensive English Programs: From Start to Future begins with three chapters that trace the early beginnings of IEPs in the US to present day. It then considers the impact of these programs across topics such as applied linguistics, higher education, pedagogy, professionalism, the local community, social responsibility, corporatization, raciolinguistics, international relations and technology. The book ends with a forward-looking chapter inferring directions for future programs. The volume specifically looks at the concept of innovation, but also never really defines the term. Instead, contributors present their own conceptualizations of innovation through the content of their chapters, highlighting the range of ways that IEP professionals interpret their relationship to innovation in their area of expertise.

Even though the book mostly looks at language programs in the United States, the integrative and wide-ranging subject matter of the chapters is relevant to ELT professionals at all types of English language programs around the world (e.g. adult and community education programs, binational centers, international schools, proprietary language schools, and so forth). That is, regardless of the actual type of English language program where one might work, ELT professionals will find relevancy in these chapters. This book expands upon other publications about IEPs and English Language Programs in that it is less oriented toward program administrators (although certainly of interest to them!), and it doesn’t use IEPs as an anonymous (or often merely convenient) backdrop for research. Indeed, by considering language program operations and their relationship to the wider field, this volume is of interest to language instructors, pre-service teachers, and teacher educators and researchers who wish to contextualize their work. The final chapter of the book encourages practitioners to engage in “conscientious innovation” toward a more socially just and sustainable profession – a reassuring message that is sure to impact the careers of both current and future teachers.

For more information about this book please see our website. 

If you found this interesting, you might also like Antisocial Language Teaching by JPB Gerald.

Spanish So White: Conversations on the Inconvenient Racism of a ‘Foreign’ Language Education

We recently held an online event with Adam Schwartz, author of Spanish So White: Conversations on the Inconvenient Racism of a ‘Foreign’ Language Education. Our Editorial Director, Anna Roderick, spoke to Adam about the inspiration behind the book, his writing process and the book’s main takeaways. If you missed the event or want to rewatch it, you can do so on our YouTube channel:

For more information or to purchase this book, please see our website.

How do we Humanize Practices through Dialogue?

We will soon be publishing Reimagining Dialogue on Identity, Language and Power edited by Ching-Ching Lin and Clara Vaz Bauler. In this post the editors reveal three key takeaways from the book.

The genesis of this book traces back to the beginning of the COVID pandemic, a time when the world ground to a halt, in the wake of the erosion of our familiar ways of human connection. It had become apparent that we needed innovative approaches to stay connected. This period marked a revolution in dialogues, witnessing diverse ways of thinking and languaging due to increased engagement with synchronous and asynchronous digitally mediated platforms such as Zoom and WhatsApp as well as social media communities, especially on X (formerly known as Twitter). However, the dialogues in the book extended beyond mere conversation, delving deeper into critical societal issues surrounding identity, language, and power dynamics. We believed this edited book could serve as an instrument for constructing a junction of dialogue, storytelling, critical listening, creativity, and consequently, fostering love, peace, and social change.

Outlined below are three key takeaways from this book, along with suggested ways of utilizing it:

1. Dialogue as Knowledge Construction: Think of the conversations you had in the faculty lounge, hallways, or restrooms with your colleagues and how it often ignites creativity thereafter. This book guides us on repurposing our discussions for generating knowledge. While retaining the conversational tone, each chapter demonstrates how we can analyze live discussions for further actionable steps. We hope to inspire diverse and mindful ways of reflecting and analyzing daily dialogue, leveraging them for transformative change.
2. Dialogue as a Pedagogical Practice: Acknowledging that our identities and language practices influence classroom pedagogy, many chapters employ collaborative autoethnographic approaches to reflect on classroom practices. This book offers insights into diverse pedagogical ideologies and outcomes. Teachers can use these narratives as a “fishbowl” activity to model reflective practices or writing. Each chapter provides end-of-chapter questions for further exploration.
3. Dialogue as a Research Method and Writing: Dialogue serves as a driving force for inquiry, becoming not only data for subsequent reflection, but also the very methodology by which we can record discursive data via digital media. Just as Suresh Canagarajah suggests in the Foreword, our thoughts and languages engage in a constant dialogue with previous encounters—let’s recognize dialogue as a legitimate qualitative research methodology. This book serves as an excellent example and resource guide on how dialogue can humanize research as a meaningful social practice by unraveling complex voices and dimensions within research.

The book represents a few varied approaches to explore the cycle of dialogue, reflection, and action. We encourage you to advocate for your school district or university to acquire a copy, utilizing it in qualitative methodology educational research for faculty or as a collaborative model in Diversity and Inclusion professional development activities. Let’s sustain and further enrich the ongoing dialogue.

For more information about this book please see our website.

If you found this interesting, you might also like Shades of Decolonial Voices in Linguistics edited by Sinfree Makoni, Cristine Severo, Ashraf Abdelhay, Anna Kaiper-Marquez and Višnja Milojičić.

How Can We Meet the Language Learning Needs of Refugees?

We will soon be publishing Meeting the Needs of Reunited Refugee Families by Sarah Cox. In this post Sarah introduces her book.

This book explores the gap between policy, practice and academic literature within language learning for refugees. Both policy and academic literature recognise the benefits of multilingual approaches to language learning, however language classes are often based on monolingual pedagogies which centre on the need to use the target language as much as possible.

The book explores the language learning needs of a small group of refugee women and their children who had recently arrived in Scotland through family reunion. The book is based on a 5-month teaching study, using critical participatory action research to develop a multilingual approach, which combined translanguaging principles (where people use all their linguistic resources to learn) with decolonising methodology. The book is set within the context of arrival in the host community which is often a period of disorientation and profound change.

To draw the recommendations for multilingual approaches into teaching practice, rather than teaching and researching solely in English, I became a learner of the participants’ languages (Tigrinya, Tamil, Farsi and Arabic) to explore how teachers and researchers might use a multilingual approach even when they don’t speak the same languages as their learners/research participants. The translanguaging ‘stance’ we adopted meant embracing an openness to other languages and using them as much as possible in the research. In the book I talk about how this approach can be part of ‘linguistic hospitality’ which complements the principle of two-way, mutual integration laid out in Scotland’s New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy.

The book centres on three key findings:

1. The first is that decolonial, collaborative learner/teacher relationships bring particular benefits in terms of empowerment and confidence-building for refugee women during the initial stages of refugee arrival. These relationships were enhanced by the shift of power created by the teacher participating as a learner and by researching and teaching multilingually.
2. The second is the importance of the physical environment and the connections people have with their new physical surroundings as they develop a sense of belonging. In the book I draw on ecological approaches to language education and human geography to illustrate language learning as orientation to a new physical environment in a human and embodied way.
3. Thirdly I explore the ‘languaging’ within ‘translanguaging’ as a two-way dialogical process which valorises the full linguistic repertoire and encourages learners and teachers to draw on all their linguistic resources to learn. I consider ways that learners’ home languages can be harnessed in the classroom and detail our experiences of using translanguaging pedagogy. We found multilingual strategies brought particular benefits at the very beginning of learning English so soon after arrival.

The book illustrates how policy, practice and theory might be brought closer together as part of a decolonial approach to language teaching that shifts the balance of power in the classroom, repositions the roles of teacher / researcher and learner / participant and addresses inequality between languages by reducing the dominance of English. The themes of mutual integration and language learning as solidarity are at the heart of the book.

I hope the book will be relevant for anyone interested in ESOL, refugee integration, language teaching, language policy or researching multilingually.

If you found this interesting, you might also like Decolonising Multilingualism by Alison Phipps.