Language learning is inextricably linked to a social context, and this implies that context-related social variables, such as ethnicity or attitudes, can influence how language learning unfolds. Among the many group-engendered social factors, ethnic identity appears to have interesting consequences for language teaching and learning (Pavlenko…

This article reports on research that questions commonsense understandings of a bilingual pedagogy predicated on what Cummins refers to as the "two solitudes" assumption. It sets out to describe a flexible bilingual approach to language teaching and learning in Chinese and Gujarati community language schools in the United Kingdom. We…

This article presents an ethnographic study of how bilingual teachers and children use their home language, TexMex, to mediate academic content and standard languages. From the premise that TESOL educators can benefit from a fuller understanding of students' linguistic repertoires, the study describes language practices in a second-grade classroom…

This article adopts a Bakhtinian analysis to understand the complexities of discourse in language-learning classrooms. Drawing on empirical data from two of four linked case studies in a larger, ESRC-funded project, we argue that students learning in complementary (also known as community language, supplementary, or heritage language) schools…

This article reports on a study of two contrasting secondary schools, serving the same "community" in south-west Wales; a bilingual school (Welsh and English) and an English-medium school (English only). Data were gathered using ethnographic methods, with this study focusing primarily on data elicited through "ethnographic…

Through a theoretical framework that builds on constructs of identity, community of practice, power relations, and investment (Blackledge & Pavlenko, 2001; Gee, 2001; Norton, 2000; Peirce, 1995; Wenger, 1998), this educational ethnographic study (Preissle, 1999) explores one English-as-a-new-language (ENL) student's identities within and across…

Applied behavioral psychology pivots on the formation and alteration of stimulus function: on how stimuli come to differentially affect behavior and how these effects can be altered when they prove problematic. Relational frame theory (RFT) offers an account of how uniquely verbal processes transform stimulus functions. Acceptance and commitment…

In this interview study involving the analysis of narratives collected from Japanese American professionals teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) who have lived more than ten years in Japan, I focus on how the participants negotiated their often contested identities in the TESOL context in Japan. I use the notion of identity…

This paper considers the processes of using folk stories for the teaching of community languages in a UK complementary school. We look at the appropriation of folk stories by teachers to teach young people Mandarin while also considering their possibilities as heritage texts. We consider how the teacher and students use the folk story as…

Research in multilingual societies often attends to the micro level of linguistic interactions, as linguistic minority speakers negotiate their way through a majority-language world. However, this research does not always engage with the social, political and historical contexts that produce and reproduce the conditions within which some…

Linguistically, political discourses have generally been discussed within qualitative approaches (e.g., Blackledge, 2005; Chilton, 2004; Chomsky, 2004; van Dijk, 2005; Wodak, 2002). This paper presents tools to design a quantitative research relating political speech with sociolinguistic variables. Notions such as Accommodation Theory (Giles &…

This guide is intended for use by teacher-coordinators in directing students in writing research manuals, which should help students develop a sense of accomplishment, a desire for competition, and a method of learning about their chosen occupations. Included in the guide are discussions of: (1) Purposes of Distributive Education Clubs of America…

This book examines how in a multicultural, multilingual society, schools must involve parents and community members in literacy teaching and learning. By building on existing literacy, schools can become catalysts in empowering children, families, and teachers. Collaborative literacy teaching and learning can be a positive force in redefining…

Reports of racist violence in Britain identified a prevailing institutionalized racism and social segregation. Presents an analysis of authoritative educational discourse in the form of school inspection reports, focusing the cultural practice of minority ethnic families visiting their heritage country. Using critical discourse analysis, suggests…

Reviews research that has increased understanding of language ideologies and social justice in multilingual states and offers a detailed analysis of a language ideological debate in local news media. Suggests that scrutiny of the language of media elites is required before it is possible to come to a fuller understanding of the ways in which…