In this conceptual article we invite multilingual researchers to consider the concept of translanguaging through the lens of human capital theory. Our thinking about the interconnections among human capital, multilingualism, and translanguaging is motivated by our research in border "colonias" and other minoritized communities in South…

This article discusses the results of an empirical study that examined the translanguaging practices of primary-grade, bilingual Latino students, as mediated by bilingual teacher candidates (TCs), in an after-school program in the southwestern United States. Expansive Learning theory, within the cultural-historical activity tradition, guided the…

In recent years, there has been a growing interest among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in early bilingual development and the unique role of the educational setting's language policy in this development. In this article, we describe how one dual language preschool teacher, in partnership with two co-teachers, navigated the…

This article draws on qualitative data from two Spanish-English dual language elementary classrooms to explore how teachers in these classrooms made sense of the everyday practice of bilingualism. Methodologically, this study relied on participant observation, video recording, and semi-structured interviews. Conceptually, this article draws on the…

"Heritage language speaker" is a relatively new term to denote minority language speakers who grew up in a household where the language was used or those who have a family, ancestral, or racial connection to the minority language. In research on heritage language speakers, overlap between these 2 definitions is often assumed--that is,…

This article explores how language ideologies--beliefs about immigrant students' language use--carry conflicting images of Spanish speakers in one New Latino Diaspora town. We describe how teachers and students encounter, negotiate, and appropriate divergent ideologies about immigrant students' language use during routine schooling…

This study examined beginning English literacy-skill development and achievement among Spanish-speaking children enrolled in state-mandated English-only classrooms. The children possessed Spanish skill at or above age-appropriate level, yet minimal English skill, and came from a Spanish-speaking community adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border. Under…

Indigenous cultural and language negotiations ongoing in the contexts of South Africa and Canada are documented in two studies, one sharing narratives from Black parents in South Africa and the other sharing narratives of Métis Elders in Canada. Black parents' perspectives on Indigenous language and cultures and the role of education in…

Why do children from some minority groups and children living in poverty do poorly in school when compared to white middle-class children? Researchers have offered a large number of different answers to this question. One of the most popular answers has been based on the notion of "decontextualized language." This article argues that…

The authors of this article discuss the discriminatory practices through language in both multicultural and bilingual education. Bilingual education promotes academic instruction in the native language, to varying degrees, while multicultural education stresses the need to valorize and appreciate cultural differences as a process during which…

This article contextualizes recent developments around issues of language and the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in terms of the classic distinction between literates and non-literates in the Great Divide debate. Using a social practices perspective to frame the issues, the authors argue that the CCSS reiterate the debate, and reflect an…

Introducing a distinction between language of ideas and language of display as a means of reconceptualizing what counts as "academic" language, I examine one brief stretch of talk by a small group of linguistically diverse 7th grade students in a U.S. mainstream social studies classroom designed to maximize academic and language…

This study explores schooling in prison for young Chicano bilingual men as they work toward their GED. Using Gee's notion of "mushfaking," the study focuses on the experiences of two young men, Benny and Flaco, who partially acquire, use, value, and believe in the power of academic register Discourses for "sounding smart"…

This study investigates how parents of international adoptees explain their decision to pursue birth-language education for their children and how they go about achieving their goals. It focuses on the perspectives of 16 White U.S. parents who have at least one adopted school-aged child (ages 5 to 18) either currently or previously enrolled in a…

In this discussion, I explore the unfolding effects of Arizona's anti-bilingual education law (Proposition 203) on schools with predominant language-minority student populations. Instead of facilitating academic progress, policies like Proposition 203 impede teachers from "scaffolding" (Long & Adamson, 2012, p. 39) their…