This article begins with a critique of dominant approaches to language policy in education that are based on the notion of "rights" and "peoples." It makes the case for an approach that is based on the tripartite view of social justice, as articulated by Nancy Fraser. This view of social justice sees a complementary…

Social class has been underresearched in the field of applied linguistics. The central goal of this forum was to stimulate more conversation about social class as it impacts language learning and teaching. In this article, I comment on 3 salient themes that have emerged in the 5 articles: (1) agency and structure in language learning and teaching,…

This article explores the mobilization dynamics of a school-based minority language revitalization initiative in the French Basque Country, known as the Ikastola Movement. Bringing the study of language revitalization into dialogue with social movement theory, I discuss how the solidarity of Basque language activists was influenced by state-level…

This article examines the ways in which a group of first-generation Latino immigrants to the U.S. Midwest conceptualized their role in their children's bilingual development. Respondents were asked to identify the individuals or institutions on which their children's language and academic development depended, as well as household…

The effects of birth order have been debated in many disciplines and have been shown to be important for a number of outcomes. However, studies examining the significance of birth order in language development and practices, particularly with regard to minority languages, are few. This article reports on two sets of data collected among Spanish…

Literacy education is always a potentially problematic undertaking, one that shifts people's relationships among themselves, with bodies of transmitted knowledge and with structures of political control (Collins & Blot, 2003; Lee, 2004; Mazrui, 1990). The teaching of writing and composition in early 20th-century Japan presented a number of unique…

This case study explores the motivations for code switching (CS) in the interactions of Tunisian students at the faculty of Economics and Management in Sfax, Tunisia. The study focuses on students' (EMSs) classroom conversations and out-of-classroom peer interactions. The analysis of the social motivations of EMSs' CS behaviour shows that…

This study investigates the complex interplay between national and local objectives of formal education in the bidialectal context of Cyprus. Even though the state and the Ministry of Education and Culture urge teachers to employ the standard language variety in education, the dialect is often used as a medium of interaction and even instruction…

Characterized by both cultural and gender-based barriers to English language learning, language learning is a continual process of identity renegotiation, as several theorists have argued. While this identity renegotiation has been explored for women who assume the roles of wives, daughters, and employees, less attention has been directed to the…

This article seeks to explore adult second language learning beyond the classroom as a process of identity negotiation, and a struggle for participation, acceptance, and legitimacy in multiple communities to which learners belong or aspire to belong. Drawing on constructivism to conceptualize language learning and notions of identity, the study…

This qualitative case study explores one young adolescent's transitional schooling from an American context to a Chinese context. Although the student was bilingual and bicultural, she experiences multiple struggles, triumphs, and dilemmas across the two educational settings. These findings have implications for those adolescents and parents who…

In 1994, the National Educational Reform in Bolivia instituted reforms that called for a model of education that held at its center the knowledge and languages of Indigenous people. The types of change called for by the reforms in Bolivia signify major transformations in teacher preparation practices and a concerted emphasis on training in…

This article, part of a larger study, examines three middle-class, Hispanic Canadian families' conceptualizations of language, culture, and identity. Via an analysis of interview data, the findings indicate that the parents assigned diverse meanings to heritage language development (HLD) and held high expectations for their children's formation of…

In this introduction, we situate the theme issue within a growing body of research on Indigenous youth language practices, communicative repertoires, and ideologies, articulating points of intersection in scholarship on Indigenous and immigrant youth bilingualism. Our geographic focus is North America. Ethnographic studies from the Far North to…

The growing distance between heritage languages and youth has become a constant point of discourse between Elders in Indigenous communities and those who could listen. Since Western contact, the pursuit for a "better life" through formal schooling has institutionalized Indigenous youth, separating them from their homelands and broadening a space…