Taking a multi-level perspective on language-in-public-space policy, this study investigates the way Tunisia's dominant languages are dealt with in three independent but interrelated activities of language policy: official texts, public talk, and the actual practices of business actors in five commercial districts in metropolitan Tunis. Detailed…

Several language dichotomies -- particularly the pervasive idea that "academic" language distinctly contrasts with "social" language -- have dominated teachers' thinking and discourse about language-related instructional practices in recent decades. Many researchers now question ramifications that binary thinking about language…

Emergent bi/multilingual children have historically been afforded few opportunities to engage dialogically with peers and teachers in posing authentic questions and co-constructing interpretations of texts as their reading instruction has traditionally been skills driven. Additionally, more recent scholarship has identified increased opportunities…

Translanguaging in classrooms opens spaces for multilingual students to engage in learning across the full range of their linguistic repertoire. We argue that one result of translanguaging pedagogy is that it can transform the talk-for-learning in the classroom and create a corriente or flow of ideas that is more free and less constrained than…

We address the concern that classification of English learners (ELs) primarily based on standardized tests does not accurately reflect what students know and can do with English. While qualitative classroom discourse analyses show that ELs' language-in-use is not as limited as test scores indicate, available evidence is sparse and prone to…

This study aims to explore how a group of Chinese American families transcend essentialist thinking through negotiating with different ideological orientations toward their heritage language and how these families' different ideological profiles could influence the home language maintenance. Data were collected through three rounds of…

In spring 2019, without controversy or fanfare and without violating the voter mandate of Proposition 203, emergent bilinguals in Arizona were once again granted unrestricted access to dual language bilingual education after nearly 20 years. The policy change was accomplished through a seemingly small piece of legislation that reduced the daily…

Framed within the perspective of Vygotskyan sociocultural theory and models of third language learning, this study examined the impact of differing linguistic backgrounds and learning experience on the nature of dyadic interaction during task completion in the divide between true L2 and L3 learners. It was conducted in an EFL classroom with eight…

The current study examined the impact of translanguaging on second language reading comprehension. The study involved an experimental and a control group. The participants in the experimental group (n = 38) were offered four opportunities to engage Arabic -- their first language -- in comprehending a text in English. These occasions for…

Although U.S. schools that provide bilingual education typically must negotiate English-only policies and pressures to sustain their programming over time, little is known about what this entails at the individual school level. Our research examines in detail how the leaders of an elementary school in New York City with a Spanish-English…

Language learning and the development of language proficiency are central concerns in the study of immigrant adaptation. This paper analyzes the social construction of language proficiency among Indigenous Guatemalan Maya youth in the United States--specifically, undocumented young adults who migrated to Los Angeles, California as unaccompanied…

In this study, we used a quasi-experimental, longitudinal design to examine the English language arts (ELA) and mathematics test scores of emergent bilinguals (EBs) in DLBE 50:50 models versus English as a second language (ESL) models in Indiana over four academic school years. With a focus on the midwestern U.S., we bring attention to a…

The present study explored the role of vocabulary and decoding skills in predicting reading comprehension, utilizing data from 322 first- grade children from four elementary schools in Kenya. The children were administered a comprehensive battery of tests to assess pseudo-word reading skills, oral reading fluency, reading comprehension, and…

This article examines translanguaging that occurs in and as a community. Expanding the notion of translanguaging, we conceptualize "community translanguaging" as collaborative meaning-making among children, their family and community members, and their collective semiotic resources. Using a family literacy project as the research site,…

Drawing on Bourdieu's concept of linguistic capital and Darvin and Norton's notion of investment, this study explores heritage language (HL) use among 1.5-generation Korean immigrants in the New Zealand workplace. The data were collected through interviews with heritage speakers of Korean working in diverse fields in Auckland. The majority of the…