The mainstream colonial lenses that have been used to understand multilingualism in the peripheries may not account for the realities of Southern multilingualisms. This article takes up these epistemic challenges in navigating EMI through alternative lenses, aiming to complexify the discussion of EMI among young individuals who are engaged in…

We analyze eight letters of recommendation written by high school teachers for first-generation college students, so as to illustrate narrative strategies that can make letters more effective in providing support for students' college applications. Amidst recent criticisms of the limited utility of letters in college admissions, we argue that they…

Research from the fields of science representation, genre pedagogy and disciplinary literacy for adolescents indicates that achievement for students, including those from linguistically diverse backgrounds, will improve if they engage with the meaning-making conventions of disciplinary texts, but there is no current agreement on the nature of…

School improvement has become a goal in many education systems globally, with the mantra of 'whole school change' adopted as key to achieving that goal. However, whole school change is complex and interpreted variously. In Australia, a case in point is the drive to lift literacy outcomes. Drawing on qualitative data from a study of literacy…

We argue that 'academic language' should not be understood as technical components associated with a 'register', and that instead we must attend to its enregisterment. Enregisterment relies upon language ideologies and models of personhood, requiring attention to social components of 'academic language' beyond lexico-grammar. We draw on…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) call for students to exhibit an in-depth understanding of scientific inquiry practices, including direct observation, creative design thinking, and argumentation based on evidential learning. To support academic equity for multilingual learners, these new expectations require reconceptualization of…

This study investigates the learning of linguistic structures associated with African American English (AAE) among four non-AAE-speaking teachers of AAE-speaking students. It considers implicit and explicit learning/development of a second dialect in two novel ways. First, it focuses on the understanding of a socially-stigmatized dialect by…

Language ideologies profoundly shape and constrain the use of language as a resource for learning in 'multilingual' or linguistically diverse classrooms. In this paper, we draw attention in particular to the ideology of languages as stable, boundaried objects and to the colonial invention of African languages. Against this backdrop, we analyse an…

This article revisits questions on the utility of identity in literacy studies. Following a review of the range of conceptions of identity and framings of its uses, we argue that "identity-as-position" is needed as a pragmatic tool in the field of literacy studies, and grounds responsive critical literacy practices. Drawing on a…

Mapping the knowledge formations of language teachers within their pedagogic practices is underresearched, particularly for subject English, a multi-faceted, elusively defined discipline. Deeper knowledge of the pedagogy of subject English teachers is critical, especially within South African education, given the socio-economic power of English in…

This article explores the critical role of school leaders in language policy change, and specifically in shifting their language education policies and practices from monolingual to multilingual. We examine the process of language policy change in three schools that were involved in a project aimed at increasing the knowledge base of school…

Long-term English learners (LTELs) are frequently characterized as struggling with academic reading in English. This paper moves beyond broad generalizations about this population's English-reading practices to a situated analysis of one "LTEL"--Lizbeth Sanchez's--making meaning in her sophomore biology classroom. This analysis of…

This paper looks at reading in French immersion and how learning French is seen more as a skill rather than a social practice that could be examined through a more critical lens. Most of the teachers often teach students how to read but rarely will they discuss the role of French in Canadian society and how this is manifested in the texts they…

Teachers' understandings of second language learning influence their practices in the classroom. This paper analyzes interview and classroom data collected during a year-long ethnographic study of two high school English language development classes to identify (1) what the teachers understood about second language (L2) development and L2 academic…

This article focuses on teaching critical literacy in the context of Singapore. It begins with a conceptualization of critical literacy as a stance oriented to questioning and challenging the often taken-for-granted meanings and assumptions found in "everyday" texts. It then discusses how this stance can be cultivated in students through…