There is tremendous variation in the use of American English by major geographic regions, as well as within these regions or cities, and by cultural background. The variety of English spoken by many African American people in the United States is called African American English (AAE). AAE affects early literacy skills in ways that may require…

Language ideologies are a powerful way of perpetuating inequalities, as peripheralized speakers who have internalized the lack of legitimacy attributed to them often end up reproducing censure rather than resisting it. Foregrounding the affective dimension, this paper explores the role of shame as a fulcrum articulating the individual with the…

This invited paper highlights the reflections of expert panelists who were spontaneously called upon, graciously accepted, and quickly organized to respond thoughtfully and compellingly to Dr. Arlette Willis' powerful and timely Oscar Causey address at the 2022 Literacy Research Association (LRA) annual conference. In her address, Dr. Willis…

The 1948 war created a new situation in Palestine. Palestinians became dispersed across political borders that had not existed before, and these borders continued to change in different ways into the 21st century. In many respects, these political borders have had notable linguistic effects, introducing bilingualism and multilingualism for some…

English language teaching (ELT) professionals are integral to internationalization and globalization processes universities around the world are pursuing. In doing so, ELT professionals have become complicit with issues that relate to colonialism and imperialism. These issues continue to have a detrimental effect on our societies, keeping the…

This article emphasizes the importance of embracing and mobilizing students' linguistic practices, particularly in bilingual settings. The authors reflect on their experiences as bilingual teachers, initially correcting students' use of regional Spanish variations and translanguaging (mixing English and Spanish). However, through advanced studies,…

In Hong Kong, Chinese and English are considered separate mediums of instruction. English immersion is expected for schools that teach with English as the medium of instruction, and direct instruction in Chinese is often used to teach English in Chinese medium schools. Evidently, a great divide persists in the Hong Kong government curriculum. In…

Even though study abroad programs in Spanish-speaking countries are increasingly popular, there are hardly any programs specifically designed for Spanish heritage language learners (Beaudrie, Ducar, & Potowski, 2014). However, there are many heritage language learners who still choose a Hispanic country to study abroad. How can we as…

In this personal reflection, Sonia Nieto recounts the lessons she learned about language and literacy from learning to speak Spanish and then English; to reading and writing; and the impact of these lessons on her identity, teaching, research, and life; and, more broadly, on the fields of education and literacy.

An increasingly interconnected world requires people to become versatile communicators in a variety of different settings. Language centers have a critical role to play in this process by offering language and culture training in multiple languages to students, professionals and the wider community alike. They may do so from the perspective of…

Situated in the contemporary contexts of Tibetan language movement and development in the education field, this article draws attention to the interactional nature of state-society relations and dynamic language ideologies in Tibet. It focuses on the ideological process underlying the discursive sensemaking patterns in official remarks and Tibetan…

Language is the main resource for meaningful action, including the very formation of selves and psychosocial identities, shaped by practical norms, beliefs, and values. Thus, language education constitutes one of the most powerful means for both social reproduction and social production and ideological maintenance and utopian innovation. In this…

This paper discusses the interrelations among accent-based biases, social identity and ethnocentrism. Construction of social identity creates a set of ethnocentric values within a person, which indirectly or directly plays a pivotal role in generating accent related biases. Starting with Tajfel's (1959) social identity theory and then the…

The diversity of language in Australia in pre-invasion times is well attested, with at least 300 distinct languages being spoken along with many dialects. At that time, many Indigenous people were multilingual, often speaking at least four languages. Today many of these languages have been lost, with fewer than 15 being learned by children as a…

The exigencies of globalization and AEC integration provide an impetus for this paper. In this paper, two major questions are addressed. One, what will happen to the standard varieties of English as a vehicular language for international communication, when the spread of English continues towards global communication? Two, what will happen to a…