Scholars have long critiqued points of view in which monolingual perspectives are seen as normative in research on multilingualism. In relation to this "monolingual orientation," however, in which monolingualism is perceived to be the implicit norm, less work has been dedicated to methodological challenges. As disciplinary perspectives…

In my research I examine the linguistic practices of Moroccans in Spain, many of whom speak Moroccan Arabic as well as Modern Standard Arabic, Tamazight, French, English and Spanish at varying levels of proficiency. As part of my research, I conducted a 10-month linguistic ethnography. I was able to rely on my native English and near-native…

The current study aims to provide an understanding of how the relationships between standard and non-standard varieties of the Turkish language are perceived by young people of Turkish Cypriot descent within the context of Turkish complementary schools in London. These schools are set up by diasporic communities to fight/reverse language shift and…

International mobility has caused a need for language education where adults can learn the language(s) used in their new country. In Sweden, the language programme SFI (Swedish for immigrants) provides basic second language education for adult immigrants. For those learners who are not yet functionally literate, basic literacy education is…

In the introduction to the special issue 'Elite Multilingualism: Discourses, practices, and debates', we focus on 'elite multilingualism' as a means to provide a window into the complex layers and nuances of today's multilingual, mobile and global society. Our aims here are to provide an empirical and conceptual discussion of a growing…

This article puts forth new ways of thinking about "becoming multilingual" in transnational and contemporary times by investigating the significance of multilingualism for multilingual student teachers enrolled in French language teacher education programs within the provinces of Alberta and Ontario. As more diversity is present in…

This article analyses how speakers of an autochthonous heritage language (AHL) make use of digital media, through the example of Low German, a regional language used by a decreasing number of speakers mainly in northern Germany. The focus of the analysis is on Web 2.0 and its interactive potential for individual speakers. The study therefore…

Although not often discussed, complementary ('mother tongue') classrooms comprise participants who differ substantially in a number of ways. Differences comprise, e.g. participants' orientations to and understandings of the indexicalities of linguistic registers, which may have been brought along from the presupposed country of origin. It has…

Increased mobility due to globalization and other geopolitical shifts has changed school demographics worldwide. In the Midwest, much of this new immigrant population is Spanish-speaking and in need of language support. Consequently, schools play an important role in responding to the New Latino Diaspora. In this paper, we describe how unconscious…

Whether or not we are teachers, all of us must make sense of language. In doing so, we encounter representations of language, implicit or explicit descriptions which shift over time and are always tied to social and political interests. Teachers' work necessarily depends on these descriptions, which are deeply embedded within their…

This handbook has been conceived as a guide for young researchers embarking on the exciting journey of investigating different aspects of plurilingual education. The text can also serve to review ideas previously encountered, and perhaps as a means of interrogating research methodologies in plurilingual contexts for those who already have ample…

The complex notion of the public/private distinction of social spheres has not been systematically investigated in sociolinguistics; particularly in the case of bidialectal kindergarten age children and how they construct their social lives around this distinction in a public environment such as that of school. No simple continuum can clearly…

Based on ethnographic research in a diverse New York City neighborhood, this article examines issues surrounding the practice of crossing from children's perspectives. Crossing refers to the use of language varieties to which one does not have conventional access, practices that could be disparaging or affiliative. The author explores how children…

This paper discusses the complex and competing language ideologies that Korean educational migrant families in Singapore hold about the normativity and legitimacy of English language varieties. During their educational migration in Singapore, Korean families show ambivalent attitudes toward the local variety of English in Singapore, Singlish.…

This case study examined how one instructor navigated between two competing discourses in an intermediate Spanish heritage language (HL) classroom: on the one hand, teaching "Standard Spanish" to help students achieve professional success, and legitimizing home linguistic practices on the other. In addition to expressing both…