Chinese immersion programs have been increasingly popular in US schools. However, we have insufficient data on young English-speaking children's acquisition of Chinese as a second language in these programs, and specifically on social contextual variables systematically promoting or hindering Chinese language use. Taking a variationist…

The Science of Reading era has (re)ignited conversations about equitable literacy instruction. Conflicting literacy research and literacy media reports complicate matters further. Guided reading, a ubiquitous form of small group instruction designed to meet readers' needs through individualized conferring and independent reading with…

This paper will introduce the subject of language policies and practices in early childhood education across European migration societies and formulate theoretical and methodological questions. It links perspectives from applied linguistics, most explicitly sociolinguistics, and educational research on language (education) policies and practices,…

Using the concept of a trajectory, we trace one child's negotiation of his sense of belonging within his early childhood centre through analysing his participation in conflict and conflict-like interactions. Video data were gathered 2 days a week over a 6-month period from the start of his attendance at the centre. Sociolinguistic interactional…

Clinical Question: Would a bilingual preschooler with suspected speech sound disorder (P) be more accurately diagnosed via an assessment approach that integrates sociolinguistic information (I) or via standardized assessment with traditional scoring modifications (C) as shown by diagnostic compatibility with the converging concern approach (O)?…

Despite decades of sociolinguistic research, African American Language (AAL) remains stigmatized throughout the United States education system. There have been proposals to counteract this through curricula and/or ideological interventions targeted at teachers that seek to validate AAL while maintaining Dominant American English (DAE) as an…

Because word problems present mathematical information through a scenario, they are language-intensive and require mathematical and reading comprehension skills to solve them. In addition, they are linguistically complex, which makes them challenging for all learners, especially multilingual learners. Given the rising number of dual-language…

Dual language immersion (DLI) programs have emerged in the U.S. as effective ways to bring together language minority and language majority speakers in school settings with the goal of bilingualism and bi-literacy for all. However, the proliferation of these programs has raised concerns regarding issues of inequity and dissimilar power dynamics in…

Understanding the multilingual language context of deaf children's lives provides an essential knowledge base from which to develop the early support of children and families. Current models of early support tend to draw on Euro-Western understandings of the multilingual lives of families of deaf children and assume an established infrastructure…

This dissertation draws on both qualitative and quantitative approaches to investigate the linguistic practices of teachers and children who are learning Mandarin Chinese as a Heritage Language (CHL) in two dual immersion preschools in California. CHL children have been interpreted as novice members in local speech communities who actively explore…

French immersion (FI) programs are becoming increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse as a result of growing migration to Canada. In the present mixed-methods study, I explore the perspectives and ideologies of teachers, principals, and central office staff in eight school divisions in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta with respect to…

"Wellbeing" and "belonging" are explored in this article through sociolinguistic interactional analysis of naturally arising conflict situations, captured ethnographically on video, and through analysis of teachers' discussions during focus groups. Post-conflict analysis of child-led actions revealed children used numerous…

Children's peer social worlds as part of language and literacy learning are often "hidden" from researchers and teachers alike. This article reports on collaborative research between a researcher and veteran kindergarten teacher into these hidden worlds. We draw upon ethnographic documentation (videos, interviews, field notes) and video…

Science education in the Arab world is conducted in various multilingual contexts. When science is taught in Arabic, diglossia -- the coexistence of the formal language of literacy alongside a local spoken variety -- constitutes a multilingual setting the pedagogical implications of which need to be understood. This study compares teacher--student…

Beyond his contributions to the field of psychology, Vygotsky may be considered as 'one of the first thinkers in complexity' (Jörg, 2011 p. 14). Vygotsky challenged linear causality and defended the idea of the transcendence of individual learning to focus on the generative potential of learning and development through social interactions,…