Most recent research on language learning and identity emphasizes on investing learners' capital as affordance to affirm their identities (Darvin & Norton, 2015; Norton, 2013). Learners' capital refers to prior knowledge, home literacies/native languages. Drawing on data from English language academies from Pakistan, this study finds a…

Many family literacy programs are designed to teach bi/multilingual families school-based reading strategies, which often downplays families' rich cultural and linguistic resources and accentuates the gap between home and school literacy. We designed Reading Without Words to investigate how wordless picture books could be used to feature the…

In the United States, adult education for emergent multilingual language learners (EMLL) is governed by the American Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA). The AEFLA defines literacy as an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in "English." This definition erases the multilingual and multicultural assets that adult EMLLs…

In California, multilingual (ML) teachers seeking Bilingual Authorization or ongoing professional development must confront the field's sedimentary tensions. Cultivating culturally sustaining approaches to language learning in PreK-12 school communities requires embedding humanizing practices at the core of ML teacher education and professional…

The Pasifika Early Literacy Project supports teachers to make space for the languages and cultures of Pacific children and families in early childhood settings in Aotearoa New Zealand. Dual-language books in five Pacific languages and English validate Pacific children's languages, literacies, and identities. We highlight teacher practices…

Emergent Bilingual families interact with their children across their shared languages and resources, creating unique literacy activities. As a form of family engagement, teachers can observe these created literacies within Emergent Bilingual families, and attempt to transport such practices into classrooms. There is, however, a danger that the…

Abundant research has examined the literacy practices of immigrant students, but little is known about the transnational literacies of Burmese refugee children and parents. Drawing upon literacy as a social practice and transnationalism, this study investigated the transnational literacies of two Burmese refugee mothers and their children. The…

Families moving to new settings mix and blend languages as they are influenced and shaped by their new social contexts and the languages around them. This unique phenomenon has been described as language contact or linguistic transformation (Fishman, 2001; García, 2009). Little research, however, has been conducted related to the dynamic languages…

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,…

This is a qualitative case study that explores conversational interactions during book-reading practices in a Mandarin-speaking Chinese American family between the mother and her two young children. The study employs a sociocultural lens and the concept of translanguaging to describe the characteristics of interactional practices during book…

The influence of a role model is critical to the motivation in teaching and learning English and the teacher's identity. This paper explores the factors that influence the teacher identity and beliefs and values of an English teacher who was actively engaged in teaching and was considered a powerful and energetic role model until her death at the…

Previous research examining the reading achievement of immigrant children has often grouped English learners into one broad category, referred to as ELs, thereby creating an "either-or" dichotomy regarding whether or not these students need school language supports. The present study examined the theoretical contention regarding the…

Because certain home language and literacy practices have been found to be beneficial to monolingual children's literacy development, we examine immigrant children's home language and literacy practices in different countries. Presenting findings from 92 post-2000 articles, we examine research into these practices, what factors influence…

This qualitative case study examines an after-school, bilingual family literacy programme that brought together several groups to form a community of practice (CoP) that worked to support the literacy development of English language learners and their families. We explored the following question: How do parents, teachers, students, and other…

Interrupted formal education is a barrier that makes learning English as an adult an extremely challenging commitment. Besides the many work and family responsibilities that most adult English as a second language (ESL) learners face, students with interrupted formal education (SIFE) often lack familiarity with school-based skills and typical…