multilingual-learners
Filtering by topic multilingual-learners(3)Clear all filters
- PaperRELC Journal22 Jul 2026
Translanguaging for critical multilingual language awareness: Classroom activities for socially just language education
Jennifer Burton, Shakina Rajendram
Introduces a Translanguaging for Critical Multilingual Language Awareness (TL-for-CMLA) approach with two classroom activities: analyzing multilingual versions of Little Red Riding Hood to challenge target-language-only assumptions, and using identity-focused spoken word poetry to engage with language, identity, and belonging. The activities are designed to operationalize critical language ideologies in ESL and K-12 contexts, promoting socially just language education.
Original abstract
This article introduces a Translanguaging for Critical Multilingual Language Awareness (TL-for-CMLA) approach and illustrates how it can be operationalized through concrete pedagogical activities in language teacher education and additional language classrooms. The paper argues for an explicitly critical orientation that foregrounds power, racialization, and linguistic hierarchies rather than treating multilingualism as a neutral resource. The purpose of this innovation in practice article is to present two classroom activities that bridge critical language ideologies and everyday teaching practice in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Kindergarten-Grade 12 (K-12) classrooms with multilingual learners. The first activity uses multilingual versions of Little Red Riding Hood to develop metalinguistic awareness and challenge target-language only assumptions. The second activity centers multilingual, identity focused spoken word poetry to engage learners affectively, critically, and multimodally with questions of language, identity, and belonging. Together, these activities present adaptable examples, reflection prompts, and underlying rationales that can be applied across proficiency levels and educational contexts. This paper contributes theoretically by clarifying TL-for-CMLA and pedagogically by offering adaptable activities that support socially just language education.
- PaperTESOL Journal6 Jul 2026
“Hands on Is Great”: Deficit Thinking and Discourses About Career and Technical Education for Multilingual Learners of English
Mark R. Emerick
Educators' discourses about career and technical education (CTE) for multilingual learners are often shaped by deficit thinking, though some asset-based perspectives also emerge. The study identifies five discourses, three deficit-oriented and two asset-oriented, and recommends collaboration between CTE and language teachers to improve access.
Original abstract
Recently, U.S. media outlets and nonprofits have suggested that career and technical education (CTE) is a valuable educational opportunity for multilingual learners of English (MLs), despite a lack of evidence supporting these claims. In light of these reports, the focus of this study is to examine how deficit and asset discourses manifest when educators, who have a direct impact on MLs' access to CTE, talk about CTE as an opportunity for MLs. Data included 34 semi‐structured and unstructured interviews with teachers and school counselors during a 10‐month multi‐sited ethnographic study in a large urban high school and a CTE center. Drawing on Valencia's (Dismantling Contemporary Deficit Thinking: Educational Thought and Practices, 2010) theory of deficit thinking, the findings show five discourses on CTE for MLs, three of which were informed by deficit thinking. Two asset‐based discourses are also presented as well as implications for supporting MLs' access to CTE from an asset‐oriented perspective through collaboration among ML and CTE teachers and school leaders.
- PaperETS Research Report Series29 Jun 2026
An Approach for Personalizing Accommodations in Digital Content Assessments for Multilingual Learners
Alexis López, Lin Gu, Diego Zapata-Rivera
Proposes a practical, personalized approach for assigning accommodations to multilingual learners in digital content assessments, detailing actions before, during, and after the assessment, along with a use case and needed empirical validation.
Original abstract
In this research memorandum, we propose a practical approach for personalizing accommodations for multilingual learners in digital content assessments (e.g., mathematics, science). We begin by providing background information about multilingual learners in U.S. public schools and the accommodations commonly used in content assessments. Next, we describe our personalized approach to assigning accommodations to multilingual learners, which we believe is not only effective but also feasible to implement. This approach includes specific actions before, during, and after the assessment. We then provide a sample use case to illustrate how this approach works in practice. Finally, we outline the empirical evidence needed to validate this approach, further supporting its effectiveness.Suggested citation: López, A. A., Gu, L., & Zapata-Rivera, D. (2026). An approach for personalizing accommodations in digital content assessments for multilingual learners (Research Memorandum No. RM–26-05). ETS. https://doi.org/10.64634/and9sy26