Alsu Gilmetdinova, Kazan National Research Technical University, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia

Ching-Ching Lin, Touro College, New York, New York, USA

Rebekka Eckhaus, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan

This article discusses the myth of the “balanced bilingual” and specific ways in which this misconception influenced the placement test process in an EFL program. Topics explored include the placement test rationale, procedures, challenges, adaptations, and implications for language professionals. Read More

Lisa Sinnerton, EAP Teacher, INTO at Queens University, Belfast

This article is a brief account of one teacher’s attempt to introduce and gauge the effectiveness of a translanguaging approach to providing English language support to a small group of primary school children with a variety of different native languages in an international school in Turkey. It begins with a short review of the rationale for adopting the approach and describes three qualitative measures of the short-term effects of the approach in facilitating translanguage writing, enhancing translanguage reading proficiency gains, and in boosting the children’s awareness of and respect for the value of their first language in promoting acquisition of a second. Read More

Xin Chen, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

This paper explores how writing teachers address ESOL students’ needs of adapting to standardized academic English writing while also developing their ability to negotiate language differences and to write proficiently across contexts. A translingual orientation in teacher feedback on students’ writing is proposed to cultivate students’ meta-knowledge of language use. Read More

Sharon Tjaden-Glass, Sinclair Community College, Dayton, Ohio, USA
Jennifer A. Lacroix, Boston University, USA

Effective intercultural communication requires strong speaking and listening skills, but our knowledge of what effectively composes the role of listening competence in intercultural communication is limited. In this article, we connect theories from the field of intercultural communication to the second language classroom and highlight some practices that teachers and students can use in a multilingual classroom to improve their intercultural listening skills. These practices include building knowledge about (1) how intercultural competence develops, (2) how culture can influence interactions, and (3) how one’s individual cultural identity is multilayered. Read More

Clara Vaz Bauler, Adelphi University, USA

Research on bilingualism has emphasized that dual language acquisition is not “perfect.” However, society is constantly demanding perfection from bilingual children. How can bilinguals be recognized for their strengths, not their weaknesses? I share three humbling and powerful lessons I learned from my bilingual children during a trip to Brazil. Read More

Gabriella Solano, Duval County Public Schools, New York, USA

The author uses her personal and professional experience with bilingual education to reflect on the issues that continue to widen opportunity and performance gaps for bilingual students. This piece focuses on what kind of roles individual teachers can play in addressing these issues through their daily practice and the relationships they build with students. Read More

Mercè Pujol-Ferran, Jacqueline M. DiSanto, Nelsón Núñez Rodríguez, and Angel Morales, Hostos Community College-CUNY, Bronx, New York, USA

Plurilingual pedagogies across the college curriculum (in science, humanities, education, and linguistics courses) are examined to help students increase their motivation, stay enrolled, and master course content in English. Four case studies illustrate how translation, code-switching, cross-linguistic analysis, and students’ dominant languages are employed in multilingual classrooms to complete assignments. Read More