International Multilingual Research Journal 

About: International Multilingual Research Journal is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Multilingualism & First language. It has an ISSN identifier of 1931-3152. Over the lifetime, 325 publications have been published receiving 6016 citations. The journal is also known as: IMRJ.

Teachers' Beliefs about English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom: A Review of the Literature.

Abstract: This literature review on teachers' beliefs about English language learners (ELLs) in mainstream classrooms is organized into three sections: (a) inservice teachers' existing beliefs, (b) predictors of inservice teachers' beliefs, and (c) the connection between inservice teachers' beliefs and practices. This body of literature points to a clear need for increased professional development for mainstream teachers because, currently, teacher education possesses a “poverty of language learning.” According to the research included in this review, a relation exists between beliefs and practices in relation to teaching ELLs in mainstream classrooms. Certain factors, such as training in teaching ELLs, years of teaching experience, and exposure to language diversity, have been identified as predictors of mainstream teachers' beliefs about English to speakers of other languages students. It is important for teachers who hold deficit beliefs toward ELLs to adopt a new set of beliefs for successful inclusion of ELLs.

Unpacking Ideologies of Linguistic Purism: How Dual Language Teachers Make Sense of Everyday Translanguaging.

Abstract: This article draws on qualitative data from two Spanish-English dual language elementary classrooms to explore how teachers in these classrooms made sense of the everyday practice of bilingualism. Methodologically, this study relied on participant observation, video recording, and semi-structured interviews. Conceptually, this article draws on the notion of translanguaging to describe how these teachers and their students moved fluidly across multiple languages and dialects in their everyday interactions. Drawing on language ideological inquiry, this article illustrates that these teachers’ perspectives on translanguaging sometimes echoed ideologies of linguistic purism that emphasize language separation, while also reflecting counterhegemonic ideologies that privilege Spanish and promote bilingualism. Teachers’ everyday language use and instructional practices both reflected and contrasted with their stated ideologies. It is argued that a more nuanced understanding of teachers’ complex language ideologie...

Navigating Hybridized Language Learning Spaces Through Translanguaging Pedagogy: Dual Language Preschool Teachers’ Languaging Practices in Support of Emergent Bilingual Children’s Performance of Academic Discourse

Abstract: In recent years, there has been a growing interest among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in early bilingual development and the unique role of the educational setting’s language policy in this development. In this article, we describe how one dual language preschool teacher, in partnership with two co-teachers, navigated the tensions between language separation ideology and its practical realization in early bilingual education by co-constructing and enacting flexible bilingual pedagogic practices in support of Spanish-English emergent bilingual children’s participation in language and literary activities and performance of academic discourse. Teachers’ translanguaging practices of code-switching, translation, bilingual recasting, and language brokering drew on children’s linguistic and cultural funds of knowledge, supported experimentation with new language forms, and integrated various languages and language varieties, while recognizing, validating, and expressing their shared bilingual ide...

Building on Strength: Language and Literacy in Latino Families and Communities

Abstract: Building on Strength: Language and Literacy in Latino Families and CommunitiesAna Celia Zentella (editor), New York: Teachers College Press, and Covina, CA: California Association of Bilingual Education, 2005, 213 pages, US$2395 (paper)

“What Do You Want to Say?” How Adolescents Use Translanguaging to Expand Learning Opportunities

Abstract: This study investigated how students learning English and students learning Spanish activated multilingual repertoires as they participated in one high school program that aimed to promote reciprocal learning and teaching of multilingual literacy practices. Grounded in sociocultural theory, we examined how students drew upon Spanish, English, and translanguaging as cultural and cognitive tools to mediate learning in a Third Space. Data collection included participant observations in 40 sessions, student writing, interviews, and audio/video recordings of peer interactions as they engaged in composing and revising of text together. Using interactional ethnography and microgenetic analysis, we analyzed mediation of learning opportunities across and between languages and found evidence of students co-constructing knowledge and expanding multilingual repertoires. Findings contribute to second language acquisition research by revealing fluid and reciprocal affordances for language learning during interactions a...