Despite the superdiversity of an increasingly multicultural and multilingual world, policy and practice in education continues to deal with issues of inclusion and diversity in language education in rather tangential and peripheral ways. To address critical issues in multicultural and multilingual education, with implications for curriculum, teacher preparation and pedagogical practice, this volume brings together international perspectives on research, policy and pedagogical practice that help the global community gain new insights into ground-breaking work that addresses current questions, challenges and complexities in an education world of superdiversity.

In this book, I attempt to show how colonial and postcolonial political forces have endeavoured to reconstruct the national identity of Morocco, on the basis of cultural representations and ideological constructions closely related to nationalist and ethnolinguistic trends. I discuss how the issue of language is at the centre of the current cultural and political debates in Morocco. The present book is an investigation of the ramifications of multilingualism for language choice patterns and attitudes among Moroccans. More importantly, the book assesses the roles played by linguistic and cultural factors in the development and evolution of Moroccan society. It also focuses on the impact of multilingualism on cultural authenticity and national identity. Having been involved in research on language and culture for many years, I am particularly interested in linguistic and cultural assimilation or alienation, and under what conditions it takes place, especially today that more and more Moroccans speak French and are influenced by Western social behaviour more than ever before. In the process, I provide the reader with an updated description of the different facets of language use, language maintenance and shift, and language attitudes, focusing on the linguistic situation whose analysis is often blurred by emotional reactions, ideological discourses, political biases, simplistic assessments, and ethnolinguistic identities.

Many books on multicultural education focus on a country and provide indepth discussion of issues pertinent to that country at the time. Alternately, understanding of multicultural education is sought through comparison between a society of special interest and a reference society, often the United States. An interesting recent example is Constructing Multicultural Education in a Diverse Society by Ilghiz Sinagatullin (2003), drawing on the author’s knowledge of Russia and more particularly the Republic of Bashkortostan, itself an ethnically and culturally diverse part of Russia. The approach taken in this volume is to focus on an aspect of diversity, and look at its ramifications across the world. This provides an understanding of the nature of multicultural education itself, as well as insights into local issues through the experience of other places.

This book explores the development of multilingual policy in education in Nepal in sociopolitical and historical contexts and examines the frameworks of language use in schools. It investigates the dynamics and factors that influence the process of construction and appropriation of the policy of multilingualism in education. The book surveys the language situation in schools and discusses how it is impacted by local language positions, societal power relations, ideological and identity contestations, and the attitude, language behaviour and resistance of key actors. It highlights the role of pedagogy, linguistics and politics that govern the policy of multilingual education. The author assesses the prospects of a multilingual approach to learning via teacher preparation, curriculum and learning material development, coordination of actors and institutions, and resources available in schools. The book presents Nepal’s linguistic background while discussing how multilingualism in education recognises local languages to improve the quality of learning in classrooms in ethnolinguistic communities. Evaluating the use of local languages in classrooms, it explores monolingual, multilingual and language maintenance frameworks of multilingualism in education. This book will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of education and educational studies, linguistics, sociology of education, school education, language studies, sociolinguistics, language policy and planning, public administration, ethnolinguistics, and sociology of language. It will also be useful to educationists, policymakers, linguists, sociolinguists and those working in related areas.

Built around the concept of linguistic and cultural plurality, this book defines language as an instrument of action and symbolic power. Plurality is conceived here as : a complex array of voices, perspectives and approaches that seeks to preserve the complexity of the multilingual and multicultural enterprise, including language learning and teaching ; a coherent system of relationships among various languages, research traditions and research sites that informs qualitative methods of inquiry into multilingualism and its uses in everyday life ; a view of language as structured sociohistorical object, observable from several simultaneous spatiotemporal standpoints, such as that of daily interactions or that which sustains the symbolic power of institutions. This book is addressed to teacher trainers, young researchers, decision makers, teachers concerned with the role of languages in the evolution of societies and educational systems. It aims to elicit discussion by articulating practices, field observations and analyses based on a multidisciplinary conceptual framework.

This volume challenges traditional approaches to foreign language education and proposes to redefine them in our age of international migration and globalization. Foreign language classrooms are no longer populated by monolingual students, but increasingly by multilingual students with highly diverse language backgrounds. This necessitates a new understanding of foreign language learning and teaching. The volume brings together an international group of researchers of high caliber who specialize in third language acquisition, teaching English as an additional language, and multilingual education. In addition to topical overview articles on the multilingual policies pursued in Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia, as well as several contributions dealing with theoretical issues regarding multilingualism and plurilingualism, the volume also offers cutting edge case studies from multilingual acquisition research and foreign language classroom practice. Throughout the volume, multilingualism is interpreted as a valuable resource that can facilitate language education provided it is harnessed in appropriate conditions.

A study of the beliefs and practices of parents and educators raising future generations of multilingual children.

Multilingual Approaches for Teaching and Learning outlines the opportunities and challenges of multilingual approaches in mainstream education in Europe. The book, which draws on research findings from several officially monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual countries in Europe, discusses approaches to multilingual education which capitalise on students’ multilingual resources from early childhood to higher education. This book synthesises research on multilingual education, relates theory to practice, and discusses different pedagogical approaches from diverse perspectives. The first section of the book outlines multilingual approaches in early childhood education and primary school, the second looks at multilingual approaches in secondary school and higher education, and the third examines the influence of parents, policy-makers, and professional development on the implementation and sustainability of multilingual approaches. The book demonstrates that educators can leverage students’ multilingualism to promote learning and help students achieve their full potential. This book will be of great interest to academics, researchers, and postgraduate students in the fields of language education, psychology, sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics.

Multicultural and Multilingual Education in Immigrant Countries, Volume 38 is a collection of papers that covers various concerns in the implementation of multilingual and multicultural school curriculum in immigrant countries. The topics tackled by the articles include the social and ideological context, linguistic concerns, and psychological concerns. The text also discusses the psychological and social consideration in deciding on the language of instructions, along with problems of bilingual education. The book will be of great use to educators, sociologists, and psychologists.

An Introduction to Multicultural Education provides a balance between the principles and practices of multicultural education in the K-12 classroom, presenting multicultural education as a learner-centered pedagogy. DomNwachukwu's book projects foundational principles that make multicultural education relevant and appealing, while eliminating ideas and practices that produce negative reactions and outcomes. An Introduction to Multicultural Education utilizes historical data to make the case for equity pedagogy, going further that other books on this topic to provide practical steps and approaches to implementing multicultural education. The personal and cultural identity of the teacher is addressed in-depth. The person and nature of the learner and the learning process and addressed as foundational ideas behind equity pedagogy. This book provides pre-service and in-service teachers with the theoretical and practical support they need to provide equal and meaningful education to all the students in their classrooms. Book jacket.