This book offers a unique understanding of how researchers’ linguistic resources, and the languages they use in the research process, are often politically and structurally shaped and constrained, with implications for the reliability of the research. The chapters are written by both experienced and novice researchers, who examine how they negotiated the use of their own, and others’, linguistic and communicative resources when undertaking their research in politically-charged, and linguistically and culturally diverse contexts. The contributing authors are either from the Global South, or engaged in work which is contextualised within the Global South; or they face linguistic structural hegemonies in the Global North which challenge their research processes. They utilise diverse theoretical, methodological and disciplinary approaches to produce a collection of engaging and accessible accounts of researching multilingually in their contexts. These accounts will help readers to make theoretically and methodologically informed choices about the political dimensions of languages in their own research when researching multilingually.

Researching Multilingualism expertly engages with a new sociolinguistics of multilingualism, taking account of this new communicative order and the particular cultural and social conditions of our times. Seventeen chapters are divided into four sections covering: researching discourses, policies and practices; contemporary mobilities; Researching multilingual communication on-line; Multilingualism in research practice. This state-of-the-art overview of research methodologies in multilingual settings will be of interest for all students and researchers working in the area of multilingualism within Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Education and Communication Studies.

This book contributes to understanding research approaches for studying multilingualism in the context of contemporary superdiversity, in environments that are being dramatically transformed by transnational migration and movement of peoples. It explores language in urban contexts: the city as a site for experimentation and creativity in language practices. This involves considering theoretical frameworks in which to examine these practices, but above all, it focuses on how we do, or could do, research into these language practices and their users. What methodologies are we using to understand urban linguistic contexts? What do we want to learn? The chapters explore complex and challenging situations, capturing the evolution of new forms of language practice and changing attitudes to language in the city.

This book examines what ‘researching multilingually’ means in practice and theory. It is multinational and transnational in scope, including the voices of both experienced and emerging scholars who reflect on the process of conducting, analyzing and reporting multilingual research in various settings. Together the chapters address issues including theorizing multilingualism and collaborative research with multilingual scholars and research participants; navigating insider or outsider positioning with research participants; making and accepting language choices among researchers and participants during research; translating and interpreting multilingual data; and confronting policy challenges of multilingual research design and reporting in English-dominant contexts. The book ties these processes to existing theories of multilingualism in research and proposes new ways of understanding best practices while also wrestling with challenges and at times ‘failures’ in the research process.

This volume draws together current research on dyslexia and literacy in multilingual settings across disciplines and methodologies. The contributors, all internationally recognised in the field, address developmental and acquired literacy difficulties and dyslexia in a range of language contexts including EAL/EFL. The book uses theories and analytical frameworks of a critical nature to reveal prejudicial social practices, and suggests future research directions towards a critical re-consideration of current understandings of dyslexia in multilingual settings, with a view to foregrounding the potential for interdisciplinarity. The book also suggests ways forward for evidence-informed practice, and it will be a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners and students alike.

Researching Education for Social Justice in Multilingual Settings provides innovative guidance on carrying out qualitative research in education by offering a wide range of examples of research projects with a focus on the methodologies and data collection strategies used. Rather than decontextualised 'how-to' advice, the book offers insights into the complexities of actually carrying out research in multilingual settings. In this practical guide, examples of real-life projects are framed by chapters providing a theoretical background to the principles of ethnography and to the processes and practices of qualitative research, focusing on data generation and collection strategies. Case study chapters offer a rich understanding of the detail of qualitative research in education from the points of view of people who have engaged in it. Moreover, the book promotes understanding of current research that aims to make a difference to pupils, students, teachers and families whose diverse languages and cultural experiences are not fully valued in society and in mainstream education contexts. Pedagogical features that support private study and use on courses include a glossary of key terms, guiding questions for reading at the start of each section, and discussion questions to promote reflection as well as suggestions for further reading. Researching Education for Social Justice in Multilingual Settings is a supportive guide to the principles of ethnography and the processes of qualitative research for all those wishing to investigate complex problems in multilingual education settings.

Over the past 40 years, Jim Cummins has proposed a number of highly influential theoretical concepts, including the threshold and interdependence hypotheses and the distinction between conversational fluency and academic language proficiency. In this book, he provides a personal account of how these ideas developed and he examines the credibility of critiques they have generated, using the criteria of empirical adequacy, logical coherence, and consequential validity. These criteria of theoretical legitimacy are also applied to the evaluation of two different versions of translanguaging theory – Unitary Translanguaging Theory and Crosslinguistic Translanguaging Theory – in a way that significantly clarifies this controversial concept.

Research Methods in Intercultural Communication introduces and contextualizes the most important methodological issues in the field for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. Examples of these issues are which paradigms and how to research multilingually, interculturally and ethnically. Provides the first dedicated and most comprehensive volume on research methods in intercultural communication research in the last 30 years Explains new and emerging methods, as well as more established ones. These include: Matched Guise Technique, Discourse Completion Task, Critical Incident Technique, Critical Discourse Analysis, Ethnography, Virtual Ethnography, Corpus Analysis, Multimodality, Conversation Analysis, Narrative Analysis, Questionnaire and Interview. Assists readers in determining the most suitable method for various research questions, conceptualizing the research process, interpreting results, and drawing conclusions Supports students from start to finish with key terms, suggestions for further reading, research summaries, and sound guidance from experienced scholars and researchers

Pt. 1. Researching trajectories, multilingual repertoires and identities -- pt. 2. Researching discourses, policies and practices on different scales -- pt. 3. Researching multilingual communication and multisemioticity online -- pt. 4. Multilingualism in research practice : voices, identities and researcher reflexivity -- pt. 5. Ethnographic monitoring and critical collaborative analysis for social change.

This book explores the challenges and opportunities involved in conducting research with members of immigrant, refugee and other minoritized communities. Through first-hand reflective accounts, contributors explore community-based collaborative work, and suggest important implications for applied linguistics, educational research and anthropological investigations of language, literacy and culture. By critically reflecting on the power and limits of university-based research conducted on behalf of, or in collaboration with, members of local communities and by exploring the complicated relationships, dynamics and understandings that emerge, the chapters collectively demonstrate the value of reflecting on the possibilities and challenges of the research process, including the ethical and emotional dimensions of participating in collaborative research.