There’s No Language Without Culture: Forging Epistemological Bridges for Multilingual Learners

• In Event: Culturally Responsive Research: Bridging Practices and Scholarship

Abstract

Numerous policies and educational approaches aimed at improving the educational outcomes of multilingual learners are often English-centric and have detrimental impacts on the well-being, academic self-concept, and educational trajectory of multilingual learners (Duff & Talmy, 2011; Murphy & Torff, 2019; Wiley & Rolstad, 2014). Through a research-practice partnership, this study explores the epistemological and practical possibility for bridging second language acquisition and culturally responsive theories towards remedy and repair for multilingual learners. The research team utilized a framework of critical and culturally responsive second language acquisition to qualitatively code classroom discourse data. Findings demonstrated that opportunities to deepen educator knowledge about evidence-based instructional practices for second language acquisition also acted as pedagogical ruptures for incorporating culturally responsive approaches.

Author

• Sandra E. Leu Bonanno, WestEd