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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the macro‐factors and contextual variables surrounding the recent introduction of compulsory bilingual schooling in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, in order to generate informed discussion, and in order for stakeholders to understand the sociocultural, linguistic and pedagogical issues involved.

This paper is an analytic one which examines language‐in‐education in Abu Dhabi through a framework of the operational, situational and outcomes factors involved in bilingual education, as identified by Spolsky et al. and Beardsmore. Insights gained from international empirical research into bilingual education are applied to the Abu Dhabi context, and key questions about the specific model of bilingual education selected are posed for future local research to answer.

The paper concludes that bilingual education is likely to confer linguistic, academic and socioeconomic benefits on future generations of Emirati school leavers. However, the acquisition of biliteracy is likely to be challenging because of the diglossic features of Arabic, as well as the linguistic distance between Arabic and English. Because of the ambiguity of international research findings with regard to the appropriate age to begin second language learning, as well as uncertainty about the merits of simultaneous versus sequential teaching of biliteracy, research must be undertaken in Abu Dhabi schools into the effects of bilingual education under conditions of early Arabic/English immersion.

This paper is timely given the recent announcement of compulsory and universal bilingual state schooling from an early age in Abu Dhabi, and necessary given the dearth of discussion and research on language‐in‐education matters in the Arab world. While the paper is contextualised within the school system of Abu Dhabi, it has resonance for adjacent Gulf States and for the many expatriates from across the Middle East who teach and study in Abu Dhabi's schools.

To explore middle and high school English Language Learners (ELL) teaching environments from the perspective of multicultural instructors and their understanding of ELL students’ reality. This qualitative study utilized participant observation and Developmental Research Sequence (Spradley, 1980) as the systematic approach to gather and to analyze data. The study was conducted in an inner city public school district in the south of Louisiana where seven multicultural ELL specialists were located; participants included were originally from the United States, Latvia, the Philippines, Jordan, Romania, and Japan. This study shed light over the fate of most Latina/o teenagers in public middle and high schools, the appropriateness of the state’s response to the literacy and human needs of all students at risk of failure in the middle and high school (Latina/o and African American alike), and the status educators have in the country compared to other highly qualified professionals as perceived by the multicultural educators participating in the study. Several areas of intervention were identified and described including a strong structured program specifically designed for ELLs attending middle and high school; moreover, further research is needed to advance understanding about the relationship among literacy, shame, and students’ behavior.

Planning and implementing in-service professional development to support teachers’ pedagogical practices for English language learners (ELLs) first considers building upon existing teachers’ knowledge and understanding of practice. Teaching English Learners Academic Content (TELAC) is an in-service professional development model that provides an enriched program curriculum to urban teachers seeking to improve teaching practices for their ELLs. Through an integrative approach of learning coupled with learning experiences, practicum activities, observational feedback, and coaching, teachers initiate refinement to practice that reflect culturally sustaining pedagogy. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition/National Professional Development program, Teaching English Learners Academic Content (TELAC) (2012–2017) is a K-12 program in Arizona designed to build a cadre of teachers adept with implementation of instructional strategies that support ELL academic success. All of the participants in this in-service professional development program are K-12 teachers of English language learners, teach any grade level and subject area in urban school districts with a majority of students who are second language learners of English. Teachers’ shared common concern is the need to improve pedagogical practices for ELLs and to personally develop their knowledge and capability to change teaching practices.

This chapter will focus on how inclusive pedagogic practices can be played out in primary and secondary classrooms where the goal is using languages other than the learners’ home language as both the medium and content of learning (i.e. learning to use language and using languages to learn). This requires an approach which is inclusive, flexible and relates to any context – both languages and subject classrooms. The focus will be on how using an integrated approach to the curriculum, in which languages are used as a tool for learning, has the potential to be motivating and accessible to very diverse learners.

The chapter includes two lessons – the primary lesson plan will expand how simple language can be used to develop and enjoy painting and art with young students and the secondary lesson plan will focus on how a visual approach to thematic or cross-disciplinary work, such as natural disasters, can supplement and support deeper understanding of other areas of the curriculum as well as building confidence in communicating in an alternative language.

When bilingual teachers are first hired, many say they are pressured to teach material only in English (Menken, 2008). Removing instruction in a child’s native language is not likely to improve scores on English standardized tests (Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005), and long term, English-Only instruction reduces academic success and reduces graduation rates (Iddings, Combs, & Moll, 2012). This chapter looks at bilingual classrooms in a Texas school district, through classroom observations, interviews, and a large-scale survey seeking to answer the question, what do officially bilingual classrooms look like when they operate monolingually? Results showed that administrators exerted pressure, and teachers used methods they expected not to work. Some bilingual classrooms had teachers who either could not speak Spanish, or chose not to. Because classrooms operated without the legally required amount of first-language instruction, the district’s “bilingual” programs undermined accountability data while harming emergent bilinguals. Teacher educators have not prepared bilingual teachers for the reality of anti-bilingual schools. New teachers need to know how to not only implement research-based instruction but also defend their instructional choices. Wherever lawmakers, agencies, and administrators have allowed transitional bilingual programs to become de facto monolingual, there may be a role for colleges of education to play, monitoring, assisting, and, if necessary, publicizing lack of compliance. Study findings are limited to one specific district; even in districts with similar phenomena, the manner in which a bilingual program ceases to be bilingual will vary substantially.

To describe how literacy‐learning strategies and educational technology were integrated in Pacific island classrooms.

The paper discusses the unique context and setting of a five‐year initiative that introduced educational technologies to classrooms in the Northern Pacific islands. Several of the literacy strategies that were most valued by the Pacific educators, particularly the creative uses of audio and video technologies in classroom contexts, are highlighted in the paper.

Provides detailed information on how educators can implement similar projects in multicultural settings.

The paper provides strategies and information for educators who work with culturally diverse and indigenous populations and highlights how cultural wisdom and knowledge can be melded with new technologies.

This paper discusses how technology transfer and training can be done in culturally‐appropriate and relevant ways.

Muslim refugee migrants are a growing ethno-religious disadvantaged minority group in several Western societies, and host-country language proficiency and employment are essential factors in reducing this disadvantage. This paper thus explores the efficacy of English training programs in facilitating the settlement and employment of a group of male Muslim refugees in Australia.

This study is qualitative in nature, with data collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the eight participants in the study. Analysis was conducted using Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital and habitus.

English training programs offered to Australian Muslim men are problematic in their aim of linking them to employment. Areas of concern are identified in respect to the training hours offered, their learning environment, their content and pedagogy, their lack of focus on employment and their failure to recognise the existing work skills of the migrants.

The study is conducted with a small sample of male Muslim migrants: while the findings may be similar for other refugee groups, further research is necessary to confirm this.

There is a need to restructure the current English training programs offered to refugee migrants in Australia, Muslim or otherwise. This study identifies several areas where such restructuring might occur, both at the policy and pedagogical levels.

Few studies focus on Australian male Muslim migrants. This study enhances understanding of this under-researched group and their struggles to learn English, find employment and rise above their disadvantaged societal position.

This article reports the outcomes of a study on communication support, commissioned to develop a borough‐wide strategy in 2003 by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.The research stems from a recognition of communication as a key to successful delivery of public services and enhancement of a multicultural community.The focus is on ‘communication’ (rather than ‘language’), since it captures issues beyond the exchange of information through words: interpersonal interactions and relationships, techniques and modes of organising information exchange. Language is a key component within the broad ambit of communication mechanism and skills. Hence interpretation and translation are perceived as models of communications support alongside advocacy, integrated team, multilingual professional team, family/friends and minors, supported language, symbols and signs, and Plain English.While engaging in the debate and highlighting some of the broader issues concerning communication support services, the focus is on the following main issues:• policy frameworks and guiding principles in communication support• methods and techniques for needs assessment, monitoring and evaluation of communication support• communication support provision in Tower Hamlets including quantifying need, actual state of provision and users' perceptions.Probably among the first of its kind, the strategy draws on existing knowledge and good practice to develop a common framework for public services in Tower Hamlets. It is believed that it will serve a pioneering role in co‐ordinated existing and developing coherent approaches to communication support.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss issues of contemporary language conflict in educational contexts.

This is a conceptual paper which examines current educational practices and policies through the lens of linguistic hegemony.

The authors identify three primary areas in which linguistic hegemony persists at present, including English-only policies, varied perspectives on language difference and harsh graduation mandates.

The authors extend upon Antonio Gramsci’s notion of hegemonic culture as well as Robert Phillipson’s concept of linguistic imperialism in identifying current instances of linguistic hegemony in educational policies and practices throughout the USA.