This article presents a developmental pathway for the acquisition of morphosyntactic variation. Although there is abundant evidence that morphosyntactic variation is pervasive among adults, much less is known about how children acquire such variation. The literature thus far indicates that the pathway of development involves first producing only…

This Data Point examines the barriers due to speaking a language other than English faced by Spanish-speaking families of enrolled students when they try to participate in their student's school activities. It also explores the language services that are provided by schools to Spanish-speaking parents. This Data Point uses data collected from the…

As teacher educators on the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, our goal is to (re)conceptualize a pedagogical approach for bilingual teacher development informed by teacher education research in the borderlands and anchored in the myriad of historical, sociopolitical, cultural, and linguistic realities of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands -- a border pedagogy.…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page sheets on a variety of subjects. This fact sheet focuses on: (1) Most Common Home Languages and Language Categories Spoken by English Learner Students in Grades K-12: 2017-18 School Year; (2) Number of Reported English Learner…

In this article, the authors present a composite counter-story of seemingly innocent encounters between a teacher and Raza learners for educators to grapple with color-blind and race-neutral practices when working with Raza learners. The authors offer entry points and questions to reflect on the intersection of race, language, and learning…

The intersectional identities and lived experiences of Signing Latinx are insufficiently documented. Reflecting on my own lived experiences, I began to question traditional research paradigms that often neglected the stories shared by individuals from different communities within the larger Signing Latinx community. As I was introduced to Critical…

Spanish language diversity has been a reality in the United States. The Spanish language has been featured in children's books since the late 1960s and early 1970s, with much of it carelessly represented, with translation mistakes and stereotypical portrayals of English language learners. With the increase of Latinos/as authors, representations of…

In this article, parental role construction is framed from a sociocultural perspective. Applying this perspective foregrounds the need for researchers and practitioners to gain an insider's understanding of how families themselves construct their roles in supporting children's education. By doing so, the field can reimagine family-school…

As more higher education institutions in the United States look not only to be designated as Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) but to serve their student population in languages other than English, learning designers who are native speakers or have fluency in languages other than English are utilizing their language and cultural competencies to…

On day one the author sets up the expectation that her kindergarten Spanish language immersion classroom will be a 100% target language environment. To accomplish this, the author implements several structures, routines, and expectations to maintain the immersion environment. Getting to know the students, modeling appropriate behavior, promoting…

This book is a comprehensive introduction to the topic of assessing students who use two or more languages in their daily life. The book provides foundational information for assessing multilingual learners (MLs) in schools, with an emphasis on school language and content. Major assessment ideas are viewed through a framework called PUMI (Purpose,…

World language teachers are a special breed of teacher. In some cases, traveling and speaking other languages has profoundly changed their lives and they've channeled their passion into a career. In other cases, teachers are from another country, and are passionate about sharing their language and culture with students. World language teachers…

This paper is grounded in the evolution of our reflection on the relationship between plurilingualism, plurilingual speech and language learning. That is, it refers to research on the construction of plurilingual repertoires, over a period of more than thirty years, as documented in Lüdi and Py (1986 [2009]. "To Be or Not to Be … a…

Researchers agree that attention to bilingualism and biliteracy can and should be a goal in all educational settings where young dual language learners are present. The challenge, however, is how to promote biliteracy development while remaining congruent with principles of developmental direction, specifically the idea that children's…

This chapter outlines an interview conducted with a principal of a high-performing high school with a majority Latinx student population, regarding how she fostered and engaged in activism in her school and with her students.