International Journal of Applied Linguistics

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70138pmid: N/A

Zheng, Yongyan

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70036pmid: N/A

This editorial introduces a special issue entitled “Multilingualism for Epistemological Diversity and Epistemic Inclusion.” The 17 papers included in this special issue aimed to address longstanding inequities in global knowledge production induced by English monolingualism. The editorial first critiques how monolingual ideologies and “abyssal thinking” reinforce epistemic exclusion—manifested in barriers to English‐medium education, marginalization of non‐Western epistemologies (e.g., from the Global South), and hermeneutical injustice. Then it outlines five interrelated themes explored by the 17 papers across diverse geographical contexts (e.g., Australia, Bangladesh, China, Japan, and Pakistan, etc.). Collectively, these studies demonstrate multilingualism's transformative potential to advance epistemological diversity and epistemic inclusion. We call for rejecting monolingual hegemony, centering context‐responsive strategies (pedagogical innovation, policy reform, valorization of marginalized traditions), and building a more just global knowledge ecosystem that values all ways of knowing.

Irgin, Pelin

doi: 10.1111/ijal.12714pmid: N/A

This case study explores the potential of storytelling as an academic activity, facilitated through translanguaging, to enhance epistemic diversity. By examining the intersection of epistemic diversity and translanguaging pedagogy, the study investigates how storytelling activities in a Turkish–English bilingual classroom impact young bilingual learners’ epistemic participation and linguistic flexibility in knowledge construction. The 18‐week study involved classroom observations and verbal recordings of 15 fourth‐grade Turkish–English bilingual students in Turkey. A translanguaging pedagogy framework, encompassing translanguaging stance, design, and shifts, was implemented to support students’ bilingualism. Thematic analysis reveals that Turkish–English bilingual learners dynamically select and alternate between their linguistic repertoires in Turkish and English, modifying noun, verb, and adjective phrases for meaning‐making during the storytelling, regardless of the story's theme. The students employ translanguaging patterns functionally for clarification and elaboration, as well as translating content words and simple sentence structures, fostering a form of epistemic cognitive diversity. The findings demonstrate how storytelling activities can serve as a platform for epistemic diversity by allowing students to access and express knowledge through their full linguistic repertoire. The study highlights that translanguaging practices during storytelling not only facilitate language learning but also promote diverse ways of knowing and understanding. The research contributes to the field by explicitly linking translanguaging pedagogy to epistemic diversity in the context of storytelling activities. It suggests that such activities can be strategically designed to foster both linguistic flexibility and diverse knowledge construction among young bilingual learners. The implications of this study extend beyond language acquisition, emphasizing the potential of translanguaging pedagogy to cultivate epistemic diversity in bilingual educational settings.

Li, Danli; Gao, Qing; Ma, Mengyao

doi: 10.1111/ijal.12635pmid: N/A

This paper aims to explore the epistemological decentring in a language other than English classroom through pedagogical translanguaging and examine students’ attitudes toward translanguaging practices. Data were collected from a six‐week classroom observation with 20 French major undergraduates and interviews with the students in a comprehensive university in China. Analysis revealed that the teacher employs three forms of translanguaging pedagogy: form‐focused strategy, dual‐language substantiation, and multi‐semiotic strategy, which promote students’ understanding of epistemological decentring. The interviews indicated the advantages of translanguaging integrated with epistemological decentring including heightened engagement, the development of cross‐language awareness, and enhanced critical language awareness. The study shows how pedagogical translanguaging aligns with a decentring perspective, promoting the use of diverse knowledge systems, and highlighting the importance of creating a decentring space for multilingual education. It also underscores the need to challenge monolingual ideologies, question conventional approaches to multilingualism, and actively embrace a diverse range of meaning‐making systems.

Moraczewska, Agnieszka

doi: 10.1111/ijal.12661pmid: N/A

Bilingual subject instruction (BSI) is one form of language support classes in Norwegian schools, preparing students from language minorities for mainstream instruction by combining subject and language tutoring through the students’ home language. This article examines interactions within a Polish–Norwegian classroom setting, focusing on the concept of pedagogical translanguaging and scaffolding for epistemic inclusion of student resources. Grounded in the framework of translanguaging pedagogy and scaffolding techniques for student comprehension and production, the study involves a micro‐analysis of recorded dyadic interactions between a bilingual teacher and three students in individual BSI classes. The findings highlight language shifts as integral to teacher–student interactions, demonstrating the diligent use of scaffolding techniques for co‐constructing knowledge. The study underscores the mediating role of translanguaging practices in supporting both content and language knowledge, emphasizing the active integration of students’ previous knowledge and experiences for fostering epistemic inclusion.

Itoi, Kiyu

doi: 10.1111/ijal.12643pmid: N/A

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an innovative educational approach applicable to diverse settings. CLIL promotes 21st‐century skills, including logical and critical thinking, problem‐solving, creativity, collaboration, and cross‐cultural awareness. In Asia, particularly Japan, CLIL has predominantly focused on English language acquisition, often overshadowing its broader goal of developing other skills. Accordingly, a new language course has been developed to enhance both language proficiency and 21st‐century skills among Japanese and English learners at an international university in Japan. This study presents findings from a larger case study that examines student and teacher experiences within the new CLIL framework, leveraging translanguaging pedagogy. Analyzing student reflections and interviews, this study highlights the role of translanguaging in enhancing 21st‐century skills such as leadership, critical thinking, and collaboration, particularly in group projects. However, deeply ingrained monolingual beliefs pose challenges to students fully embracing translanguaging methods, despite their educational value. This study provides insights for educators and policymakers advocating innovative language programs, particularly in fostering global citizenship and diverse skillsets essential in contemporary contexts. It also highlights the importance of integrating language learning with broader skill development in multicultural educational environments.

Chen, Danni; Du, Ting

doi: 10.1111/ijal.12706pmid: N/A

English as an additional language (EAL) learning and teaching are epistemic practices with marked epistemic injustice. Language is not merely a tool for communication, but rather a fundamental aspect of how knowledge is constructed, validated, and transmitted across different cultural and intellectual traditions. This study explores the intricate relationship between language as an epistemic apparatus and EAL learning in the Canadian context, with a particular focus on how English language ideologies shape knowledge construction and transmission. Through a qualitative case study approach, international students were guided to use critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine traditional assumptions embedded in EAL textbooks. The study starts with how the ideology of Standard English reflects Western epistemological traditions as a specific manifestation of epistemic injustice in EAL teaching and learning. This recognition allows international students who speak English as an additional language to critically engage with not just the linguistic forms of English but also the underlying epistemic dominance represented by these forms. By realizing the tacitly agreed‐upon dominance of Western academic English, which represents one form of Standard English, students question and challenge the epistemological hegemony that often accompanies linguistic ideological hegemony. Our findings suggest that introducing CDA as an epistemic tool can raise critical language awareness and increase the epistemological diversity of additional language learning and teaching. This pedagogy reinforces multilingualism in EAL both mentally through multilingual thinking and practically through EAL learning, thereby fostering a deeper appreciation of the diversified epistemological landscape that different languages and cultures bring to academic discourse. It enables learners in multilingual contexts to navigate and negotiate between different knowledge systems, promoting a richer, more nuanced understanding of knowledge creation, dissemination, and absorption.

Zeeshan, Muhammad

doi: 10.1111/ijal.12715pmid: N/A

There is a growing interest in the role of mass media in language policy‐making, as it not only promotes the views and ideologies of various policy stakeholders but also plays an active role in shaping language policy development. Although the print media writers' insight provides a valuable perspective that has language policy implications, no previous studies investigated Pakistani print media writers' orientations toward indigenous languages. To fill the gap, this qualitative study aims to explore how indigenous languages are conceptualized in the discourses of Pakistani print media texts. Data were collected from Pakistani print media texts. By using Ruíz's framework of “language orientations” as the analytical tool, this study found that they largely considered the use of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction and a resource in the Pakistani context. Specifically, the analysis highlights the educational, cultural, and emotional significance of integrating mother tongues into education. However, complexities arise; Pervez, a media writer, highlights that promoting Punjabi as a medium of instruction in Punjab may provoke resistance from speakers of minority languages like Saraiki and Potohari, underscoring the need for inclusive language policies that reflect linguistic diversity. Moreover, the study highlights that the emotional connection fostered by mother tongues is not explicitly acknowledged in Ruíz's language orientations framework. It suggests incorporating this dimension, as valuing regional languages through literature and education can reduce stigma, build linguistic pride, and support equitable language policies. This study also contributes by offering policy implications.

LI, Wendong; GONG, Yang; LI, Citing

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70021pmid: N/A

Under neoliberal logic, language policies often frame languages as commodities with material returns but downplay their epistemic potentials. This study investigates how teachers and students at a Chinese language school in Macau interpreted and appropriated such neoliberal language policies. Analysis of the school's mission statements and curriculum design revealed the institutionalization of a “subtractive resource policy,” which prioritized Pinyin as an expedient path to Mandarin proficiency and relegated Chinese characters to an optional status. Drawing on the concepts of neoliberal versus epistemic agency, this research uncovers a nuanced spectrum of stakeholder appropriation. While some participants initially exhibited neoliberal agency by aligning their learning with a pragmatic, Pinyin‐centric approach, the majority demonstrated growing epistemic awareness. This awareness led to the exercise of epistemic agency, enabling participants to resist the policy's subtractive effect by pursuing a deeper and more complete understanding of the language through character literacy. The study argues that this individual and collective agency serves as a grassroots effort to transform a market‐driven policy into a more equitable and holistic educational experience. It contributes to the literature by demonstrating how neoliberal policies can create a hierarchy of knowledge and how local stakeholders can become powerful agents in fostering epistemic diversity and inclusion.

Sultana, Shaila; Hamid, M. Obaidul; Roshid, Mohammod Moninoor

doi: 10.1111/ijal.12746pmid: N/A

The ongoing movement in applied linguistics towards decolonisation and dehegemonisation demands that we acknowledge multilingualism and comprehend how marginalised multilingual researchers are excluded from global knowledge creation. In light of this, this qualitative study investigates the realities and lived experiences of applied linguistics and English language teaching (ELT) scholars in Bangladesh. Research participants include 14 applied linguistics and ELT academics who publish in national and international journals as well as on other platforms. The data analysis shows that English is the preferred language for academic publications among multilingual Bangladeshi applied linguistics and ELT academics. The acceptance and status of Scopus‐indexed journals in academic avenues, policies, and practices for academic advancement and promotion based on publications in English and a fixation with the English language seem to be the main reasons for their preferences. Furthermore, despite their admiration for Bangla as a national language, they do not recognise it as a medium for scientific publications. However, they are aware that their scholarly publications in English do not have much impact on the local educational and social development or linguistic justice and equity in Bangladeshi society. The paper concludes that only when multilingualism is accepted within the circuits of knowledge production and only when workable ways are identified to invite policymakers, university authorities, educators and researchers to pursue more fruitful cooperation between the Global North and South, linguistic and epistemic inclusion and transformation of the ontology and epistemology of applied linguistics will be possible.