Open research questions in Multilingual Education and Policy

What the literature leaves open

• The study relies on a small sample of 18 teachers. The study only examines teachers' orientations and does not consider other stakeholders' perspectives. The study is limited to the context of Andalusia.

  Between advocacy and gatekeeping: primary and secondary teachers’ dilemmas towards multilingualism in Andalusia · 2026 · DOI

• Few studies offer a comparison of how educational level mediates teachers' orientations and rationales. Teachers' justificatory narratives remain under-examined. There is limited empirical work examining how language hierarchies and prestige operate in Mediterranean contexts.

  Between advocacy and gatekeeping: primary and secondary teachers’ dilemmas towards multilingualism in Andalusia · 2026 · DOI

• The gap is the need to understand how students' home languages impact their learning in mathematics courses. The paper identifies the tension between language-as-resource and language-as-political orientations.

  Bond or barrier: understanding students’ experiences in undergraduate mathematics courses through the lenses of language-as-resource and language-as-political · 2026 · DOI

• the lack of engagement of students from racially minoritized backgrounds in linguistics research - the theoretical gaps surrounding race in linguistics - the need for community-centered collaborative research approaches

  Learning through community-centered collaborative linguistics research at a Minority-Serving Institution · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of accessible data sets from underrepresented languages. The focus on majority languages in linguistics education, neglecting underrepresented languages. The need for a resource that provides contextual information about the language and culture.

  The Language Profiles Project · 2026 · DOI

• The gap in linguistic research is the lack of consideration of racial identity and ethnicity in study design and data analysis. The gap is also the lack of guidance for linguistic researchers to reflect on their own study design, positionality, and responsibility to participants and communities.

  Enhancing linguistic research through critical use of race and ethnicity information · 2026 · DOI

• integrating employability skills into higher educational contexts - identifying and articulating transferable skills - reframing career preparation as critical engagement with capitalism - addressing the needs and concerns of students in preparing them for the world of work

  Dancing with capitalism: Employability and the pursuit of impact in linguistics curricula · 2026 · DOI

• a lack of guidance on how to operationalize employability recommendations in individual departments - a need to integrate employability skills into higher educational contexts - a gap in the literature on how to prepare students for the world of work

  Dancing with capitalism: Employability and the pursuit of impact in linguistics curricula · 2026 · DOI

• The study faced challenges in accounting for every possible combination of language and vote. The research encountered difficulties in building a particular corpus due to lack of data or rationale. The study had to address the issue of speakers switching between different languages in the debates.

  A tripartite model examining language ideologies: Exploring dangerous, celebratory, and hegemonic multilingualism in United Nations language policy · 2026 · DOI

• Further research could examine the use of multilingualism in other supranational organizations, - Research could investigate the impact of language policy on language use in the United Nations, - Studies could explore the role of power dynamics in shaping language policy outcomes

  A tripartite model examining language ideologies: Exploring dangerous, celebratory, and hegemonic multilingualism in United Nations language policy · 2026 · DOI

• The NF group remained underrepresented due to the emic five-year residency criteria and social hesitation to disclose migration status

  Migrating meanings: Language (re)valuation in a two-way parallel migration context · 2026 · DOI

• The range of contexts examined remains narrow, particularly in the Global South. The study aims to fill this gap by examining the social meanings of languages in a particular Global South context: the Greater Ningbo region of China.

  Migrating meanings: Language (re)valuation in a two-way parallel migration context · 2026 · DOI

• The complexity of linguistic diversity and the need for a nuanced approach to understanding language use in its local context. The historical trauma and displacement experienced by the Murui-Muina people and their impact on language use and cultural identity. The challenge of balancing the need for linguistic standardization with the importance of preserving local linguistic diversity.

  Imbuing words with power: Linguistic diversity and identity politics among the Murui-Muina of the Colombian Amazon · 2026 · DOI

• The lack of understanding of how Indigenous languages are lived, valued, and reproduced in their local contexts. The need for a more nuanced approach to linguistic diversity, one that takes into account the complex social and cultural processes shaping language use.

  Imbuing words with power: Linguistic diversity and identity politics among the Murui-Muina of the Colombian Amazon · 2026 · DOI

• The need to understand how language learning and meritocratic aspirations are recalibrated within turbulent global orders. The lack of research on the experiences of skilled professionals in Chinese multinational corporations amid post-globalisation dynamics. The gap in understanding the shifting dynamics of language investment in Chinese multinational corporations.

  ‘To invest or divest’: Speculative bilingualism and meritocratic subjectivity in Chinese multinational corporations amid post-globalisation dynamics · 2026 · DOI

• The strong emphasis on phonics in the revised national framework for teaching reading in African languages raises concerns about its implications for reading for meaning in African language classrooms. There is a need to examine how phonics instruction is balanced with broader conceptions of reading as a meaningful, creative, and socially situated practice.

  Investigating phonics instruction, meaning making, and heteroglossia within Grade 2 foundation phase isiXhosa classrooms · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in understanding the phenomenon of ethnolinguistic infusion. The gap is related to the lack of analysis of language socialization and management practices in the context of language contact, sociolinguistics, and linguistic anthropology.

  Ethnolinguistic infusion: Community language socialization and reclamation without proficiency · 2025 · DOI

• The study only examined a small sample of participants from Pakistan, - The study did not examine the impact of other factors on heritage language transmission, - The study was limited to a specific context and may not be generalizable to other settings

  Family language policy and heritage language transmission in Pakistan—the intersection of family dynamics, ethnic identity and cultural practices on language proficiency and maintenance · 2025 · DOI

• Further research should examine the impact of other factors on heritage language transmission, - Studies should investigate heritage language transmission in other contexts and cultures, - Research should explore the role of technology in heritage language transmission

  Family language policy and heritage language transmission in Pakistan—the intersection of family dynamics, ethnic identity and cultural practices on language proficiency and maintenance · 2025 · DOI

• The marginalization of heritage languages in mainstream education systems. The lack of institutional frameworks to support bilingual students. The conflicting language ideologies and limited guidance for families navigating these ideologies.

  Beyond the home: rethinking heritage language maintenance as a collective responsibility · 2025 · DOI

• funding constraints, - volunteer capacity, - varying degrees of parental involvement, - limited guidance for families navigating conflicting language ideologies

  Beyond the home: rethinking heritage language maintenance as a collective responsibility · 2025 · DOI

• The community's limited access to water and the impact of climate change on their traditional farming practices. The encroachment of English and the decline of the Tewa language. The impact of the pandemic on the community's health and well-being.

  The moral call for hopeful action: Language renewal in the Village of Tewa and generative hope · 2024 · DOI

• The need for a deeper understanding of the community's response to threats to their language, culture, and existence. The importance of examining the community's sociolinguistic resources and practices of hope. The lack of research on the community's reorientation of knowledge and action in response to these threats.

  The moral call for hopeful action: Language renewal in the Village of Tewa and generative hope · 2024 · DOI

• The gap is that past scholarship has not considered the intersections of race with other marginalities, such as gender and transnationalism. The paper identifies a need to move beyond looking at Black diasporic identities as connected due to similar ancestry. The gap is also that Black immigrants' experiences are often categorized homogeneously as either 'Black' or 'African American', without considering their cultural, social, and historical experiences.

  Discursive scaling of solidarity through difference: Experiences of African women in the African diaspora · 2024 · DOI

• Despite the cultural and linguistic diversity in the Australian population, Australia’s teaching profession remains largely monocultural and monolingual, and the lived experiences of the small number of culturally, linguistically and/or racially diverse (CLRD) teachers working in Australian schools remain under-researched.

  “Nobody talks to me in school”: A Standpoint Theory Exploration of Teachers’ Experiences of Isolation in Australian Schools · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Multilingual Education and Policy

• Undoing Appropriateness: Raciolinguistic Ideologies and Language Diversity in Education · Harvard Educational Review · 2015 · 1,974 citations
• Linguistic Landscape and Ethnolinguistic Vitality · Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 1997 · 1,604 citations
• Translanguaging in the Bilingual Classroom: A Pedagogy for Learning and Teaching? · Modern Language Journal · 2010 · 1,392 citations
• Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning · TESOL Quarterly · 1995 · 1,369 citations
• Language and Agency · Annual Review of Anthropology · 2001 · 1,350 citations
• Moment Analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain · Journal of Pragmatics · 2010 · 1,349 citations
• Orientations in Language Planning · NABE Journal · 1984 · 1,021 citations
• A Transdisciplinary Framework for SLA in a Multilingual World · Modern Language Journal · 2016 · 911 citations
• Theorizing Language Teacher Identity: Three Perspectives and Beyond · Journal of Language Identity & Education · 2005 · 837 citations
• What no bedtime story means: Narrative skills at home and school · Language in Society · 1982 · 797 citations

Most recent work

• Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts · Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts · 2026
• Making all repertoires count: Re‐envisioning TBLT through critical multilingual language awareness · Modern Language Journal · 2026
• Language Problems and Language Planning · Language Problems & Language Planning · 2026
• Multilingual education in unequal contexts: Structural barriers to making all repertoires count in the global south · Modern Language Journal · 2026
• ‘Is our culture not good enough to be included in English lessons?’ Decolonizing English textbooks in Thailand’s deep south: a global englishes-informed pedagogical innovation · Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching · 2026
• Co-constructing a virtual translanguaging space: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of human–AI communication · Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development · 2026
• Politicized identity and language practices: Understanding Chinese international students’ language ideologies amid U.S.-China geopolitical tensions · Higher Education · 2026
• ELT teachers and the July revolution: identity, pedagogy, and wisdom · ELT Journal · 2026
• Translanguaging silence and humor: Registering, resisting, and reconstructing identities in an English‐medium classroom in the United States · Modern Language Journal · 2026
• Reconstructing Multilingual Development Research: Shifting from a Monolingual Bias and Toward a Developmental Systems Framework · Behavioral Sciences · 2026

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