Policy and Practice for Multilingual Learners in School Education

Dear Colleagues,

In an era marked by unprecedented transnational mobility, global displacement and increasing demographic diversity, linguistic diversity has become a defining feature of school education systems worldwide. Schools are educating growing numbers of multilingual learners, including emergent bilinguals, migrant students, Indigenous language speakers and participants in multilingual education programmes. These developments present both opportunities and challenges for educational policy, classroom practice and teacher education.

Despite a burgeoning body of research on multilingual education, a persistent gap often exists between macro-level educational policies and micro-level classroom practices in school settings. While many national and local policies increasingly recognise multilingualism as a valuable resource, top-down language policies frequently fail to capture the dynamic, fluid realities of multilingual learners. As a result, practitioners are left to navigate complex pedagogical landscapes without adequate systemic support. Implementation often lags behind, hindered by monolingual ideologies, accountability pressures and limited professional preparation for teachers. Conversely, innovative pedagogical approaches—such as translanguaging pedagogies, culturally sustaining practices and inclusive multilingual instruction—are emerging in diverse educational contexts and are reshaping how multilingual competence is understood and fostered in schools. Recent advancements in applied linguistics and multilingualism studies advocate for a profound paradigm shift, embracing a ‘language-as-resource’ orientation and recognising students’ diverse linguistic and cultural repertoires as vital assets for learning, cognitive development and social cohesion. However, these innovative, grassroots classroom practices often remain isolated and struggle to gain traction within rigid, monolingually oriented assessment and policy frameworks.

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore how educational and language policies and pedagogical practices shape the learning experiences and outcomes of multilingual learners across school education contexts globally. Specifically, it seeks to (1) examine how language-in-education policies are formulated, interpreted and enacted in schools serving multilingual populations, (2) investigate classroom practices and pedagogical approaches that support multilingual learners’ academic achievement, identity development and well-being, (3) analyse tensions, gaps and synergies between policy intentions and classroom realities, (4) highlight innovative and inclusive practices that position multilingualism as a resource rather than a deficit and (5) contribute to evidence-based recommendations for policy, practice and teacher education.

This Special Issue brings together international and interdisciplinary scholarship that critically examines policy, practice and the alignment between policy and practice in relation to multilingual learners in school education. By empirical research, policy analysis and systematic reviews, the Issue aims to advance theoretical and practical understanding while also offering insights with direct relevance for policymakers, teacher educators and practitioners.

The Special Issue adopts a broad and inclusive definition of multilingual learners, encompassing emergent bilinguals, heritage language learners, refugee and migrant students, Indigenous language speakers and students in bilingual or dual language programmes. We welcome contributions from any geographical region, exploring any educational levels. We are particularly interested in interdisciplinary work and studies that explore specific, highly relevant contexts within multilingual education, including but not limited to:

• Language-in-education policy and planning in multilingual K–12 contexts
• Policy–practice alignment and misalignment in multilingual education
• Translanguaging pedagogies and classroom practices
• Multilingualism, equity and social justice in schooling
• Refugee and migrant education and language support policies
• Indigenous language revitalisation and schooling
• Dual language bilingual education and programme implementation
• Teacher education and professional development for multilingual classrooms
• Family, community and school partnerships in multilingual education
• Comparative and cross-national perspectives on multilingual education policy and practice

We invite submissions of original empirical studies (qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods), rigorous policy analyses and systematic or scoping reviews. Interdisciplinary approaches drawing from applied linguistics, sociology of education, education policy and teacher education are highly encouraged.

Ultimately, this Special Issue aims to provide a robust platform for knowledge exchange among a diverse audience, including academic researchers, educational policymakers, teacher educators and frontline school education practitioners. By synthesising global perspectives on policy and practice, we hope to chart a progressive path forward for the equitable and inclusive education of multilingual learners worldwide.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Guowen Shang
Dr. Xuan Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• translanguaging
• K–12 education
• language policy
• multilingual learners
• emergent bilinguals
• teacher education
• multilingual competence
• inclusive education
• educational equity
• school education