Advances in Research on Languages and Literacies in Multicultural and Inclusive Settings: International and Comparative Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and culturally diverse, multicultural and inclusive education settings are rapidly becoming the norm. Within these dynamic environments, languages and literacies—core developmental domains that are fundamentally shaped by cultural, linguistic, and individual differences—play a crucial role in supporting equitable and empowering learning experiences. However, they also present persistent challenges for both learners and educators striving to foster inclusive, responsive, and meaningful engagement.

Languages and literacies development is foundational to children’s academic success, identity formation, and sense of belonging. Yet, in many educational contexts, these domains continue to be approached through deficit-based models that fail to recognize and build upon the rich linguistic and cultural repertoires children bring to the classroom. Over the past few decades, researchers and practitioners have developed adaptive and culturally responsive approaches to languages and literacies education. Nonetheless, there are still significant gaps between the aspirations of inclusive education and the everyday realities faced by educators working in complex, often under-resourced settings.

This Special Issue seeks to highlight cutting-edge research and innovative practices that address emerging challenges and opportunities in inclusive languages and literacies education across diverse contexts. We are seeking contributions that explore pedagogical strategies, theoretical advancements, and technological integrations that support equitable languages and literacies development among children from a range of cultural, linguistic, and ability backgrounds. Studies situated in early childhood, primary, and secondary education settings are welcome.

We are interested in submissions of empirical research, theoretical explorations, and meta-analyses that engage with (but are not limited to) the following themes:

• Bilingual and multilingual children’s languages and literacieslearning experiences.
• Children’s engagement with multimodal (e.g., digital, visual, embodied, or arts-based) literacies.
• Languages and literaciesdevelopment of neurodivergent children and those with developmental disabilities (e.g., autism, dyslexia).
• Educators’ perspectives and practices in supporting inclusive languages and literacies
• Technology tools and practices for inclusive literacies learning.
• Inclusive picture books, storytelling, and shared reading practices.
• Cross-cultural and cross-linguistic studies of children’s literacies learning.
• Equity-oriented assessment practices for linguistically diverse and neurodiverse children.
• Community-based and culturally sustaining literacy-related pedagogies.
• Implementing inclusive languages and literacies education in resource-limited settings.

This Special Issue aims to bridge research, policy, and practice by offering insights that inform the design of inclusive, linguistically responsive, and socially just languages and literacies education.

Prof. Dr. Guofang Li
Prof. Dr. Shuqin Cao
Prof. Dr. Jiangbo Hu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 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.

• languages and literacies
• inclusive education
• multilingual learners
• neurodiversity and special needs
• culturally responsive pedagogy
• multimodal literacies, equity in education
• teacher beliefs and practices
• home and community literacies
• assessment for diverse learners