Supporting Multilingual Learners in Reading and Writing Across Content Areas in the Traditional and Multimedia Classroom

Dear Colleagues:

In an increasingly multilingual and multimodal educational landscape, supporting multilingual learners’ (MLLs’) literacy development across content areas has become both urgent and essential. As students engage with complex disciplinary texts and diverse media, educators must navigate the intersections of language, cognition, and content knowledge.

This Special Issue invites research that advances understanding of how K-12 MLLs read, write, and learn across subjects in both traditional and multimedia classrooms. It highlights the need for integrative approaches that combine cognitive, sociocultural, and pedagogical perspectives and that center the crucial role of teachers and teacher preparation. Specially, we are looking for research: (1) exploring cognitive factors contributing to MLLs’ literacy development across content areas; (2) examining effective pedagogical approaches in the traditional or the multimedia classrooms; (3) investigating the role of teachers, classrooms, and broader sociocultural contexts in shaping MLLs’ literacy development.

Potential topics include the following:

• English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) and Multilingual Learners (MLL)’s content-area literacy (language arts, science, social studies, etc.);
• Effective pedagogy for EMI and MLLs’ reading and writing in the multimedia and AI-assisted classroom;
• Cognitive processes of reading comprehension and writing and the interplay between first language and additional languages among MLLs;
• Sociocultural perspectives on language and literacy instruction for MLLs;
• Teacher preparation and professional development for MLLs’ literacy development.

This Special Issue aligns with the journal’s scope in learning and teaching, pedagogies, language and literacy, and teacher education. By bringing together empirical, theoretical, and practice-based studies, this Special Issue seeks to inform more inclusive and innovative pedagogies that empower multilingual learners to thrive across disciplinary and digital contexts.

Abstract Submission Deadline: 5th January 2026

Dr. Huijing Wen
Dr. Daibao Guo
Dr. Lei Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. The full proposal must be submitted by January 5th. Prospective authors should prepare a proposal of 600 to 800 words with the following components: (1) study overview and a short review of the literature; (2) methods; (3) findings; (4) conclusions and implications; and (5) the significance of the focal research for advancing research in multilingual education, with a focus on literacy across content areas in traditional and multimedia classrooms.

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.