Abstract

Registration

https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqf-6trz0uG9DxjoGEqB7OzPbk_Mg7KK2K

Abstract

In this presentation, Dr. Wright will provide a broad overview of bilingual and multilingual education, including the philosophy and research that serves as its foundation, and discuss a framework of weak and strong forms of bi/multilingual education. He will then discuss the role of multilingual education in achieving international development goals to ensure equitable access to education for linguistic minority children. Drawing from his research in the Kingdom of Cambodia, Dr. Wright will discuss the establishment and expansion of multilingual mother tongue education programs in Cambodia in an effort to provide a basic education to some of the hardest to reach students in remote areas of the northeastern provinces where several indigenous ethnic minority languages are spoken. These included efforts to create writing systems for the indigenous languages, develop curricular materials, recruit and train teachers, and establish schools in remote villages. 

Bio

Wayne E. Wright is Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Programs, and Faculty Development, and the Barbara I. Cook Chair of Literacy and Language at Purdue University. He is co-editor of the Journal of Language, Identity, & Education, Co-Editor of Multilingual Matters’ Bilingual Education and Bilingualism book series, and Editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement. He is author of Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners (3rd ed., 2019), co-author of Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (7th ed., 2021), and co-editor of the Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education (2015). He is Co-PI on over $5M USD in federally funded grants to improve the language and literacy instruction and teacher preparation of in-service and pre-service teachers in bilingual and other English language learner programs. He is a former ESL and bilingual teacher, former Fulbright Scholar to Cambodia, and a past recipient of the Charles A. Ferguson Award for Outstanding Scholarship.