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SUMMARY:The ‘Multilingual Turn’ in Languages Education - a future for 
 EAL? - Dr Jean Conteh\, School of Education\, University of Leeds
DTSTART:20151116T170000Z
DTEND:20151116T183000Z
UID:TALK60731@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lucian Stephenson
DESCRIPTION:In 2014\, two books appeared on opposite sides of the world\, 
 both with ‘The Multilingual Turn’ in their titles. The first\, edited 
 by Stephen May\, offered alternative theoretical perspectives from the ‘
 still-dominant monolingual bias’ for SLA\, TESOL and bilingual education
 . The co-editors of the second were Gabriela Meier and myself. Despite our
  initial alarm on finding that there was work ongoing on a book with a ver
 y similar title to the one we had come up with\, we feel very pleased that
  we (arguably) finished off the task that Stephen May had begun. Our book 
 addresses the ‘opportunities and challenges’ in the notion of the mult
 ilingual turn for research\, policy and practice in language education. Ou
 r contributing authors provide examples from around the world from a wide 
 range of multilingual classroom settings\, not just those engaged in ELT\,
  but also those where other curriculum subjects are the focus of teaching 
 and learning.\n \nIn the seminar\, I plan to take a critical look at the n
 otion of the multilingual turn in relation to the phenomenon of ‘EAL’ 
 (English as an additional language) in the system in England. The widely u
 sed category of ‘EAL learner’ is still poorly defined\, and there is n
 o clarity among education professionals about what ‘EAL’ precisely is\
 , who actually are ‘EAL learners’ and what ‘EAL practice’ is reall
 y about. Bi/multilingual learners are still commonly regarded among practi
 tioners as having ‘problems’ (Safford and Drury\, 2013)\, and the rese
 arch and debate that goes on in more ‘academic’ circles seem to contin
 ue to pass by those who engage in meeting the needs of EAL learners on a d
 aily basis. Using examples from my own classroom-situated research\, I wil
 l consider the significance of the multilingual turn for a much needed\, t
 heoretically informed model of EAL and the implications for future researc
 h and practice. \n\n\n*References*\n\nConteh\, J. and Meier\, G. (eds.) (2
 014) _The Multilingual Turn in Languages Education: Opportunities and Chal
 lenges._ Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.\n\nMay\, S. (ed.) (2014) _The Mul
 tilingual Turn: Implications for SLA\, TESOL and Bilingual Education._ Lon
 don: Routledge.\n\nSafford\, K. and Drury\, R. (2013) _The ‘problem’ o
 f bilingual children in education settings: policy and research in England
 \,_ Language and Education\, 27:1\, pp. 70-81\n\n\n*Bio*\n\nAfter working 
 as a primary teacher and teacher educator in West Africa and West Yorkshir
 e for many years and in Bulgaria\, Pakistan and Poland on short-term proje
 cts\,* Jean Conteh* became a lecturer at the University of York in 2003 an
 d then a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of L
 eeds in 2007. Her research interests are grounded in social justice\, and 
 converge on the classroom interactions between multilingual pupils and the
 ir teachers and on the professional knowledge and identities of multilingu
 al teachers in monolingual mainstream settings. She continues to publish w
 idely on these themes. She has taught on undergraduate\, PGCE\, and Master
 ’s programmes and set up a part-time MA In EAL and Education\, which has
  proved very popular with teachers. She supervises a lively group of PhD s
 tudents\, all of whose work employs ethnographic principles of research. 
LOCATION: Faculty of Education\, 184 Hills Road\, Cambridge\, CB2 8PQ\, Ro
 om 1S3
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