“And then the English will come”. Envisioning a Critical Multilingual Education for the ELT classroom

Abstract

Critical literacies describe the need to understand language education as naturally grounded in deconstruction of social injustice and, ultimately, also as an educational space where social transformation finds its place. This (radically) deconstructive perspective inherently entails seeing language education as a multilingual setting, where language hierarchies are dismantled and translanguaging opportunities are embraced. For the ELT classroom, this also means seeing the colonial truths of the English language as indispensable to its instruction.

Although the intersection of critical literacies and multilingual education is fundamental for a critical lens to be adopted in ELT, there is little research that foregrounds their connection. Consequently, this article explores theoretical and practice-oriented intersections of critical literacies and translanguaging from an ELT perspective, drawing from ethnographic insights collected in NYC. Emphasis is given in the development of a framework of a Critical Multilingual Education, detailing on how this can inform school practice and help embrace emergent multilinguals.