'(Re)discovering' the multilingual speaker: Implications for SLA and TESOL

With speaker Professor Stephen May from the University of Auckland, New Zealand

Multilingualism is the norm worldwide, although one would hardly notice this in the fields of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and TESOL, which continue to be almost wholly predicated on the normative notion of the monolingual speaker. Similarly, while critical applied linguists are increasingly turning to the study of multilingualism, particularly in urban contexts, mainstream SLA and TESOL scholars continue blithely to ignore such work. Why is this and what can be done about it? This presentation provides some of the necessary backstory to the recent “multilingual turn” in critical applied linguistics, as well as examining critically the ongoing resistance to it within the mainstream SLA and TESOL fields.

Registration is from 13:00 in the Foyer of the School of Education. Tea & coffee will be available after Professor May’s lecture.

This lecture is organised by Doctoral Students from the MOSAIC Centre for Research on Multilingualism and is open to all.

Cost: is free of charge (but registration is required)