Academic Biliteracies

This book explores issues surrounding biliteracy in academic contexts. Chapters analyse diverse multilingual contexts where biliteracy practices emerge in response to the demands of academic reading and writing. In addition, strategies are presented to support biliteracy through teaching.

David M. Palfreyman is Associate Professor in the Department of English and Writing Studies at Zayed University, UAE. His research interests include language, culture and learning in postsecondary education and he is the co-editor of Learning and Teaching Across Cultures in Higher Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

Christa van der Walt is Professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Her research interests include the role of English in multilingual, academic contexts and she is the author of Multilingual Higher Education (Multilingual Matters, 2013).

David M. Palfreyman is Associate Professor in the Department of English and Writing Studies at Zayed University, UAE. His research interests include language, culture and learning in postsecondary education and he is the co-editor of Learning and Teaching Across Cultures in Higher Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

Christa van der Walt is Professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Her research interests include the role of English in multilingual, academic contexts and she is the author of Multilingual Higher Education (Multilingual Matters, 2013).

Drawing on an interesting variety of examples from the four corners of the world, this book provides a timely, riveting and original account of different multilingual pedagogical strategies and policy recommendations to better understand and foster student academic biliteracies in higher education. With a focus on student writing, the work moves away from the extant orthodoxy of academic literacies and revisits multilingual teaching and learning practices and language policies under a new and challenging light.

This global tour of multilingualism in higher education reminds us that multilingualism is always embedded in socioeconomic inequalities. However, something can be done about this; and Academic Biliteracies will inspire educators worldwide to pay closer attention to the merits of allowing multilingual students to draw on all their linguistic resources as a strategy to improve educational outcomes for all.

In our globalized world the use of multiple languages to engage with others and wrestle with ideas and concepts is increasingly common in higher education. This volume is an important and timely contribution to understanding the opportunities that the fluid use of more than one language offers teachers, learners and researchers.