Helping Students to Reflect on Their Own Intercultural Learning

This study reports on a qualitative multiple case study evaluating an innovation to enhance student reflection on intercultural learning at a Japanese university. The innovation involved students writing letters to themselves at the start of a 15-week programme and revisiting them at the end. A content analysis using Kember et al.’s (2008) reflective framework compared reflections from 50 students who participated in the innovation with 50 from prior cohorts. The innovation indicated deeper reflection and reassessment of students’ cultural assumptions. By emphasising individual student insights over standardised learning, the study contributes to equity-oriented, context-sensitive approaches to reflection in intercultural learning in higher education.

Uncovering Third Space in Virtual Transnational Partnership: Transdisciplinary and Transcultural Transformation

This qualitative case study explores how two English language teachers from South Korea and Taiwan developed transcultural dispositions as they participated in a virtual professional development program. The study employed third space as a conceptual framework and the third generation of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT-3rd) as an analytical framework to uncover the teachers’ learning experiences. Findings from this study reveal the dynamic and complex process of becoming a trans-educator through transforming one’s professional identity and teaching practices. This study contributes to inclusive and responsive educational practices that reflect the complexities of globalized teaching and learning environments

Teacher Origin and Its Influence on Thai Students’ English Proficiency and Cross-Cultural Competence

This study addresses the underexplored dynamics among local Thai teachers, native English-speaking teachers (NESTs), and foreign non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in Thai English education. Conducted with 30 English majors at a southern Thai university, this phenomenological qualitative study used reflective essays and thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: Thai and NNESTs were preferred for grammar and accuracy and fostered student confidence, while NESTs were preferred for pronunciation and speaking skills. Additionally, exposure to diverse teachers enhanced cultural and communicative competence. Findings revealed the complexity of language learning experiences and unique contributions of each teacher type to student proficiency and satisfaction

Dialogic Foundations of the “4-trans” Framework: Towards a Comprehensive and Dynamic Understanding of Multilingual Teacher Education

 In this article, we develop the “4-trans” framework by reflecting on the way current multilingual teacher preparation scholarship has addressed translanguaging, transnationalism, transculturality, and transdisciplinarity either in compartmentalized or integrative manners. While current literature has addressed some “trans” intersections, we propose the enunciation of the “4-trans” as permeable and complementary principles in multilingual education that can serve to better examine the experiences and challenges of multilingual pre-service teachers. To amalgamate the “4-trans” to examine the development of multilingual pre-service teachers, this article describes the construction of a multidimensional framework based on a dialogic conception of social mediation, heteroglossia, and critical consciousness.

“Encontré Algo Mejor” / “I Found Something Better”: Trans- Perspectives and Raising Critical Consciousness with Secondary Bilingual/Multilingual STEM Teachers

This study presents findings from a professional development project that engaged secondary school in-service STEM teachers in transformative perspectives to make sense of theory, practice, and action in multilingual STEM classrooms. In particular, we examine how teachers engaged with translanguaging, transdisciplinarity, and transculturation in critical reflections and course discussions to promote critical consciousness. Findings reveal that trans- perspectives were interconnected and integral in promoting criticality and equity-minded STEM teaching in bilingual contexts. Teachers historicized personal experiences through translanguaged narratives; connected and integrated STEM language and content knowledge through transdisciplinary practices; and grappled with the role of culture in STEM learning through transcultural repositioning

Exploring the Enablers and Barriers of Developing Remote Cross-cultural Collaboration Between a Rwandan Primary School and a Welsh University

The study identifies key enablers and barriers to effective remote cross-cultural collaboration between Rwandan primary teachers and Welsh academics engaged in collaborative learning. Qualitative analysis of focus group data identified the role of shared interests, consistent communication, and cultural sensitivity in enabling successful collaborations and the potential of technology and logistics to create barriers. The study extends an established framework of first- and second-order barriers to include enabling influences, highlighting the important role of internal factors such as cultural perceptions and personal attitudes in remote cross-cultural collaborations, and providing new insights for educators and policymakers.

“It’s Our Job to Normalize It”: Incorporating a Translanguaging Pedagogy into Pre-Service Teacher Preparation

Children’s language practices are critical to identity and can be prioritized by incorporating a translanguaging lens into elementary classrooms. Such incorporation varies based on an educator’s awareness and skill set, making it essential for pre-service teachers (PSTs) to learn to create linguistically safe spaces. This article discusses activities PSTs engaged in to examine their language associations, consider how this impacted their chosen pedagogies, and explore the use of a translanguaging framework to push against harmful associations

Exploring the “4-trans” in Bi/Multilingual Teacher Education: Introduction to the Special Issue

In this introductory essay, the editors of the special issue on the 4-trans in bi/multilingual teacher education, highlight the contributions of one or more of the “4-trans” lenses—transnationalism, transculturalism, translanguaging, and transdisciplinarity—to explain, question, challenge, or propose new ways of understanding bi/multilingual teacher education. Eight articles that challenge monolithic perspectives of teacher education are presented

Rehearsing a Revolution: Boal’s Forum Theater as a “4 trans+” Approach to Bi/Multilingual Teacher Preparation and Development

In this paper, we, university instructors, explore the possibilities of Forum Theater and its potential significance for preparing future/practicing teachers to work with bi/multilingual populations. Inspired by a 4-trans+ approach, we use arts and community-based (ACB) pedagogies influenced by Arts Practice Research. Our analysis reveals the power of a 4-trans lens with the addition of transmediation to mitigate teacher learners’ fear and anxiety in working across difference, breaking down stereotypes, developing interculturality (including critical consciousness), and facilitating a sense of belonging and agency among participants

Translanguaging in Computer Programming: "¿Qué no es un cereal?"

Although there have been efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), few studies have focused on how Latine bilingual students in rural contexts can access computer programming. The purpose of this case study is to examine how translanguaging facilitates understanding among emergent bilingual students. The findings showed how translanguaging is more than translation, how students used their linguistic repertoire to negotiate meaning, and the use of language brokering as a pedagogical tool. Implications for translanguaging in STEM have the potential for a deep understanding of computer programming concepts