[BY INVITATION ONLY] SPECIAL ISSUE xvi NOV-2026 "The learning languages and their cultures from a translinguistic perspective. Towards inclusion and a culture of peace"

2025-04-24

Special Issue

The learning languages and their cultures from a translinguistic perspective. Towards inclusion and a culture of peace

Guest Editors: Eduardo Encabo Fernández, University of Murcia & José Rovira Collado, University of Alicante

The 2030 Agenda contains concrete goals aimed at improving citizens' lives. Among these objectives, some contribute directly to fostering a culture of peace and educating people in that direction. Research into how attitudes are influenced and changed in human thinking inevitably leads us to the topic of language. Learning languages—both by improving one’s mother tongue and by acquiring additional languages in various contexts—broadens our perception of reality. Consequently, it enhances our ability to understand and learn from other realities, whose ideas are encoded in different languages.

The translanguaging perspective, rooted in a communicative approach to the teaching and learning of any language, advocates for the use of learners' full linguistic repertoires across different languages to create their own resources and to interact with the surrounding reality. The use of multiple languages in an educational sequence does not hinder access to knowledge or the development of communicative competence. On the contrary, strategically incorporating linguistic elements from various languages and applying them to educational and social needs represents a dynamic process that can occur in classrooms at any educational level.

Likewise, learning situations—as the pedagogical core of the latest education reform with a clear competency-based focus—can be designed from a combined language approach. This is especially evident in literary education, where cultural and aesthetic aspects can be mediated through various languages in which stories are available. It is also possible to explore the same topics through stories from different languages and cultures, and through diverse communication modes or media. This cultural and linguistic exposure fosters an attitude free from prejudice among students and promotes a culture of peace-building and conflict resolution.

 

References

Azevedo, J., & Sartor, A. (2021). Reflexiones y estrategias de enseñanza basadas en el translenguaje para la docencia de la lengua de herencia. Linguasagem, 39(1), 162-180. https://www.linguasagem.ufscar.br/index.php/linguasagem/article/view/1344

Cenoz, J. (2022). Hacia una perspectiva holística en el aprendizaje del inglés en contextos educativos: el enfoque plurilingüe y “translanguaging”. Revista Iberoamericana De Educación, 90(1), 191–205. https://doi.org/10.35362/rie9015307

Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2015). Multilingual education: Between language learning and translanguaging. Cambridge University Press.

Chen, X., Zhao, K., & Dang, Q. (2023). Translenguaje en un curso AICLE de francés-medio: Una investigación de acción sobre la preparación del curso de un profesor principiante. Porta Linguarum Revista Interuniversitaria De Didáctica De Las Lenguas Extranjeras, (VIII), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.viVIII.29213

Couto-Cantero, P., & Fraga-Castrillón, N. (2023). El uso del translanguaging y el enfoque CLIL en educación primaria. Porta Linguarum Revista Interuniversitaria De Didáctica De Las Lenguas Extranjeras, (39), 281–298. https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi39.24492

García, O. (2009). Education, Multilingualism and Translanguaging in the 21st Century. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas, R. Phillipson, A. K. Mohanty, & M. Panda (Eds.). Social Justice through Multilingual Education (pp. 140-158). Multilingual Matters.

García, O., & Kleyn, T. (2016) (Eds.). Translanguaging with multilingual students: Learning from classroom moments. Routledge.

García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan.

Rivera-Hernández, A., & Garza-Rodríguez, M. (2022). El uso de translenguaje en una clase de español como lengua extranjera. DiVA Portal. Recuperado de https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A1767949/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Wei, L. (2018). Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics, 39(1), 9-30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039

 

Instructions

We invite submissions of papers that present the results of relevant studies, which may be applicable to various contexts focused on language learning and its cultures from a translanguaging perspective. Likewise, we welcome studies that report on research derived from teaching experiences related to language learning in general and to the proposed topic in particular. Other types of systematic research that make a significant contribution to the development of the central theme of the monographic issue are also encouraged.

Important Dates
(Dates may be subject to change based on the journal's editorial recommendations)

  • Call for abstracts: June 15, 2025 (up to 200 words, according to journal guidelines)

  • Call announcement: April 2025

  • Abstract submission deadline: June 15, 2025

  • Notification of interest from the journal: July 20, 2025

  • Full paper submission deadline: January 31, 2026

  • Review decision: April 15, 2026

  • Final version submission: May 31, 2026

  • Publication date: End of 2026 (depending on the journal)