Multilingual Pedagogies and Inclusive Practices in Language Teaching and Learning

Date: 01-Nov-2025 - 02-Nov-2025
Location: Nicosia, Cyprus
Meeting URL: https://cytea.webnode.page/conferences2/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics

Submission Deadline: 01-Jun-2025

Due to global migration, multilingualism, linguistic and cultural diversity have become the norm (Cenoz and Gorter 2015). For this reason, it is important to incorporate a critical language awareness component and emphasize inclusive education and social justice in teacher training programs, ensuring a link between theory and practice (Young 2014; Gorter and Arocena 2020). Inclusive teaching, grounded in the principles of diversity, equity, and equality, emphasizes collective responsibility and is enriched by the diverse backgrounds, experiences, learning needs, and preferences of students. By employing accessible delivery methods, it fosters a sense of community in the classroom and enhances opportunities for student collaboration (Florian 2014), leading to improved academic progress and achievement, particularly for students with special educational needs (Florian and Spratt 2013; Ní Bhroin 2017).

According to Marshall and Moore (2018), and dela Cruz (2023), the theoretical-pedagogical framework of plurilingualism underpins an action-oriented approach to language teaching, learning and assessment. This framework advocates that teachers should encourage students to use the languages in their repertoire flexibly and creatively for both communicative and educational purposes (Cenoz and Gorter 2013; Piccardo 2017). Researchers and practitioners have proposed various plurilingual strategies, including translation for mediation (e.g., Galante 2021), cross-linguistic comparisons (Auger 2008), translanguaging for meaning-making (Cenoz 2017), and cross-cultural comparisons (e.g., Byram 2020).

Teachers have varying perceptions of multilingual pedagogy across different contexts, which can range from rejection to active engagement (French 2019; Do and Nguyen 2023). Limited language proficiency and insufficient multicultural competence can serve as barriers to implementing linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy. This approach considers "what to teach, why to teach, how to teach, and to whom to teach with respect to ethnic, racial, cultural, and social diversity" (Gay 2015: 124-125). Culturally responsive teaching is affected by teachers' beliefs about their students' ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity, as well as their perceptions of students' ability to acquire academic knowledge and skills (Young 2010; Gay 2015). Further research is necessary to explore the integration of evidence-based and action-oriented multilingual pedagogies and inclusive practices in English language teaching (McAndrews and Thomson 2017; Galante and Piccardo 2021). Our conference aims to bring together language educators, applied linguists, and language teachers and practitioners to exchange information, experiences, and research results on multilingualism, multiculturalism, inclusive education, diversity, equity and equality in language classrooms.

Scientific Committee:
Prof. Siv Björklund, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
Prof. Veronika Makarova, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Prof. Anna Krulatz, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Prof. Joanna Rokita-Jaśkow, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Poland
Prof. Marina Tzakosta, University of Crete, Greece
Prof. Anastassia Zabrodskaja, Tallinn University, Estonia
Prof. Ekaterina Protassova, University of Helsinki, Finland
Prof. Georgios Neokleous, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Prof. Silvia Melo-Pfeifer, University of Hamburg, Germany
Prof. Pilar Safont, Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, Spain
Prof Agnieszka Otwinowska-Kasztelanic, University of Warsaw, Poland
Prof. Nicos Sifakis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Dr Christina Gkonou, University of Essex, UK
Dr Natalia Ringblom, Umeå University, Sweden
Dr Letizia Cinganotto, University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy
Dr Anastasia N. Sorokina, Southern Connecticut State University
Dr Craig Neville, University College Cork, Ireland
Dr Maria Nayr de Pinho Correia Ibrahim, Nord University, Norway

Venue:
European University Cyprus (EUC), Nicosia
https://euc.ac.cy/en/

Abstracts for presentations will be accepted until the 1st of June, 2025. Presentations will last 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion. The abstracts have to be submitted by email: [email protected]

Abstracts up to 300 words must be written in English (excluding references, graphs and tables) and must be anonymized to exclude any identifiable information. Authors may submit a total of two abstracts, one individual and one joint.

Website: https://cytea.webnode.page/

Abstract submission deadline: 1st of June, 2025

Notification of acceptance: 15 July, 2025

Conference: 1-2 November, 2025