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Call for Chapters: Edited book on Policy and Practice in Language Education for Adult Migrants

James Simpson (University of Leeds) and Anne Whiteside (City College of San Francisco) are seeking proposals for chapters for a new edited collection "XXX" (as yet, untitled), to be edited by themselves. The book is about policy and practice in language education for adult migrants in a range of countries around the world. It comprises 24 chapters, a substantial introduction by the editors and an afterword by a guest writer. The body of the book is divided into 12 parts, corresponding to 12 different countries covered. Each part has two chapters addressing – in turn – policy and an aspect of practice in adult migrant language education in those countries.

The editors invite chapter synopses from informed and knowledgeable writers, who will possibly (and likely in the case of many ‘practice’ chapters) be practitioners. They welcome jointly-authored work. Each of the 24 chapters will be a maximum 5000 words, including references. The 12 ‘policy’ chapters will each begin with a historical perspective, tracing the trajectory of migration and then of language education policy for adult migrants up to the present day. Each ‘policy’ chapter will then discuss current political and public debates on language learning for migrants. Next it will concern itself with contemporary issues, e.g. resistance by practitioners or students themselves to unwelcome language policies for adult migrants. Writers of ‘policy’ chapters are invited to look briefly to future directions which policy might take.

The 12 corresponding ‘practice’ chapters will likewise share distinctive characteristics. Through descriptions of empirical work or case studies of practice, these chapters will each focus on an innovative aspect of practice of clear relevance to the field of language learning and migration. Authors of each chapter are asked to situate the intervention they are describing within the appropriate policy context, explaining how their project or case study relates to the broader socio-political milieu. The aim is to cover a range of specific issues through in-depth investigations of teaching and learning contexts that address those very concerns. Hence these chapters will be relevant for a broad readership, not just those who are interested in practice in a particular country.

The concerns that these chapters will address might include:
Beginner L2 literacy for adult students with little or no foundational L1 literacy;
Participatory/critical/Freirean approaches to language pedagogy for adult migrants;
Creative ways of tackling constraints/limited possibilities, e.g. large classes;
Multilingual pedagogy in migrant language classes;
Language learning for young adult migrants (e.g. in secondary schools, perhaps in countries with no established adult language education programme);
Provision in community/voluntary/non-formal settings;
ICTs, particularly mobile technology, and language learning in migration contexts;
Language education in the workplace.

In terms of coverage, the book will provide a critical comparative overview of policy and practice in migrant language education globally: in English-dominant countries; in other countries in the global ‘centre’; and also in countries considered more ‘peripheral’ but which might also be today considered more ‘flourishing’. This will allow comparisons of the diverse responses to migration as it relates to language education, not only between countries where English is dominant but also with other countries with substantial populations of adult migrants who have a need to learn the dominant language of that country. To that end, the editors aim to include sections on four countries where English is the dominant language (i.e. ‘ESOL’ countries); four countries which do not have English as the dominant language but are nonetheless in the developed west; four more ‘peripheral’/non-G12 countries. The two ‘UK’ chapters are already covered.

Synopses of around 300 words are due by 30 October 2012. Please send these as an email attachment to the editors James Simpson j.e.b.simpson@education.leeds.ac.uk and Anne Whiteside awhitesi@ccsf.edu . Please feel free to contact James and Anne if you would like to discuss a proposal or if you would like further details. The selection of chapters will be agreed before the end of December. Writers will provide first draft chapters by July 2013 and final drafts by November 2013. Publication will be in late 2014.