Brian Seilstad – författare

This book examines what ‘researching multilingually’ means in practice and theory. It is multinational and transnational in scope, including the voices of both experienced and emerging scholars who reflect on the process of conducting, analyzing and reporting multilingual research in various settings. Together the chapters address issues including theorizing multilingualism and collaborative research with multilingual scholars and research participants; navigating insider or outsider positioning with research participants; making and accepting language choices among researchers and participants during research; translating and interpreting multilingual data; and confronting policy challenges of multilingual research design and reporting in English-dominant contexts. The book ties these processes to existing theories of multilingualism in research and proposes new ways of understanding best practices while also wrestling with challenges and at times ‘failures’ in the research process.

This book examines what ‘researching multilingually’ means in practice and theory. It is multinational and transnational in scope, including the voices of both experienced and emerging scholars who reflect on the process of conducting, analyzing and reporting multilingual research in various settings. Together the chapters address issues including theorizing multilingualism and collaborative research with multilingual scholars and research participants; navigating insider or outsider positioning with research participants; making and accepting language choices among researchers and participants during research; translating and interpreting multilingual data; and confronting policy challenges of multilingual research design and reporting in English-dominant contexts. The book ties these processes to existing theories of multilingualism in research and proposes new ways of understanding best practices while also wrestling with challenges and at times ‘failures’ in the research process.

This book juxtaposes superdiversity with the reality of English-centricity in the United States, set against the long-standing challenges regarding migration and language policy in the US, most recently underlined by Donald Trump’s 2016 election win and subsequent aggressive and partially successful attempts to limit migration. The book explores the history, policies, and practices of an adolescent newcomer program in Central Ohio, in the US Midwest, that seeks to provide an equitable and engaging education to its students. It addresses, on the one hand, positive, progressive institutional responses, including an embrace of translanguaging and a willingness to acknowledge and build on students’ languacultural backgrounds. On the other hand, the book explores the effects of inconsistent, inefficient and sometimes nonsensical patterns in these responses. The book analyzes student outcomes and argues that, although some students are well-served by the program, tensions in the program lead to uneven, and even troubling, behavior and results, ranging from poor academic performance to dropping out. Finally, the book addresses ongoing evolutions and debates to the program and their potential to realize the program''s aspirations.