This volume focuses on multidisciplinary approaches to multilingualism, multiculturalism and language teaching and learning at (pre)primary, secondary and tertiary levels. It addresses both top-down and bottom-up perspectives on language education policies, teacher training and preparation. The book explores the needs and challenges related to education in multilingual classrooms, the relationship between parents and educators, and linguistic and cultural diversity in classrooms. It draws on the findings of research that has been conducted worldwide including in Cyprus, USA, UK, Scotland, Spain, France, Sri Lanka, Slovenia, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Sweden, Greece, and Italy. This book is ideal for students of (applied) linguistics, (socio)linguistics, psycholinguistics, language acquisition and education, as well as practitioners, teachers, parents, experts and researchers wishing to update their knowledge regarding multilingualism, multiculturalism, language learning, and teaching.
Dr Sviatlana Karpava is Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics/ Multilingualism and Coordinator of the MA in TESOL programme at the Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus. Dr Karpava is Co-Director of the Discourse, Context and Society (DISCONSO) Lab and the Testing, Teaching and Translation Lab, Chair of Cyprus Teachers of English Association (CyTEA), active member and research collaborator of the Cyprus Linguistic Society (CyLing), the Diversity, Equality and Inclusivity Office (UCY), Cyprus Acquisition Team (CAT) and Harmonious Bilingualism Network (HaBilnet). She is an associate editor and style editor of the MEXTESOL Journal. She is a Management Committee Member and WG5 Co-Leader of the "European Family Support Network Cost Action. A bottom-up, evidence-based and multidisciplinary approach" (2019-2023), which received COST Innovators Grant (CIG): IG18123: A quality assurance implementation protocol for family support services in Europe. An evidence-based and culturally informed model for professional practice (2023-2024). Dr Karpava is MC member of COST Action CA21114 - CLIL Network for Languages in Education: Towards bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies (CLILNetLE) (2022-2026) and WG member of the COST Action CA21143 - Transnational Family Dynamics in Europe (TraFaDy) (2022-2026). Dr Karpava is the author of the book: Vulnerable Domains for Cross-Linguistic Influence in L2 Acquisition of Greek (Peter Lang, 2015) and the editor of several volumes, among which are Family and School Involvement in Multilingual Education and Heritage Language Development and Multilingualism and Multiculturalism: Language Teaching and Learning (BRILL, 2024). She has presented her research at numerous international conferences and published her research work in various peer-reviewed journals. Her area of research is applied linguistics, second/third language acquisition, bilingualism, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, teaching, and education.