International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

To provide experimental evidence on the effectiveness of an ethnomathematics education program, in this article we evaluate the impact of JADENKÄ, an intercultural bilingual program designed to increase the mathematical and ethnomathematical skills of Ngäbe preschoolers, within the comarca Ngäbe-Buglé in Panama. Our results indicate positive effects of the program on the mathematical and ethnomathematical skills of students. The magnitude of the impact on mathematics (0.12-0.18 SD) is comparable to other intercultural bilingual education preschool programs in low-and middle-income countries. In ethnomathematics, the impact is around 0.23 SD. Additionally, and consistently with other studies, we find that JADENKÄ has a positive effect on the cultural identity of students. Second, results suggest that the effect of the program in ethnomathematics is higher for students who speak Ngäbere and for those whose teacher identifies as Ngäbe. Finally, the program increased teachers' ethnomathematical skills and knowledge of the Ngäbere language and culture. So, contrary to the position taken by some critics of ethnomathematics education, our findings indicate that a well-designed ethnomathematics program can reduce the indigenous achievement gap without putting students in a dilemma between their academic learning and their identity, culture, and language. ARTICLE HISTORY

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There is growing recognition that study abroad is seen as a resource for shaping neoliberal subjects who possess the skills to join a mobile, globalised workforce. While existing research has explored the advantages study abroad offers sojourners in their careers, less attention has been accorded to how individuals experience return contexts in light of these social imaginaries of study abroad. This paper utilises theories of scale and positioning to examine the return experiences of 12 Japanese high-school students who spent a year abroad in various locations. Through qualitative analysis of interviews conducted a year after their return, our findings illustrate how the linguistic resources acquired by the informants abroad were marginalised within the local scale of the return classroom, particularly in languages other than English. Further, the results show how upon return, the informants struggled to occupy legitimate Japanese identities and were instead positioned as outsiders. We therefore argue that the tensions between globalising imaginaries of study abroad and local imaginaries of identity create a disjuncture, with ramifications for sojourners' desire and ability to maintain multilingual repertoires cultivated abroad. This has implications for both individuals who elect to study abroad and for wider policy aims to develop globally competent workers. ARTICLE HISTORY

Although there have been numerous recent translanguaging studies, less research ventured into a more critical uptake of translanguaging beyond descriptive framing. This exploratory multiple-case study investigated the (trans)language(ing) practices of Chinese international students at a predominantly White university in the US. Participants transcended the boundaries between dominant languages, dialects, and modal systems, gaining the benefits of translanguaging for pedagogy, multimodal expression, and communication within and outside the educational settings. The dynamic blending of Mandarin and Chinese dialects indicates that translanguaging holds relevance to not just marginalized bi/multilinguals but also ‘monolinguals’ whose translanguaging includes dialects and non-dominant language variety. The challenges that led participants not to do translanguaging as well as their perceptions of (not) doing translanguaging echo the call for celebrating translanguaging with caution. Translanguaging advocates for the linguistic rights of linguistically minoritized and racialized communities. It is also argued that an intersectional lens is necessary to examine the workings of power enmeshed in (trans)language(ing).

Mandarin-English dual language immersion (ME-DLI) programs have been growing rapidly in recent decades. Most dual language immersion programs are not mandated by the school or district but are initiated based on parents' demands. To better understand the need for ME-DLI programs, this study explored factors associated with ethnic Chinese parents' decisions to enroll their children in ME-DLI programs. We collected 235 parents' survey responses. Participants were divided into six groups based on their enrollment status when ME-DLI programs were available (currently enrolled; currently enrolled in other Mandarin language programs; not currently enrolled) and willingness to enroll when unavailable (willing to enroll; may be willing to enroll; not willing to enroll). Results revealed that parents with positive attitudes toward bilingualism were more likely to enroll or willing to enroll in ME-DLI programs, suggesting a strong connection between parents' attitudes and their enrollment decisions. Parents in the currently enrolled group also reported higher levels of English reading frequency and more advanced bilingual skills in their children than the not currently enrolled group. However, when ME-DLI programs were unavailable, parents who reported higher child engagement in English reading were less willing to enroll in ME-DLI programs. ARTICLE HISTORY

Do learners who have mastered two gender systems prior to learning a third have an advantage in gender processing over those who have mastered only one gender system? To address this question, we recruited two groups of adult Polish learners of L3/Ln Swedish with and without prior knowledge of German. They completed a self-paced reading task in Swedish that involved two types of gender marking: the indefinite article, which is realised similarly in Swedish and German, and the definite suffix, which is uniquely present in Swedish. We found that while both groups were sensitive to gender agreement violations involving the indefinite article, only learners with knowledge of German showed sensitivity to gender agreement violations involving the definite suffix. Therefore, knowledge of non-native German conferred an advantage for the processing of dissimilar rather than similar gender marking. We interpret these findings in light of morphological transfer from German that consists in the employment of the existing morphemes and assigning them new grammatical functions. More broadly, the study indicates that the gender system in a non-native language rather than the native language, might be more helpful for the acquisition of a new type of gender marking in L3/Ln.

Previous studies have described diaspora members as linguistically stable subjects on whom bounded linguistic or ethnic categories are imposed, yet more recent research tends to view transnational identity as fluid and situational. This study investigates how adolescents with advanced Chinese and English proficiency living across China and the United States perceive their language and identity under conditions of constant mobility. Drawn from a two-year ethnographic project on Chinese diasporic families, the present study adopted phenomenography as the methodological approach and collected data through interviews and participant observations with 18 transnational adolescents living in the US. The findings reveal the adolescents’ perspectives on transnational identity as a situated construct that entails one’s sense of location, nationality, ethnicity, culture, kinship, language and pursuit of personal meaning. These many facets of identity are not mutually exclusive but closely interrelated, and these adolescents can access a rich identity repertoire through strategic bilingual/multilingual practices. These findings suggest the fluidity and complexity of transnational identity and illustrate the analytical efficacy of phenomenography. Crucially, through this way of identity performance these bi/multilinguals are able to break the hyphenated entitlement (e.g. ‘Chinese-American’) that may have suppressed their self-recognition and embrace a fascinating world with unprecedented possibilities.