Language in epistemic access: mobilising multilingualism and literacy development for more equitable education in South Africa

Abstract

This article is the guest editors’ introduction to the special issue ‘Language in Epistemic Access: Mobilising Multilingualism and Literacy Development for More Equitable Education in South Africa’. The issue offers complementary perspectives on improving epistemic access for all learners but especially those whose home language does not match the language of learning. Plüddemann examines the complex configurations of ideological and structural factors in South African language policy processes and the diverse positions taken up by teachers in response. Makalela argues that a methodology that encourages translanguaging can overcome historical separations between groups and promote transformative pedagogies. Probyn points to the importance of principled ‘pedagogical translanguaging’ in the mediation of secondary school science knowledge. Kerfoot and Van Heerden illustrate the substantial benefits of Systemic Functional Linguistic genre-based pedagogies for second or additional language writing in the middle years. White, Mammone and Caldwell in Australia offer evidence that similar benefits were maintained over six years for learners who faced both socio-economic and linguistic disadvantage in schools. Finally, Cummins and Heugh offer expansive perspectives on the issue. The editors argue that dynamic plurilingual pedagogies can be allied with the explicit scaffolding of genre-based pedagogies to help redress asymmetries in epistemic access.

Keywords:

• epistemic access
• second language education
• multilingualism
• translanguaging
• language policy
• second language writing
• literacy

Acknowledgements

The authors are immensely grateful to Jim Cummins, Kathleen Heugh, the authors and the many reviewers for their contributions to this special issue. We also thank Ofelia García and Jim Cummins for their participation as discussants at the symposium in International Conference on Urban Multilingualism and Education, Ghent, 7–8 March 2013, on which this special issue is based. Thanks are also due to the editor, Viv Edwards, for her encouragement, as well as Jonna Gilbert, editorial administrator, and the Production Team of Language and Education for bringing the issue to fruition.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.