This book explores young children's language acquisition in multilingual households through an original longitudinal study of the author's own children and interviews with members of other Korean-English families. The study investigates how multilingual children not only acquire multiple languages (verbal communication) but also acquire multiple strategies of non-verbal communication. In the process, it is also revealed that parents learn from children, collaboratively shaping the language of their family together in a manner that is between and beyond languages and cultures. The book explores the different types and frequency of non-verbal behaviours acquired by multilingual children and reveals how multilingual families use a range of multimodal resources to communicate effectively in a way that creates solidarity. The results of this longitudinal study are discussed within the paradigm of translanguaging and provide insight into an underrepresented multilingual population. With accompanying online videos, this book offers rich multimodal family interaction data for students and researchers interested in multilingualism, family language practices, and first and second language acquisition.

This book is a call to action for educators, policymakers and parents, combining practical strategies with research-based insights to support its readers in advocating for multilingual education. It will enable teachers to combine technological innovations and the linguistic resources of their communities to support and promote multilingualism.

This book presents research focused on young emergent bilingual children’s multimodal meaning-making processes in diverse cultural and linguistic settings. Chapters draw on a range of theoretical frameworks and expand on traditional notions of literacy, especially for students who are working to learn English as a new language. The insights into original research studies will help readers understand the many avenues that one can take as a practitioner in order to ensure that student assets are built upon to promote positive literate identities and learning experiences and, ultimately, to promote literacy success for diverse learners. Each chapter includes practical pedagogical recommendations and implications for teachers that can immediately be applied to classrooms, making the book an essential resource for using multiple modes to teach literacy with diverse student populations.

How do metaverse technologies change how we communicate with each other? This book explores how existing metaverse technologies affect our communication, both verbal and non-verbal, as well as the ramifications of these effects. Communication is central to the human experience, and how we currently communicate (and will communicate) can affect our sense of identity and relationships with others, which can have huge long term societal repercussions. Utilising methods of digital ethnography and linguistic landscape, this book takes an in-depth look at what exactly the metaverse is-or will be-and tracks the technological and societal trends that surround it. To do so, it questions what differentiates the metaverse from earlier connected virtual worlds like World of Warcraft or Second Life, and features extracts from interviews with the users and developers of current metaverses, such as Roblox, Minecraft, and Gather.town. It also investigates the impact of the pandemic in changing and accelerating how we communicate in virtual spaces.

The Language of Asian Gestures explores Asian gestures as a non-verbal language within the context of films and dramas. This book provides a cross-cultural Asian perspective on a range of important common gestures and their meanings, covering a range of Asian regions including Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Pakistan. While most studies focus on text-based communication, gestures find themselves overshadowed by text and speech. Asian gestures, too, often reside in the shadow of Eurocentric viewpoints. This book will shift this dynamic and amplify the voices that have typically been marginalised within 20th-century Eurocentric discussions. The book will be informative for students and researchers interested in Asian languages, cultures, film studies, and pragmatics. It bridges the gap between words and gestures, unveiling a world of concealed meanings and enriching our understanding of diverse forms of expression.

Intercultural couples (ICs) often face unique challenges that go unnoticed. This book delves into the experiences of 20 ICs living in Singapore and explores the complexity of their experiences through the lens of translanguaging. It shows how ICs mix language and culture in a borderless manner, not only between spouses but also with their wider families. Additionally, the authors examine the significance of technological advancements, which have transformed ICs' experiences over the past decade. In particular, parents-in-law pose a significant challenge for Asian-Western couples, as the relationship with them in Asia differs from that in the West. Each couple's unique shared culture and language transcends the borders of nation-states, requiring exchange, sharing, negotiation, and adaptation. This book provides an easy-to-read, holistic exploration of the issues faced by ICs, offering insight into overlooked aspects such as location, in-laws, and technology.

Affirming the Rights of Emergent Bilingual and Multilingual Children and Families explores how the philosophy, principles, and practices of the internationally acclaimed Municipal Preschools and Infant Toddler Centers of Reggio Emilia, Italy, advance the social justice and linguistic human rights of emergent bilingual and multilingual children and their families, particularly immigrants and refugees. The book is driven by the authors’ research-based discourse including an interview with Reggio Emilia educators and direct observations in the Preschools and Infant–toddler Centers in Italy. Chapters include survey and follow-up interviews, and classroom examples from U.S. early childhood educators inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach some of whom are in multilingual settings. Recommendations are included for practitioners who are intentional about advocating for the rights of emergent bi- and multilingual young children. Also included are the researchers’ interpretations and reflexive narratives on contextuality, intersectionality, and intertextuality, which interweave theories and practice. The insightful examinations of scholarly work and the critical review of the distinctive features of the Reggio Emilia philosophy contribute to an early childhood education transformative lens that challenges the status quo of inequities and foregrounds the linguistic and cultural rights of learners who speak different languages. The authors review research and theory that inform the latest developments in culturally and linguistically responsive practices in innovative early education (infant through pre-k), family participation, and teacher preparation and development. Of general interest to educators and researchers around the world who work to ensure the rights of emergent language learners, this is an essential text for upper-level and graduate students, early childhood educators, educational and community leaders, administrators, and researchers.