Bi-/multilingual Education Research Around the World: Advances in the International and Comparative Dialogue. Introduction to the Special Issue

A pesquisa em educação bi-/multilíngue no mundo: Avanços no diálogo internacional e comparado

Authors

  • Dr. Cristian Aquino-Sterling Texas Tech University
  • Dr. Antonieta Megale Universidade Federal de São Paulo
  • Dr. María Luisa Pérez Cañado Universidad de Jaén

Abstract

Bi-/multilingual education continues to build momentum across the globe, yet if we are to create the necessary conditions for systematically internationalizing the field, it is essential we continue to foster sustained scholarly collaboration and dialogue across cultural, linguistic, and national contexts—especially between Global North and Global South epistemological and geographical landscapes (Makoni & Pennycook, 2024; Tupan & García, in press). In bringing this international special issue of The Bilingual Review/La revista bilingüe to fruition—comprised of contributions representing seven national contexts, namely, Brazil, China, Italy, the Philippines, Türkiye, Spain, and the United States, as well as a multinational literature review on elite bi-/multilingual education—it is our intention to contribute meaningfully to the realization of such a timely and important goal.

Author Biographies

Dr. Cristian Aquino-Sterling, Texas Tech University

Cristian R. Aquino-Sterling is an Associate Professor of Bi-/Multilingual Education at Texas Tech University, where he also coordinates the Language Diversity and Literacy Studies (LDLS) doctoral program. He holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Arizona State University), an M.A. in Spanish Literatures and Cultural Studies (Columbia University), and a B.A. in Philosophy (Fordham University). His recently expanded line of research focuses on philosophical and international-comparative dimensions of bi-/multilingual education research, with particular emphasis on bilingual teacher education. He is lead co-editor of Curricular and Pedagogical Innovations in Bilingual Teacher Education: Bridging the Distance with School Contexts (Information Age Publishing, 2022). Aquino-Sterling is founder and director of the International and Comparative Bi-/Multilingual Education Research Group (www.icberg.org). Aquino-Sterling serves as Chair of the AERA Bilingual Education Research Special Interest Group (2025-2026).

Dr. Antonieta Megale, Universidade Federal de São Paulo

Antonieta Megale holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), including a research internship at Viadrina University in Germany. She also holds a master’s degree in applied Linguistics from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP), a degree in Pedagogy, and a degree in Social Communication. She completed her postdoctoral studies at PUC-SP, focusing on bilingual and multilingual education from a critical and decolonial perspective. She is a professor at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and the Academic Director of Maple Bear Brazil, a leading network of bilingual schools. She specializes in bilingual and multilingual education, teacher education, interculturality, translanguaging, and critical applied linguistics. Her work integrates academic research with educational practice, with a strong focus on linguistic justice, decolonial theory, and inclusive pedagogies. Megale is co-founder and co-director of the International and Comparative Bi-/multilingual Education Research Group (www.icberg.org).

Dr. María Luisa Pérez Cañado, Universidad de Jaén

María Luisa Pérez Cañado is Full Professor at the Department of English Philology of the University of Jaén, Spain, where she is also WP leader for plurilingual and intercultural education within the European University Alliance NEOLAiA. She is Principal Investigator of the Research Group HUM1040, and her research interests are in Applied Linguistics, bilingual education, and new technologies in language teaching. Her work has appeared in 130 scholarly journals and edited volumes published by Elsevier, Peter Lang, Cambridge University Press, Multilingual Matters, Wiley-Blackwell, Routledge, DeGruyter, or Springer, among others. She is also author or editor of 11 books on the interface of second language acquisition and second language teaching, and editor or member of the editorial board of 24 international journals. María Luisa has given over 200 lectures and talks in Belgium, Poland, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, England, México, Brazil, Perú, The United States, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Australia, and all over Spain. She is currently coordinating the first intercollegiate MA degree on bilingual education and CLIL in Spain and has been or is Principal Investigator of 15 European, national, and regional projects on language teaching methodologies and CLIL. She has also been granted the Ben Massey Award for the quality of her scholarly contributions regarding issues that make a difference in higher education and four awards for pedagogical innovation and best teaching practices (2010, 2020, 2022, and 2023). She has equally been a finalist in the Premios Educa Abanca a Mejor Docente de España and is included in the Top 2% of the world’s most cited scientists according to the Ranking of World Scientists drawn up by Stanford University (2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024). Pérez Cañado is co-founder and co-director of the International and Comparative Bi-/Multilingual Education Research Group (www.icberg.org).

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Published

2025-09-15

How to Cite

Aquino-Sterling, D. C., Megale, D. A., & Pérez Cañado, D. M. L. (2025). Bi-/multilingual Education Research Around the World: Advances in the International and Comparative Dialogue. Introduction to the Special Issue : A pesquisa em educação bi-/multilíngue no mundo: Avanços no diálogo internacional e comparado. Bilingual Review Revista Bilingüe , 37(2), 1–17. Retrieved from https://bilingualreviewjournal.org/index.php/br/article/view/603

Issue

Vol. 37 No. 2 (2025): Bi-/multilingual Education Around the World: Advances in the International and Comparative Dialogue

Section

Editor's Note/Carta del Editor