Educating Emergent Bilinguals: Policies, Programs, and Practices for Multilingual Learners

by Ofelia García, Jo Anne Kleifgen, Claudia Cervantes-Soon

In this updated edition, Ofelia Garcìa and Jo Anne Kleifgen are joined by Claudia Cervantes-Soon to bring forth a just vision for the education of language minoritized students in the United States. The authors use accessible language to introduce policies, programs, research, and practices to equitably educate these students. This widely used textbook has been expanded to explore the potential of translanguaging and the promises and pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence. It also addresses the harmful role that colonialism and raciolinguistic ideologies play, offering guidance for transforming policies and practices to improve the education of emergent bilinguals. Updated chapters consider the theoretical constructs, empirical evidence, and pedagogical practices related to the five most important aspects of the education of emergent bilinguals in K–12 language and literacy considerations; curriculum and pedagogy; family and community engagement; assessment; and digital technologies and learning. Readers will find innovative recommendations to help them imagine the possibilities and make changes that will transform education for some of the most disadvantaged students.

Book

Highlights the importance of leveraging all the linguistic and cultural practices of emergent bilinguals. Provides succinct descriptions of alternative practices for transforming our schools and students’ futures.Uncovers the deleterious effects of not only colonialism, but also capitalism, patriarchy, and racism. Considers the social cataclysms, including a global pandemic, that have affected minoritized communities, as well as teachers and students.Explores the development of new technologies that are altering the ways in which we educate children.

304 pages, Paperback

Published July 25, 2025

About the author

Ofelia García is Professor in the Ph.D. programs of Urban Education and of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Languages at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA. She is the Associate General Editor of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language.

Reviews

[Hunter Blakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books manages to pack so much useful information into such a “small” book (with it only occasionally feeling like it can afford to lose a few pages), while doing so in a logical manner that everything is able to flow off what came before and what is still to come. Unlike the previous textbook, this one dives into the history of how things came to be in a manner that we, as the reader, are better able to identify how effective change can be had to then address the solutions presented to us. I would be interested in learning more if this book didn’t give me a headache every time I had to read it.

My only major gripe with this book is that it likes to smell its own farts a little too much. Like, I get it, you can use big words. Congratulations! But you speak about navigating a world of emergent bilingualism, yet you make your words nigh comprehensible to someone who speaks English fluently. There has to be a cardinal sin somewhere in this.