Introduction: The Dominant Language Constellations: A New Perspective on Multilingualism

Abstract

This volume is devoted to examination of contemporary sociolinguistic practices from the perspective of Dominant Language Constellations (DLC). It is the first collection of studies guided by the DLC approach featuring contributors with expertise in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, language policy and education. The authors of the volume introduce a variety of applications and interpretations of the DLC model leading to important insights. In this sense the volume breaks new ground by subjecting the DLC model to scrutiny from a wide variety pf perspectives. However, there is another sense in which we hope the volume is pioneering as well. This refers to a shift in general multilingualism studies which have been proliferating in recent years, so much so that in 2014 Stephen May described it as ‘the topic du jour’ (May 2014, p. 1), to the more targeted and specific conception inherent in the DLC concept. We welcome the vibrant interest in multilingualism research, and the rich array of perspectives brought to bear on its analysis and description. Particularly powerful has been the concept and applications of translanguaging (García and Wei 2014), unsettling established ways to perceive and practice education in our globalized world, and for researchers of multilingualism and bilingualism, especially in education environments, a stimulus to reimagine who learners are, what they do when they learn, and how we should teach them as a result. In repudiating the normalized ideological stances of past decades this work has been of major significance.