As material that projects linguistic and cultural knowledge to students, English Language learning textbooks shape students' learning in various educational contexts. However, many textbooks have been found to perpetuate Anglo-Western norms and beliefs; thus, they fail to represent local students' socio-cultural backgrounds. With this in mind, our…

The current study examined the cultural competence of participants (n = 447) beginning with their cultural knowledge as articulated through their definitions of diversity. The study employed a descriptive research enquiry using a survey design to gather data at a single point in time. Participants consisted of faculty, staff, and pre-service…

While kinesiology as a field and as an academic major has evolved and diversified considerably over the last several decades, the cultural and racial demographics of kinesiology majors has remained fairly similar to the demographic characteristics of the early 2000s and before. There is incongruence between the actual diversity of the American…

This two-cycle action research explores how Colombian students from rural and urban areas construct community knowledge by exploring funds of knowledge using dialogue journals. Thirty-three seventh graders from an urban school participated in the first phase and 19 sixth graders from a rural school and 18 eighth graders from an urban school in the…

This study examined preservice teachers' understanding of children's play in diverse cultures. Using digital photo essay methods, a total of 37 early childhood preservice teachers in Myanmar, Korea, and the U.S. engaged in a critical discussion on children's play in diverse cultures. The findings suggested that the participants typically showed…

Many American social work education programs now offer study abroad components, which provide significant advantages to students, including cross-cultural exposure, personal and professional development, and preparation for a globalizing profession. However, multiple ethical challenges are presented when North American (often White) students…

Imperatives to eliminate racial inequalities in higher education (HE) have led to calls for diversification of curricula. Qualitative evidence is growing about racially minoritised students' perceptions of their curricula and its impact on them. Yet there are no specific instruments to facilitate evaluation of curricular diversification and its…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of using structured reflection via the critical incident analysis method to develop multicultural awareness and intercultural empathy in undergraduate-level pre-service teachers. This research is important, given the striking demographic mismatch between students and teachers in US…

Ethnic stereotype is a culture-determined portrayal of a society, culture or a nation. A comprehensive worldview of an ethnic group tends to form stereotypes, and its analysis makes it possible to identify an ethnic group's cultural identity and characteristics. This study examined ethnic stereotypes in humorous discourse as portrayed in jokes of…

This work focuses on developing a framework that augments culturally relevant pedagogy within teacher education and tries to better understand and account for the meaning-making processes (multiliteracies) that preservice teachers engage with during their teacher preparation programs. The goal for such a framework is to provide more support for…

Research suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the need for mental health support, with an alarming increase in the number of adolescents reporting that their mental health has worsened during this period (Rodriguez, 2022). Well before the pandemic, substantial evidence indicated that young people were facing a rising tide of…

Teachers across the United States are responding to an increasingly diverse classroom environment. Problems unfold where teachers face challenges in adapting curriculum to diverse learners. Historically, most research has focused on the voices of teachers in urban classrooms, however; the voices of teachers in rural classrooms with indigenous…

This study investigates to what extent a language learners-as-ethnographers (LAE) approach utilizing social media helped English language learners (ELLs) become fuller participants in a face-to-face target language community. The pedagogical design of this LAE project was based on bridging activities and legitimate peripheral participation in…

This study examined interactional sequences in which students initiated storytelling in classroom interactions. The data consisted of 13 stories initiated by students in intermediate and advanced Persian language classes at two North American Universities. The study drew on conversation analysis in combination with membership categorization…

In recent (socio)linguistic research there is a growing awareness that rural, small-scale multilingualism as the most widespread communicative setting across the globe. Yet, literacy programmes accepting and incorporating this diversity are non-existent. LILIEMA is a unique educational programme currently based in Senegal that addresses the need…