Bishop's University researcher co-edits new international volume on language and classroom equity

SHERBROOKE, QC, June 5, 2026 /CNW/ - Every classroom in Canada is already multilingual. A new Bloomsbury column co-edited by Dr. Sunny Man Chu Lau, Full Professor in the School of Education at Bishop's University, makes the case that it's time to address this need. The volume draws on translanguaging research and practice from scholars across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. 

Dr. Sunny Lau

Translanguaging in Action in English-Medium Classrooms: A Resource Book for Teachers, co-edited with Rutgers University (Newark) Associate Professor Zhongfeng Tian, draws on contributions from scholars across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas to offer both conceptual grounding and practical tools for educators working with linguistically diverse students. The book arrives amid growing international discussion about how schools respond to increasingly multilingual classrooms and widening student diversity. The volume is now available. 

"Every classroom is already multilingual -- the question is whether we take action to meet the need," said Dr. Sunny Man Chu Lau, Canada Research Chair in Integrated Plurilingual Teaching and Learning. "This volume brings together educators and researchers from across the world who are answering that question in practice. "The teaching approaches and strategies offered in the book are informed by research and have been applied in real classroom settings".  

Dr. Lau contributes two chapters to the volume. The first, co-authored with a researcher from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil, examines how translanguaging can support critical literacy through a decolonizing lens. The second, co-authored with a pedagogical consultant from the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq School Board in northern Quebec, presents a critical intercultural model to deepen language learning by drawing on learners' home language and knowledge systems. 

"This book addresses the reality of the classrooms in which our teachers work every day", said Dr. Julie Desjardins, Dean of the School of Education. "Students come to class with languages, literacies, and forms of knowledge that have more often been viewed as challenges to be overcome rather than opportunities to be leveraged. Dr. Lau's work, and this volume, reframes that entirely. It's a resource that will matter in classrooms well beyond our own."  

Dr. Lau holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Integrated Plurilingual Teaching and Learning at Bishop's University, where her research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) examines collaboration between English and French teachers across languages and disciplines. She served as co-editor and is now a board member of Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. She is also Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University and in the Department of English Language Education at The Education University of Hong Kong 

ABOUT BISHOP'S UNIVERSITY 

Founded in 1843 and located on the traditional territory of the Abenaki people (W8banakiak wdakiw8k), Bishop's University is an English-language institution in the Eastern Townships of Québec – one of Canada's most distinctive academic settings where studying in English while in French-speaking Canada is part of the education itself. Our 550-acre campus is home to a highly engaged community where students are challenged to grow beyond what they already know academically, personally, and experientially. 

Research and creativity are central to Bishop's University's mission. We empower our faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students to contribute research, scholarly inquiry, innovation, and knowledge creation across diverse fields of study. Our researchers generate new knowledge with direct relevance to communities, partners, and end users, driven by collaboration and interdisciplinary exchange.  Our researchers generate new knowledge driven by collaboration and interdisciplinary exchange that has direct relevance and measurable impact for communities, partners, and end users. Our students participate at every stage, from the first lines of inquiry to publishing in peer-reviewed journals. 

Bishop's is home to five Canada Research Chairs, a Jarislowsky Chair, and robust external research funding, anchored by a research culture that pairs rigorous inquiry with close faculty-student mentorship. Innovative and impactful research takes place across Business, Education, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social Sciences. Graduate offerings include a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (PsyD), Master's programs in Physics, Computer Science, and Education, as well as an Individualized Master's program supporting interdisciplinary research. 

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