Heading South, Unmuting Multilingualisms: A Commentary on “Midadolescents’ Language Learning at School: Toward More Just and Scientifically Rigorous Practices in Research and Education”

The central thesis of Uccelli's target article is a dire need to identify the causes inequalities in literacy and language education from fourth grade, which pedagogies best eliminate them. quest for empirical, pedagogical, theoretical insights counter injustice, give voice rather than silence students, urgent welcome. Effective redress structural associated with formal education, however, cannot occur through universalist worldview embedded northern episteme one language, English. It time turn learn societies that hold pluriversal worldviews, predominantly beyond Euro-North. My concern this commentary mostly students who live highly multilingual low-income countries South. also those migrate high-income, less where challenges diversity increase resolve. I argue linguists teachers understand relationships among cognition development bilingual/multilingual capability literacy; plural ways knowing, believing, being; knowledge exchange production. These are invisibilized northern-facing curriculum, pedagogy assessment regime, texts published only English reflect epistemological, ontological, or cosmological nuances pluralities expressed 7,000 more communities world, nor do its include extensive produced Yet, there much be learned expertise secular faith-based bilingual languages scripts neither Latin. Scholars currently enjoying privileged access academic publishing opportunities (in English), elevated citation counts, generous research grants afford ignore studies multilingualisms Africa South Asia longer. Yes, space horizontal practices translanguaging scholarship seems have discovered recently to-ing fro-ing between languages, especially spoken discourse, familiar all peoples, included familiarly known codemixing, codeswitching. However, some 2,000 years formalized clerical scholarly teaching India show pedagogical value written translation clearly identified marked. This has been evident last 120 on formal, informal, nonformal schooling these settings (Alidou et al., 2006; Heugh, 2023; Mohanty, 2018). To achieve equality further career opportunities, vertical both their most well-known used purposes wider (national international) communication (Heugh, 2021). Moreover, if we serious about equality, attend voices agency parents, globally. Most experience systemic marginalization acutely aware how artifice technologies linguistic exclusion work. They already now ironically being acquired by academics. What they desire require same high-level enjoy. know instrumental key opens doors exclusion. means differentiation precision (e.g., scientific, legal, safety, security, international signed, purposes). can achieved purposeful, systematic use (central translanguaging), together voices. globally 2011, Monolingual Anglosphere risk left behind as center shifts Euro-North toward So, sooner educators return additional programs strong professional outcomes, swiftly parochial concerns redirected secure students’ futures rapidly changing world. Uccelli right, field needs voices, not silence. Educators address gaps many particularly obliged second third dialect. gaps, acute postcolonial countries. moving silencing (Ouane & Glanz, 2010; 2018; 2023). Unashamedly, priority includes (a) horizontal, convivial, bridge mediate information flows across (b) signed interpreting high levels proficiency (whether calls analytical scientific language) outcomes. Anything simply continues cycles inequality.