NABE Journal of Research and Practice

Multilingual/Multicultural/Multimodal Literature for Children and Adolescents

The Guest Editors will publish a special volume on the study of multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal literature for children and adolescents. The special collection of manuscripts selected for publication will consider the breadth and depth of children and adolescent literature at the intersection of multimodalities, multilingualism, and multiculturalism in education. Although much has been written about children and adolescent literature (Bartow Jacobs & Crawford, 2026; Brooks & Cueto, 2018; Wolf et al., 2011), our innovative viewpoint proposes to explore the multidimensionality of learning through and teaching of literature that considers rich correlations among cultures, languages, and modalities in K-12^th multilingual classrooms.

Please email your completed abstract to Dr. Aída A. Nevárez-La Torre (nevarezlatorre@gmail.com) by December 31, 2026 for consideration. Instructions for the submission of abstracts are included below.

The text and the teaching of children and adolescents’ literature in the 21^st century demand forward thinking perspectives that cut through singular (mono- or one-fold) and separate notions of language, culture, and learning modes (Clyne, 2008; Cook, 2001; Woltran, 2025; Woolard, 2020) and create opportunities for learning through literature that is integrative and interconnected (Borbora & Mohapatra, 2024; Coyle, 2015; Eslit, 2023). To this end, the constructs of multi- (Wei, 2011) and trans- (Barnawi & Ahmed, 2022; Zaidi et al., 2024) focus instead on inclusion of various languages, cultures, and modes of learning and communication in classrooms. This novel conceptualization challenges the idea of separation and builds understanding on a holistic view of learning that underscores the integration of many (Hebbard & Hernandez, 2020) and signifies a diversity of cultural and linguistic practices that shape how meaning is constructed and knowledge taught (Barnawi & Ahmed, 2022; Scarino, 2014).

Importantly, multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal literature offers readers and writers opportunities to dialogue with authors across different languages, modalities, cultures, and writing systems, underscoring a dynamic, interlinked educational meaning-making process. Multilingualism refers to the use or competence in more than one language by individuals or societies (Cenoz, 2013; Jessner, 2015), and to the use of all linguistic resources to make meaning (Garcia, 2017). More recently, scholars like Meighan & Lin (2025) have framed this construct through multimodal, interdisciplinary, and identity-oriented perspectives that advocate for linguistic and cultural decolonization. Multilingual pedagogy (Carbonara et al., 2024) focuses on “valuing students’ multilingualism as a resource for learning and challenging traditional monolingual norms” (Bauer et al., 2022, in Ming et al., 2025, p. 45). In this sense, learners possess vibrant, hybrid, and transnational linguistic repertoires that can be used in contemporary learning contexts (Myklevold & Bjorke, 2025).

Multiculturalism, according to Brooks (2012), suggests the interaction and blending of cultures, in contrast to the traditional understanding that emphasizes separate cultural boundaries. Similarly, some argue that transculturalism (Arroyo, 2016) visualizes the maintenance and convergence of multiple cultural identities by individuals (Pastena, 2022; Sun & Li, 2024). Zhu et al. (2025) propose that learners can understand and integrate multiple cultural practices “regardless of whether it is by choice (i.e., studying abroad for better economic opportunities) or imposed (i.e., colonized groups, economic oppression, or war refugees)” (p. 45).

Multimodality examines how semiotic resources are organized and represented in information delivery (Lim et al., 2022). Modern societies communicate across nations using various modalities, such as text, visual, aural, spatial, gestural, etc. (Simoyan 2021). Multimodal pedagogy then uses different modes to represent information, such as verbal modes and non-verbal modes (Dressman, 2019; Moreno & Mayer, 2007). Literary texts are represented through multiple modes to enable children and adolescents to learn diverse content and develop critical thinking skills through the study of literature (Serafini, 2023).

Through this guest-edited volume, we wish to integrate informed and critical perspectives of librarians, researchers, teachers, authors, publishers, and readers. We will invite manuscripts that discuss empirical research framed on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, as well as theory, pedagogical practices, and applied educational investigations. We will select a variety of texts to open borders across languages, cultures, identities, and interpretations of the world at the local and global levels.

Attention to the unique intersectionality of multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multimodality in K-12^th grade literature has the potential to influence ways that diverse learners and teachers advance, understand, and connect their lived experiences to a broad range of socio-historical and contemporary issues. At the same time, it can foster appreciation and affirmation for their own languages and cultures, as well as those of others. The broad range of prospective authors may consider addressing questions in the following four categories:

Research

What are the possibilities and tensions for learning and enjoyment from using multilingual, multicultural, transcultural, and multimodal literature texts?

What types of multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal literature currently exist? What else is needed?

What do translators of literature need to consider when writing quality versions of original works to validate multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multimodalities?

How do the text choices made by adults (parents, teachers, tutors, policy makers, administrators) for children and/or youth influence those readers and writers’ awareness about languages, cultures, and multimodalities?

What is the role of policy makers and publishers in an era of the science of reading in giving access and exposure of multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal books to all learners?

Theory

What does the intersection of multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multimodality through literature look like in K-12^th classrooms and libraries?

What theoretical perspectives (i.e., theories of multiliteracies; theory of translanguaging; social semiotic theory of multimodality) embrace the pedagogical interaction of multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal literature texts?

How do ideologies and related school policies influence the integration of pedagogical repertoires founded on multilingualism, multiculturalism, transculturalism, and multimodalities?

What can be learned about addressing issues of equity, access, voice, identity, and engagement through teaching literature at the intersection of multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multimodality?

How do students navigate and negotiate their diverse identities through oral expression, and in what ways does this expression reveal their multilingual, multicultural, transcultural, and multimodal habits and practices? How does this inform the creation of multilingual, multicultural, transcultural, and multimodal texts that are authentic?

Pedagogy

In what ways pedagogical approaches that promote the interaction of multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal perspectives enhance the development of identity, critical thinking skills, cultural and global competencies, content and conceptual understanding, oracy and literacy across languages, and language use to communicate knowledge and emotions?

What contributions to children’s and adolescents’ oracy and literacy experiences are afforded by multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal literature texts?

What pedagogical skills, strategies, and dispositions are beneficial to integrate multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal literature texts in instruction and curricular design?

How do teachers across pre-K to high school classrooms engage their students in thinking, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and communicating experiences with multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal literature texts?

What learning affordances are facilitated through literature for children and young people that is framed within multilingual, multicultural, transcultural, and multimodal perspectives?

What is the role of classrooms libraries that include multilingual, multicultural, and multimodal texts in fostering reading for comprehension and pleasure?

In what ways does the intersection of multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multimodalities through literature advance learning across the curriculum and across grades for children and young learners?

Through lenses such as teacher planning, classroom environment, assessment, curriculum, and instruction, what are some indicators/descriptors of multilingual, multicultural, transcultural, and multimodal pedagogy?

Teacher Education

How can the education of preservice teachers and the professional growth of in-service teachers be designed to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to design instruction that integrates learning through multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multimodal perspectives?

How can the education of preservice teachers and the professional growth of in-service teachers offer a broader and deeper conceptualization of best teaching facilitated by the exploration of learning through literature at the intersection of multilingualism, multiculturalism, and multimodality?