Resumen de Critical multilingual language awareness: the role of teachers as language activists and knowledge generators

Jim Cummins

• My commentary initially sketches the evolution of academic discourse in the field of ‘language awareness’ (LA) from a dominant focus on knowledge about language to a focus on ‘critical language awareness’ (CLA) that highlighted the intersections of language and power. This evolution has more recently progressed to an inclusion of ‘multilingualism’ within the realm of CLA which is reflected in the label ‘critical multilingual language awareness’ (CMLA). On the basis of a review of the papers in this special issue, I highlight some of the major findings and claims. Then, I suggest some additional directions that teacher educators and educational leaders might pursue to build a focus on CMLA into the overall pedagogical practice of the school.