The disciplinary constraints of SLA and TESOL: Additive bilingualism and second language acquisition, teaching and learning

Abstract

Published in a tier 1 sociolinguistics journal, this article explores why the ‘monolingual bias’ inherent in SLA and TESOL research has persisted to the present, despite direct criticism of this bias by socio-critical scholars since the early 1990s. The article explores why SLA and TESOL have remained impervious to this critique by drawing on Bourdieu's notion of field, and Bernstein's concepts of classification and framing, arguing innovatively that the construction of SLA and TESOL as academic disciplines actively delimits the possibilities of developing an additive bilingual approach, although it does not foreclose it. By way of example, the article concludes by discussing LEAP, a major web-based professional development resource for teachers, developed by a research team led by the author, which integrates research in bilingualism and bilingual education with second language teaching and learning.