ABSTRACT
Linguistic diversity amongst students in Australian schools is increasing, with approximately 17 percent of Australian children and adolescents speaking a language other than English at home (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). This includes high school students newly arrived to Australia, those with English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D), students who are developing English language proficiency and learning in English and those who may have limited or disrupted prior schooling (Miller, Kostogriz & Gearon, 2009). These changes in demographics are due in large part to increasing mobility, as people migrate to Australia for employment or family reasons, seek safe haven as refugees, or come as international students and undertake education in English. Every day multilingual students bring resources including rich experiences, cultural knowledge and skills in learning and managing diverse linguistic repertoires into classrooms.
