ABSTRACT
In today’s fast-developing world, with boundaries that are becoming increasingly easy to transcend, TESOL practitioners can no longer expect to work with homogeneous populations with fixed, straightforward linguistic and cultural affiliations. Although researchers of bi- and multilingualism recognize that the degree of competence in each language can vary, and that both bi- and multilingualism come in many forms and shapes, the dominant lay definition of bi- and multilingualism only encompasses individuals who have acquired all languages from childhood and display balanced, advanced proficiency in all languages they speak. As a TESOL practitioner, my beliefs, actions, and identity have been influenced by a range of temporal, spatial, and social factors. More, author identity as a language user, teacher, and teacher trainer was initially shaped by dominant ideologies such as monolingualism and native speakerism.
