ABSTRACT
We live in a highly globalized, multicultural world, yet our view of and approach to language learning and acquisition is still restrictive and exclusive. This is especially true as far as learning additional languages is concerned, due to issues concerning linguistic nativism, linguistic colonialism, and monolingual perspectives. This chapter takes an anti-deficit approach to understanding multilingualism and discusses multilingual literacy as a necessary element of the critical literacy skillset for global citizenship and communication in the 21st century. I offer definitions of multilingual literacy and related concepts, provide a background and discuss current issues related to multilingual literacy, and highlight multiple benefits related to developing multilingual literacy skills.
