Bilingual Research Journal

Examining the experiences of secondary dual language bilingual education (DLBE) teachers in the United States

This special issue aims to explore the experiences of and complexities faced by secondary dual language bilingual education (DLBE) teachers in the United States. With the growing popularity of DLBE programs across the country, there is a greater expansion of secondary continuation programs in 6-12th grade. We currently define DLBE as programs in middle and/or high schools in which students learn language through content and content through a second, foreign, heritage or indigenous language. The limited research in secondary DLBE programs demonstrates that well-implemented continuation programs are fundamental for DLBE students’ continued bilingualism and biliteracy development, academic achievement, and sense of belonging in schools (de Jong et al., 2023; Garza-Reyna, 2019). However, secondary continuation programs also face unique complexities compared to their elementary counterparts due to a variety of factors including: rigid secondary school structures, fewer curricular materials, academic pressures related to college and career readiness, and the social, academic, and emotional needs of adolescent students (Alfaro, 2018; Faltis & Ramírez-Marín, 2015; Faltis & Coulter, 2007).

Secondary DLBE teaching itself requires a unique pedagogical knowledge and skill set as teachers must navigate content-specific pedagogies while simultaneously fostering biliteracy and bilingualism in adolescent learners. To do this well, secondary DLBE teachers need to be able to integrate content and language instruction, a task for which they are often undertrained and under-resourced (e.g., LaChance, 2018). In fact, the scant research on secondary DLBE teachers’ experiences has shown that they often feel underprepared, isolated, and overworked (e.g., Morrell et al., 2019).

In this special issue, we seek to expand the research on secondary DLBE teachers’ experiences within the nested structures of secondary DLBE classrooms, programs, schools, districts, etc. in order to build a research-based understanding of how to best implement and advocate for effective and sustainable secondary DLBE systems and structures.

We are especially interested in empirical studies that explore how the unique structures, practices, philosophies, ideologies and/or stakeholders (administrators, students, families, etc.) of secondary educational contexts interplay with secondary DLBE teachers’ experiences. We invite research that highlights the success or the challenges experienced by secondary DLBE teachers. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Lived experiences of teachers integrating content and language in DLBE classrooms
• Teachers’ experiences and perspectives navigating disciplinary literacy and language pedagogies in DLBE classrooms
• Navigating language policies and/or implementing translanguaging pedagogies
• Teacher experiences with institutional and curricular limitations and possibilities
• Teacher experiences teaching outside of their training (e.g., World Language-trained teachers teaching a DL language arts course)
• Designing, adapting, and negotiating curricular materials in DLBE classrooms
• Cross-disciplinary and cross-linguistic collaboration among bilingual educators.
• Teaching bilingual adolescents: challenges, possibilities, reflections
• Teachers’ experiences addressing diverse language and literacy proficiency levels through differentiated content and language instruction
• Developing students’ (and teachers’) critical consciousness
• Teacher experiences with the Seal of Biliteracy and its effects on practice

The tentative timeline for the special issue is as follows:

• February 1, 2026 - Abstract Deadline
• March 1, 2026 - Abstract Decisions
• June 1, 2026 - Full manuscripts deadline
• September 1, 2026 - Revised manuscript deadline
• December 1, 2026 - Final manuscript deadline
• February/March, 2027 - Estimated publication date

For questions regarding a potential submission, please email Dr. Corinne Mathieu at [email protected]