Dr. Bonny Norton
Department of Language and Literacy Education
Abstract: The conditions under which language learners speak or remain silent, when they write, read, or resist, is a passionate interest of mine that began more than two decades ago. Like many other language teachers and researchers, I have been entrusted over the years with the stories of language learners as they have moved from one country to another, from home to school, and from classroom to community. The learners have been of varying ages, and their stories have reflected both dreams and disappointments. As I have sought to make sense of such stories, I have had to grapple with what it means to know and teach a language, and English in particular, in our multilingual, transnational, and frequently inequitable world.
