Bilingualism, Multilingualism and Plurilingualism Research Group
Bilingualism Matters @ Monash Education
Exploring the benefits of knowing multiple languages.
About the group
We are a group of academics at Monash University who are passionate about bilingualism, multilingualism and plurilingualism. We undertake research in schools, universities and with community members. We use a range of different methodologies to explore different aspects of language, multi/plurilingualism, and various aspects of education relating to contact with multiple languages. If you would like to know more, please see our recent projects.
Some of our members talk about their research interests. Get in touch with us if you would like to find out more or work with us.
Professional learning for Hindi and Punjabi language education
As part of the FRSG’s broader interest in multilingual and plurilingual education, Dr Gary Bonar and Associate Professor Ruth Fielding recently delivered a Monash professional learning micro-credential in partnership with the Victorian Government.
The program supported existing teachers with Hindi and Punjabi language capabilities to teach Hindi and Punjabi in Victorian schools, strengthening research-informed approaches to language pedagogy, curriculum design, heritage language education and multilingual classroom practice.
Read more about the Hindi and Punjabi language education partnership here.
We are part of an international network
We have recently joined forces with the Bilingualism Matters Network. The network brings together researchers and teachers who focus on bilingualism from over 30 locations internationally. The focus of the network is on disseminating and sharing research in meaningful ways to communities, teachers, parents and young people interested in bilingualism.
Watch the recording of our launch event below.
Members
Leadership
The bi/multi/plurilingualism FRSG was established by A/Prof Ruth Fielding in 2022. From 2026 it is co-led by A/ Prof Ruth Fielding, Dr Gary Bonar and A/Prof Kim Anh Dang
Group members
Research students
- Dang Khoa Truong - khoa.truong@monash.edu
- Dan Zhou - dan.zhou1@monash.edu
- Maxi Huynh - huy.huynh@monash.edu
- Gede Putrawan - gede.putrawan@monash.edu
- Nurlaily - nurlaily@monash.edu
- Xiaochen Ren - Xiaochen.Ren1@monash.edu
- Thuc Anh (Sofia) Nguyen - thuc.nguyen@monash.edu
- Tahani Alosaimi - Tahani.Alosaimi@monash.edu
- Suning Zhang - Suning.Zhang@monash.edu
- Shihua Yu - shihua.yu@monash.edu
Affiliate members
- Dr Dwi Ratnasari – Monash Alumna - dwi.ratnasari@monash.edu
- Dr Ziqi Li – Monash Alumna
- Dr Liuyan Zhou – Monash Alumna
- Dr Dery Agustin
- Dr Boyi Zhu
- Dr Zhiyi Long
Our projects
Voices from the Margins: Examining Linguistic Discrimination and Advancing Linguistic Justice in Higher Education
Ruth Fielding, et al.
How can we better support the behavioural and academic needs of our refugee background students? (2020-2023)
Supported by Catholic Education Melbourne
Teacher capabilities in conditions of superdiversity (2020-2025)
Alexander Kostogriz, et al.
Developing a Multilingual Identity Approach to Intercultural Understanding (Upcoming)
Ruth Fielding
Learning through languages: Plurilingual pedagogy in the English classroom
Marianne Turner, et al.
Key publications
Books
Language Teacher Agency: Navigating Complex and Diverse Educational Contexts
Veliz, L., Nguyen, M. H., Slaughter, Y. & Bonar, G. (eds)
Bloomsbury (2025)
Teacher Development for Content-Based Language Education
Ballinger, S., Fielding, R & Tedick DJ
Multilingual Matters (2024)
Multilingualism, Identity and Interculturality in Education
Fielding, R.
Springer, Singapore (2022)
Storytelling Practices in Home and Educational Contexts: Perspectives from Conversation Analysis
Filipi, A., Ta, B. T., & Theobald, M. (Eds.)
Springer (1st edn, 2022)
Multilingualism as a Resource and a Goal: Using and Learning Languages in Mainstream Schools
Turner, M.
Palgrave Macmillan (1st edn, 2019)
Book chapters
Bonar, G. J., Fielding, R., & Wang, M. (2024). Exploring pre-service language teacher identity negotiation using Q methodology. In N. Fraschini, A. Lundberg, & R. Aliani (Eds.), Advancing Language Research Through Q Methodology (1st ed., pp. 25-43). (Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching). Multilingual Matters.
Nguyen, M. H., Veliz, L., & Santosa, M. H. (2024). Pedagogies of multiliteracies for learner agency through English language teachers’ interactive and reflexive positionings. In L. Veliz, M. Farias, & M. Picard (Eds.), Reimagining literacies pedagogy in the twenty-first century: Theorizing and enacting multiple literacies for English language learners (pp. 175–194). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ngo, X. M., & Nguyen, M. H. (2025). Good Language Teachers. In Handbook of Language Teacher Education (pp. 1-33).
Nguyen, M. H., Berry, A., & Filipi, A. (2024). Negotiating tensions between aspired and practiced identities: An Australian case of agency in language–content teacher collaboration. In Z. Tajeddin & B. Yazan (Eds.), Language teacher identity tensions: Nexus of agency, emotion, and investment (pp. 47-61).
Journal articles
Fan, H., Chowdhury, R., & Fielding, R. (2025). Toward a synergistic framework of investment and motivation: bridging imagined identities and English learning of Chinese university students. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 35(1), 457-471.
Fielding, R., Galante, A., Bonar, G. J., Wang, M., & God, Y. (2024). Teaching for intercultural understanding – to what extent do curriculum documents encourage transformative intercultural experiences? Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45(10), 4384-4399.
Huỳnh, H. H., & Pretorius, L. (2024). "Inspired to be a teacher seriously": an autoethnography of student engagement in a Vietnamese TESOL training programme. TESOL in Context, 33(1), 1-21.
Nguyen, M. H., Turner, M., & Premier, J. (2023). The distributed knowledge base: Preservice language teachers’ positioning in language–content teacher collaboration. System, 114(June 2023).
Turner, M., Nguyen, M. H., & Premier, J. (2022). Embedding a multilingual stance in secondary teacher education: An exploration of learning as an affordance. Teaching and Teacher Education, 111, 103608.
