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About This Issue

Using positioning theory as a theoretical framework, this issue of Theory Into Practice explores how culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students, their families, their teachers, and their communities position themselves, and are positioned through, language and literacy practices that recast their knowledge and experiences, within and across educational spaces, in ways that are agentive, empowering, and engaging. We use the CLD acronym to refer to individuals, both native-born and immigrant, who speak and/or are familiar with a variety of languages/dialects and who represent different cultural traditions. Positioning theory is based on the premise that through discursive interactions, individuals situate themselves (or are situated) in relation to peers, instructors, and institutions. It takes into account acts and storylines. Acts are defined as actions that have significance within a particular episode. One’s position often, but not always, determines the level of significance ascribed to his/her actions. A storyline refers to the group of commonly understood ways of thinking and behaving that develop over time as individuals in a particular setting engage in acts and position themselves and others (Harré & Slocum, 2003; Van Langenhove & Harré, 1999). In particular, positioning theory allows us to trace how individuals and groups understand and draw upon their cultural and linguistic resources while positioning and repositioning themselves to (re)create identities and opportunities that allow them to define themselves and their experiences, through acts and storylines, that challenge deficitoriented paradigms that typically exist in society around CLD students and their families.