Dear Colleagues,

The concepts of ‘foreign’, ‘second’, and ‘first’ language have been greatly challenged over the last several years, especially since the widespread impact of ‘translanguaging’ (García & Wei, 2014) in the area of language contact and language education. By definition, teaching and learning any language beyond our mother tongue(s) involve the activation of more than one linguistic system and more than one system of cultural values. In fact, it would be close to impossible to limit any speaker in the modern world to a unitary linguistic or cultural system, as all languages evolve on the basis of mutual sharing and simultaneous cross-borrowings, transfers, and interactions.  

Such a reality cannot but enter any language classroom, especially those of languages that are now growing fast as ‘foreign languages such as Chinese, or languages that have become languages of new immigrants and refugees during recent years, like Greek.

Could language researchers, teachers, and language learners share common experiences across languages and cultures? Are translanguaging and cross-cultural communication possible platforms for the mutual development of skills that citizens should aspire to acquire in order to develop in a multilingual and cross-cultural world? How can more traditional linguistic traditions adjust to the possibilities that open up when translanguaging is the reality of both teachers and students within and outside any language classroom?

This issue invites researchers in the fields of language education and language contact to contribute to a discussion that highlights but is not limited to the teaching of Chinese as a foreign/second language from the perspective of the questions raised above. Both theoretical and practical approaches are invited and examples of translanguaging and cross-cultural learner and teacher experiences are encouraged.  

We look forward to receiving your contributions.