TAMIU Professor Faltis Contributes to New Book Celebrating Bilingualism Scholar Guadalupe Valdés
Profiling Scholarly Research/Creative Work by TAMIU Faculty Members
Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) professor of Bilingual Education and College of Education chair of Educational Programs Dr. Christian J. Faltis is a contributing editor to a new book honoring the impactful contributions of Dr. Guadalupe Valdés, a leading scholar and researcher in bilingualism. Dr. Faltis also created the artwork for the book cover.
Equity in Multilingual Schools and Communities: Celebrating the Contributions of Guadalupe Valdés, is published by Channel View Publications Limited, Multilingual Matters, UK, 2024.
Dr. Valdés is one of the first language education scholars to examine the vibrant language practices of bilingual users in the U.S. Southwest. Her research marked a departure from traditional foreign language approaches and sparked a movement focused on valuing heritage languages and creating more equitable educational systems for young people from linguistically minoritized backgrounds.
Dr. Faltis and his fellow contributors to the book draw on multiple aspects of Valdés’ research to look at new ways of addressing equity and social justice for multilingual users in schools and communities. Chapters focus on three major areas of her work: the nature of languages and literacies in multilingual contexts, language development in classrooms and communities, and equity and access.
Faltis has a strong connection to the book’s subject.
“Dr. Guadalupe Valdés has been my mentor and co-author for decades. I was first introduced to her work in the late 1970s, when I became interested in teaching Spanish to bilingual learners. Dr. Valdés had written about the comprehensive approach to teaching Spanish, which she argued needed to be completely different from the eradication approach which viewed the language of bilingual Spanish speakers as impoverished and in need of extirpation of all instances of non-standard Spanish. This was my first introduction to ideas around access, equity, and justice as these applied to bilingual Spanish speakers. We have published several important pieces on bilingualism, minoritized bilinguals, and the importance of bringing local Spanish into bilingual teacher education,” Faltis observed.
In addition to serving as a TAMIU faculty member, Faltis is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on bilingualism and bilingual teacher education. He is also an artist.
Joining Faltis as book editors are Amanda K. Kibler, Aída Walqui, and George C. Bunch.
Kibler is a professor in the College of Education at Oregon State University. Her scholarship focuses on better understanding the language and literacy development of multilingual children and adolescents from immigrant backgrounds.
Walqui is the principal investigator and director of the National Research and Development Center to Improve the Education of English Learners in Secondary Schools, housed at WestEd. Her work focuses on the development of teacher expertise to realize the immense potential of multilingual learners.
Bunch is a professor and Education Department chair at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His research focuses on curricula, policies, and teacher preparation designed to serve multilingual learners in K-12 and higher education.
Book reviewer Francis M. Hult, of the University of Maryland, praised the book’s fresh insight.
“This book is a powerful reminder that we stand on the shoulders of giants. Honoring the life's work of Guadalupe Valdés, the contributors strike just the right balance between paying tribute to her legacy and transcending it to offer fresh insight that humanizes the struggles and triumphs of students and teachers striving for equity and linguistic justice,” Hult has written.
Valdés is the Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum Professor of Education, Emerita, at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education and the author of more that 230 publications including books and book chapters, journal articles, and featured publications, with 24, 197 citations of her work over the years. She also taught at UC Berkeley before going to Stanford.
She is the Founder and Executive Director of "English Together" a 501(c)(3) organization. It creates rich connections between ordinary speakers of English and low-wage, immigrant workers by preparing volunteers to provide one-on-one “coaching” in workplace English.
Valdés holds both a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Spanish from Florida State University. Her B.A., also in Spanish, was earned at the University of West Florida.
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