Countering deficit framings of migrant and refugee students’ language and literacy practices in Australia

The privileging of English in language and literacy education is rooted in colonial legacies that have historically marginalised Indigenous and migrant languages and knowledge systems, framing them as barriers rather than assets. Reframing literacy education requires shifting from deficit thinking to pedagogies that value students’ plurilingual repertoires, worldviews, and ecological relationships. This Special Issue explores how language and literacy education can move beyond monolingual norms to embrace plurilingual approaches that recognise and value the language and literacy practices and resources of migrant and refugee students across all levels of education. It seeks to challenge the persistent deficit discourses that frame these students’ language and literacy practices as inadequate or lacking compared to dominant English-based standards.