Dr Florence Bonacina-Pugh

Lecturer in Language Education

Biography

Background

Dr. Florence Bonacina-Pugh is Lecturer (Teaching and Research) in Language Education as well as co-leader of the Research Hub in Languages, Interculturality and Literacies in the Moray House School of Education and Sports, at The University of Edinburgh. She was Programme Director of the MSc Language Education from 2016 to 2019, when she contributed to the development of the Languages Strategy of the School and led the programme through its quinquennial review in collaboration with the Languages team.

Dr. Florence Bonacina-Pugh works in the field of Applied Linguistics and specialises in the study of Language Policy and Practices, and Multilingualism in education. Following a Post-Doctoral Fellowship awarded by the ESRC (open competion award), Bonacina-Pugh went on to develop the notion of “language policy as practice” (e.g. Bonacina-Pugh 2012, 2020; Bonacina-Pugh et al. 2021; Chen and Bonacina-Pugh, 2021), which has then been investigated in many educational contexts. She has also extensively published on issues of language choice in multilingual education and was recently invited to lead a state-of-the-art review on translanguaging in education for Language Teaching (Bonacina-Pugh et al. 2021). She has conducted research in mainstream schools with newly arrived migrants, in heritage/community schools, and most recently in Higher Education. Her recent work can be found in peer-reviewed international journals such as Language Policy; The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism; Language and Education; The Applied Linguistics Review; and Language Teaching. Her 2020 article in the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism was recently nominated for the James E. Alatis Prize for Research on Language Policy and Planning in Educational Contexts.

Dr. Bonacina-Pugh is the co-founder and co-chair of the Language Policy Special Interest Group of the British Association of Applied Linguistics, and its associated bi-annual Language Policy Forum.

Dr. Bonacina-Pugh is also a fully trained teacher of French as a foreign language and has taught young learners as well as adults in various institutions in the UK for 10 years. She is passionate about knowledge exchange and is the elected Chair of La Petite Ecole d'Edimbourg, the French complementary school in Edinburgh (https://www.petiteecole-edimbourg.com/), where she leads a team of 6 Trustees, supervises a team of 8 teachers teaching over a 100 children, and offers pedagogical advice.

 

Academia: https://edinburgh.academia.edu/FlorenceBonacinaPugh

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bOi_xoUAAAAJ&hl=en

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7714-1926

Qualifications

  • Ph.D. in Linguistics, The University of Edinburgh (ESRC funded)
  • MSc. in Applied Linguistics, With Distinction, The University of Edinburgh (Funded by the British Council)
  • Maitrise de Francais Langue Etrangere, Université de la Sorbonne III (France)
  • Maitrise de Lettres Modernes, Université de la Sorbonne IV (France)

Responsibilities & affiliations

  • Chair of the Board of Trustees for the French complementary school of Edinburgh (2023 - present)
  • Co-Leader of the Language(s), Interculturality, and Literacies Research Hub, The Moray House School of Education and Sport (2022 - present).
  • Post-Graduate Research Lead for the LIL Hub (2022 - present)
  • External Examiner of the MSc TESOL, MSc TESOL (online), MSc Management and English Language Teaching, PhD TESOL Research at The University of Stirling (2022 - present)
  • Co-Chair and co-founder of the Language Policy Special Interest Group of the British Association of Applied Linguistics (2018 - present)
  • Co-Chair and co-founder of the Language Policy Forum, the annual conference of the Language Policy Special Interest Group of the British Association of Applied Linguistics (2018 - present)
  • Programme Director MSc Language Education (2016-2019)

Postgraduate teaching

  • Languages, Society and Education
  • Teaching Languages to Young Learners (Course Organiser)
  • Bilingual Education
  • Dissertation supepervisor

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

I am happy to supervise MSc and PhD students in the areas of:

  • Language in education policy
  • Translanguaging in the (language) classroom
  • Young language learners
  • Multilingualism / linguistic diversity in educational contexts
  • Community language education
  • Internationalisation of Higher Education

Current PhD students supervised

Ali Almuhhaya - co-supervisor (with Dr. Joseph Gafaranga)

Qianyu Yang - co-supervisor (with Dr. Dario Banegas)

Yongqi ZENG - Lead Supervisor (with Dr. Sal Consoli) 

 

Past PhD students supervised

  • Hao Zhang - First supervisor. With Dr. Cathy Benson and Dr. Andy Hancock as second supervisors. "Language policy in the Scottish primary classroom: The case of Mandarin language teaching".
  • Aissara Yessenova - Lead supervisor. Visiting PhD scholar for 6 months. 2023. “Writing practices of multilingual adolescent students in Denmark”

Research summary

  • Language Policy and Language-in-Education Policy
  • Translanguaging
  • Young language learners
  • Multilingualism from a sociolinguistic perspective
  • Internationalisation of Higher Education
  • Community language education
  • Citizenship and identity
  • French as a heritage language

I am passionate about multilingual interactional data and often use an Ethnomethodological lens to understand order and fluidity in social interaction.

Reviewer of journal articles for:

- Language and Education;

- The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism;

- Language Policy;

- Journal of Language and Culture;

- System;

- The Journal of Language, Identity and Education;

- Linguistics and Education;

- Multilingual Development;

- Multilingua;

- Language Teaching

- Classroom Discourse;

- Arts and Humanities in Higher Education;

- International Journal of Multilingualism;

- Current Issues in Language Planning.

 

Reviewer of book manuscripts for:

- Routledge

- Palgrave

- Scottish University Press.

Knowledge exchange

  • Keynote speaker. The Language Policy cycle: for a sustainale language policy in education. The Jersey Language Policy in Education Impact Conference. Jersey, UK. 19-20 October 2023.

 

  • Keynote speaker. Multilingualism for Social Participation. Conference on 'Multilingualism and Accessibility' organised by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Social and Economic Commitee (ESEC). 22 September 2023.

 

  • Invited panel discussion with the French Consul of Edinburgh and Glasgow Madame Païs and the French politician Senator Conway-Mouret to discuss educational provisions for French speaking children in Scotland. May 2023. 

 

  • Elected Chair of the Board of Trustees for the French complementary school in Edinburgh: “La Petite Ecole d’Edimbourg”. 2023 – present. I am the President and Chair of the Board of Trustees for the French complementary school in Edinburgh, a charity that aims to teach French to bilingual children in Edinburgh and its surroundings. I line-manage 8 teachers and lead a Board of 6 Trustees. I recruit teachers and allocate the 120 pupils aged 3-17 years old to 12 different classes. I also organise regular training workshops for teachers.

 

  • Pedagogical director for “La Petite Ecole d’Edimbourg”. 2022-2023.

 

  • Founder and co-organiser of “Les Petiots d’Edimbourg”. 2014-2020. This was a support service for French and English bilingual families in Edinburgh and its surroundings that provided regular playgroups in French as well as social activities for families.

 

  • Member of the Bilingualism Matters project. 2008-13. Directed by Professor Antonella Sorace, The University of Edinburgh. I was one of the first helpers on the project and gave multiple talks to local primary schools in Edinburgh about the advantages of bilingualism.

Project activity

In my career, I have led as Principal Investigator multiple successful funding bids worth a total of £277,097.2.

1. Language policy and practice in the multilingual university. PI. Seedcorn Funding. With Co-I Dr. Elisabeth Barakos and RA Dr. Qi Chen.

2. Scot or Not? Investigating conceptualizations of identity and citizenship in a referendum context. With Dr. Mairin Hennebry. Funded by Hong Kong University Faculty of Education Research Fund.

3. Language-in-education policy in migratory contexts; funded by the ESRC (PTA-026-27-2638)

4. A Conversation Analytic approach to 'practiced language policies': the example of an induction classroom for newly-arrived immigrant children in France; funded by the ESRC (PTA-031-2006-00426)

5. Classroom code-switching in a French complementary school in Scotland; funded by the British Council (Entente Cordiale scheme)

I have also been a Co-Investigator on 3 other research bids including 2 with the UKRI GCRF (for a total of £2,199,662.28 – unsuccessful).

I am currently a Co-Investigator on an AHRC Standard Grant application (£791,528.49 FEC - still pending), which builds on a preliminary study I conducted with internal Seedcorn funding (point 1 above).

Invited speaker

  • Public Lecture. I mix my languages: C'est grave docteur?. Public Lecture at The French Institute of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK. 28 March 2024.

  • Invited talk. Understanding 'practiced language policies'. Michigan State University Language Policy and Practice Lab. 14 December 2023.

  • Keynote speaker. The Language Policy cycle: for a sustainale language policy in education. The Jersey Language Policy in Education Impact Conference. Jersey, UK. 19-20 October 2023.

  • Keynote speaker. Multilingualism for Social Participation. Conference on 'Multilingualism and Accessibility' organised by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Social and Economic Commitee (ESEC). 22 September 2023.

  • Guest lecture. Translanguaging as pedagogy: the fixed and fluid approaches. The University of Vienna, Austria. November 2023

  • Guest lecture. Translanguaging in the language classroom. The National University of Córdoba, Argentina. August 2023

  • Guest lecture. L’alternance codique: une ressource dans la classe de langue. Universite de Strasbourg, France. 08 April 2019.

  • Discussant for a colloquium on language policy and EAL. Annual Conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. York. 1-3 September 2018.

  • CELIA, CNRS, Paris, France, Praticed language policiess. 27 June 2013.

  • Invited paper presentation in a panel chaired by Marilyn Martin-Jones and Mukul Saxena. Categories and language choice in the multilingual classroom: The relevance of ‘teacher-hood’. International Symposium on Bilingualism 8. Oslo, Norway. 18 June, 2011.

  • Invited talk. Universite de Strasbourg, France. Cycle de conférences du CAREL. Politique et pratique linguistique en CLIN: Un premier espace plurilingue? 27 April 2011.

Organiser

The Language Policy Forum 2023. Fourth annual conference of the Language Policy BAAL SIG. SOAS University, UK. 13-14 June 2023.

The Language Policy Forum 2020. Third annual conference of the Language Policy BAAL SIG. Cambridge University, UK. May 2020. (cancelled due to lockdown)

The Language Policy Forum 2019. Second annual conference of the Language Policy BAAL SIG. The University of Edinburgh, UK. May 2019.

The Language Policy forum 2018. First annual conference of the Language Policy BAAL SIG. The University of Sheffield, UK. May 2018.

Researching language in education in diverse, twenty-first century classrooms. A one-day seminar funded by the ESRC Researcher Development Initiative (RES-046-25-0004), organised with Prof. D. Martin, Prof. M. Martin-Jones and Dr. Eleni Mariou; hosted by the School of Education, The University of Edinburgh. September 2012.

Papers delivered

Selected conference presentations

Schroedler, Thomas and Bonacina-Pugh, Florence. Opening-up language in education policy to heritage and migrant languages: A Symposium. The Annual Conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. The University of York, UK. August 2023.

Bonacina-Pugh, Florence and Hao Zhang. Implementing the 1+2 language policy in Scottish primary schools: a case study of co-teaching in Mandarin classrooms. The Annual Conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. Queen's University of Belfast, UK. September 2022.

Bonacina-Pugh, Florence, Chen, Qi, Barakos, Elisabeth. Spotlights on the ‘practiced language policy’ in the international university: a case study of multilingual interaction in higher education. Paper presented at the symposium of Classroom interaction at the Internationalized university. 10th December 2018. University of Surrey, UK.

Bonacina-Pugh, Florence. Discussant for a colloquium on language policy and EAL. Annual Conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. York. September 2019.

Bonacina-Pugh, Florence, Barakos, Elisabeth and Qi Chen. “Language policy in the multilingual university: the case of Edinburgh”. The Language Policy Forum 2018. Sheffield. May.

Bonacina-Pugh, Florence. “Legitimizing multilingual practices in the classroom: the role of the ‘practiced language policy’”. Annual Conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. Leeds. September 2017.

Bonacina-Pugh, Florence. Legitimizing multiple languages in a French induction classroom: the role of the ‘practiced language policy’. Sociolinguistics Symposium 19. Berlin, Germany. 23 August 2012.

Bonacina-Pugh, Florence and Christine Hélot. Panel organisers and chairs. Panel entitled: Language Policy in urban education: The example of France. Sociolinguistics Symposium 19. Berlin, Germany. 22-23 August 2012.

Bonacina, Florence. From ‘policy versus practices’ to ‘policy in practices’: Rethinking practices in language policy research. Paper presentation at the 2011 Annual Conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. Bristol. 01 September 2011.

Bonacina, Florence. Categories and language choice in the multilingual classroom: The relevance of ‘teacher-hood’. Paper presentation in a panel chaired by Marilyn Martin-Jones and Mukul Saxena. International Symposium on Bilingualism 8. Oslo, Norway. 18 June 2011.

Bonacina, Florence. Can Conversation Analysis contribute to language policy research in multilingual settings? Poster presentation. ESRC RDI Researching multilingualism, multilingualism in research practice. Birmingham, UK. 07 April 2011.

Bonacina, Florence and Gafaranga Joseph. ‘Language of instruction’ versus ‘medium of classroom interaction’ in the study of bilingual classroom talk: Evidence from a French complementary school classroom. Paper presentation. Sociolinguistics Symposium 18. Southampton, UK. 03 September 2010.

Bonacina, Florence. Multilingual label quests: A classroom practice in a migratory educational contexts. Paper presentation. 42nd Annual Meeting of the British Association of Applied Linguistics. Newcastle, UK. 05 September 2009.

Bonacina, Florence. The ‘perceived policy’ in France’s induction classrooms: A perspective from newly-arrived children. Paper presentation. International Symposium on Bilingualism 7. Utrecht, Netherlands. 09 July 2009.

Bonacina, Florence. Interpreting educational language policy: A perspective from newly-arrived children in France's induction classrooms. Paper presentation. LEL Post-Graduate Conference. Edinburgh, UK. 20 May 2009.

Bonacina, Florence. The ‘perceived policy’ in France’s induction classrooms: A perspective from newly-arrived children. Paper presentation. Language and Education Research Seminar. Edinburgh, UK. 25 March 2009.

Bonacina, Florence. Forbidden or frowned upon? Attitudes towards multilingual practices in French induction classrooms. Paper presentation. LEL Postgraduate Conference. Edinburgh, UK. 25 April 2008.

Bonacina, Florence. Fieldwork on ‘taboo’ practices: Investigating multilingual classroom interactions in a monolingual educational environment. Poster presentation. Birmingham, UK. 08 April 2008.

Bonacina, Florence. Multilingual practices in a French reception classroom: A contribution to the issue of the intuitive attractiveness of withdrawal policies. Paper presentation. Language in Context Research Group. Edinburgh, UK. 17 October 2007.

Bonacina, Florence. ‘Being language blind’: An emic approach to bilingual classroom interactions. Poster presentation. CONTACI seminar. Lyon, France. 06 June 2007.

View my 21 publications also here: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/persons/florence-bonacina-pugh/publications/

  1. Bonacina-Pugh, F. (Ed.). (In Press). Language Policy as Practice: Advancing the Empirical Turn in Language Policy Research. Palgrave.
  2. Bonacina-Pugh, F. (In Press). Towards an understanding of the dynamic nature of 'practiced language policies'. In Bonacina-Pugh, F. (Ed.). Language Policy as Practice: Advancing the Empirical Turn in Language Policy Research. Palgrave.
  3. Bonacina-Pugh, F. (In Press). Introducing language policy as practice. In Bonacina-Pugh, F. (Ed.). Language Policy as Practice: Advancing the Empirical Turn in Language Policy Research. Palgrave.
  4. Tavares de Sousa, S.C., Ribeiro Berger, I., Bogarin Farhat, Y., and Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2024). Uma Entrevista com Dra. Florence Bonacina-Pugh / An Interview with Dr. Florence Bonacina-Pugh. Special Issue on: Políticas linguísticas: Dossiê em homenagem a Bernard Spolsky. Prolíngua 18 (2): 98-113.https://periodicos.ufpb.br/index.php/prolingua/article/view/69183
  5. Bonacina-Pugh, F. & Zhang, Hao. (2023). The interactional organisation of co-teaching in language educational settings: The case of Mandarin language teaching in Scotland. The Journal of Language, Identity and Education. DOI: 10.1080/15348458.2023.2263093
  6. Hélot, C. & Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2023). Language education policies for young learners in Europe. The European Journal of Language Policy 15 (1): 5-24. https://doi.org/10.3828/ejlp.2023.2
  7. Bonacina-Pugh, F., Barakos, E., & Chen, Q. (2022). Language Policy in the internationalisation of Higher Education in Anglophone countries: The interplay between language policy as 'text', 'discourse', and 'practice'. The Applied Linguistics Review 13(6): 1103-1125. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2019-0148
  8. Bonacina-Pugh, F., Da Costa Cabral, I., Huang, J. (2021). A state-of-the-art review of translanguaging in education. Language Teaching, 54 (4): 439-471. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444821000173
  9. Chen, Q. & Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2021). Spotlights on 'practiced' language policy in the internationalised university. In Dippold, D. and Heron, M. (Eds.). Meaningful Teaching Interaction at the Internationalised University: Moving From Research to Impact. Chapter 9 (pp.110-122). Routledge: Oxon.
  10. Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2020). "Legitimizing multilingual practices in the classroom: the role of the 'practiced language policy'". International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 23(4): 434-448. First published on-line in 2017.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1372359 Nominated for the James E. Alatis Prize for Research in Language Policy and Planning in Educational Contexts.
  11. Hennebry-Leung, M. & Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2019). "The emergence of 'citizenship' in popular discourse: The case of Scotland". Citizenship Studies 23(8): 831-852. https://doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2019.1645812
  12. Mariou, E., Bonacina-Pugh, F., Martin, D., & Martin-Jones, M. (2016). Researching language-in-education in diverse, twenty-first century settings. Language and Education 30 (2): 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2015.1103256
  13. Mariou, E., Bonacina-Pugh, F., Martin, D., & Martin-Jones, M. (Eds.) (2016). Special Issue: Researching language-in-education in diverse, twenty-first century settings. Language and Education 30 (2).
  14. Fordyce, K. & Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2015). English across cultures. In Joan Cutting (Ed.), Language in Context in TESOL (pp. 61-79). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  15. Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2013a). Categories and language choice in multilingual classrooms: the relevance of ‘teacher-hood’. Language and Education 27 (4): 298-313. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2013.788021
  16. Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2013b). Multilingual label quests: A practice for the ‘asymmetrical’ multilingual classroom. Linguistics and Education 24 (2): 142-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2013.788021
  17. Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2012a). Researching ‘practiced language policies’: insights from conversation analysis. Language Policy 11 (3): 213-234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-012-9243-x
  18. Bonacina-Pugh, F. (2012b). Ideologies and issues of access in multilingual school ethnography: A French example. In Sheena Gardner and Marilyn Martin-Jones (Eds.), Multilingualism, Discourse and Ethnography (pp. 269-282). New York: Routledge.
  19. Bonacina-pugh, F. (2012c). Re-thinking practices in language policy research: From ‘policy versus practice’ to ‘policy within practice’. Proceedings of the 2011 BAAL Annual Conference. London: Scitsiugnil Press.
  20. Bonacina-Pugh, F. & Gafaranga, J. (2011). ‘Medium of instruction’ versus ‘medium of classroom interaction’: Language choice in a French complementary school classroom in Scotland. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 14 (3): 319-334. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2010.502222
  21. Bonacina, F. (2010). Multilingual label quests: A classroom practice in a migratory educational context. Proceedings of the 2009 BAAL Annual Conference. London: Scitsiugnil Press.
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