Translingual context zones: Critical reconceptualizing of teachers’ work within the context of globalism

•Use the concepts of mobile semiotic resources and translingualism to examine the work of educators.•Argue for a reconceptualization of educators' work in the context of globalization.•Suggest ways to improve teacher education practices from a critical language perspective. The authors draw on Blommaert's (2010) concept of mobile semiotic resources and Canagarajah's concept of translingual contact zones (2013) to argue that the articles in this special edition of Linguistics and Education push forward the boundaries of the interdisciplinary fields of critical applied linguistics and research in teacher education by placing the work of teachers, teacher educators, and literacy researchers in the center of semiotic analyses of language education in the context of globalism. Based on this discussion, the authors call for a reconceptualization of teachers’ work from a critical language awareness perspective.