Toward a dynamic idiolect: Multilingual perspectives on the "science of reading"

In this essay, we address the multilingual challenge that is faced by both the "science of reading" and the field of educational psychology. We describe some significant contributions made by educational psychology to the field's understanding of the "science of reading" as well as multilingual reading, more specifically. While these contributions have been productive, they do not reflect contemporary multilingual theories that pertain to reading and literacy. To move reading research toward a more multilingual orientation, we propose that language be considered as a verb, to language, and that the language user be considered as a languager, who brings their own unique set of linguistic resources to bear on the reading process. Each languager, we argue, possesses their own dynamic idiolect, comprising three components: linguistic awareness, sensemaking, and linguistic lamination. After providing examples of the dynamic idiolect in instructional contexts, we illustrate how its three components can be captured in empirical contexts to operationalize the dynamic idiolect and move educational psychology toward a more multilingual "science of reading."