Ruth Fielding is Associate Professor of Languages and TESOL education at Monash University and researches multilingualism, language education and identity.  In 2023 Ruth founded the Monash branch of Bilingualism Matters within the Faculty of Education Bilingualism Matters @Monash Education . Ruth began her career as a secondary school teacher of French and German, before undertaking a PhD which focussed upon multilingualism and identity negotiation. Ruth worked as a Senior Lecturer in the French program at UTS (2017- 2018) and as Assistant Professor of TESOL and Foreign Language Teaching at the University of Canberra (2014 – 2017) where she was the Program Coordinator for the TESOL and FLT program. Prior to that Ruth worked for eight and a half years (2006 - 2014) as a Lecturer in Languages Curriculum at the University of Sydney in the Faculty of Education and Social Work.  Ruth’s research and professional work centres around a program of research which explores bilingual/multilingual identity, language teacher education, pedagogy and assessment in language learning and teaching, and intercultural approaches in languages education. Ruth's research program seeks to transform teaching and learning through shifting approaches to languages. She works with teachers to understand how identity and intercultural understanding are interwoven in language education. She is part of an inter-disciplinary team  exploring Teacher Capabilities in Conditions of Superdiversity - a funded ARC Discovery project (2021 to 2025). Her research has appeared in the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, Foreign Language Annals, Language Learning Journal,Language and Education, Babel and in a number of edited volumes. Ruth’s book Multilingualism in the Australian Suburbs is available as an e-book and as a hardback book from Springer. She has also published a book on the intersection of multilingualism, identity and interculturality in education for Springer in 2022 , and co-edited a book on teacher education for content and language integration in bilingual settings for Multilingual Matters in 2024.

Multilingualism

Identity 

Languages Education

Bilingual modes of education (CLIL, immersion)

Intercultural stance in languages education

Languages and TESOL education

Student and teacher identity

Multilingualism in education

Multilingualism in society

2019-2025

• EDF5155 - Languages Education in the Secondary Years A
• EDF5156 - Languages Education in the Secondary Years B
• EDF5157 - Languages education A
• EDF5158 - Languages education B
• EDF5631 - Bi/Multilingual Education

Ruth has consulted for a range of educational organisations and schools including:

Modern Language Teachers' Association Victoria (MLTAV)

Association of Independent Schools NSW (AIS NSW)

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Department of Education NSW

Embassy of France in Canberra

AITSL - developing Illustrations of Practice for Languages

NSW Board of Studies (now NESA)

I am a Theme Leader of CLIL for RiPL (Research in Primary Languages) Network (UK).

Leader of the Monash branch of Bilingualism Matters