Daniel Defoe, who perhaps more than any writer in English, was consumed with the idea of finding oneself shipwrecked on a foreign shore – and all of the attendant difficulties – captured the essence of English xenophobia in the opening lines of his masterful satirical poem, ‘The True-Born Englishman’, in 1701. ‘Thus from a mixture of all kinds began / That het'rogeneous thing, an Englishman’ (Defoe, Reference Defoe1703). Indeed, even 300 years ago, Defoe was able to see that the distinction between ‘us and them’ as natives and immigrants was a fallacious one.

But what would Defoe do if he were tasked with instructing the many migrants and refugees who now call the United Kingdom home and who endeavour to become that ‘het'rogeneous thing’ … the Englishman? To begin, he might pick up a copy of Innovations in English Language Teaching for Migrants and Refugees. In this helpful tome, David Mallows has assembled 14 case studies of English language teaching, and with his choices, has made an implicit argument for all educators to value the home languages of migrants and refugees, and to engage their prior knowledge in ways that will include their native tongues, rather than exclude them. These case studies, packed together and curated by Mallows, provide an excellent reference for the English language teacher – especially a teacher who finds herself facing students who have arrived in the United Kingdom under adverse conditions.

If there are common threads to pull through this collection of lessons and activities, they are the need to both accept the swelling numbers of English Language Learners in the United Kingdom, and the need to decentralise the teaching of this group. Additionally, the need to fully embrace the existing language skills and cultural identities of migrants and refugees is consistent.

The clearly stated goal of the British Council, in the Innovations in … series, is to stimulate new thinking and ideas by sharing research-based practices from a variety of settings. This book certainly meets that goal with a helpful array of topics addressed, all of which fall under the general rubric of English language instruction for migrants and refugees. Of the 14 case studies in this book, three chapters focus upon primary education, four on secondary, one on ages 16–19, and six on adult English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). Presented chronologically, the book makes a clear distinction between English as an additional language, (EAL), and ESOL. EAL (formerly ESL – adapted to drop the offending ‘s’ as it became clear that most of these students already had a second and a third language before they took up English) is the teaching of English to children. ESOL is the acronym used for adults. While these domains have significant overlap for educators, there are clear distinctions, which Mallows is careful to point out in his introduction.

In the field of EAL, teaching is curriculum-faced. That is to say that the learning objective is to help the student access the school's curriculum. In ESOL, the teaching is curriculum independent – students are taught English for the sake of learning it. Mallows points out that the authors of each chapter, ‘ … appear to be drawing on a similar body of knowledge, grounded in sophisticated language awareness, theories of second language acquisition and socio-cultural understanding’ (p. 4).

But teaching English to non-native speakers is one thing, while teaching it to migrants and refugees is clearly another. One study which exemplifies this challenge is written by Dina Mehmedbegovic and stands as Chapter 5 in the collection. Mehmedbegovic finds that framing discussions with her students in ways to avoid giving them ‘victim identities’ is key (p. 68). This led her to organize her work around a few central questions, one of which reads, ‘How does one structure the use of autobiographical approaches, which bring relevance to all in the classroom and engagement with prior experience, without intimidation?’ (p. 68). This idea, is central to not only this particular case study, but the entire book. How do English teachers set up their classrooms in order to minimize their students’ refugee or migrant status, and maximize their learning opportunities? As Mallows points out, with net immigration into the UK of around 252,000 per year, the field of education has no small task at hand (p. 5).

As another example of the practical application of this book, Chapter 10 focuses on the impact of mobile technologies as a bridge to learning for English language learners. Here, Carol Savill-Smith, Octavia Haure, and Rekha Chopra discuss two case studies which explore the role of digital literacy in today's classroom as well as strategies for taking advantage of these ubiquitous devices in order to, ‘facilitate communication inside and outside the classroom’ (p. 138). The authors make an effective argument that devices that might be seen as a distraction in a traditional classroom can actually be a valuable asset to teachers and students in the context of ESOL. By turning the mobile devices into learning tools, these students, ‘take ownership of their learning in the true sense’ (p. 137). Additionally, such an approach will help migrant and refugee students enhance their digital literacy skills, which will facilitate their integration into the larger culture.

What Mr. Mallows has assembled here, might appear to serve a very narrow audience: the teachers of refugees and migrants. Yet as with all sound teaching practices, these approaches work for all learners. Indeed, any case study which provides insight into the tricky task of instructing displaced peoples, will surely help teachers of all those ‘other’, ‘het'rogenous’ learners.

So, Mr. Defoe – thumbing through this compendium – should find some good ideas for lessons and unit plans with his students. And if he should wish to delve more deeply into the larger social and political implications of teaching migrants and refugees, this work provides a handy reference for that as well.