Abstract
The increasing diversity of student populations across the U.S. underscores teachers' need to be culturally and linguistically responsive. This qualitative case study explored 30 pre-service teachers' perceptions of developing cultural and linguistic competencies in their preparation to teach multilingual children while taking an undergraduate upper-level ESOL course at a Southwest Florida University. Multiple data sources included online discussions, reflection papers, and field experience papers. The findings highlighted stages of participants' perceptions of developing linguistic responsiveness, culturally responsive teaching, and cultural self-awareness. The findings suggest that pre-service teachers are primarily equipped with linguistic tools, leaving a gap in their cultural competence necessary for effective teaching in diverse classrooms. We recommend that teacher education programmes be re-evaluated to balance linguistic proficiency with cultural awareness, moving towards a holistic approach to teacher preparation that adequately addresses multilingual learners' cultural and personal challenges.
