- www.shakinarajendram.com
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This book details a study of teacher education programs that prepare teachers to work with multilingual learners. The book examines how racism and linguicism shape the conditions under which teacher candidates learn how to teach, and... more
This book details a study of teacher education programs that prepare teachers to work with multilingual learners. The book examines how racism and linguicism shape the conditions under which teacher candidates learn how to teach, and offers guiding principles and a suite of teacher education practices to disrupt the interplay of language and race.
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A collaborative approach to Narrative Inquiry Interviews. The aim of this presentation is to outline the reasoning and approach to setting up a collaborative graduate student-led research project. The project itself is an narrative... more
A collaborative approach to Narrative Inquiry Interviews. The aim of this presentation is to outline the reasoning and approach to setting up a collaborative graduate student-led research project. The project itself is an narrative investigation into how international graduate students who are second-language users of English have negotiated English language proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS as part of the application procedure to graduate school. In this presentation, we will describe the origins of the project, and go into detail about the purpose of the project, which stems from our own reflections and observations as international and non-international students within our Department of graduate study. Introducing the reasoning behind the project, we will illustrate how we have woven ethical considerations of working with peers, as co-researchers and participants, into the methodology of the project, the interview process, our own researcher reflections. We will also provide the specifics of seeking faculty and/or departmental support, ethical approval, recruitment, the transcription process and using technology to collaborate. In conclusion, we will discuss some of the next steps we anticipate taking in order to complete such a project. While critical language testing scholarship has described the gatekeeping nature of high-stakes commercial English language tests and institutional language policies (Shohamy, 2001), research has yet to explore their human side. This project uses a Foucauldian (1982) framework, which provides a lens to understand the interaction between student agency and the techniques of power that are embodied in institutional language policies and high-stakes language assessments. Narratives gathered through interviews will be coded and analysed by emerging themes using NVIVO. We seek to uncover international students' perspectives on the testing process itself (from test preparation to test completion) as well as their initial time at the university. Specifically, what supports are available to them and what challenges do they face during test preparation? How does this process of negotiation-and the test itself-affect international students in their initial months at the university? This research raises important questions relating to social justice and the consequential validity (Messick, 1995) of high stakes language tests.
Research Interests: Sociology, Teaching English as a Second Language, Narrative, Collaboration, Language Testing, and 8 moreNarrative Methods, Hermeneutics and Narrative, Narrative and Identity, Narrative Analysis, Narrative Inquiry, Language Testing and Assessment, language assessment - langauge Testing, and Consequential Validity
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Translanguaging offers a new perspective on language learning by affirming and leveraging the diverse language practices that make up learners’ unitary language repertoire as resources for their le...
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Sociology, Cognitive Science, Multilingualism, Pedagogy, and 9 moreCritical Discourse Analysis, Sociocultural Theory Of Learning, Linguistics, Plurilingualism, Sociocultural Evolution, Affordance, Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education, Translanguaging, and Sociocultural Perspective
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Research Interests: Psychology, English Literature, Education, Teaching English as a Second Language, Second Language Acquisition, and 11 moreEnglish language, Pedagogy, Reader Response, Linguistics, Multiliteracies, Multiliteracies Pedagogy, English Language, English literature and ELT and Applied linguistics, Situated, English As a Second Language (ESL), and Reader Response Theory
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Language development: The lifespan perspective, edited by Annette Gerstenberg and Anja Voeste, is a collection of papers that brings together the subjects of language development and age, with a particular focus on language change in the... more
Language development: The lifespan perspective, edited by Annette Gerstenberg and Anja Voeste, is a collection of papers that brings together the subjects of language development and age, with a particular focus on language change in the middle and later stages of the individual lifespan. In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the volume, its contributors use historical longitudinal data as well as contemporarymethods of inquiry to examine various linguistic sub-fields, adopting psycholinguistic, corpus linguistic, and sociolinguistic approaches. The book is made up of ten chapters, including an introductory chapter by the editors. The two chapters following this introduction are concerned with language change in public broadcasts. Ulrich Reubold and Jonathan Harrington write about phonetic changes in the broadcasts of British-American radio commentator Alistair Cooke, spanning over 60 years. Reubold and Harrington suggest that Cooke’s accent reversion may be related to his shift in attitude towards his American host country. In the next chapter, David Bowie writes about the changing use of sociolinguistically marked variants in publicly broadcast religious sermons spanning over 30 years. The next three chapters in this volume are concerned with linguistic changes related to normal and pathological aging among older adults. Susan Kemper makes a compelling argument about common negative stereotypes of older adults which result in overand underaccommodations to aging, the use of elderspeak, and the perception of older adults as off-target and verbose. Next, Ian Lancashire discusses the lexical profiles of three novelists who died with dementia and three ‘healthy’ control writers, and concludes that advanced old age does not necessarily end in dementia. Annette Gerstenberg’s chapter reports on a corpus analysis of spoken French based on two series of interviews with 28 older adults, conducted seven years apart. Her research suggests that the reduced use of speech fillers among older adults can be seen as compensation for the increased effort of speaking under the difficult conditions of cognitive and somatic aging processes. The final four chapters of this volume focus on age-related linguistic changes in writing. Terttu Nevalainen examines variation in the writings of conservative and progressive individuals in the English language community during the 15 and
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The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García, O. & L.... more
The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García, O. & L. Wei. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave MacMillan). When learners engage in translanguaging, they draw on all the features from their repertoire in a flexible and integrated way (Otheguy, R., O. García & W Reid. 2015. Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review 6(3). 281–307. DOI:10.1515/applirev-2015-0014). While much of the current literature on language teaching advocates teachers’ use of pedagogical translanguaging, less research has focused on the pedagogical affordances of student-led translanguaging, especially in contexts with dominant monolingual norms. This paper presents the results of a case study exploring the affordances of translanguaging in two multilingual Grade 5 English language classrooms in Malaysia where English-only policies and practices were enforced by the teachers, but where translanguaging was used agentively by learners during their peer-to-peer interactions. The primary data sources for this six-month-long study included 100 30–90 min-long video recordings of 55 learners working together in small groups on various collaborative language learning activities, and member-checking interviews with the learners. The study was grounded in sociocultural theory and translanguaging, and employed a methodology of sociocultural discourse analysis. The results of the analysis revealed that in both classrooms, learners resisted the English-only policies and practices by using translanguaging widely and strategically throughout their collaborative peer-to-peer interactions. The use of translanguaging fulfilled 100 important cognitive-conceptual, planning-organizational, affective-social and linguistic-discursive functions that supported their individual and collective learning. The results of this study provide us with a view of translanguaging as collaborative and agentive, socioculturally situated and culturally responsive, and a resource for learning as well as a process of learning. The study makes recommendations for a language learning pedagogy that creates opportunities for learners to move language policies from the ground up through their collaborative use of translanguaging.
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Translanguaging remains a timely and important topic in bi/multilingual education. The most recent turn in translanguaging scholarship involves attention to translanguaging in context in response to critiques of translanguaging as a... more
Translanguaging remains a timely and important topic in bi/multilingual education. The most recent turn in translanguaging scholarship involves attention to translanguaging in context in response to critiques of translanguaging as a universally empowering educational practice. In this paper, seven early career translanguaging scholars propose a framework for researching translanguaging “in context,” drawing on the Douglas Fir Group's (2016) transdisciplinary framework for language acquisition. Examining translanguaging in context entails paying attention to who in a classroom wields power, as a result of their greater proficiency in societally valued languages, their more “standard” ways of speaking these languages, their greater familiarity with academic literacies valued at school, and/or their more “legitimate” forms of translanguaging. In our framework for researching translanguaging in context, we propose three principles. The first principle is obvious: (1) not to do so ap...
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This article includes aspects of a larger study in which we critically examine how and what mainstream teacher candidates learn in preservice programs about supporting multilingual learners (MLs). Since 2015, the province of Ontario has... more
This article includes aspects of a larger study in which we critically examine how and what mainstream teacher candidates learn in preservice programs about supporting multilingual learners (MLs). Since 2015, the province of Ontario has required that all teacher candidates — not just future ESL specialists — be prepared to support MLs. Within this context, we provide a description and discussion of who multilingual learners are imagined to be in policy documents and by various actors in education, along with examples of teacher candidate learning from a mixed-methods case study of teacher-candidate learning in the Master of Teaching at the University of Toronto. Our article reveals the complexity of preparing teachers to support MLs and suggests possibilities for centring multilingual learners and countering racism in Canadian teacher education.
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This study examines pre-service teacher candidates’ (TCs) stances and use of translanguaging and multimodality to support K-12 multilingual learners’ writing. Data were drawn from a course on supporting multilingual learners in a teacher... more
This study examines pre-service teacher candidates’ (TCs) stances and use of translanguaging and multimodality to support K-12 multilingual learners’ writing. Data were drawn from a course on supporting multilingual learners in a teacher education program in Ontario. Data sources were responses to the Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Language- Inclusive Teaching (PeCK–LIT) Test, and TCs’ unit plans and lesson plans. Analytical codes were derived from the literature on translanguaging: monolingual and translanguaging stance, translanguaging as a scaffold and resource, teacher-directed and student-directed, intentional and spontaneous translanguaging, and supporting monomodality and multimodality. Findings demonstrate the use of translanguaging strategies such as multilingual word walls and online translation tools. However, there were constraints to TCs’ stances, such as allowing translanguaging as a temporary scaffold towards English-only instruction and approaching writing as a di...
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Supporting Ontario’s diverse multilingual learners (MLs) requires more than “just good teaching” (de Jong & Harper, 2005, p. 102). MLs’ success is tied to specific teacher knowledge, attitudes, and pedagogical moves based on... more
Supporting Ontario’s diverse multilingual learners (MLs) requires more than “just good teaching” (de Jong & Harper, 2005, p. 102). MLs’ success is tied to specific teacher knowledge, attitudes, and pedagogical moves based on linguistically responsive teaching (Lucas & Villegas, 2013). This study investigated the perspectives of teachers, curriculum leaders, and consultants regarding how MLs can best be supported, their challenges and successes in working with MLs, and what needs to change in teacher education to achieve the goal of supporting MLs across their curricula. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 teachers currently working with MLs in Ontario, organized around their personal and professional backgrounds and experiences, issues faced in supporting MLs, perspectives on how Ontario’s policies impact their work, and opinions about how to enable future teachers to develop necessary skills to support MLs. Findings from an inductive thematic analysis of the interview...
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This paper presents the results of a small-scale qualitative case study that explored a tutor’s role in supporting young learners through a digital storytelling (DS) activity through Microsoft PowerPoint. The two children who participated... more
This paper presents the results of a small-scale qualitative case study that explored a tutor’s role in supporting young learners through a digital storytelling (DS) activity through Microsoft PowerPoint. The two children who participated in this study were in grade one and attended private schools in Canada. Participatory observations, field notes, interviews, the children’s narratives, and observational narratives were the primary sources of data. The children carried out a DS activity during three separate sessions for each child that involved planning the story, enacting the story, creating and editing a storyboard with cameras and computers, and lastly, celebrating the stories they produced with their family members. We found that the tutor played an important role in making the activity purposeful, authentic, and passion-led (Anderson, 2016). We also found that the tutor helped the children represent and understand meaning through an integration of modes, supported their use o...
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Supporting Ontario's diverse multilingual learners (MLs) requires more than "just good teaching" (de Jong & Harper, 2005, p. 102). MLs' success is tied to specific teacher knowledge, attitudes, and pedagogical moves based on... more
Supporting Ontario's diverse multilingual learners (MLs) requires more than "just good teaching" (de Jong & Harper, 2005, p. 102). MLs' success is tied to specific teacher knowledge, attitudes, and pedagogical moves based on linguistically responsive teaching (Lucas & Villegas, 2013). This study investigated the perspectives of teachers, curriculum leaders, and consultants regarding how MLs can best be supported, their challenges and successes in working with MLs, and what needs to change in teacher education to achieve the goal of supporting MLs across their curricula. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 teachers currently working with MLs in Ontario, organized around their personal and professional backgrounds and experiences, issues faced in supporting MLs, perspectives on how Ontario's policies impact their work, and opinions about how to enable future teachers to develop necessary skills to support MLs. Findings from an inductive thematic analysis of the interviews suggest the need for teachers to connect with MLs through shared language learning experiences, use assetbased, linguistically responsive and translanguaging approaches, and involve parents and communities. The findings also highlight issues around policy accessibility, the lack of specialized training, and inadequate resources. Finally, the study makes recommendations for preparing future teachers with practical strategies to support MLs in K-12 classrooms.
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The colonial history of many English language teaching (ELT) contexts has shaped how the concept of language is understood, how language policies are constructed, and how language education is organized. Various aspects of ELT in... more
The colonial history of many English language teaching (ELT) contexts has shaped how the concept of language is understood, how language policies are constructed, and how language education is organized. Various aspects of ELT in countries that were colonized continue to promote the imperialism of English (Motha, 2014) through the naming (i.e., labeling of linguistic phenomena as distinct languages, dialects, and language varieties), separation and hierarchization of languages, and the dominance of monolingual policies and practices in the classroom. Translanguaging, a theory and pedagogy that challenges colonial understandings of language and monoglossic norms in language teaching, has the transformative potential to liberate language practices that have been rendered invisible by abyssal thinking in ELT (García et al., 2021). Translanguaging as a theory posits that multilingual learners do not possess two or more autonomous language systems but rather that they select and deploy linguistic features from a unitary linguistic repertoire (Vogel & García, 2017). Translanguaging as a pedagogy urges educators to leverage learners’ entire linguistic and semiotic repertoires to support their learning instead of requiring them to keep certain languages outside the classroom. However, in educational contexts that respond to socially and politically imposed boundaries between languages, there are ideological and systemic challenges to the enactment of translanguaging as a pedagogy. This paper discusses these challenges with reference to the Malaysian language education context and draws on data from a collaborative translanguaging pedagogy designed through teacher-researcher collaboration and implemented in two Malaysian elementary English classrooms to offer recommendations for how ELT can be decolonized.
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The colonial history of many English language teaching (ELT) contexts has shaped how the concept of language is understood, how language policies are constructed, and how language education is organized. Various aspects of ELT in... more
The colonial history of many English language teaching (ELT) contexts has shaped how the concept of language is understood, how language policies are constructed, and how language education is organized. Various aspects of ELT in countries that were colonized continue to promote the imperialism of English (Motha, 2014) through the naming (i.e., labeling of linguistic phenomena as distinct languages, dialects, and language varieties), separation and hierarchization of languages, and the dominance of monolingual policies and practices in the classroom. Translanguaging, a theory and pedagogy that challenges colonial understandings of language and monoglossic norms in language teaching, has the transformative potential to liberate language practices that have been rendered invisible by abyssal thinking in ELT (García et al., 2021). Translanguaging as a theory posits that multilingual learners do not possess two or more autonomous language systems but rather that they select and deploy l...
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The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García & Li Wei,... more
The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García & Li Wei, 2014). When learners engage in translanguaging, they draw on all the features from their repertoire in a flexible and integrated way (Otheguy, García, & Reid, 2015). While many studies have advocated for the use of teacher-led pedagogical translanguaging, less research has documented the affordances of student-led collaborative translanguaging, and the factors that may constrain their use of translanguaging. My study is a step in this direction as it provides evidence of the potential of translanguaging as an intentional and agentive student-led collaborative pedagogy for multilingual learners. My research was a case study of two trilingual Grade 5 English language classes in a Malaysian elementary school – one class with an English-only policy, and one class without. Over 6 months, I recorded learners’ interactions as they worked in groups of 3-5 on collaborative learning activities. My data sources also included interviews with 55 learners and their two teachers, artefacts, field notes, and reflexive journal entries. Using sociocultural critical discourse analysis (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997; Mercer, 2004), I conducted qualitative and quantitative analyses of 100 30-minute to 1.5-hour long transcripts of learners’ interactions, and conducted a thematic analysis (Nowell, Norris, White & Moules, 2017) of the interviews. The results revealed that learners in both classes used translanguaging agentively to fulfil 100 cognitive-conceptual, planning-organizational, affective-social and linguistic-discursive functions that supported their individual and collective learning. Even with an English-only policy in place, learners harnessed the affordances of translanguaging using multimodal resources such as symbols, images, videos, and gestures. However, their specific language choices and beliefs about language were influenced and at times constrained by the teacher’s language policies and practices, parental discourses about linguistic capital, and ethnic tensions in the country. My research positions translanguaging as collaborative and agentive, socioculturally situated and culturally responsive, and a resource for learning as well as a process of learning. As an outcome of this study, I provide recommendations for a collaborative translanguaging pedagogy approach.
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This workshop will provide a variety of multimodal, hands-on activities (e.g., visual arts, text-based storytelling, drama, video) based on multilingual approaches that promote inclusive and equitable language education. Teachers will be... more
This workshop will provide a variety of multimodal, hands-on activities (e.g., visual arts, text-based storytelling, drama, video) based on multilingual approaches that promote inclusive and equitable language education. Teachers will be invited to collaboratively develop their own activities, emphasizing critical and creative thinking, within their grade levels.
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Objectives This symposium will provide a forum for candid discussion of the data universities and colleges need if they are to understand the experiences of their students. The panelists will discuss the quality of the data that are... more
Objectives This symposium will provide a forum for candid discussion of the data universities and colleges need if they are to understand the experiences of their students. The panelists will discuss the quality of the data that are currently available, the additional data that are needed, and the challenges encountered in developing and using new data collection tools. Significance of the Topic The National Survey of Student Engagement, the National College Health Assessment, and other surveys periodically collect data about student experience in universities and colleges. Some institutions have developed additional data collection tools. For example, Mohawk College has an established suite of post-admission reading, writing and math assessments and a Student Entrance Survey (SES) that the majority of new students complete prior to the first day of classes. These data are an important resource for identifying and supporting students who may be likely to struggle in their academic program (Fricker, Doyle, Ellingham, & Fernandez, 2016). Student services staff in the advising, tutoring and student engagement offices track interactions with students (and student participation in co-curricular activities) and to inform more proactive outreach and support initiatives. Researchers, too, have developed measures of student experience (see, for example, Braxton, Doyle, Hartley, Hirschy, Jones, & McLendon, 2014; Mayhew, Rockenbach, Bowman, Seifert, Wolniak, Pascarella, & Tenenzini, 2016), some of which have then been adapted by institutions for routine use. Faculties and departments also often create measures aligned with local goals. Student associations may also create and adminster surveys of their members. With so much data being collected, it is easy to assume that institutions have the data they need to improve student experience. But, do they? Are the data of sufficient quality for the intended uses? What other data are needed? Panellists The panellists bring a wide variety of experiences collecting and using student experience data as staff, students, and researchers in colleges and universities: • Sheldon Grabke is the Registrar at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto • Timothy Fricker is the Director of Student Success Initiatives at Mohawk College and a member of HEQCO's Access and Retention Consortium • Shakina Rajendram is the Vice President Internal, OISE Graduate Students’ Association and is leading a project to measure graduate students' perceptions of equity of access • Hany Soliman is a Master’s Student at OISE and is working with the University of Toronto’s Student Life Programs and Services to develop a measure of resilience All of the panellists have been involved in developing and using measures of student experience and all have thought deeply about the challenges and possibilities of collecting and using such data. Session Structure The moderator will describe the purpose and structure of the session and will introduce the panellists. Each panellist will begin by briefly describing his or her role in collecting or using data about student experience. The panellists will have received the following questions before the conference: • What data do we need that are not already available? • How good are the data we already have? (e.g., Are we asking the right questions? Are the questions understood as we intend by students? Are enough students answering?) • What can we do to improve the usefulness of the data that are already being collected? • Based on your experiences developing new data collection tools, what advice would you give to others who are considering developing new tools? Depending on the length of the session, the moderator will either invite each panellist to address each question or will ask the panellists to chose two or three on which to focus. The moderator will also invite members of the audience to respond to the questions based on their experiences. The intention is to begin a candid and critical discussion of the quality of the data about student experience and practical steps to improve the quality. References Braxton, J. M., Doyle, W. R., Hartley, H. V., III, Hirschy, A. S., Jones, W. A., & McLendon, M. K. (2014). Rethinking college student retention. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Fricker, T., Doyle, H., Ellingham, S., & Fernandez, D. (Winter 2016). Advising in Canada: Summary survey results. Communiqué. Canadian Association of College and University Student Services. http://www.cacuss.ca/_Library/Communique/CACUSS-Q1-FINAL_AMENDED4_Digital_compressed.pdf Mayhew, M., Rockenbach, A., Bowman, N., Seifert, T., Wolniak, G., Pascarella, E., & Tenenzini, P. (2016). How college affects students: 21st century evidence that higher education works, Volume 3. San Fransico: Jossey Bass.
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This narrative study describes the agency and resistance of international graduate This narrative study describes the agency and resistance of international graduate students as they negotiated commercial, high-stakes English language... more
This narrative study describes the agency and resistance of international graduate This narrative study describes the agency and resistance of international graduate students as they negotiated commercial, high-stakes English language proficiency students as they negotiated commercial, high-stakes English language proficiency tests to gain admission to one Canadian university. This interdisciplinary paper, which tests to gain admission to one Canadian university. This interdisciplinary paper, which is grounded in Foucault and critical language testing scholarship, addresses is grounded in Foucault and critical language testing scholarship, addresses questions of power, social justice, and consequential validity. questions of power, social justice, and consequential validity. Abstract Abstract The purpose of this narrative study (Connelly & Clandinin, 2000) is to describe how The purpose of this narrative study (Connelly & Clandinin, 2000) is to describe how international graduate students who are L2 users of English have negotiated English international graduate students who are L2 users of English have negotiated English language proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS in order to gain admission to language proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS in order to gain admission to one institution of higher education in Ontario, Canada. one institution of higher education in Ontario, Canada. While critical language testing While critical language testing scholarship has described their gatekeeping nature (Shohamy, 2001), research has scholarship has described their gatekeeping nature (Shohamy, 2001), research has yet to explore the human side of high-stakes commercial English language tests. This yet to explore the human side of high-stakes commercial English language tests. This project uses a Foucauldian framework (1982) which provides a theoretical lens to project uses a Foucauldian framework (1982) which provides a theoretical lens to understand the power relations involved in this process. Our research sheds light on understand the power relations involved in this process. Our research sheds light on the interaction between student agency and the techniques of power that are the interaction between student agency and the techniques of power that are embodied in institutional language policies and high-stakes language assessments. embodied in institutional language policies and high-stakes language assessments. Narratives gathered through interviews will be coded and analysed thematically Narratives gathered through interviews will be coded and analysed thematically through NVIVO. We seek to uncover international students' perspectives on the through NVIVO. We seek to uncover international students' perspectives on the testing process itself (from test preparation to test completion) as well as their initial testing process itself (from test preparation to test completion) as well as their initial months at the university. Specifically, what supports are available to them and what months at the university. Specifically, what supports are available to them and what challenges do they face during test preparation? How does this process of negotiation challenges do they face during test preparation? How does this process of negotiation-and the test itself-affect international students in their initial months at the-and the test itself-affect international students in their initial months at the university? university? This research raises important questions relating to social justice and the This research raises important questions relating to social justice and the consequential validity (Messick, 1995) of high stakes language tests. consequential validity (Messick, 1995) of high stakes language tests.
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This session presents the results of a study exploring the experiences of English as a Second Language (ESL) students engaged in a reader-response project based on the multiliteracies pedagogy. The participants in the project consisted of... more
This session presents the results of a study exploring the experiences of English as a Second Language (ESL) students engaged in a reader-response project based on the multiliteracies pedagogy. The participants in the project consisted of 25 culturally and linguistically heterogeneous first-year undergraduate students in a Literature in English Language Teaching program in a Malaysian public university. The students engaged in a reader-response project which required them to work in small groups to write, produce and present short films in response to the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine. Over a period of eight weeks, each group created two short films, one in English and the other in a local Malaysian language. Throughout the study, the participants kept journals in which they recorded their responses to the novel, and reflected on their experiences with the project. At the end of the project, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with six focal participants. Through a qualitative thematic analysis of the interviews with the focal participants and their journal entries, the researcher found that students expressed more aesthetic and critical literary responses to the novel when they responded to it by producing short films in their local languages instead of in English. Using their local languages in the film allowed students to function as language experts, encouraged them to take liberties with the novel more confidently, helped them to make intertextual connections between the novel and local dramas and movies, increased their sense of personal meaningfulness, and fostered intercultural understanding among them.
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This workshop will discuss accessibility broadly and offer practical ways to work with accessibility concerns at OISE, teaching in the classroom and within other workplaces. Topics discussed will include accessibility concerns not only... more
This workshop will discuss accessibility broadly and offer practical ways to work with accessibility concerns at OISE, teaching in the classroom and within other workplaces. Topics discussed will include accessibility concerns not only related to physical ‘disability’, but also gender and sexuality, intercultural communication and mental health. The workshop will provide practical ways to bring inclusiveness and accommodation to the workplace and classroom regarding a variety of accessibility concerns. Through peer-facilitated group discussions and other activities, participants will identify key concerns they have experienced and potential solutions to these issues regarding accessibility.
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The purpose of this narrative study (Connelly & Clandinin, 2000) is to describe how international graduate students who are L2 users of English have negotiated English language proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS in order to... more
The purpose of this narrative study (Connelly & Clandinin, 2000) is to describe how international graduate students who are L2 users of English have negotiated English language proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS in order to gain admission to one institution of higher education in Ontario, Canada. While critical language testing scholarship has described their gatekeeping nature (Shohamy, 2001), research has yet to explore the human side of high-stakes commercial English language tests. This project uses a Foucauldian framework (1982) which provides a theoretical lens to understand the power relations involved in this process. Our research sheds light on the interaction between student agency and the techniques of power that are embodied in institutional language policies and high-stakes language assessments. Narratives gathered through interviews will be coded and analysed thematically through NVIVO. We seek to uncover international students’ perspectives on the testing process itself (from test preparation to test completion) as well as their initial months at the university. Specifically, what supports are available to them and what challenges do they face during test preparation? How does this process of negotiation -- and the test itself -- affect international students in their initial months at the university? This research raises important questions relating to social justice and the consequential validity (Messick, 1995) of high stakes language tests. REFERENCES Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Foucault, M. (1982). The subject and power. Critical inquiry, 777-795. Messick, S. (1995). Validity of psychological assessment: Validation of inferences from persons’ responses and performances as scientific inquiry into score meaning. American Psychologist, 50, 741–749. Shohamy, E. (2001). The power of tests: A critical perspective on the uses of language tests. Taylor & Francis
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Although much of the literature on language learning has suggested the cognitive, social, communicative, and affective benefits of translanguaging (e.g., Canagarajah, 2011; Garcia, 2009), English teachers in many second language contexts... more
Although much of the literature on language learning has suggested the cognitive, social, communicative, and affective benefits of translanguaging (e.g., Canagarajah, 2011; Garcia, 2009), English teachers in many second language contexts still continue to implement English-only policies in their classrooms. This monolingual approach ignores learners’ multilingualism, frames them within a deficit model, and limits the opportunities for learners with shared languages to provide guided support to their peers and scaffold each other’s learning. Furthermore, Phillipson (1992) argues that the English-only approach is situated within a broader theory of linguistic imperialism. This session presents the results from research conducted in multilingual Grade 5 classes in a primary school in postcolonial Malaysia where the official medium of instruction is Tamil, but English is enforced as the “official” language of instruction. Grounded in postcolonial theory, sociocultural theory, and collective scaffolding, and using a methodology of critical and sociocultural discourse analysis, my research examines the following questions: What is the role of translanguaging in scaffolding learning during learners’ collaborative interactions? How do learners’ attitudes towards translanguaging reflect larger institutional and societal discourses about English language learning? The results of this study suggest that translanguaging is an essential part of working within the Zone of Proximal Development for multilingual language learners, and that learners’ linguistic repertoire can scaffold their collaborative interactions which are shaped by their unique sociocultural contexts. References Canagarajah, S. (2011). Translanguaging in the classroom: Emerging issues for research and pedagogy. In L. Wei (Ed.), Applied linguistics review 2 (pp. 1–27). Berlin, Germany: DeGruyter Mouton. Garcia, O. (2009). Education, multilingualism and translanguaging in the 21st century. In A.K. Mohanty, M. Panda, R. Phillipson, & T. Skutnabb-Kangas (Eds.), Multilingual education for social justice: Globalising the local (pp. 128–145). New Delhi, India: Orient BlackSwan. Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Translanguaging offers a new perspective on language learning by affirming and leveraging the diverse language practices that make up learners’ unitary language repertoire as resources for their le...
Research Interests:
A collaborative approach to Narrative Inquiry Interviews. The aim of this presentation is to outline the reasoning and approach to setting up a collaborative graduate student-led research project. The project itself is an narrative... more
A collaborative approach to Narrative Inquiry Interviews. The aim of this presentation is to outline the reasoning and approach to setting up a collaborative graduate student-led research project. The project itself is an narrative investigation into how international graduate students who are second-language users of English have negotiated English language proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS as part of the application procedure to graduate school. In this presentation, we will describe the origins of the project, and go into detail about the purpose of the project, which stems from our own reflections and observations as international and non-international students within our Department of graduate study. Introducing the reasoning behind the project, we will illustrate how we have woven ethical considerations of working with peers, as co-researchers and participants, into the methodology of the project, the interview process, our own researcher reflections. We will also provide the specifics of seeking faculty and/or departmental support, ethical approval, recruitment, the transcription process and using technology to collaborate. In conclusion, we will discuss some of the next steps we anticipate taking in order to complete such a project. While critical language testing scholarship has described the gatekeeping nature of high-stakes commercial English language tests and institutional language policies (Shohamy, 2001), research has yet to explore their human side. This project uses a Foucauldian (1982) framework, which provides a lens to understand the interaction between student agency and the techniques of power that are embodied in institutional language policies and high-stakes language assessments. Narratives gathered through interviews will be coded and analysed by emerging themes using NVIVO. We seek to uncover international students' perspectives on the testing process itself (from test preparation to test completion) as well as their initial time at the university. Specifically, what supports are available to them and what challenges do they face during test preparation? How does this process of negotiation-and the test itself-affect international students in their initial months at the university? This research raises important questions relating to social justice and the consequential validity (Messick, 1995) of high stakes language tests.
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This session presents the preliminary results of a study on the collaborative research process of three graduate student researchers at OISE. Specifically, the study explores the nature of collaborative work for early-career/graduate... more
This session presents the preliminary results of a study on the collaborative research process of three graduate student researchers at OISE. Specifically, the study explores the nature of collaborative work for early-career/graduate researchers and ways of attaining ‘researcher praxis’ – that is, negotiating theoretical aspirations with the practical side of conducting research in the field. Whether achieved through self-study (e.g., Pithouse-Morgan & Samaras, 2016), action-research (e.g., Goodnough, 2010), or reflective practice (e.g., Farrell, 2013), praxis, grounded in social and constructivist views of learning, usually involves some form of collaboration. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the three researchers conducted an inductive data analysis of their documented oral and written research interactions (e.g., face-to-face interactions, phone conversations, emails, Whatsapp exchanges, etc.) to identify the various collaborative features and functions of their interactions, for example, how they built rapport, negotiated ideas, set goals, made decisions, assigned and adopted roles, developed plans of actions, and shared responsibilities. After engaging in CDA, the researchers critically reflected on their analysis process to identify how their individual and collective researcher praxis was informed by their coding practices. The aim of the study is twofold: to suggest one potential method for conducting and reflecting on collaborative research through CDA, and to begin a dialogue on the inner-workings of collaborative research practices and methods for early-career/graduate researchers. The findings of this study will be presented as an invitation to the audience to reflect on the potential implications of collaborative research for developing researcher praxis among graduate students in Higher Education. References Farrell, T. S. C. (2013). Reflective writing for language teachers. Sheffield: Equinox. Goodnough, K. (2010). The role of action research in transforming teacher identity: Modes of belonging and ecological perspectives. Educational Action Research, 18(2), 167-182. Pithouse-Morgan, K., & Samaras, A. P. (2016). Polyvocal Professional Learning through Self-Study Research. Rotterdam: Springer.
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This chapter presents research on the effects of student translanguaging in their Grade 5 English as a second language classrooms, contrasting the practice with those in contexts where language policies require the use of only English. A... more
This chapter presents research on the effects of student translanguaging in their Grade 5 English as a second language classrooms, contrasting the practice with those in contexts where language policies require the use of only English. A translanguaging pedagogy involves teachers integrating the diverse language practices of students in the classroom to create more equitable and effective learning opportunities. Although there is no official policy against the use of translanguaging in English language classrooms in Malaysia, the lack of funding and policy changes over the years have put immense pressure on the English teachers in Bukit Mawar to teach monolingually. The planning-organizational affordances category was used to classify interactions that dealt with the planning and organization of the task, rather than the content of the task itself. The affective-social affordances consisted of specific functions which served to build rapport, engage peers in social interactions, and provide socio-emotional support and assistance to one another.
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The internationalization of higher education in Canada has given rise to the increased use of standardized English language proficiency tests as gatekeeping measures in university admission policies. However, many international students... more
The internationalization of higher education in Canada has given rise to the increased use of standardized English language proficiency tests as gatekeeping measures in university admission policies. However, many international students who are successful on these tests still struggle with the academic and language demands of their programs. Drawing on a thematic analysis of life story interviews with five international graduate students at a major Canadian university, this study examines students’ perceptions on the skills elicited by the IELTS and TOEFL, the language demands and pragmatic norms of their graduate program in language education, and the university’s language support programs.
Research Interests:
This article explores university English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors’ attitudes toward translanguaging in the classroom and possible reasons for instructors’ resistance in moving translanguaging ideology into English language... more
This article explores university English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors’ attitudes toward translanguaging in the classroom and possible reasons for instructors’ resistance in moving translanguaging ideology into English language teaching pedagogy. Many researchers have forwarded translanguaging as a theoretical and pedagogical approach to language education because of its potential cognitive, social, and affective benefits. A translanguaging pedagogy calls for instructors to affirm the dynamic and diverse language practices that multilingual students utilize as part of their unitary language repertoire. However, because English-only pedagogies, policies, and practices still permeate the ESL classroom, it is critical to understand how ESL instructors’ language ideologies and orientations play a role in shaping their pedagogical practices and classroom language policies. Using Ruíz’s orientations in language planning and translanguaging theory, this study examined the language...
Research Interests:
Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are home to wealthy minority groups with little or no access to public higher education. These countries share parallel trajectories of economic and educational growth, yet they have starkly different... more
Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are home to wealthy minority groups with little or no access to public higher education. These countries share parallel trajectories of economic and educational growth, yet they have starkly different citizenship and educational policies that govern the diverse populations within their borders. The result in higher education has been differentiated systems whose contours are largely shaped by these ethnic divisions. Institutional prestige, student enrolment, and long-term sector stability are the areas most strongly influenced, although outcomes differ between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates due to differing national policies on citizenship. A comparative, vertical analysis of student interviews, institutional curriculum, and government policies indicates that institutions and governments can mitigate the deleterious divisions in higher education related to ethnicity and citizenship. Government policies which withhold citizenship or higher education from a particular ethnic or class group, will, in the long run, decrease the stability of the education sector and reinforce the ethnic divisions within a country. Conversely, inter-ethnic collaboration within university programs has the potential to improve ethnic relations between groups, while inclusive notions of citizenship solidify the higher education sector.
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THIS PAPER REPORTS ON research examining children's use of language in dramatic play and play with construction materials in kindergarten classrooms within three Indigenous and two non-Indigenous northern Canadian rural communities.... more
THIS PAPER REPORTS ON research examining children's use of language in dramatic play and play with construction materials in kindergarten classrooms within three Indigenous and two non-Indigenous northern Canadian rural communities. Underpinned by sociolinguistic theory, the research involves inductive analysis of video-recorded interactions of five-year-old children during play. Participating children used language for 36 different purposes. Children's construction play talk often involved purposes within the categories of Language for learning and Language for own needs. Children often used language for purposes associated with the Language for learning and Language for imagining categories in dramatic play. As part of collaborative action research, teachers and researchers used these findings to develop a formative oral language observation tool. Using the tool, information gathered can inform practice and communication with parents and speech-language pathologists workin...
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This article reports on research examining the social purposes of Indigenous kindergarten children’s language and their construction of Indigenous cultural knowledge within and through interactions with peers during dramatic play and play... more
This article reports on research examining the social purposes of Indigenous kindergarten children’s language and their construction of Indigenous cultural knowledge within and through interactions with peers during dramatic play and play with construction materials. The participants are three teachers and 29 children from two rural northern Canadian Indigenous communities that are accessible only by plane and winter roads. Data sources are video-recordings of the children’s play interactions taken over 4 months and their teachers’ perceptions of the Indigenous knowledge that the children construct in their play. Unlike results of many standardized oral language assessments indicating deficits in Indigenous children’s language, our results showed that children used language for a wide range of purposes; a range that corresponds with results of previous studies of nonindigenous children’s play interactions. Participating Indigenous children most often used language for learning and l...
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ABSTRACT The number of internationally mobile students pursuing higher education increases each year, with 8 million students expected to study abroad globally by 2025 (Farrugia, 2014). Many English-dominant universities require... more
ABSTRACT The number of internationally mobile students pursuing higher education increases each year, with 8 million students expected to study abroad globally by 2025 (Farrugia, 2014). Many English-dominant universities require international applicants to provide standardized test scores as evidence of English proficiency. Accordingly, millions of students write tests such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) each year. Much research has investigated these tests’ technical properties; however, less has explored the lived experiences around these tests. The current paper responds to calls for research investigating test-takers’ perspectives and contributes to research about the social and personal impact of such tests. It centers on the life stories of four Canadian-based international graduate students who took the IELTS or TOEFL. Through narrative portraiture we explore how language tests may enable and constrain these students’ life choices. The paper is guided by this research question: What do successful test-takers’ narratives about learning English and navigating high-stakes English tests reveal about the relationship between student agency and durable structures?
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This article presents the results of a study exploring the reader-responses of Malaysian young adults (YAs) to the literature texts used in Malaysian secondary schools, Dear Mr. Kilmer by Anne Schraff, Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford,... more
This article presents the results of a study exploring the reader-responses of Malaysian young adults (YAs) to the literature texts used in Malaysian secondary schools, Dear Mr. Kilmer by Anne Schraff, Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford, and Sing to the Dawn by Minfong Ho. The study aimed to determine the extent to which the YAs found these texts engaging and relevant, and how they identified aspects of their own young adulthood in the novels. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods through questionnaires completed by 30 Malaysian YAs, semi-structured qualitative interviews with a sub-group of six participants, and their journal reflections. Using reader-response literary theory as the guiding framework, the data were analysed quantitatively through descriptive statistical analyses, and qualitatively through inductive thematic analysis, in order to examine the extent to which Malaysian YAs could identify with the main characters, themes, issues, or events in the novels and determine the relevance of the novels to their lives. The findings showed that the participants identified with the characters’ conflict between being true to one’s self and conforming to societal and gender expectations. The themes of standing up for one’s beliefs and right to education, combating social inequities, and family relationships were also relevant aspects that surfaced in responses towards the novels. This study provides recommendations for the selection of literary texts for the English language classroom that connect to the developmental phase of young adults and allow learners to see themselves reflected in what they read.
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This article presents the results of a review of published literature on the use of the multiliteracies pedagogy to teach English Language Learners (ELLs). A total of 12 studies were selected for the literature review based on three... more
This article presents the results of a review of published literature on the use of the multiliteracies pedagogy to teach English Language Learners (ELLs). A total of 12 studies were selected for the literature review based on three inclusion criteria: (1) studies using the multiliteracies framework or other aspects of the multiliteracies pedagogy such as multimodality; (2) studies with ELL participants; and (3) studies conducted within the last 10 years. Through a detailed review and analysis of these studies, five emerging themes related to the potential benefits of the multiliteracies approach were identified and discussed in this article: (i) student agency and ownership of learning; (ii) language and literacy development; (iii) affirmation of students’ languages, cultures and identities; (iv) student engagement and collaboration; and (v) critical literacy.
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Stories have been around since the beginning of time. They are a shared part of our history. For centuries, people have connected and bonded across the oceans simply by sharing their stories and experiences with each other. But today,... more
Stories have been around since the beginning of time. They are a shared part of our history. For centuries, people have connected and bonded across the oceans simply by sharing their stories and experiences with each other. But today, storytelling looks a lot different. New forms of media have created new ways for stories to be told. Instead of gathering around a campfire enjoying spooky stories, young people gather around the shiny screen of their iPads to check out stories from their latest Facebook news feed. Many of our students are getting their stories from different places and experiencing their stories differently. What this tells us is that storytelling has evolved and so must we. In this workshop, participants will explore modern storytelling techniques that use mediums innate to the young people they teach. Using a hands-on approach, this workshop will help participants experiment with social media, music, film and video to create creative and exciting storytelling experi...
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This research examines teacher-child and peer interactions during collaborative writing and writing-mediated play in 10 northern Canadian primary classrooms. Purposes of children's and teachers' language in these informal writing... more
This research examines teacher-child and peer interactions during collaborative writing and writing-mediated play in 10 northern Canadian primary classrooms. Purposes of children's and teachers' language in these informal writing contexts, captured in video-recordings, were analysed inductively. In the play-mediated writing context, where children created texts as needed to support their dramatic play narratives, children were more likely to use language to explain purposes and meanings of the text they created as part of dramatic play narratives. In the collaborative writing contexts involving teacher-assigned texts, children more frequently talked about the letters and sounds of words, or the details of drawings in their texts. In both contexts, children used language for affiliative purposes, as the demands of the collaborative settings required that they find ways to get along with each other. Teachers' language was often for typical instructional purposes (e.g., bui...
Research Interests:
This workshop will discuss accessibility broadly and offer practical ways to work with accessibility concerns at OISE, teaching in the classroom and within other workplaces. Topics discussed will include accessibility concerns not only... more
This workshop will discuss accessibility broadly and offer practical ways to work with accessibility concerns at OISE, teaching in the classroom and within other workplaces. Topics discussed will include accessibility concerns not only related to physical ‘disability’, but also gender and sexuality, intercultural communication and mental health. The workshop will provide practical ways to bring inclusiveness and accommodation to the workplace and classroom regarding a variety of accessibility concerns. Through peer-facilitated group discussions and other activities, participants will identify key concerns they have experienced and potential solutions to these issues regarding accessibility.
The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García, O. & L. Wei.... more
The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García, O. & L. Wei. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave MacMillan). When learners engage in translanguaging, they draw on all the features from their repertoire in a flexible and integrated way (Otheguy, R., O. García & W Reid. 2015. Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review 6(3). 281–307. DOI:10.1515/applirev-2015-0014). While much of the current literature on language teaching advocates teachers’ use of pedagogical translanguaging, less research has focused on the pedagogical affordances of student-led translanguaging, especially in contexts with dominant monolingual norms. This paper presents the results of a case study exploring the affordances of translan...
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The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García, O. & L. Wei.... more
The translanguaging turn in language education offers a new perspective on multilingualism by positing that multilingual learners have one linguistic repertoire rather than two or more autonomous language systems (García, O. & L. Wei. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave MacMillan). When learners engage in translanguaging, they draw on all the features from their repertoire in a flexible and integrated way (Otheguy, R., O. García & W Reid. 2015. Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review 6(3). 281–307. DOI:10.1515/applirev-2015-0014). While much of the current literature on language teaching advocates teachers’ use of pedagogical translanguaging, less research has focused on the pedagogical affordances of student-led translanguaging, especially in contexts with dominant monolingual norms. This paper presents the results of a case study exploring the affordances of translanguaging in two multilingual Grade 5 English language classrooms in Malaysia where English-only policies and practices were enforced by the teachers, but where translanguaging was used agentively by learners during their peer-to-peer interactions. The primary data sources for this six-month-long study included 100 30–90 min-long video recordings of 55 learners working together in small groups on various collaborative language learning activities, and member-checking interviews with the learners. The study was grounded in sociocultural theory and translanguaging, and employed a methodology of sociocultural discourse analysis. The results of the analysis revealed that in both classrooms, learners resisted the English-only policies and practices by using translanguaging widely and strategically throughout their collaborative peer-to-peer interactions. The use of translanguaging fulfilled 100 important cognitive-conceptual, planning-organizational, affective-social and linguistic-discursive functions that supported their individual and collective learning. The results of this study provide us with a view of translanguaging as collaborative and agentive, socioculturally situated and culturally responsive, and a resource for learning as well as a process of learning. The study makes recommendations for a language learning pedagogy that creates opportunities for learners to move language policies from the ground up through their collaborative use of translanguaging.
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This research explores young Indigenous children’s multimodal meaning-making to carry out social intentions in dramatic and construction/materials play settings. The participants are two teachers and 21 children from two Northern Canadian... more
This research explores young Indigenous children’s multimodal meaning-making to carry out social intentions in dramatic and construction/materials play settings. The participants are two teachers and 21 children from two Northern Canadian Indigenous communities. Underpinned by social semiotic theory, the research involves inductive analyses of six videos of children’s play. Our findings show a richness in Indigenous children’s meaning-making, as they used verbal and non-verbal modes to carry out 26 specific social intentions that we grouped into four broad social intention categories: Getting Along, Expressing Emotion/Interest, Satisfying Own Needs and Directing. The social intention carried out most frequently was showing interest in an activity. Participating children were more likely to use non-verbal modes, particularly in construction/materials play contexts. They also combined verbal and non-verbal modes to achieve their social intentions, but did not use verbal modes exclusively. When children used verbal modes to any great extent, it was primarily in a dramatic play context where the teacher took a role in children’s dramatic play. Our research indicates a need for greater attention by educators, curriculum developers and researchers to multimodal meaningmaking in Indigenous children’s play, given the cultural importance of non-verbal communication and participating Indigenous children’s remarkable multimodal meaning-making during play.
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Research Interests:
Translanguaging offers a new perspective on language learning by affirming and leveraging the diverse language practices that make up learners’ unitary language repertoire as resources for their learning. Despite the potential pedagogical... more
Translanguaging offers a new perspective on language learning by affirming and leveraging the diverse language practices that make up learners’ unitary language repertoire as resources for their learning. Despite the potential pedagogical benefits of translanguaging, English-only policies are still prevalent in many language classrooms. Even when translanguaging is welcomed into the classroom, the conflicting attitudes of teachers, students and families pose ideological constraints on translanguaging which restrict learners from selecting and utilising features from their whole translanguaging repertoire. Guided by translanguaging and sociocultural theory, this study examines the tension between the affordances of student-led translanguaging in a Grade 5 Malaysian classroom with an English-only policy, and the constraints to learners’ use of translanguaging. This paper reports on the results of a sociocultural critical discourse analysis of learners’ peer
interactions while engaged in collaborative learning, and interviews with 31 learners. The findings indicate that learners used translanguaging agentively to support one another’s language learning, build rapport, resolve conflict, assert their cultural identity, and draw on knowledge across languages. However, learners’ use of translanguaging was constrained to an extent by their teacher’s and peers’ language policies and practices, parental discourses about linguistic capital, and societal discourses on ethnicity, nationality, and marginalisation.
interactions while engaged in collaborative learning, and interviews with 31 learners. The findings indicate that learners used translanguaging agentively to support one another’s language learning, build rapport, resolve conflict, assert their cultural identity, and draw on knowledge across languages. However, learners’ use of translanguaging was constrained to an extent by their teacher’s and peers’ language policies and practices, parental discourses about linguistic capital, and societal discourses on ethnicity, nationality, and marginalisation.
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This paper presents the results of a small-scale qualitative case study that explored a tutor's role in supporting young learners through a digital storytelling (DS) activity through Microsoft PowerPoint. The two children who participated... more
This paper presents the results of a small-scale qualitative case study that explored a tutor's role in supporting young learners through a digital storytelling (DS) activity through Microsoft PowerPoint. The two children who participated in this study were in grade one and attended private schools in Canada. Participatory observations, field notes, interviews, the children's narratives, and observational narratives were the primary sources of data. The children carried out a DS activity during three separate sessions for each child that involved planning the story, enacting the story, creating and editing a storyboard with cameras and computers, and lastly, celebrating the stories they produced with their family members. We found that the tutor played an important role in making the activity purposeful, authentic, and passion-led (Anderson, 2016). We also found that the tutor helped the children represent and understand meaning through an integration of modes, supported their use of technology, engaged their interest throughout the activity, and encouraged self-reflection on their narrative writing skills. Our findings point to the need for future research on how digital storytelling activities can be carried out in mainstream classroom settings, where teachers can schedule one-on-one conference sessions to support children as they become multimodal composers.
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The internationalization of higher education in Canada has given rise to the increased use of standardized English language proficiency tests as gatekeeping measures in university admission policies. However, many international students... more
The internationalization of higher education in Canada has given rise to the increased use of standardized English language proficiency tests as gatekeeping measures in university admission policies. However, many international students who are successful on these tests still struggle with the academic and language demands of their programs. Drawing on a thematic analysis of life story interviews with five international graduate students at a major Canadian university, this study examines students' perceptions on the skills elicited by the IELTS and TOEFL, the language demands and pragmatic norms of their graduate program in language education, and the university's language support programs.
Research Interests:
This article explores university English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors' attitudes toward translanguaging in the classroom and possible reasons for instructors' resistance in moving translanguaging ideology into English language... more
This article explores university English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors' attitudes toward translanguaging in the classroom and possible reasons for instructors' resistance in moving translanguaging ideology into English language teaching pedagogy. Many researchers have forwarded translanguaging as a theoretical and pedagogical approach to language education because of its potential cognitive, social, and aff ective benefi ts. A translanguaging pedagogy calls for instructors to affi rm the dynamic and diverse language practices that multilingual students utilize as part of their unitary language repertoire. However, because English-only pedagogies, policies, and practices still permeate the ESL classroom, it is critical to understand how ESL instructors' language ideologies and orientations play a role in shaping their pedagogical practices and classroom language policies. Using Ruíz's orientations in language planning and translanguaging theory, this study examined the language orientations of five ESL instructors at a major Canadian university based on qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews. The findings provide insights into instructors' attitudes toward translanguaging, the relationship between instructors' language learning experiences and their classroom language policy, and institutional opportunities and constraints.
Le présent article explore les a itudes des professeurs d'anglais langue seconde (ESL) au niveau universitaire face au translangagisme en salle de classe ainsi que les raisons possibles de leur résistance à l'introduction de l'idéologie trans-langagière dans la pédagogie de l'enseignement de l'anglais. De nombreux tra-vaux de recherche renvoient au translangagisme comme démarche théorique et pédagogique d'enseignement des langues en raison de ses avantages cognitifs, sociaux et aff ectifs. La pédagogie translangagière invite les professeurs à sou-tenir le dynamisme et la diversité des pratiques langagières que les étudiantes et étudiants multilingues utilisent déjà dans le cadre de leur répertoire linguis-tique unitaire. Toutefois, puisque l'enseignement de l'anglais langue seconde en classe reste imprégné de pédagogies, de politiques, et de pratiques exclusivement anglophones, il est essentiel de comprendre le rôle que jouent les idéologies et les orientations des professeurs d'anglais langue seconde dans la formation de leurs pratiques pédagogiques et de leurs politiques d'enseignement en classe. S'inspi-rant des orientations de Ruíz en matière de planifi cation langagière et de théorie translangagière, la présente étude examine les orientations linguistiques de cinq
Le présent article explore les a itudes des professeurs d'anglais langue seconde (ESL) au niveau universitaire face au translangagisme en salle de classe ainsi que les raisons possibles de leur résistance à l'introduction de l'idéologie trans-langagière dans la pédagogie de l'enseignement de l'anglais. De nombreux tra-vaux de recherche renvoient au translangagisme comme démarche théorique et pédagogique d'enseignement des langues en raison de ses avantages cognitifs, sociaux et aff ectifs. La pédagogie translangagière invite les professeurs à sou-tenir le dynamisme et la diversité des pratiques langagières que les étudiantes et étudiants multilingues utilisent déjà dans le cadre de leur répertoire linguis-tique unitaire. Toutefois, puisque l'enseignement de l'anglais langue seconde en classe reste imprégné de pédagogies, de politiques, et de pratiques exclusivement anglophones, il est essentiel de comprendre le rôle que jouent les idéologies et les orientations des professeurs d'anglais langue seconde dans la formation de leurs pratiques pédagogiques et de leurs politiques d'enseignement en classe. S'inspi-rant des orientations de Ruíz en matière de planifi cation langagière et de théorie translangagière, la présente étude examine les orientations linguistiques de cinq
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The number of internationally mobile students pursuing higher education increases each year, with 8 million students expected to study abroad globally by 2025 (Farrugia, 2014). Many English-dominant universities require international... more
The number of internationally mobile students pursuing higher education increases each year, with 8 million students expected to study
abroad globally by 2025 (Farrugia, 2014). Many English-dominant universities require international applicants to provide standardized test
scores as evidence of English proficiency. Accordingly, millions of students write tests such as the International English Language Testing
System (IELTS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
each year. Much research has investigated these tests’ technical properties; however, less has explored the lived experiences around these tests. The current paper responds to calls for research investigating test-takers’ perspectives and contributes to research about the social and personal impact of such tests. It centers on the life stories of four Canadian-based international graduate students who took the IELTS or TOEFL. Through narrative portraiture we explore how language tests may enable and constrain these students’ life choices. The paper is
guided by this research question: What do successful test-takers’ narratives about learning English and navigating high-stakes English tests reveal about the relationship between student agency and durable
structures?
abroad globally by 2025 (Farrugia, 2014). Many English-dominant universities require international applicants to provide standardized test
scores as evidence of English proficiency. Accordingly, millions of students write tests such as the International English Language Testing
System (IELTS) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
each year. Much research has investigated these tests’ technical properties; however, less has explored the lived experiences around these tests. The current paper responds to calls for research investigating test-takers’ perspectives and contributes to research about the social and personal impact of such tests. It centers on the life stories of four Canadian-based international graduate students who took the IELTS or TOEFL. Through narrative portraiture we explore how language tests may enable and constrain these students’ life choices. The paper is
guided by this research question: What do successful test-takers’ narratives about learning English and navigating high-stakes English tests reveal about the relationship between student agency and durable
structures?
Research Interests:
This research examines teacher-child and peer interactions during collaborative writing and writing-mediated play in 10 northern Canadian primary classrooms. Purposes of children's and teachers' language in these informal writing... more
This research examines teacher-child and peer interactions during collaborative writing and writing-mediated play in 10 northern Canadian primary classrooms. Purposes of children's and teachers' language in these informal writing contexts, captured in video-recordings, were analysed inductively. In the play-mediated writing context, where children created texts as needed to support their dramatic play narratives, children were more likely to use language to explain purposes and meanings of the text they created as part of dramatic play narratives. In the collaborative writing contexts involving teacher-assigned texts, children more frequently talked about the letters and sounds of words, or the details of drawings in their texts. In both contexts, children used language for affiliative purposes, as the demands of the collaborative settings required that they find ways to get along with each other. Teachers' language was often for typical instructional purposes (e.g., building on children's knowledge of print and helping them to work together) and for affiliative purposes (e.g., to show interest in children's writing and in their play narratives). Additionally, in dramatic play-mediated writing contexts, teachers frequently used language to model social conventions of the play contexts. In the collaborative writing contexts, teachers more frequently directed children's behaviour to ensure that all children could participate in the tasks. Our findings show that collaborative writing and writing as part of dramatic play provide contexts for authentic interactions around text construction and for supporting children's abilities to collaborate. These contexts offer promising alternatives to mainstream views of exemplary writing instruction that involve planned lessons with teachers' questions and modelling and feedback on students' independent writing.
Research Interests:
Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are home to wealthy minority groups with little or no access to public higher education. These countries share parallel trajectories of economic and educational growth, yet have starkly different... more
Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are home to wealthy minority groups with little or no access to public higher education. These countries share parallel trajectories of economic and educational growth, yet have starkly different citizenship and educational policies that govern the diverse populations within their borders. The result in higher education has been differentiated systems whose contours are largely shaped by these ethnic divisions. Institutional prestige, student enrolment and long-term sector stability are the areas most strongly influenced, although outcomes differ between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates due to differing national policies on citizenship. A comparative, vertical analysis of student interviews, institutional curriculum and government policies indicates that institutions and governments can mitigate the deleterious divisions in higher education related to ethnicity and citizenship. Government policies which withhold citizenship or higher education from ethnic or class group, will, in the long-run, decrease the stability of education sectors and reinforce the ethnic division within a country. Conversely, inter-ethnic collaboration within university programs has the potential to improve ethnic relations between groups, while inclusive notions of citizenship solidify the higher education sector.
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This paper reports on research examining children’s use of language in dramatic play and play with construction materials in kindergarten classrooms within three Indigenous and two non-Indigenous northern Canadian rural communities.... more
This paper reports on research examining children’s use of language in dramatic play and play with construction materials in kindergarten classrooms within three Indigenous and two non-Indigenous northern Canadian rural communities. Underpinned by sociolinguistic theory, the research involves inductive analysis of video-recorded interactions of five-year-old children during play. Participating children used language for 36 different purposes. Children’s construction play talk often involved purposes within the categories of Language for learning and Language for own needs. Children often used language for purposes associated with the Language for learning and Language for imagining categories in dramatic play. As part of collaborative action research, teachers and researchers used these findings to develop a formative oral language observation tool. Using the tool, information gathered can inform practice and communication with parents and speech-language pathologists working with identified children.
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This research explores young Indigenous children’s multimodal meaning-making to carry out social intentions in dramatic and construction/materials play settings. The participants are two teachers and 21 children from two Northern Canadian... more
This research explores young Indigenous children’s multimodal meaning-making to carry out social intentions in dramatic and construction/materials play settings. The participants are two teachers and 21 children from two Northern Canadian Indigenous communities. Underpinned by social semiotic theory, the research involves inductive analyses of six videos of children’s play. Our findings show a richness in Indigenous children’s meaning-making, as they used verbal and non-verbal modes to carry out 26 specific social intentions that we grouped into four broad social intention categories: Getting Along, Expressing Emotion/Interest, Satisfying Own Needs and Directing. The social intention carried out most frequently was showing interest in an activity. Participating children were more likely to use non-verbal modes, particularly in construction/materials play contexts. They also combined verbal and non-verbal modes to achieve their social intentions, but did not use verbal modes exclusively. When children used verbal modes to any great extent, it was primarily in a dramatic play context where the teacher took a role in children’s dramatic play. Our research indicates a need for greater attention by educators, curriculum developers and researchers to multimodal meaningmaking in Indigenous children’s play, given the cultural importance of non-verbal communication and participating Indigenous children’s remarkable multimodal meaning-making during play.
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This article reports on research examining the social purposes of Indigenous kindergarten children’s language and their construction of Indigenous cultural knowledge within and through interactions with peers during dramatic play and play... more
This article reports on research examining the social purposes of Indigenous kindergarten children’s language and their construction of Indigenous cultural knowledge within and through interactions with peers during dramatic play and play with construction materials. The participants are three teachers and 29 children from two rural northern Canadian Indigenous communities that are accessible only by plane and winter roads. Data sources are video-recordings of the children’s play interactions taken over 4 months and their teachers’ perceptions of the Indigenous knowledge that the children construct in their play. Unlike results of many standardized oral language assessments indicating deficits in Indigenous children’s language, our results showed that children used language for a wide range of purposes; a range that corresponds with results of previous studies of nonindigenous children’s play interactions. Participating Indigenous children most often used language for learning and language for imagining in their play. Their teachers were heartened to see that their students, most frequently the girls, also used language for disagreeing and asserting themselves. Teachers felt that children were constructing powerful cultural identities that would contribute to positive change, if they could use language in these ways outside their Indigenous communities, as well. Participating children took up Indigenous cultural meanings in their play, such as relationships with the land and among family members. In some cases, they created hybrid narratives, bringing together elements of popular culture as well as traditional Indigenous land-based activities, such as fishing and hunting, into their play interactions.
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As Malaysia attempts to expand access for their minority groups using international branch campuses (IBCs), the IBC emphasis on developing students into tech-savvy, English-speaking, business leaders is leading to divisions based on... more
As Malaysia attempts to expand access for their minority groups using international branch campuses (IBCs), the IBC emphasis on developing students into tech-savvy, English-speaking, business leaders is leading to divisions based on language and ability that present new accessibility challenges. This chapter draws on the findings from a qualitative study conducted at three IBCs in the greater Kuala Lumpur area of Malaysia to understand how IBCs both facilitate and obstruct access to higher education for Malaysia's diverse population, and to reframe how access is understood in an area of cross-border higher education. This study found that: a) the instructional approach used in the business degrees at Malaysia's IBCs provides a very different pedagogical experience for students compared with the forms of instruction at their secondary schools; b) the new English-only, group-based learning highlights students' ethnic and linguistic differences; and c) students' successful transition to the surrounding business sector depends on their ability to acquire skills offered at the IBC.
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The purpose of this report is to present initial findings on the OISE: What’s It Like for You? survey conducted by the OISE Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) Accessibility Committee. The survey aimed to understand OISE students’... more
The purpose of this report is to present initial findings on the OISE: What’s It Like for You? survey conducted by the OISE Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) Accessibility Committee. The survey aimed to understand OISE students’ experiences with a range of accessibility and equity issues, including the following: accommodations for individuals with physical disabilities, mental health concerns, and family responsibilities; marginalization due to gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, country of origin, and ancestry; physical safety; financial, employment, and research support; support for international and part-time/flex-time students; and support from faculty, administration, and colleagues. We are grateful to all 330 OISE students who took the time to complete the survey. While the following paragraphs serve to summarize the report, we sincerely hope that all readers take the time to read the full report, as it contains students’ personal thoughts, ideas, and experiences. It is also important to remember that the experiences, concerns, and recommendations presented in this report are based on the perspectives of our survey respondents, and may not reflect the experiences and ideas of all students at OISE.
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This summative report examines the role of play-based learning in Kindergarten programs in four provinces – Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Through a detailed review and analysis of official Kindergarten documents produced by... more
This summative report examines the role of play-based learning in Kindergarten programs in four provinces – Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Through a detailed review and analysis of official Kindergarten documents produced by the Ministry of Education of each province, emerging themes related to play-based learning were identified: (1) Role and benefits of play, (2) Characteristics and types of play-based learning, (3) Role of teachers in play-based learning, (4) Role of parents in play-based learning. This report presents a synthesis and integration of the key themes gathered from those documents. The goal in reporting these themes is to provide a better understanding of the role and benefits of play-based learning across the four provinces.
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As doctoral students, we have engaged in various types of challenging but also beneficial collaborative work. This paper addresses these challenges by unpacking three common myths about collaborative work. We will critically reflect on... more
As doctoral students, we have engaged in various types of challenging but also beneficial collaborative work. This paper addresses these challenges by unpacking three common myths about collaborative work. We will critically reflect on collaboration through personal stories that are an amalgamation of our experiences with collaborative work. In the interest of taking a more personal approach, each of us wrote about one of the myths, using the pronoun "I". For us, this approach represents how everyone participating in a group is also an individual, and their personal experiences contribute to the overall experience of collaboration.
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This article presents the results of a study exploring the aesthetic and critical responses of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners when engaging in the multimodal design of literature texts through films in English and their first... more
This article presents the results of a study exploring the aesthetic and critical responses of English as a Second Language (ESL) learners when engaging in the multimodal design of literature texts through films in English and their first language (L1). Participants consisted of 25 culturally and linguistically heterogeneous first-year undergraduate students in a Literature in English Language Teaching program in a Malaysian public university. The participants engaged in a multi-modal design of the novel Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine in three phases over a period of eight weeks based on the four components of the multiliteracies approach: situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing, and transformed practice. The transformed practice component of this approach involved students making and presenting short films both in English and in a local Malaysian language or dialect. Data for the study came from six focal participants' journal reflections throughout the project and semi-structured interviews with them. The findings showed that the multimodal design of texts through films in the L1 increased personal meaningfulness and intercultural understanding. It also allowed learners to function as language experts, take liberties with the text, and look beyond the text for inspiration from dramas and movies.
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This article presents the results of a review of published literature on the use of the multiliteracies pedagogy to teach English Language Learners (ELLs). A total of 12 studies were selected for the literature review based on three... more
This article presents the results of a review of published literature on the use of the multiliteracies pedagogy to teach English Language Learners (ELLs). A total of 12 studies were selected for the literature review based on three inclusion criteria: (1) studies using the multiliteracies framework or other aspects of the multiliteracies pedagogy such as multimodality; (2) studies with ELL participants; and (3) studies conducted within the last 10 years. Through a detailed review and analysis of these studies, five emerging themes related to the potential benefits of the multiliteracies approach were identified and discussed in this article: (i) student agency and ownership of learning; (ii) language and literacy development; (iii) affirmation of students' languages, cultures and identities; (iv) student engagement and collaboration; and (v) critical literacy.