Becoming CERLL

A new identity for the Modern Language Centre...

Members of the Centre agreed this past year to change the name of the Centre to reflect better the focus of our activities and research over the past decade and, we hope, to guide it through the coming decades as well. After much deliberation, we agreed to assume the name of Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies (or CERLL, which you may want to pronounce like the name, Cyril). In French, we will be called Centre de Recherche Éducative en Langues et Littéracies (CRELL).

H.H. Stern wrote an authoritative, compelling argument for the name and mandate of the Modern Language Centre when it was established in 1968 as one of the first research centres at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Stern’s argument was that research and an improved knowledge base were needed to strengthen and enhance the teaching of languages in schools, incorporating and advancing new insights from linguistics, psychology, and educational theory, bringing together scholars and educators from across the university and throughout regional school boards. The term “modern languages” referred to French primarily but also other European languages, such as Italian, German, and Spanish, commonly taught as school subjects and then, later, through Immersion programs in schools in Ontario.

Over these more than 40 years the reputation of the Modern Language Centre at OISE has expanded and extended to become a positive “brand name”, recognized across Canada and internationally for quality empirical research combining theories, policies, and practices for language learning and teaching. Despite the positive reputation and “brand recognition”, various questions about the current suitability of the term “modern languages” re-appeared, following trends generally within the field of language education locally and internationally. These changes have been reflected as well in the research activities and scholarly and professional specializations of professors affiliated with the Centre.

There has been no particular doubt about the idea, mission, or context of the Centre. Like other centrally-funded research centres at OISE, the Modern Language Centre brings together professors, graduate students, visiting professors, and local educators with common interests and expertise in a particular domain or area, providing a context for the development and administration of research grants, ongoing seminars and colloquia, collegial involvement, and professional advancement. Formally, the Modern Language Centre fits neatly into the University of Toronto’s definition of an Educational Unit C. The most recent external review of the Modern Language Centre in 2008 affirmed its status as one of the most productive and distinctive of the dozen internal centres at OISE.

It is the term “modern languages”, however, that has seemed outmoded. In a so-called “post-modern age”, does it make sense to call oneself “modern”? The majority of research in the Centre now focuses on English as a second or international language, often involving contexts of cultural diversity, literacy, and adult as well as school-based students in Ontario and around the world. Studies of French language pedagogy have certainly continued alongside diverse projects related to other international, minority, heritage, or indigenous languages. Indeed, our newest faculty member, Enrica Piccardo, strongly embodies this tradition as well as bringing a wealth of experience and invigorating, creative ideas from her previous experiences in French language pedagogy in France, Italy, and Austria. The mission and activities of the Modern Language Centre are now more inclusive yet diffuse than the word “modern” could imply. Most fundamentally, those working in and affiliated with the Centre have long wondered whether the term adequately describes the nature, substance, or scope of their work. Research on languages in education is certainly a common, integral focus. But little more can be attributed to the term “modern” than alignment with previous traditions, accomplishments, and recognitions.

To pursue these matters, we undertook four initiatives over the past year: The first was to raise, for response by external reviewers last year, the question of possibly changing the name of the Centre. The reviewers expressed divergent opinions. One endorsed a name change (though not for the particular name proposed at the time). The other recommended retaining the current name for the “cachet that comes with the long-standing name recognition and professional reputation”.

The second initiative was to discuss the issue at the annual meeting of the Modern Language Centre’s Advisory Committee, composed of representatives from professional organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions affiliated with the Centre and language education locally. At that meeting on May 21, 2009, members of the advisory committee discussed then voted unanimously to adopt a new name. But in considering alternative names, faculty members as well as students expressed some uncertainty about the most appropriate words to include in the name. So a third initiative was undertaken with the additional purpose of incorporating the opinions of graduate students affiliated with the Centre. An e-mail survey was sent to full-time graduate students in the Modern Language Centre in the summer of 2009. Thirty-three anonymous responses were received: 76% (or 25 responses) from Ph.D. students, 18% (or 6 responses) from M.A. students, and 6% from M.Ed. (or 2 responses). No consensus on the exact wording of a new name appeared from this survey either.

So we held several meetings in the autumn of 2009 and winter of 2010 to discuss and deliberate the matter further. By March this year, we had reached a full consensus. The new name of CERLL was ratified officially at the May 12 meeting of CTL Council (in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning) and at the May 13 of our Advisory Committee. We hope you agree. We have also sought and received the verbal approval of the Associate Dean for Research at OISE (both Lana Stermac acting last year in this role, and Normand Labrie, who was on sabbatical leave), the Chair of the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (Tara Goldstein), as well as the Research Standing Committee of OISE’s Faculty Council.

The new name signals an expansion of our research into studies of literacies in addition to languages, a trend evident for several years in certain projects documented in the present report (notably by Jim Cummins, Alister Cumming, and Eunice Jang). This enhanced focus has also allowed us to welcome an additional member to the Centre, Professor Shelley Stagg Peterson, whose research interests on writing pedagogy, gender issues, and cultural diversity have long been aligned with those of the Centre.