2021 Symposium

Symposium Schedule:

Poster Stream

The Centre for Educational Research in Languages and Literacies (CERLL) of OISE-University of Toronto held the second Symposium of Southern Ontario Universities on New Perspectives in Language Education. This symposium was a joint collaboration with:

The Department of Language Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga; The Faculty of Education at Western University; The Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and the Faculty of Education at York University; The Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies of the University of Waterloo.

This symposium was held virtually on June 11-12, 2021 and featured the latest research and findings in Languages and Literacies Education.

The theme of the 2021 Symposium: Challenges, Changes, and Chances: The Future of Languages and Literacies Education.

Plenary Speakers

Professor Farahnaz Faez

Faculty of Education -Western University (London, ON)

Bio:

Farahnaz Faez is a Professor in Applied Linguistics in the Faculty of Education at Western University. Her research interests include second language pedagogy, language teacher education, language teacher self-efficacy, language teacher proficiency and non-native English-speaking teachers. She is the Co- Editor of TESL Canada Journal.

Title: Teacher language proficiency and teacher efficacy: Exploring relationships and impacting factors

Abstract:

By providing a snapshot of three research studies, I will discuss the significance of teacher language proficiency in relation to teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs (i.e., beliefs about their pedagogical capabilities). First, through a meta-analysis of correlational studies, I will present the relationship between teacher language proficiency and teacher self-efficacy. Then, I will discuss how teaching qualifications, linguistic identity, and teaching experience impact teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. Finally, I report on the significance of teachers’ general language proficiency versus their classroom language proficiency in relation to their self-efficacy beliefs. Implications of these findings for pre-service and in-service teachers as well as for teacher education programs will be provided.

Professor Ajit Mohanty

Jawaharial Nehru University (New Delhi)

Bio:

Ajit Mohanty is a former Professor and ICSSR National Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. He was a Killam Scholar, University of Alberta, Fulbright Professor at Columbia University and Visiting Professor in Western University. The Multilingual Reality: Living with Languages (2019, Multilingual Matters) is his latest book. He is a Fellow of the Association of Psychological Science, USA and a Fellow and Past-President of the National Academy of Psychology, India. Mohanty developed Multilingual Education Policy for Nepal and Odisha (India).

Title: Changing contours of multilingualism: challenges and chances for multilingual education

Abstract:

With large scale international migration, societies across the globe are becoming more fluid showing increasing surface level linguistic diversity. However, presence of larger number of languages does not make societies multilingual (Mohanty & Skutnabb-Kangas, In press). The global presence of dominant languages like English and the “monolingual habitus” (Gogolin, 1997) in host societies are changing the very meaning of multilingualism and limiting the scope of multilingual approach to language and literacies education. The role of languages in education and the homogenising impact of dominant language(s) show that the hierarchical power structure of languages and the linguistic double divide are reflected in how languages are placed in education in different societies (Mohanty, 2019). The national compulsions to develop competence in the dominant languages at the earliest stage of formal education affect the nature and consequences of mother tongue (MT)-based multilingual education programmes across the world; development of literacy and academic skills in the MT as a ‘bridge’ to learning dominant languages reflects monoglossic ideology, subtractive learning and monolingual outcomes.