Teaching and Learning in Times of Crisis: Opportunities, Shifts, and Insights

The Symposium invites reflections on our collective experiences as scholars, practitioners, and learners navigating the ever changing material conditions of our activity and the paradigms that inform our practice. We outline some of the lessons learned and insights gained through teaching and learning in a moment of global crisis and examine the opportunities and constraints this moment has presented. We celebrate resilience and debate novel ways of conceptualizing teaching and learning going forward.   

The Symposium will be host to various paper presentations in which participants will discuss new research avenues such as, among others, bi-/multi-/plurilingualism in language education, teachers’ and students’ agency, mobility and inclusion, innovation in language teaching methodologies and assessment, technology-assisted additional language learning and teaching, and e-Learning as celebrated and/or contested tools to address the new challenges of our activity. 

The Symposium will provide a unique opportunity for scholars (faculty members and graduate students) working in language education to learn about each other’s work, exchange ideas, and showcase or discuss their research. It will also provide a platform to establish and expand opportunities for academic networking for future collaborations.

York University is pleased to host and facilitate the third Symposium and help strengthen a collaborative network in language education research across Southern Ontario and beyond. With plenaries, panel discussions, presentations and poster sessions as well as virtual social events, the Symposium will provide participants with a unique opportunity to become a part of the broader Languages and Literacies education academic community.

Plenary Speakers

John Ippolito, Ph.D. and Katherine Rehner, Ph.D.

Abstract: Connecting Adult Migrants’ (In)formal Language Learning Experiences and Social Integration:Preliminary Stages of an International Comparative Research Project

This talk reports on the preliminary stages of an international comparative research project examining the (in)formal language learning and social integration experiences of adult migrants. The rationale for the project is rooted in the intensity of contemporary global migration, where unprecedented numbers of adult migrants are forced into linguistically alien terrains and are often isolated and disadvantaged by language barriers preventing full participation in host societies (Burns & Roberts, 2010). Conceptually, the project draws on a hybrid theoretical framework linking transnationalism (Glick Schiller, Basch, & Szanton Blanc, 1995) and translanguaging (Otheguy, García, & Reid, 2015), enabling both multidirectional analyses of migration and fluid analyses of first-person experiences of language use in linguistically diverse contexts. Methodologically, the project draws on 75 surveys and 18 follow-up interviews with adult migrant language learners collected in 2021 from three transit or destination settings characterized by an influx of newcomers: the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada; Erie County in Pennsylvania in the United States; and the province of Agrigento in Sicily, Italy. Data gathered in the project are treated qualitatively and the perspective is “migrant-centric” (McAuliffe, Kitimbo, Goossens, & Ullah, 2017, p. 175). Insights are offered into the study’s theoretical framework, methodological design, and data collection challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing initial data on the migrants’ priorities for their language learning, their agency in choosing language-learning opportunities, the extent to which language learning serves their social integration needs, and their efforts to stay connected ‘back home’. The aim of the project is to provide evidence-based recommendations for “sensitively designed and socially and culturally responsible educational and language programs for adult immigrants, migrants, and refugees” (Burns & Roberts, 2010, p. 409).

Associate Professor, Faculty of Education at York University, Canada

Professor John Ippolito’s research centers on relationships between families and publicly funded schools in contexts of linguistic and cultural hyperdiversity. These school-based studies involve outreach to parents and teachers and are increasingly focused on the experiences of migrants and refugees.

Professor, Language Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Program Coordinator Language Studies, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada

Katherine Rehner is a Professor in Linguistics in the Department of Language Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga where she serves as the Undergraduate Coordinator of Programs in Language Teaching and Learning. Her graduate appointment is in the Language and Literacies Education Program in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at OISE, University of Toronto. Her research focuses primarily on the development of sociolinguistic competence by second language learners.

Burns, A., & Roberts, C. (2010). Migration and adult language learning: Global flows and local transpositions. TESOL Quarterly, 44(3), 409-419. doi.org/10.5054/tq.2010.232478


Glick Schiller, N., Basch, L., & Szanton Blanc, C. (1995). From immigrant to transmigrant: Theorizing transnational migration. Anthropological Quarterly, 68(1), 48-63. doi:10.2307/3317464


McAuliffe, M., Kitimbo, A., Goossens, A., & Ullah, A. (2017). Understanding migration journeys from migrants’ perspectives. In M. McAuliffe & M. Ruhs (Eds.), World migration report 2018 (pp. 171-189). Geneva: IOM. 


Otheguy, R., García, O., & Reid, W. (2015). Clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named languages: A perspective from linguistics. Applied Linguistics Review 6(3): 281–307. doi:10.1515/applirev-2015-0014


 

Luciana C. de Oliveira, Ph.D.

Abstract: A Language-Based Approach to Content Instruction: Scaffolding for Literacy Development

Scaffolding is a challenging task in primary and secondary classrooms. Drawing on research and collaborative work in content area classrooms, Dr. de Oliveira describes a language-based approach to content instruction (LACI) to provide scaffolding to support multilingual learners’ literacy development (de Oliveira, 2016; de Oliveira, 2020; de Oliveira, Jones, & Smith, 2021). LACI is a teacher education model developed over the past 20 years, grounded on research in classrooms with teachers. Participants will learn about the language demands of schooling and six Cs of support for scaffolding.

Dr. de Oliveira’s research focuses on issues related to teaching multilingual learners at the K-12 level, including the role of language in learning the content areas and teacher education, advocacy and social justice. Currently, Dr. de Oliveira’s research examines scaffolding in elementary classrooms. She has authored or edited 27 books and has over 200 publications in various outlets. Dr. de Oliveira currently serves on the English Language Learner/Multilingual Learner Advisory Board and the Independent Expert Review Council for iCivics, an educational non-profit focused on teaching civics through online games and resources, founded by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and now supported by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Dr. de Oliveira served in the presidential line (2017-2020) of TESOL International Association, the largest international organization for English language teachers worldwide, and was a member of the Board of Directors (2013-2016). She was the first Latina to ever serve as President (2018-2019) of TESOL. 

Friday Sessions

Joseph Nacionales

Title: Exploring Complexity of Authentic Assessment in Remote Language Teaching: An Activity Theory Perspective in a Philippine University

Video: Recording unavailable

Title: Exploring rater dominance in discussion rating sessions of EFL writing

Video: Starts at 00:00:30

Title: The importance of assessment literacy in ESL/EFL contexts

Video: Starts at 00:16:28

Title: Exploring Multilingual Assessment: Lessons from Teacher-Led Interventions

Video: Starts at 00:38:16

Title: Challenging dominant discourses in language education in the Canadian context: Foucauldian Discourse Analysis

Video: Starts at 00:01:00

Mandy Lau

Title: Fostering critical algorithmic literacy in the secondary school classroom

Video: Recording unavailable

Title: Decolonizing Multilingual Education Research Through Lilyology, SPN, Wildness, Beauty, Imagination

Video: Starts at 00:20:00

Title: From Vehicle to Tragedy: Metaphors Related to Online Education during the Pandemics

Video: Starts at 0:00:10

Title: Glitching and reconnecting: French as a Second Language teachers experiences and technology integration during COVID-19 from a sociomaterial perspective

Video: Starts at 00:19:11

Title: Gambiarra as Pedagogy, Pedagogy as Gambiarra: Teaching ESL During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Video: Starts at 00:40:41

Title: Corpus-based Analysis, Translation and ESP–Innovation in Language Pedagogy

Video: Starts at 00:01:00

Heejin Song

Title: Teaching English for Intercultural Communication through a Multimodality-Enhanced and Experiential Learning Project, ‘My Cooking Show’

Video: Starts at 00:19:00

Title: Supporting Students Through Language Awareness

Video: Starts at 00:45:00

Lovely Grace F. Laureno, Cyrille Ann Creer, Shanna Macamay, Arnea Alfaro & Kia Ramos

Title: Examining The Visual Grammar Of Online Political Campaign Posters In The Philippines: A Multimodal Analysis

Video: Recording unavailable

Ronnalyn Rivera, Jovie Mendoza, Jerald Maico, Rea Rosquites and Aravela Mercader

Title: Ideational Metafunctions Of Language In Covid-19 Infographics In The Philippines: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Analysis

Video: Recording unavailable

Saturday Sessions

Title: Rencontres avec une communauté de pratique: Leçons d’une Global Classroom

Video: Starts at 00:00:05

Title: Supporting Newcomer Children’s Language Learning through Translanguaging: A Collaborative Parent-Teacher Effort

Video: Starts at 00:21:20

Title: Exploratory Qualitative Investigation: Translanguaging as a scaffold in reading pedagogical activities for EFL Chinese Students

Video: Starts at 00:42:35

Kashif Raza

Title: Multilingual TESOL in Practice During Times of Crisis: Supporting Local Languages of Students in English Classrooms

Video: Starts at 01:02:00

Title: Multilingual Students’ Perceptions of Digital Peer Feedback

Video: Starts at 00:01:00

Title: “I don’t have ‘real’ classmates”: Examining postgraduates’ learning experiences in an online thesis writing course

Video: Starts at 00:47:00

Title: Supporting innovation in language education during the COVID-19 pandemic: Use of plurilingual, action-oriented approaches

Video: Starts at 00:22:00

Poster Sessions

An Trinh

Title: Classroom-based assessment: students’ perspectives and implications for assessment literacy

Maryam Elshafei

Title: How Do Employment Conditions Affect Language Teachers and Teaching: A Call for Research

Azadeh Zohourian Pordel

Title: Global Opportunities in Online English Language Learning

Ameni Benali

Title: The Impact of Using Automated Writing Feedback in ESL/EFL Classroom Contexts

Qianhui Ma

Title: The Use of Digital Storytelling in Bilingual/Multilingual Students’ Meaning-making: A Systematic Literature Review

Melanie Simpson

Title: Rethinking Language in the Education of Deaf Students

Ayman Elbarbary

Title: Putting Action to Words

Trisha Mae Lagarto, Syrene Mae Baldevia, Kent Ponferrada & Ana Rose Remandaban

Title: Morphological Analysis of Language Innovation in the Philippine Neologism during the Covid-19 pandemic

Committees

Organizing Committee
  • Dr. Ibtissem Knouzi (York University)
  • Dr. Enrica Piccardo (OISE, University of Toronto)
  • Dr. Shelley Taylor (Western University)
  • Stephanie Kinzie (York University)
  • Jessica Giunta (York University)
  • Hamidreza Moeiniasl (OISE, University of Toronto)
  • Sargam Sachdeva (OISE, University of Toronto)
  • Michael Koslowski (OISE, University of Toronto)
  • Shaden Attia (Western University)
Scientific Committee
  • Dr. Ibtissem Knouzi (York University)
  • Dr. Geoff Lawrence (York University)
  • Dr. Marie-Paule Lory (University of Toronto Mississauga)
  • Dr. Enrica Piccardo (OISE, University of Toronto)
  • Dr. Barbara Schmenk (University of Waterloo)
  • Dr. Shelley Taylor (Western University)
  • Dr. Saskia Van Viegen (York University) 

Presented By

The Symposium 2022 is presented by the Graduate Program in Linguistics & Applied Linguistics of the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at York University, the Centre for Educational Research in Languages & Literacies (CERLL) at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, and the Faculty of Education at Western University.