Professor Xi (Becky) Chen appointed as Tier 1 Canada Research Chair

Professor Xi (Becky) Chen has been appointed as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in literacy development of bilingual and multilingual children. She is among 36 University of Toronto researchers who have been appointed Canada Research Chair in an announcement made this past summer. 

Based out of OISE’s department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Chen’s globally-recognized research is in the field of language and literacy development among bilingual and multilingual children, and in the area of dyslexia. She teaches courses in reading and writing difficulties, as well as foundations of language and literacy, and leads the Multilingualism and Literacy Research Lab at OISE. 

“This is a great honor. I never thought this would happen to me,” said Chen. “I cherish the opportunity to serve as a research chair, and because I have a very large research lab, this research chair appointment also recognizes the work of my research officer, postdoc and graduate students.” 

A leading researcher in dyslexia, Dr. Chen’s research has impacted educational practice by enhancing the accuracy of identification of reading difficulties at the word and text levels and by improving the effectiveness of reading interventions for bilingual and multilingual children who are struggling readers. 

“Professor Chen’s research on dyslexia is going to have a tremendous impact on how bilingual children learn and succeed in the classroom,” said Professor Erica N. Walker, Dean of OISE. “On behalf of the OISE community, I congratulate her for her prestigious Canada Research Chair appointment. I look forward to seeing how her research makes a difference.”

Chen’s research is driven by her desire to promote equity, diversity and inclusion in public education through rigorous scientific research and evidence. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, for example, her Multilingualism and Literacy Lab worked with École Howden, a K-6 French Immersion school, to develop their dyslexia intervention program – which sought to identify primary students experiencing dyslexia and design plans to assist their literacy education.

Serving about 200 students initially, the program has been expanded across the Louis Riel School Division, the board that administers École Howden and many other  French Immersion and English-only elementary schools in Winnipeg. Today, the program screens and supports over 3000 students annually.

“When I started the research, it was mainly theoretical. I was interested in bilingual research theories. Over the years, I have developed collaborations with school boards in Ontario and Manitoba,” said Chen. “Since the publication of the Right to Read inquiry report, there has been a great momentum in helping children with reading disabilities.

“My research team has worked with school boards to create literacy screening measures for children enrolled in French immersion programs and set up screening and intervention programs. It is truly meaningful to use our research findings to enhance educational practice.”

As a newly appointed chair, her immediate next step is to use a validation study to compare the accuracy of a measure with a “gold standard measure” to identify and eliminate bias – in this case, to validate the French literacy screening measures her lab has created. 

”I hope to use the funding to conduct a study to demonstrate the validity of the French literacy screening measures. Our goal is to provide screening measures that are free, accessible and easy to administer and interpret for children in French immersion programs.”