Symposium 2024
Fifth Symposium of Southern Ontario Universities on “Reimagining Languages and Literacies in Education”
Today’s diverse and complex societies constantly challenge scholars, practitioners, and learners to re-evaluate and re-imagine their understandings of theories and their impact on our practices. Defaulting to traditional ways of thinking, clouds our vision and can prevent us to see differently and think from multiple perspectives, something which is crucial in our changing realities. This Symposium aims to create a space for critical reflection to re-envision the education of languages and literacies in ways that promote sustainable and equitable futures.
This year’s Symposium will be the fifth Symposium of the Southern Ontario Universities. As such, it has become an anticipated event for faculties and students alike, to whom it offers a supportive setting where they can exchange, discuss and learn from each other’s recent, on-going or future research across different contexts, languages and cultures. As in the previous editions, this year too these discussions will be framed and enriched by two keynotes from two scholars, one from a local and one from an international context respectively, both operating in the languages and literacies field.
We are excited to announce that the fifth Symposium of the Southern Ontario Universities will take place October, 4-5, 2024 at Western University and we invite you to submit contributions to one of the three different strands (presentations, roundtable discussion, poster presentations) in which participants will discuss new research avenues, including:
- bi-/multi-/trans-/plurilingualism in language education
- multiliteracies and multimodalities
- teachers’ and students’ agency
- mobility, migration and inclusion
- impact of language policies
- innovation in language teaching methodologies and assessment
- artificial intelligence in language education
- language acquisition and language use
- technology-assisted language learning and teaching
- online learning and distance education
The Symposium will provide a unique opportunity for scholars (faculty members and graduate students) working in languages/literacies 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.
This fifth Symposium, hosted by Western University and jointly organized by the Center for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies (CERLL), will help further strengthen the collaborative network in languages/literacies education research across Southern Ontarian Universities that the Symposium has created over the past years. The hybrid format will ensure that the Symposium continues to reach a broader, national and international audience as was the case in the past online editions. With plenaries, presentations, roundtable discussions and poster sessions as well as social events, the Symposium will provide all participants, from Ontario and beyond, with a unique opportunity to become a part of the broader languages/literacies education academic community.
Plenary Speakers
Dr. Walcir Cardoso is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at Concordia University. He conducts research in second language acquisition within an approach that combines insights from theoretical and applied linguistics, intending to promote an effective and socially realistic pedagogy for language teaching in both traditional and computer-assisted environments. The quality of his research was recognized in 2011 when he received the Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in Foreign Language Education. In 2017, he received a UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize, a team award as a co-investigator with the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance. In 2023, his paper on the use of intelligent personal assistants was included in UNESCO’s list of the “100 Most Influential Academic Articles on Educational Robots. Dr. Cardoso has also been recognized with prestigious teaching honours, including the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (Concordia University), Professor of Merit Award (Société pour la promotion de l’enseignement de l’anglais au Québec), and Concordia’s Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching. Outside of academia, he writes about audio equipment, works as a consultant for Lexicon Branding designing and evaluating brand names, and experiences other worlds in the form of music, poetry, and cinema.
Presentation Resources
Dr. Constanza Tolosa is a Senior Lecturer in Languages Education at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Constanza’s research and teaching expertise is the learning and teaching of languages. Her current areas of research include the development of intercultural competencies through language education, the intersection of pedagogy and different technologies, and the use of communicative tasks in foreign language classrooms. An experienced language teacher and language teacher educator, Constanza teaches in different degrees as well as in pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes at the Faculty of Education and Social Work. Her two recent book publications are available as Open access: Pedagogical realities of implementing Task-based language teaching(Link is external) and Journeys towards intercultural capability in language classrooms(Link is external).
Presentation Resources
Panel Discussion: CERLL & Plurilingual Lab
CERLL and Plurilingual Lab came together for an invited panel to talk about the role of research centres not only for research but also for the scholarly community at the respective institution. Together, Dr. Enrica Piccardo, Dr. Jim Cummins, Aisha Adebayo and Lisa Lackner from CERLL, OISE and Dr. Angelica Galante, Jon Wayne dela Cruz, and Yunjia Xie from the Plurilingual Lab, McGill University unpacked the histories, activities and educational impacts of the research centres.
Friday Session Speakers
York University
Title: Detecting or Surpassing? The role of power and surveillance in AI writing pedagogies
Vytautas Magnus University
Title: Navigating AI in Language Education: Balancing Challenges and Rewards
University of Toronto Mississauga & York University
Title: Bridging the AI Literacy Gap: Perspectives and Challenges
University of Toronto
Title: Multi/plurilingual assessment in language education: a scoping review of the literature
National Tsing Hua Universit
Title: Ready or Not? How Taiwanese Pre-service Early Childhood Educators Adopt A New Integrated English Curriculum by Embracing a Growth-Mindset
University of Toronto & York University
Title: Promoting language teachers’ agency through plurilingual, action-oriented, and technology-mediated approaches
York University & University of Toronto & McGill University
Title: Q-methodology in language education: Examining Canadian language teachers’ beliefs on technology-mediated, plurilingual, and action-oriented approaches
University of Toronto
Title: Exploring Student Perspectives on the Action-oriented Approach
Universidad de Santiago de Chile
Title: The Neoliberal blow to English Language Teaching: Deconstructing the national Teacher Academy program in Chile
University of Toronto
Title: The Impact of China's Language Policy on Language Education and Teacher Training in Minority Regions Since 2001
Western University & University of Toronto
Title: Journeys of self-(re)discovery: Exploring plurilingualism through autoethnographies
University of Toronto
Title: Engaging with Difference: A Pluriethnography of Teacher Identities and Practices
McGill University
Title: Empowering Plurilingualism in French as a Second Language teachers in Canada
Western University
Title: Anglophones’ production of French liaisons. What do errors tell us?
Vytautas Magnus University
Title: Language Teacher Preparedness to Embrace Plurilingual Approaches in Multilingual Classrooms of Higher Education
University of Wollongong Australia
Title: Non-native English-speaking Teachers’ Cognitions of Teaching Pronunciation: Insights from Bangladesh
University of Zagreb
Title: Unlocking Multilingual Potential: A Study of Language Learning Affordances in Croatia
University of Zagreb
Title: Multiliteracy and Language Power Dynamics in a Croatian Primary School: A Case Study
Saturday Session Speakers
University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd
Title: Multilingual explanations scaffolded by AI – Insights into the usage of ChatGPT for (trans-)languaging processes in Primary School
Metropolitan Autonomous University, Mexico
Title: AI in English language education: Insights from the meaningful learning theory and an exploratory study
University of Toronto
Title: Multilingual Learners' Perceptions of AI in Language and Literacy Learning: An Extended UTAUT Perspective
University of Toronto
Title: Innovate or Perish: Disruptive and Sustaining Technologies in Teachers’ Online Language Policies
Niagara University Ontario
Title: Digital equity and literacy in the age of disinformation: Preparing future teachers to support student learning
University of Valencia
Title: Telecollaborative Exchanges: A Quantitative Meta-Analysis
University of British Columbia
Title: Argumentative writing and linguistic citizenship: Towards a critical-affective approach to writing pedagogy
York University
Title: Proficiency and Metacognitive Reading Strategies Usage Among Iranian EFL Learners
University of Toronto
Title: The Single National Curriculum and Early-Grade Reading Instruction in Pakistan
Poster Sessions
- Kiana Kishiyama: Reclaiming identity through language: Examining the lived experiences of international adoptees in Canada
- Sheila Batacharya: Do Better Next Time: AI Use in Online Learning
- Jessica Ing: Effects of Plurilingual Approaches and Translanguaging on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition
- Yaseen Ali: Spaces for Metalanguaging: Students’ Negotiations of Englishing
- Sara Pagliaro: Transcending the Classroom: Re-imagining Social Justice Education for K-12 Teachers in the Greater Toronto Area
- Xiaoyue Chen: Mandarin Chinese Heritage Language Learners’ Language Ideology at the Post-secondary Level in Canada
- Jessica Lovett, Stéphanie Gaillard & Andrew Clark: 3, 2, 1: Action! Media-based lesson plan creation using the reverse-design approach
- Aicha Adoui: Language and Identity in Multicultural Societies: Examining Language Policy Impacts in Morocco and the United States
- Geettana Srithayananthan: Second Language Acquisition of Stress Patterns: A Study on the Effects of L1 Tamil Transfer on L2 English
- Majid Farham: The Missing Link: Learner Engagement with Written Corrective Feedback
- Lingyao Shu: Translanguaging Practices and Second Language Writing Anxiety: A Case Study of Adult English Learners
- Libera Maria Lai: The use of plurilingual strategies to enhance students’ A1/A2 English speaking skills: Teachers’ perspectives
- Stéphanie Gaillard & Marie Culpepper: Reading for meaning: Creating a Multiliteracies Module in a Language Curriculum Using the Reverse-Design Approach
- Bakht Ullah & Hikmat Ullah: Understanding Madrassa (Religious Seminaries) Students’ and Teachers’ Perspectives about English Language: A Case Study of the Balochistan province of Pakistan
- Trisha Dowling: Serving the Whole Person: Reimagining Graduate EAP Listening
Roundtable Discussions
- Majid Fatahipour: Reimagining Persuasive Writing through Explicit Instruction of Meta-Discourse Markers
- Anastasia J. Khawaja & Kiley Marouf: Beyond Colonial Metrics: Decolonizing Educational Reform in Occupied Palestine
- Anna Bartosik & Kathleen Kinsella: A Narrative Analysis of Associates of Learners: Post-Secondary Journeys in Context
- Tin Yuet (Tiffany) Tam: Insecurity to Agency: Exploring how Ontario’s novice multilingual K-12 teachers form their teacher identity
- S M Sanzana Rahman: The transformative capacities of technological innovations: Fostering a plurilingual pedagogy in virtual learning environments (VLEs)
- Gabrielle Forget: French immersion in Ontario: Student goals, retention factors, and sociolinguistic development
- Rob Grant: Implementing queer pedagogies in French as a second language: Perspectives from Ontario queer FSL teachers
- Stephanie Salib: Understanding Francophone Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes Towards Plurilingualism: A Proposed Qualitative Study
- Mahnaz Dehghantezerjani & Mahdieh Roshanbin: A Study on the Importance of Sequencing in Iranian Children's Reading Comprehension
- Lingzi Zhuang, Yuhan Liu & Bolun Li: Students as pedagogical-linguistic consultants: Fostering process-learning & multiple agencies through reciprocating reflection
- Richard Martinez: Students as Pedagogical Consultants: The Role of Motivation in Beginner Spanish as a Foreign Language Courses in Canada
- Elianis Paez Concepcion: Exploring Ways to Develop Student's Intercultural Communicative Competence in Spanish Language Courses in Ontario Universities
- Yuou Sheng: The effect of orthography on Mandarin learners' French liaison pronunciation learning
- Germaine Tondji: Linguistic (in) Security and Persistence in Doctoral Studies: A Mixed-Methods Study of the impact of Metapragmatic Discourse on Persistence among Domestic Multilingual Doctoral Students
Committees
- Ana García-Allén (Western University)
- Giacomo Folinazzo (Niagara College)
- Ibtissem Knouzi (York University)
- Geoff Lawrence (York University)
- Marie-Paule Lory (University of Toronto Mississauga)
- Enrica Piccardo (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)
- Gail Prasad (York University)
- Pablo Robles García (University of Toronto Mississauga)
- Barbara Schmenk (University of Waterloo)
- Shelley K. Taylor (Western University)
- Marlon Valencia (Glendon College)
- Zhaozhe Wang (University of Toronto Mississauga)
- Aisha Adebayo (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)
- Tyson P. de Moura Umberger (Western University)
- Lisa Lackner (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)
- Ana García-Allén (Western University)
- Enrica Piccardo (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)
- Shelley K. Taylor (Western University)
- Shaden Samir Attia (Western University)
- Le Chen (University of Toronto)
- Stéphanie Gaillard (Brown University)
- Mahdi Ghadamgahi (York University)
- Farzaneh Salehi Kahrizsangi (University of Ottawa)
- Michael Koslowski (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)
- Wenmin Liang (Western University)
- Kayvan Shakoury (Western University)
- Jiyoung Shin (University of Toronto Mississauga)
- Alexis Skopelitis (York University)
- Jia Wei (Western University)
Presented By
The Symposium 2024 is being presented by the Faculty of Education at Western University and the Centre for Educational Research in Languages and Literacies (CERLL) at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. This event is a collaboration with the Department of Languages and Cultures at Western University, the Graduate Program in Linguistics & Applied Linguistics at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics at York University, the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies at the University of Waterloo, the Language Department at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and the Centre for Research in Education at Niagara College.
