TESL Canada Journal
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Learning to Braid: Integrating Multilingual Pedagogies, Antiracism, and Disciplinary Instruction in Elementary Teacher Education
No full textK-7 classrooms are diverse spaces where students and teachers navigate cultures, languages, and (racialized) identities as they engage in disciplinary teaching and learning. They are also spaces harmfully impacted by raciolinguistic ideologies and a persistent separation of language and content instruction. Consequently, critical teacher education scholarship advocates for more systematic integration of antiracism, multilingual pedagogies, and disciplinary content in preparation programs. Aligned with such calls, this critical action research project outlines how four teacher educators at a large Canadian university integrated these priorities across two mandatory courses focused on language arts and supporting multilingual learners. In turn, we ask: How did elementary teacher candidates (TCs) attempt to braid these priorities in designing read-aloud lessons? Along a continuum of learning, what characteristics distinguished more and less tightly braided attempts? Key lesson-design tasks included selecting read-aloud texts, establishing content and language objectives, planning content–language scaffolds, and reflecting on design choices. Thematic analysis of 30 small-group assignments and reflections by 122 TCs indicates that critical (disciplinary) consciousness and contextualized language supports were distinguishing features of more tightly braided lesson plans. We conclude with a discussion of these findings and their implications for teacher education knowledge, curriculum, and program design.
Les salles de classe de la maternelle à la 7e année sont des espaces diversifiés où les élèves et les enseignants naviguent entre les cultures, les langues et les identités (racialisées) lorsqu’ils s’engagent dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage d’une discipline. Ce sont également des espaces qui subissent les effets néfastes des idéologies raciolinguistiques et d’une séparation persistante entre l’enseignement de la langue et du contenu. Par conséquent, les études jetant un regard critique sur la formation des enseignants préconisent une intégration plus systématique des pédagogies antiracistes et multilingues et du contenu disciplinaire dans les programmes de formation initiale. S’inscrivant dans la lignée de ces appels, ce projet de recherche-action critique décrit la tentative de quatre formateurs d’enseignants d’intégrer ces priorités dans deux cours obligatoires axés sur l’enseignement des langues et le soutien aux apprenants multilingues au sein d’une grande université canadienne. En retour, nous posons les questions suivantes : comment les futurs enseignants au primaire ont-ils tenté d’intégrer ces priorités dans la conception de leçons de lecture à haute voix? Sur un continuum d’apprentissage, quelles sont les caractéristiques qui distinguent les tentatives d’intégration plus ou moins poussées? Les principales tâches liées à la conception des leçons comprenaient la sélection des textes à lire à haute voix, l’identification des objectifs linguistiques et de contenu, l’inclusion de l’échafaudage de contenu et de langue, ainsi que la réflexion sur les choix de conception. L’analyse thématique de 30 travaux en petits groupes et des réflexions de 122 futurs enseignants indique que la conscience critique (disciplinaire) et les supports linguistiques contextualisés étaient des caractéristiques distinctives des plans de cours qui intégraient davantage les priorités établies. Nous concluons par une discussion des résultats et de leurs implications pour la formation et les connaissances des enseignants, les programmes de formation et leur conception
Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness: Gerald, J. P. B. Multilingual Matters, 2022
No full textLet’s Talk About Writing Support for Plurilingual Graduate Students: A Collaborative Autoethnography
No full textAcademic writing is an inseparable aspect of graduate school (Holmes et al., 2018) as students’ academic writing is the primary basis for assessment (Turner, 2011). The high-stakes nature of academic writing is magnified for plurilingual students, whose attendance at English medium universities is growing exponentially (Fenton-Smith & Humphreys, 2017). However, there is a scarcity of research that addresses how faculty support writing as an essential practice for plurilingual graduate students, particularly in English-medium universities where English is implicated in structures of power and privilege. Employing a critical analytic collaborative autoethnography (Anderson, 2006; Kempny, 2022) this research uses polyvocal conversations among seven researcher/practitioners to consider the question of how faculty members perceive and respond to the academic writing needs of plurilingual graduate students. Informed by intersectionality (Crenshaw, 2017; Hankivsky, 2014), these conversations illuminate the ways both educator identities and epistemological turns in education theory impact approaches to writing support for plurilingual graduate writers. Importantly, these discussions are implicated in the socio-political contexts of Canadian and Australian universities where systems of inequality act to marginalise plurilingual writers. These contextualised conversations then aim to problematise and revise existent, dominant deficit discourses and pedagogies of writing support for plurilingual students. Findings illuminate the capacity of educators, who are cognisant of their power and place, to generate alternative practices to support plurilingual graduate writers in service of more asset-orientated and inclusive spaces that take advantage of students’ plurilingual repertoires in English-dominant universities
Teaching Elementary ESL Writing in Canada: Teacher Preparedness and Challenges
No full textWriting is an important skill for children’s academic success (e.g., Fitts et al., 2016), underlining the need for effective ESL writing instruction in the elementary classroom (Brisk, 2012; Mohr, 2017; O’Hallaron, 2014). However, there is a paucity of research on elementary ESL writing instruction in Canada. Specifically, we have little understanding about the pedagogical practices in this context. To fill this gap, this paper reports on findings of a study that investigated: (a) factors that influence teacher preparedness, and (b) challenges teachers encounter in teaching ESL writing. Eight elementary teachers, each with at least three years of teaching experience, participated in the study. Data were collected from interviews and online surveys. Findings suggest that teacher preparedness was affected by four factors: (a) background knowledge of teaching ESL writing, (b) professional learning opportunities, (c) self-learning and experience as a teacher, and (d) collaboration, mentorship, and support for teachers. The challenges teachers encountered were grouped into five categories: (a) making sense of the writing curriculum, (b) finding relevant resources, (c) lack of time, (d) difficulty providing feedback, and (e) parental involvement at home. Drawing on these findings, the paper discusses implications and recommendations for ESL writing instruction in the elementary classroom
The Cognitive Processes of ESL Writers Responding to an Integrated Argumentative Writing Task
No full textIntegrated writing tasks, whether used for teaching or assessment, are designed to engage and gauge the actions, skills, and strategies that students need to become efficient writers able to identify, extract and synthesize information from multiple source material in their writing appropriately. Consequently, it is critical to verify that such tasks do engage the cognitive processes and strategies that theory and research indicate are essential elements of successful source use in writing. This study used a mixed methods approach to describe the cognitive processes that ESL learners engage in when responding to an integrated writing task and examine how these cognitive processes vary depending on the students’ English language proficiency (ELP).
Each of 51 undergraduate ESL students at two levels of ELP (high and low) completed an integrated writing task that involved listening to a lecture, reading a passage about a related topic, and writing an argumentative essay using ideas from both sources and then responded to a questionnaire about their cognitive processes. Additionally, another eight participants were video recorded while completing the writing task and provided stimulated recalls about their writing processes immediately after completing the task. The findings reveal the various cognitive and metacognitive processes and strategies that the participants engaged and the language and discourse aspects they attended to. Additionally, participants with higher ELP tended to interact with the sources and task and to engage in planning and organizing, generating and retrieving, and revising and editing more frequently than did participants with lower ELP. The findings and their implications for the teaching and assessment of source-based writing are discussed.
K-12 ESL Writing Instruction: Learning to Write or Writing to Learn Language?
No full textWriting is an important literacy skill for K-12 students’ academic success. For English as a Second Language (ESL) children, developing writing skills involves both learning English and learning to write. This makes ESL writing instruction challenging as teachers have to strike a balance between teaching writing as a literacy skill and as a tool for students’ English language development. Recent research has identified that in-service teachers in K-12 settings lack requisite training in L2 writing, resulting in various challenges in the ESL writing classroom. One such challenge for them is to determine whether the focus of writing instruction should be to teach students how to write (learn-to-write) or to utilize writing as a tool to help students develop the English language (write-to-learn language). Eliciting the theoretical orientations of both learn-to-write (LW) and write-to-learn language (WLL), this article suggests that the LW and WLL approaches are not mutually exclusive for teaching ESL writing. Based on a review of recent research, the paper discusses a systemic functional linguistics (SFL)-informed genre-based writing pedagogy as well as teaching and learning activities that integrate both LW and WLL principles into ESL writing instruction in the elementary classroom
EAP Practitioners in Canada: Professional Dedication, Satisfaction, and Precarity
No full textA wide range of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs provide important support for international students enrolled in Canadian post-secondary contexts. While there has been a recent uptick in academic interest and research surrounding EAP programs in Canada, there has been relatively little work focused on understanding the practitioners working therein. In this article, we present and discuss data from the second phase of a sequential mixed-methods investigation of Canadian EAP programs and practitioners. Some 481 EAP practitioners from across Canadian universities, colleges, and English language institutes participated in the survey, leading to semi-structured interviews with 18 representative EAP directors and instructors. Building on quantitative results from the Phase I survey that revealed practitioners’ differentially perceived professional satisfaction and agency, systematic analysis of Phase II interview data supported and expanded upon the Phase I results. Drawing on a critical conceptual lens, we interpret mixed-methodsfindings that highlight employment precarity as the most salient differentiator of professional satisfaction, concluding with analytically driven suggestions for post-secondary policy makers, language teacher educators, and EAP instructors, including a call for furtherresearch elevating voices of professionals working in this burgeoning field.
Un large éventail de programmes d’anglais sur objectifs académiques (AOA) apporte un soutien important d’étudiants internationaux inscrits dans des établissements d’enseignement postsecondaire au Canada. Bien qu’il y ait eu récemment un certain intérêt académique et de la recherche envers les programmes d’AOA au Canada, relativement peu de travaux se sont intéressés aux praticiens qui y travaillent. Dans cet article, nous présentons et discutons les données de la deuxième phase d’une étude séquentielle à méthodes mixtes qui a examiné les programmes et les praticiens de l’AOA au Canada. Quelques 481 praticiens de l’AOA provenant d’universités, de collèges et d’instituts de langue anglaise du Canada ont participé au sondage, qui a donné lieu à des entrevues semi-dirigées avec 18 directeurs et enseignants de l’AOA. S’appuyant sur les résultats quantitatifs du sondage de la phase I, qui ont révélé que les praticiens percevaient de façon différentielle l’autonomie et la satisfaction professionnelle, l’analyse systématique des données d’entrevues de la phase II a étayé et développé les résultats de la phase I. Dans une optique conceptuelle critique, nous interprétons les résultats provenant des méthodes mixtes qui mettent en évidence la précarité de l’emploi comme étant le facteur de différenciation le plus important de la satisfaction professionnelle. Nous concluons avec des suggestions basées sur l’analyse adressées aux décideurs dans le contexte de l’enseignement postsecondaire, des formateurs d’enseignants de langues et des enseignants d’AOA, y compris un appel à davantage de recherches pour faire entendre la voix des professionnels travaillant dans ce domaine en plein essor
Multisemiotics, Race, and Academic Literacies: Trajectories of Non-white Academic Writing Faculty in Canadian Postsecondary Education
No full textThis study examines the trajectories of two multilingual, racialized academic writing faculty, presenting how we brought our Southern onto-epistemologies (e.g., Santos, 2016) to curriculum, teaching, and assessment. Although plurilingualism has become a significant dimension of Canadian higher education (Marshall, 2020), monolingual norms that emphasize native-like competence continue to be a mainstream discourse in many academic writing courses. Building on the recent raciolinguistic critique (Rosa & Flores, 2017) of the lack of discussion of racism in academic literacies discourse, we acknowledge that academic literacies continues to force plurilingual, international students into a white subject position. Acknowledging the tension between the monolingual ideal and multilingual realities, we explore how two plurilingual, non-white faculty challenge an academic writing tradition that is constructed by the white listening subject. By co-creating duoethnographic narratives that provide insight into our complex biographical journeys as cycles of becoming (Thibault, 2020), our story shows how teaching academic writing is not simply teaching a skillset but involves constant negotiation between students’ and teachers’ lived experiences. Through this process, we conceive of teaching academic literacies as both an ideological construct and a multisemiotic process that involves multiple histories and meaning-making resources across diverse time and place scales