ALIS Newsletter - March 2022 (Plain Text Version)

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In this issue:
LEADERSHIP UPDATES
•  LETTER FROM THE EDITORS
•  LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
•  LETTER FROM THE CHAIR-ELECT
ARTICLES
•  TOWARDS A MORE INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM: AN INTERVIEW WITH THREE TRANSLANGUAGING SCHOLARS
•  GETTING THE MOST OUT OF MIXED-LEVEL CLASSES: USING A LOCAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
•  USING PHRASE FRAMES TO DEMONSTRATE WORKPLACE DECORUM AND FORMALITY: A CORPUS-BASED STUDY OF LEARNERS OF BUSINESS ENGLISH
ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY
•  APPLIED LINGUISTICS INTEREST SECTION (ALIS)

 

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Anna Dina L. Joaquin, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, USA

Dear ALIS Community:

It has certainly been a challenging and eventful year. There is so much to reflect on with many new experiences and lessons learned. Within a few months, I will be concluding my term as chair of the Applied Linguistics Interest Section, but intend on remaining active in TESOL especially as I assume my role as past chair for ALIS. It has been a privilege to serve the TESOL and Applied Lingusitics community this past year and a pleasure to engage with you through events, the AL Forum, and Facebook platform.

Reflecting on this past year, through the TESOL Academic Session and ALIS Webinars, I have learned a lot about teaching ESL in a multi/plurilingual classroom. The ALIS Academic Session at the TESOL Convention entitled "Translanguaging: Current Understandings of Dynamic Bilingualism" with Drs. Yvonne and David Freeman, Dr. Lydia Kiramba, Dr. Ann Ebe, ad Dr. Mary Soto was well-attended and demonstrated how translanguaging in the classroom is pedagogically principled. The other webinars led by Dr. Kate Seltzer and Dr. Angelica Galante were also informative and excellent; through them I have learned how to respect and affirm the linguistic and cultural repertoires of students in the classroom, and in some ways have evolved as an educator. It is my hope that you found the sessions and webinars to be engaging and helpful to your practice and continuing growth as a researcher as well. If you missed any of the webinars, you can view the recordings on TESOL's YouTube channel and use them in your work with colleagues and students.


I also would like to share an interview I conducted with Dr. Seltzer, Dr. Galante, and Dr. Aghai. I asked these three scholars some of the most common questions educators have related to implementing a translanguaging pedagogy. You can read their academic bios at the end of this letter and you can read the interview in this issue. I am grateful for the effort they each spent to share their expertise with the TESOL and ALIS community through their webinars and this interview.

Though we live in uncertain times, I am optimistically looking forward to attending the 2022 TESOL International Convention. This year's ALIS Academic Intersection will be jointly sponsored by the Teacher Education Interest Section (TEIS) and is a continuation of this year's theme, but will be broader in scope. The topic will be: "Problematizing the Problem: Approaches to a Multicultural and Multilingual Classroom.” We have organized a group of wonderful panelists, who will discuss the challenges teachers face related to the linguistic and cultural diversity in classrooms from three different perspectives, including World Englishes, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Translingualism. They will also present ways of managing those tensions and how to facilitate and maximize the learning experiences of emergent bi/multilinguals. The invited panelists and the presentations are:

  • Christopher Jenks (Aalborg University): "Translingual dispositions: On the value of world Englishes in the language classroom"
  • M'Balia Thomas (University of Kansas): "Navigating Disciplinary Boundaries in TESOL Teacher Education: An Unexpected Lesson in Culturally Responsive Teaching"

  • Tabitha Kidwell and Polina Vinogradova (American University, Washington DC): "Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in a TESOL Program Curriculum"

  • Brooke Schreiber (Baruch College, CUNY): "Implementing a Translingual Approach in the Writing Classroom: Practical and Ideological Critiques and Responses"


Finally, I am so excited that ALIS will be spearheaded by a good colleague and friend, Dr. Sun-Young Shin. He will assume the position of ALIS chair during the TESOL 2022 International Convention. He is already planning the Academic Session. I look forward to seeing you, engaging with you, and learning together in the upcoming year.

Thank you ALIS community! Stay healthy and safe.

Anna Dina L. Joaquin

ALIS Chair

Interview Bios (see article “Towards a More Inclusive Classroom: An Interview with Three Translanguaging Scholars” in this issue)

Kate Selzer is an Assistant Professor of Bilingual and ESL Education at Rowan University. A former high school English Language Arts teacher in New York City, Dr. Seltzer currently teaches pre- and in-service teachers of bilingual students. She is co-author of the book, The Translanguaging Classroom: Leveraging Student Bilingualism for Learning.

Angelica Galante is an Assistant Professor in Language Education and TESOL at McGill University, Canada. Her research focuses on language teacher and learner empowerment and on the effects of plurilingual and translingual approaches on student learning. At McGill, Angelica is Director of the Plurilingual Lab where she and her team mobilize research knowledge and teaching resources.

Laila Aghai earned her Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy and Language and her master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is currently an ESL faculty member at Northwest Vista College. Her research is focused on translanguaging, applied linguistics, second language acquisition, ELL teacher education, bi/multilingual education, multicultural education, and language ideologies.

Anna Dina Joaquin is a professor in the Department of Linguistics and TESL at CSUN and the current Chair for the TESOL International Association Applied Linguistics Interest Section.