Category Archives: Curriculum

Spotlight — Shahriar Mirshahidi


Written by - An interview with Shahriar Mirshahidi

Download PDF

Congratulations! You received the OCAD University Employee Equity Award. Talk to us a bit about that award and what it means to you.

I am deeply honored to receive the 2023 Employee Equity Award for my work as an English Language Learning Specialist at OCAD University’s English for Art & Design Program and the Writing & Learning Centre. This award highlights the importance of fostering an equitable, diverse, and inclusive learning and work environment, a mission I am passionately dedicated to. My commitment lies in empowering racialized and multilingual students by providing them with an equitable pedagogical space through amplifying their unique resources and knowledges. I advocate for translingual approaches to teaching English as an Additional Language and creating more accessible curricula that cater to multilingual students’ needs to ensure their success.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
communication, culture, Curriculum, EAL, EAP, ESL, Interview, Journal, Language, Research, Speaking, Spotlight
POST COMMENT 0

Recommendations for the inclusion of mathematics education in language instruction for newcomers to Canada (LINC)


Written by - Celine De Almeida

Download PDF

Abstract

This paper draws on literature that examines the underpinnings of language and math education in Canada as well as on the author’s own professional observations and reflections as an adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) educator in Toronto, Ontario in order to advocate for the inclusion of mathematics education in the LINC program. It evaluates the program’s conceptualizations of citizenship and existing mathematical subject matter, stressing their shortcomings, in order to make content and pedagogical recommendations for a more holistic learning experience. The original submission was in part of the author’s final project for CTL5062: Mathematics Education for Citizenship submitted to Professor Alexandre Cavalcante, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE.

Introduction

Moving to a new country comes with many challenges.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Curriculum, ESL, LINC, Literacy
POST COMMENT 0

Our Silent Journey: Supporting English language learners to adapt to the classroom 


Written by - Ricardo-Martín Marroquín, Canada

Download PDF

Introduction  

It is evident that the number of English language learners (ELLs) has increased in the last few years. In Ontario, more than 25% of the student population are learning English as a second language (L2) (Statistics Canada, 2020). Given that numbers are increasing, it is important to know how to support ELLs in the classroom, school community, and in their own communities with the purpose of helping each student become successful. Hence, the core of this message is to provide strategies that may support newcomers to feel positive about their learning, as teachers become more aware about their practices in and outside of the classroom. For this reason, we will focus on the settlement curve and explain it,  Continue Reading →

Categories:
culture, Curriculum, EAL, ESL, Experiential, Uncategorised
POST COMMENT 1

Multimodality-enhanced teaching: Fostering global citizenship and intercultural competence in ELT


Written by - Heejin Song & Jacqueline Ng, York University, Canada

Download PDF

*For images, please see the PDF version of the article. 

Introduction 

This article showcases multimodality-enhanced learning tasks that embrace learners’ linguistic and cultural diversity as an asset to advance their oral communication skills, promote global citizenship (UNESCO, 2018), and cultivate intercultural competence (Byram, 1996) in a university English communication course. Drawing upon Cummins’ (2009) transformative multiliteracies pedagogy and García’s (2009) translanguaging that highlight affirming diversity and acknowledging a fluid flow of ‘languaging’ (Swain, 2006) in transnationals’ language learning as a source of empowerment in teaching, we exemplify two innovative multimodal projects called My Cooking Show and Plurilingual and Intercultural Expression Corner. These projects invited learners to activate and share their prior cultural and linguistic knowledge base with the aim of developing their cross-cultural and cross-linguistic awareness,  Continue Reading →

Categories:
culture, Curriculum, ESL, Experiential, Identity, Language
POST COMMENT 0

Critical literacy and counter-narratives: Disrupting power and enhancing inclusivity in the LINC classroom


Written by - Abir Hammoudi, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada

Download PDF

Many immigrants come to Canada not understanding the long and complex history it has with its Indigenous people, colonization, residential school system, and the impact of this on Indigenous communities. As a result, many newcomers learn negative stereotypes about Indigenous people because of their representation in the media and literature. Therefore, there is a pressing need to educate ourselves and Canadian newcomers about the true Canadian history. It is important to examine it from different angles and a “need to learn to read again the exhibition of the world, to see the display of the civilized and the primitive” (Willinsky, 1998, p. 86) as history topics have only ever been taught from one point of view of the majority group.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
culture, Curriculum, ESL, Literacy, Materials, pedagogy, Research, Teaching, TED
POST COMMENT 0

The Early Language Learning (ELL) curriculum supports newcomers with low levels of English


Written by - Yusra Qadir, Canada

Download PDF

Abstract
The article provides information on the Early Language Learning Curriculum (ELL) curriculum, which is a set of documents to guide and support the delivery of real-world task-based English language instruction for adult newcomers with low levels of English (literacy to CLB 3) from Mothers Matter Centre. Designed as a service enhancement to the long-running Multicultural HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) Program for immigrant and refugee mothers of young children, ELL can also be used on its own to provide structured, informal English training in a classroom and/or with one-on-one English practice tutorials.  Materials designed for the tutorials can also be used to support conversation circles. The curriculum was designed through the support of Immigration,  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Curriculum, ESL, Language
POST COMMENT 0

Identity in undergraduate L2 writing: A juxtapositionof academic voice and internal voices


Written by - By Gulnigar Baham, Humber College (Kansai Foreign Languages University), Canada

Download PDF

Abstract
Despite mounting research on the potential that cultivating self-identity affords students, it is often forgotten in most academic contexts, whether in instruction or assessment, that L2 writers have an L1 identity. In all avenues of higher education, researchers agree that multiple, complex, and simultaneous identities of students are advantageous for their advancement in academic writing (Cohen, 2011; Cummins, 2001; Leki, 2008); however, institutional practices, persisting social conventions, and student-teacher relationships (or lack thereof) place a greater pressure for L2 undergraduate students specifically. International and immigrant/generation 1.5 undergraduate students arrive in their new settings with their L1 knowledge base and are often expected to forego rhetorical strategies of their L1, as well as their linguistic and cultural repertoire,  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Curriculum, EAP, ESL, Identity, Language, Uncategorised, Writing
POST COMMENT 0

Incorporating CALL in the ESL classroom: Focusing on animation, movies, Netflix, TED, VOA, Arirang News, NPR, and YouTube


Written by - By Chahyun Kim, Baewha Women’s University, South Korea

Download PDF

Abstract
This study examines the application of CALL in English classes for university-level or EAP students. Multimedia is significant in the digital era and should be applied in the ESL classroom. However, few studies explore how to apply a variety of multimedia resources in the ESL classroom. This study explores students’ opinions on the use of multimedia from a class conducted for one semester. The class dealt with one theme each week using various media. Over the semester, eight multimedia resources were used: animations, movies, Netflix, TED, VOA, NPR, Arirang News (a Korean English-language network), and YouTube. At the end of the semester, a student survey was conducted to examine students’ motivation, preference, and improvement in English proficiency when using multimedia.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Blended Learning, CALL, Curriculum, EAP, ESL, Other, Teaching
POST COMMENT 0

Individualized program plans for adult ESL literacy learners


Written by - By Eman Ghanem, Edmonton Catholic Separate School District, Canada

Download PDF

*For all footnotes, refer to the PDF version of the article.

Abstract
Adult ESL literacy teachers are often perplexed when instructing pre-, non-, and semi-literate adult ESL learners due to their L1 literacy level, age, and possibly traumatic experiences. Classroom instruction and assessment should be carefully planned and strategically implemented because of the underlying financial and social ties connecting literacy to socio-economic status. How might instructional practices be modified to better meet the needs of adult L2 emergent readers? This paper examines the use of Response to Intervention (RTI) tier 3 plans in adult English learning in an L2 context. For twelve weeks, several evidence-based reading diagnostics assessments were administered to help develop individualized program plans for a group of emergent readers.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Curriculum, ESL, Language, LINC, Literacy, Other, pedagogy, Reading, Research, Teaching, Uncategorised
POST COMMENT 0

Creative assignments to help students connect English to the outside world and build confidence


Written by - Shayne Fogle, Ryerson University; Alanna Carter, Ryerson University; & Shereen Seoudi, Ryerson University

Download PDF

Abstract
Instructors at the Real Institute’s ESL Foundation Program are continuously working on designing assignments that allow their students to practice the language skills taught in class while at the same time engaging with technology and connecting with life outside of the classroom. Through careful consideration and research, two assignments were designed and successfully achieved these outcomes. The assignments were adapted to a virtual teaching context and were equally successful. This article includes a detailed explanation of the projects that were created, the steps taken for students to accomplish all tasks, and the outcomes that resulted from their completion. Further to this is a description of the success achieved from their adaptation to an online learning environment.

   Continue Reading →

Categories:
Assessment, Blended Learning, culture, Curriculum, ESL, Experiential
POST COMMENT 0

Disrupting the English-only status quo: Using home language as a vital resource in the classroom


Written by - Kate Paterson, Western University, Canada

Download PDF

Abstract
An extensive and growing body of research affirms the value of using students’ home language (L1) in both second language (L2) and content learning in the classroom. In spite of this, instructional policy and practice continue to operate as though English-only approaches are axiomatic and essentially common sense. This article appeals for action at the classroom and program levels to close the gap between research and practice in relation to the use of home language in learning. This shift aligns with a move toward rejecting deficit narratives that focus on what students are lacking rather than what they bring to the classroom. If we recognize that our students possess rich cultural and experiential funds of knowledge, we must also begin to value the language(s) in which that knowledge is encoded.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
culture, Curriculum, Other, Plurilingualism, Research, Teaching, Uncategorised
POST COMMENT 1

Using explicit instruction in genre-based pedagogy in L2 writing: A personal insight


Written by - Umme Kulsum, Toronto Catholic District School Board and Seneca College, Canada

Download PDF

Abstract
Explicit instruction technique helps to facilitate genre-based pedagogy in tertiary level L2 writing courses. This paper will focus more on pedagogical experiences rather than research and assessment perspectives. In the case of L2 teaching, explicit and implicit instruction techniques are not ‘either-or’ options, instead ‘but-also’ techniques for developing writing skills in L2. However, the decision of the focus on either of the method depends on the course context and the level of the students. This article will elaborate on how direct instruction helped in-course planning and student’s L2 writing strategy building. This paper will also highlight how using models minimized students’ knowing-doing gap, and finally, how teacher mediation and scaffolding created an opportunity for dialogue through feedback.  Continue Reading →

Categories:
Curriculum, Experiential, Other, pedagogy, Reflection, Writing
POST COMMENT 0