Preparing Pre- and In-Service ESL and FSL Teachers to Implement Linguistically and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

• In Event: Envisioning the Possibilities for Translanguaging Pedagogies Through Teacher-Researcher Collaboration in Second-Language Contexts

Abstract

Calls have been made to provide linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy in many language classrooms across the globe (Kubota, 2016; Paris & Alim, 2017; Piccardo, 2013) and researchers need to take responsibility in conducting studies that prepare teachers to implement pedagogical change. Many in-service language teachers have not received adequate training in equitable language pedagogy and pre-service teachers are often eager to learn how to implement pedagogy that is linguistically and culturally inclusive but still find it challenging to translate theory into classroom practice (Ellis, 2013; Galante, 2018). The goal of our research is to investigate the extent to which researcher/teacher collaborations can address these gaps; specifically, our work centers on collaborating with both English as a Second Language (ESL) in-service teachers and French as a Second Language (FSL) pre-service teachers in the city of Montreal, Canada, a city with official French language policies in a country with official English/French bilingual policies. Our research aimed to prepare teachers to deliver language instruction to plurilingual language learners who come from minoritized linguistic and cultural backgrounds. These are students who have international, refugee, or immigrant status in Canada and whose linguistic and cultural practices are still socially undervalued.
Drawing on plurilingual (Moore & Gajo, 2009) and translanguaging theoretical frameworks (García & Otheguy, 2019; Li, 2018), we report results of two studies in post-secondary contexts: one with pre-service FSL teacher participants in a university (n = 8) and one with in-service ESL teacher participants in a college (n = 10). Both studies took place over 3 months and aimed at equipping teachers with theoretical and hands-on knowledge of linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy, including translanguaging practices and intercultural communication. In this presentation, we describe how teacher education in linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy was delivered to both pre-service FSL teachers and in-service ESL teachers. Moreover, we report results of an investigation of the extent to which the teacher education program facilitated teachers’ implementation of the pedagogy, as well as participants’ perceptions of overall affordances and challenges. Data sources were primarily qualitative and included demographic questionnaires, group and individual reflections, teacher diaries and interviews, and the Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence (PPC) scale.
Results show that teacher education, regardless of the language of instruction, needs to rely on experiential learning rather than “ready-made” classroom techniques so that orientations to language teaching and learning can effectively move away from monolingual and monocultural orientations. Results also show that teachers who mistakenly consider themselves as monolinguals are less confident than those who consider themselves as plurilinguals in the successful implementation of linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy. Another challenge found relates to linguistic tensions between local policies and classroom practices: teachers reported being afraid of implementing linguistically and culturally responsive practices given the strictly French monolingual policy in Montréal. Our research is significant as it provides two distinct modes of teacher education in linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy and urges for change in political discourse so teachers are guilt-free when moving away from monolingual and monocultural pedagogical orientations.

Authors

• Diane Querrien, Concordia University

• Angelica Galante, McGill University